NIS Weekly News
Nantucket Intermediate School - July 13, 2020
NPS Return to School Survey for Families - Due Tomorrow July 14th
Dear valued NIS families,
We need your help. Below you will find a link to an important survey, the first of several, to assist us with gathering needed information pertaining to the opening of school this fall. Your responses will guide us as we strive to develop concrete plans for our in-person (as many students as possible back in our school buildings), hybrid (some students in our school buildings, some following remote learning), and remote learning (all students learning from home) models. Your voice is critical, so please complete this survey by Tuesday, July 14th. If you have more than one student in the district, kindly fill out a survey for each student. As always, please reach out with any questions.
NPS Return to School Survey for Families
With great appreciation,
Principal
Nantucket Intermediate School
Espanol:
Queridas familias valoradas,
Necesitamos su ayuda. A continuación encontrará un enlace a una encuesta importante, la primera de varias, para ayudarnos a reunir la información necesaria sobre el regreso a la escuela este otoño. Sus respuestas nos guiarán mientras nos esforzamos por desarrollar planes concretos para nuestra en persona (tantos estudiantes como sea posible en nuestros edificios escolares), híbridos (algunos estudiantes en nuestros edificios escolares, algunos siguiendo el aprendizaje remoto) y el aprendizaje remoto (todo estudiantes que aprenden desde casa) modelos. Su voz es importante, así que complete esta encuesta antes del martes 14 de julio. Si tiene más de un estudiante en el distrito, por favor complete una encuesta para cada estudiante. Como siempre, comuníquese con cualquier pregunta.
Encuesta de regreso a la escuela
Con gran aprecio,
Evemarie McNeil
Principal
2019-2020 Art Work Update
Hello NIS families!
I know many of you are excited to see what your artists worked on this year before virtual learning began!
Our 5th graders collected their artwork on the on June 22nd.
The plan for our third and fourth graders is to return their work in September when we hopefully get back to school. Their work will be hung up around the building to celebrate their return and to bring joy and color to our building throughout the month! Their work will then be sent home for families to enjoy!!
Thank you!
Ms. Held
NIS Student Summer Book Club
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As a reminder and final call for families who are interested, NIS would like to organize book clubs this summer! In an effort to keep students reading and thinking, we have selected two books that we feel will continue to support efforts to counter racist socialization and racial bias. Children’s books are one of the most effective and practical tools for initiating these critical conversations, and can also be used to model what it means to resist and dismantle oppression. The two texts that have been selected for the books clubs this summer are:
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
From Common Sense Media: When CLEAN GETAWAY begins, Scoob, an 11-year-old Black boy is in an RV with his white grandmother. She's invited him on a road trip. Scoob is grounded after being suspended from school, and his dad has canceled spring break plans. Traveling with G'ma is a welcome loophole. Scoob soon learns that G'ma has sold her house to buy the fancy Winnebago. They set off through the southern United States, often consulting G'ma's store of old maps and the Green Book, a guide African Americans used during the Jim Crow era to find lodging and eating places that would serve them. Scoob learns that they are following the route of an unfinished trip G'ma took with his grandfather back in the 1960s. Scoob appreciates that G'ma shares old photos and previously secret family stories as well as some lessons about history. But something is off and his grandmother is acting strange. She drinks alcohol, which he's never known her to do. She sometimes seems lost in thought and calls him by her husband's name. She dines and dashes. He thinks, though he can't be sure, that he caught her shoplifting at a jewelry store. When she throws away her phone as they make their way to the Mexican border, he really gets worried.
Blended by Sharon Draper
From sharondraper.com: Eleven-year-old Isabella lives in two worlds. She’s a double-backpack-carrying child of divorce, so she lives with her mom one week, and her dad the next. In addition, she’s bi-racial, and she sees herself as the caramel swirl milkshake that resulted from her mom’s vanilla and her dad’s chocolate ice cream. Izzy is an accomplished pianist, and as she practices for a crucial recital, the black keys and the white keys of her life combine to create an unexpected symphony of race, terror, and finally peace.
