BACK TO HOMEPAGE   

November, 2009                                         Dr. Richard Drolet        

The Principal’s Corner                                 richard.drolet@cumberlandschools.org           

Here’s some information for the month of November:

• The Wellness Company, through the R.I. Dept. of Health, will be administering the H1N1 vaccine to students here on Tuesday morning, Nov. 10^th. If you are interested in this flu vaccine for your child, please make sure you have submitted the parent permission slip which was mailed to you by the Dept. of Health in mid-October. Additional information and permission slips can be found on the RI Dept. of Health website, as well as the school and district websites. Please contact our school nurse/teacher, Ms. Kelly, with any related questions.
• On Tuesday evening, Nov. 10^th, our PTO will be sponsoring “Family Portrait Night.” Please come with your family anytime from 5-9 p.m to get a great and inexpensive ($10) professional family portrait/pictures in time for the holidays.
• The first quarter closes on Friday, Nov. 6^th. First quarter Report Cards for the first quarter marking period will be mailed home on Fri, Nov. 13^th. Please contact your child’s guidance counselor for a copy if you do not receive one in the mail by Wed, Nov. 18^th.
• NECAP testing ended two weeks ago. Individual student results will be mailed home to you as soon as we receive them in late January/early February.
• Parent/Teacher Conference nights are approaching. Conferences will be from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The first night will be Thursday, Nov. 19^th. The second night will be Wednesday, Dec. 2^nd. Other parent/teaching meeting times may be designated by the teams. You will have received your child's 1st quarter report card in the mail prior to these nights. All core curricular teams should be communicaitng with you in the near future to either have you sign up for a time slot or let you know how they will be administering the Parent/Teacher Conferences. All other Team Unity teachers (art, tech ed, family/consumer science, library, PE/health, guidance, foreign language) will be available to meet with you on either night in the cafeteria (except Mr. Bowser, who will only be here on the first night, Nov. 19^th). Special education teachers should be availble to meet with you on both of these nights as well.
• We will host our November Parent Coffee Hour on Monday, November 23^rd at 10 a.m. in our school library. Please let me know ahead of time if you plan on attending.
• Congratulations to the following September “Students of the Month!”

Gr. 6: Brandon Krobath (Tie-Dye); Salvatore Ciolino (Pinoeers & Team Unity)       

Gr. 7: Allison Mosichuk (All Stars); Caitlyn Pratt (Extreme); Alvin Krawiec (Unity)

Gr. 8: Elena Rittling (Aviators); Jake Waxgiser (Evolution); Hannah Tavares (Unity) Students are nominated by their teams of teachers for being exemplary students who serve as peer role models. Our October Students of the Month will be named soon.

Our Fall sports teams had great seasons. Mrs. Rachel Emery led a group of fantastic girls soccer players; Mr. Anthony Silva coached our boys soccer team to an undefeated season; and Mrs. Kerrie Carpenter led our boys and girls cross-country teams both to 2^nd place in the their division and then the boys placed 4^th and the girls placed 2^nd overall in the state championship meet.

• Our winter sports athletes are busy preparing for their upcoming seasons. All of our winter sports teams will be led by returning coaches: Wrestling will be under the direction of Coach Steve Gorman; Girls’ Basketball will be under the direction of Coach Elizabeth Shields; Boys’ Basketball will be under the direction of Coach Jack Madden; and our Cheerleading Program will be under the direction of Coaches Heather Jarry and Ellie Dwyer. Good luck to all of our winter sports athletes and coaches!

*No school on Veteran’s Day: There will be no school for students on Wednesday, Nov. 11^th (Veteran’s Day), and Thurs & Fri, Nov. 26^th & 27^th (Thanksgiving Break).

October, 2009                                                  Mr. Drolet        

The Principal’s Corner                                     richard.drolet@cumberlandschools.org           

 It’s October, which means it is NECAP testing month! Here’s some information for the month of October:

• Our late bus started this week on Sept. 28^th. It will arrive to NCMS each Monday and Wednesday afternoon to bring any student home who stays after school on a Monday or Wednesday. The late bus pick up time is 3:15 p.m. Students must have a signed pass from the staff member with whom they stayed after in order to ride the late bus. There will not be a late bus on the 3^rd Wednesday of each month due to teacher meetings.
• The Drama Club will now start to meet on Friday afternoons until 4 p.m. The Drama Club is coordinated through our PTO and will once again work in conjunction with Trinity Rep. Student generated performances will be presented in the Spring. Thanks to Mr. Andraly Horn for coordinating our Drama program!
• NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) testing will take place this month. The tests will be administered to students during the weeks of October 5^th, 13^th, and 19^th. We ask for your support in getting your students to school on time and avoiding the scheduling of appointments, especially during the mornings, during these aforementioned weeks. It is also important to make sure that our students are well-rested and have eaten a healthy breakfast (no sugary foods, like sugar cereal or Pop Tarts). In the future, these test results will be mailed home to you and they will be analyzed by teachers and school administration; the data from these high-stakes tests will also be used to assist us with placing students. All students are tested in mathematics and reading, and 8^th grade students will also be tested in writing.
• Progress Reports for core classes for the first quarter marking period should be mailed home October 14^th. Please contact your child’s guidance counselor for a copy if you do not receive one by Saturday, October 17^th. The first quarter will close on Friday, November 6^th.

