December Newsletter
Principal's Corner
Dear IRS Families,
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday break and are ready for the winter months to begin. We have an Artist in Residence here this week helping the students to create a glass mobile that will be hung in our main entryway once completed. I cannot wait to see what the students create.
Our November Student of the month assembly was held today Friday December 1, 2023 and our December Student of the Month will be celebrated on Thursday, December 21st - right before the December break.
Our annual holiday concert this year is a band concert only and it will be on Monday, Dec 18, 2023. This concert will be for all bands in grades 5 through 8.
I hope you all stay safe and healthy as we begin the winter trudge.
Warmest Regards,
Kevin Towle
Principal
NELMS Spotlight School
Since then our administrators, teachers and paraeducators have worked diligently to change and improve what was needed to achieve this status. Only stopping during the couple years that the pandemic affected the school systems, along with the rest of the world.
Last winter we requested a new visiting committee to come observe the improvements that had been developed after the first visit. They met us with more recommendations which we started working on the new plan this past May.
In October, the staff at IRS welcomed back a third committee to show the improvements that have been made. On Wednesday November 29 Mr. Towle received the notification that the NELMS Spotlight committee unanimously voted that IRS receive the status of becoming a NELMS Spotlight School.
Throughout the past six years we have been visited by ten individuals that are part of NELMS Spotlight Schools coming from all over New England. The ten individuals made up the three distinct and different committees that have visited.
Within the next couple weeks we will receive the official letter and a banner to represent this status.
Employee Spotlight - 8th Grade
ROOTS Program Visit
Teachers from the Roots School in Corinth, Vermont lead us in a variety of activities showcasing primitive technologies and survival skills. This program ties in perfectly with our ancient civilizations curriculum, life science studies, the survival unit in reading and language arts, and our initiative to use our school environment as an outdoor classroom.
Winter Sports
Band Concert
November's Student of the Month
Peace Contest Winner
Quit Vaping Resources
Vaping is an everyday presence in many of our middle schoolers' lives. Whether it’s an ad on social media, social media creators actively using vapes online, through their friends, or the easy accessibility to the products, our students hear these messages an ads about vaping all the time.
As parents, you want to make sure that your students have the right information about the effects vaping has on your model. You also want them to come talk to you about what they are seeing or hearing. If you are struggle to come up with how to have the tough conversation the American Lung Association has created this website about vaping. (https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/helping-teens-quit/talk-about-vaping/conversation-guide)
Our grade 7th and 8th grade School Counselor, Laura Donica, has limited copies of the Parent Handbook from Operation Parent. These handbooks can help you speak with your child about vaping, social media, dating, and other important topics. They are also available, both paperback, Spanish, and digital copy, through their website https://www.operationparent.org/store
Here at school we try to intervene as much as possible. However, we know this is happening with more students than we are able to help. It is important to know your student has access to resources that can help them quit vaping if they have already started.
The state also has an anonymous website called My Life, My Quit. This program is free to kids in New Hampshire that are under the age of 18. The website can be found at https://nh.mylifemyquit.org/index.
Artist in Residence Program
This week we welcomed artist Hans Schepker to work with our students on creating art with geometry. All four grades worked hard on their glass projects. These pieces will be combined together to create a beautiful and unique mobile that will hang in the lobby.
A special shout out to our amazing art teacher, Smyth Bouchard, and library media specialist, Jennifer Hollander, for doing the research and scheduling a fun project for the students to do and to help beautify the school. We look forward to the mobile installation in early 2024.
Below you will find the link to Hans' website and a slideshow of our 7th grade students during their time of working on the project.
Upcoming School Events
Winter Band Concert
Monday, Dec 18, 2023, 07:00 PM
Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Royal Road, Canaan, NH, USA
Winter Break Begins
Winter breaks begins Friday December 22 through January 2, 2024.
Friday, Dec 22, 2023, 07:00 AM
Student Council News
The next Student Council meeting will be on December 13 at 730am.
Spirit Days for December are...
Wednesday December 6 is Christmas / Winter socks day
Thursday December 7 is Snowflake (or White/Blue) Day
Friday December 15 is Christmas / Holiday PJ Day
Thursday December 21 is Ugly Sweater Day
On December 20 & 21 the Student Council will be selling candy canes during lunch for $1 each!
Upcoming event in January - On Friday January 26 Student Council will host the 7th and 8th graders for the first dance of the year. It will be held here at IRS from 7pm - 9pm and the admission will be $7 per person.
PTSA News
Join the PTSA for the next meeting. PTSA is also still selling candy bars and there are several boxes available for pick up in the office. $60 should be paid when you pick up.
PTSA Meeting - Wednesday Dec. 6 at 6pm - IRS Library
Library News
Dartmouth's Outdoor Learning Experience
Our next session will begin mid-January, and we will start accepting applications now. OLE has put a due back date of January 12, 2024. Please choose the preference of day and return the forms either by email to eball@mvrsd.org or have your student bring the form back in.
Toys for Tots
Lost & Found
Remind your student to go through the Lost & Found - Any items still there on Thursday December 21st will be donated to the Listen Center.
Career Opportunities
If interested in joining the Mascoma River Valley School District please check out the career opportunities we have throughout the district.