Dec. 20, 2024
Dear North Hampton Families,
We’ve had a musical week at NHS! We had two wonderful concerts featuring our 5th-8th grade band and chorus on Monday and Tuesday evening. Today we had a whole school sing along led by our 3rd and 4th graders, along with Mr. Singer and Ms. Schmardel. In other news, the Gingerbread Man was sighted by our kindergarten students yesterday! It is that time of year for sure!
Holiday Message
As I reflect on the close of another calendar year, I’d like to recognize all the people that make our school community so special:
To our students: You are the most important people in our school. We try to do our very best for you each day because you deserve nothing less than our best. Your smile can brighten anyone’s day.
To our parents/guardians: We appreciate the trust you put in us to care for and educate your children during the school day. We know they are the most precious thing in your lives and take our responsibility seriously. Your children bring us joy each day.
To our staff: Our students love coming to school because they love YOU! They love being with you because you see them and know each of them individually. Your passion, expertise, and commitment are noted and appreciated very much.
May you all have a wonderful holiday season! See you on Jan. 2nd, 2025!
Spelling Bee
The annual Spelling Bee will take place on January 28th at 6 PM.
NexTrex Plastic Bag Challenge
We have met our goal and collected over 1,000 pounds of plastic bags! We began collecting last April and expected it would take a whole year. The community response has been amazing! This means that we have earned a new Trex bench for our school! Additionally, our 4th graders have provided updates and information about plastic usage along the way. Here are some of the facts they shared with our school community:
“99% of seabirds will be eating plastic by 2050.
An average plastic bag is used for only 12 minutes.
Only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled.
Up to 95% of plastic polluting oceans is carried by 10 rivers.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the world uses 5 trillion plastic bags a year.
Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year.
That’s a lot of plastic being dumped into our environment.”
Great Job North Hampton!
U.S. News & World Report Recognizes North Hampton School Among the Best Middle Schools
We are pleased to announce that NHS has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report in their school rankings for 2025. We are ranked number 6 in New Hampshire for our Middle School. We are pleased to be recognized for our efforts in providing a high quality educational environment for our students. We are proud of our students’ successes at all the grade levels we serve PK-8.
Dates to remember
Dec. 23-Jan. 1: Winter Holiday Vacation
Jan. 2: School re-opens after break
Jan. 2: North Hampton School Board meeting at 6:30 PM at Town Hall
Jan. 17: No school–Professional Day for teachers
Jan. 20: No school–Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Civil Rights Day
Follow us on social media at https://www.facebook.com/nhamptonschool?ref=embed_page
Follow NHS PAL on Instagram and Facebook!
North Hampton School PAL Organization (@nhs_pal_organization) • Instagram photos and videos
https://www.facebook.com/northhamptonPAL
Re-runs
Heart Screening Opportunity for Gr. 5-8
North Hampton School will be partnering with an organization called “Who We Play For” to offer cardiac screenings to students in grade 5-8 on Feb. 17, 2025. (See flyer at the bottom of this email for more details.) The cost for this screening is $20. If you would like to have your child screened, but need financial assistance, please let Nurse Mara know. An electrocardiogram is painless, non-invasive, and only takes 5 minutes to complete. Each ECG will be read by a board certified pediatric cardiologist. I will send reminders about this opportunity in January. All sign ups are online through the “Who We Play For” registration portal. Many thanks to Asst. Supt. Mary Toomey and the SAU 21 school nurses for bringing this to our school.
Report Cards
Parents will be able to view their child’s report card in the Parent Portal of Powerschool beginning tomorrow, Dec. 6th at 8 AM. As a reminder, our report cards are competency based grades. Students receive numerical indicators from 1-4, based on formative and summative assessments.
Indicator Language:
4: Advanced: Student performance exceeds the marking period expectation.
3: Proficient: Student performance meets the grade level skills and knowledge for marking period expectation with consistency, quality, and independence.
2: Developing: Student performance is progressing toward the marking period expectation, demonstrating some understanding and application of skills and knowledge with support. Student is not yet independent in demonstrating his/her skill.
1: Beginning: Student performance is progressing with support, but student is unable to meet the marking period expectation with consistency or quality.
Parents will find supporting documents on our website that explain the expectations at the end of each trimester as they relate to the competencies. Here is the link to the supporting documents:
NHS Supporting Documents Page
You will also see the link to the Powerschool login on this page.
You will be able to view (and print if you would like) your child’s report card online via PowerSchool. If you do not have access to the internet or are having difficulty accessing the portal, please contact the office and Mrs. MacLaughlin (smaclaughlin@sau21.org) will help you.
To access your child’s report card, log into PowerSchool with your username and password. This is the same username and password that you used to complete your child’s registration paperwork. You can access PowerSchool from our school website or from the link above. Once you are logged into Powerschool, click the button that says “Report Cards” on the left hand side. (It is where “Student Reports” were in the past.) Next click “24-25 T1 Elementary/Middle School Report Card”.