• Student Council elections will be held shortly. Each homeroom will elect one representative that will serve on the Student Council for the 2009-2010 school year. In addition, there will be two at-large members chosen from each grade. Our student council members coordinate many activities such as school dances, Spirit Week, and various fundraising drives for charity.

• We will host our October Parent Coffee Hour on Tuesday, October 27^th, from 9-10 a.m. The theme for the October meeting will focus on NECAP testing, but there will also be time for any questions you might have to be addressed by myself or Mr. Masterson. Please let me know if you plan on attending. Thank you for your continued support in educating students at NCMS.
• We have scheduled our two Parent/Teacher Conference nights. Conferences will be from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The first night will be Thursday, Nov. 19. The second night will be Wednesday, Dec. 2^nd. You will have received your child's 1st quarter report card in the mail prior to these nights. Many teams of teachers might choose to hold team conferences in which you can have a little more time meeting with the whole team of teachers instead of meeting with the teachers individually. You will hear from the team of teachers ahead of time to schedule times on one of these two nights. If you do not hear from the team of teachers for you to schedule an individial team conference, parents of students with the last name beginning with the letter A-K should come on Nov. 19^th, while parents of students with the last name beginning with the letter L-Z should come on Dec. 2^nd.

September, 2009                                         Dr. Richard Drolet        

The Principal’s Corner                                     richard.drolet@cumberlandschools.org           

We are ready for our first month at NCMS for this 2009-2010 school year. Mr. Masterson and I are excited to start this new school year and and we look forward to working together to make this year a great one for your child. Some of the highlights for the month of September include:

• School Picture Day for all students is Tuesday, September 8^th. Please call Lifetouch at 828-5220 with any questions regarding the picture packages.
• Our Fall sports teams will soon be competing. We welcome back Mrs. Kerri Carpenter as our Boy’s & Girl’s Cross Country coach. We also welcome our new coaches, Mrs. Rachel Emery for Girl’s Soccer, and Mr. Anthony Silva for Boy’s Soccer. We wish all of our teams a safe and successful season.
• We also welcome our new PTO board members! Their names, titles, and e-mails are as follows: Liane Czirjak (Co-President) lianeczi@cox.net; Donna Provoyeur (Co-President) dprovoyeur@Lifespan.org; Sherri Walker (Vice President) tywalker3@verizon.net; Dina Smith (Treasurer) wpsmith@cox.net; and Debra Casale (Secretary). PTO meetings are typically the 2^nd Tuesday evening of each month at 7 p.m. in our school library. We hope to see you at our first PTO meeting on Tuesday night, October 13^th.
• Entertainment Books will be distributed to students soon. We/the PTO ask for your support in purchasing one for $25. This is the major school-wide fundraiser that the PTO sponsors all year. You can easily get the $25 back through coupons in the book. If you do not want to purchase the book, please make sure your child returns the book to their homeroom teacher.
• Mr. Masterson and I will continue our tradition of having “Coffee with the Parents” one morning a month. The first parent coffee hour will be on Thursday, September 24^th, from 8-9 a.m.
• We have two late bus days each week on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, which will begin on Monday, September 28^th. Late bus pick-up time is 3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Students must have a signed pass from the staff member with whom they stayed after in order to ride the late bus. Late buses will not run on the 3^rd Wednesday of each month due to teacher meetings.
• Our first school-wide dance is scheduled for Friday evening,October 2^nd, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold the week of September 21^st during lunches. Students must have a parent permission slip filled out before being able to buy a ticket to the dance. Permission slips will handed out in homeroom and they will also be available in the main office. During the dance, the DJ will set up in the cafeteria and we will also open the gym for students to be able to shoot baskets. We will also most likely have a 6^th grade social/dance on Friday afternoon, September 18^th, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. for 6^th graders only.
• Looking ahead, NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) testing will take place in October. The tests will most likely be administered to students during the weeks of October 5^th, 13^th, and 19^th. We ask for your support in getting your students to school on time and avoiding the scheduling of appointments, especially during the mornings, during these aforementioned weeks. It is also important to make sure that our students are well-rested and have eaten a healthy breakfast (no sugary foods, like sugar cereal or Pop Tarts). In the future, these high-stakes tests will be analyzed by teachers and the information may be used to assist us with placing students.