How the Book Clubs will work:
Talk to your child if they would like to participate and about which book they would like to read. Complete the Book Club Interest Survey
Parents and caregivers - consider hosting or facilitating a book club! We will provide you information and suggestions to use.
Use the Padlet for information about places that you could meet and ways to engage with other kids. Clean Getaway Padlet
Please indicate if you are interested by completing this short survey: Book Club Interest Survey
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
NIS Summer Book Club 2020
School Counselor Summer Information
School Counselor Summer Office Hours
Wednesdays: 8:00 - 2:30 PM
During the summer one of our school counselors or social worker will be working at NIS each Wednesday. Students, caregivers, parents, and families may call NIS requesting to speak to the counselor working. You can also email the counselor(s) to set up an appointment.
Mr. Aaron Peckham peckhama@npsk.org
Ms. Alexandra Rosenberg rosenberga@npsk.org
Chromebooks & Summer
Parents and students:
As you might imagine, we have been having many conversations about how best to handle the Chromebooks this summer and going into next school year. Administration, with input from the Technology department, has decided to allow students to keep their Chromebooks over the summer in hopes of addressing further learning opportunities and equity issues. That being said, many grades normally get newer Chromebooks before September. The Tech staff will work with families to upgrade and/or swap out the Chromebooks over the summer.
In order to receive the new device or continue to use any device beyond August 1, families must log onto the Aspen Family Portal (https://www.npsk.org/domain/1321) and verify the student information. You may begin doing this at any time. If you are not able to complete the verification by August 1, the Chromebook will be disabled.
For all grades:
If you do not want to use your Chromebook over the summer, you may drop off the Chromebooks at any time at the front entrance of Nantucket Intermediate School. The closest parking lot is accessed from Backus Lane off Surfside Rd.
If your Chromebook needs repair, please tape a note on it and drop it off at the entrance of NIS.
If you have multiple Chromebooks, please drop off whichever one you are not using at the entrance to NIS.
For grades K-11 (as of June 1):
You will need to verify the student information by August 1 to continue using your Chromebook.
Grades 5 and 8, normally you would be provided with a new Chromebook as you enter 6th and 9th grade, but due to Covid, we may not be able to get them in time.
Mifi devices:
Families with mifi devices are welcome to keep them if you need them.
If you no longer need the device, please drop it off at the entrance to NIS.
If you have any questions, please let us know. (https://www.npsk.org/cms/module/selectsurvey/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=103)
Have a wonderful summer! Keep learning and enjoying our beautiful island.
Jenn Erichsen
Director of Technology
508-228-7280 ext 1213
2020 Summer Reading Program at Nantucket Atheneum
Happy summer everyone!
This summer may be the most important summer for your children to develop a habit of reading at least 20 minutes per day. The Atheneum is excited to be able to offer a fun and interactive way that may help inspire them. Beanstack is an online program and app that enables readers of all ages to register in seconds as individuals or a family. Participants earn virtual badges as they reach certain milestones. I strongly encourage you to sign up! It is easy! Begin by clicking here nantucketatheneum.beanstack.org
We have also created a Weezie Library for Children FB page serving youth from birth through age 18. This will be the primary way we will communicate with our patrons during this time. We’ll offer Grab-and-Go programming, downloadable activities, Story Walks, LIVE performances, breaking library news, and much more. We hope you will join us. FB The Weezie Library for Children
All of us at the library miss our patrons. Please feel free to call us with questions or requests (or to say “hello”) 508-228-1110 x103, we’d love to hear from you. While the library is not open yet, we are offering curbside pick-up and will be at the desk M-F 10-2 for the time being.
Have a wonderful summer. I hope we’re all back together again soon.
Stay safe and well,
Leslie Malcolm
For NPS District Information
Be sure to check the www.npsk.org website for specific District communications and updates.
Nantucket Intermediate School
Email: mcneile@npsk.org
Website: https://www.npsk.org/NIS
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA, USA
Phone: 508-228-7290
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nantucketintermediateschool/
Twitter: @NISlearners
Frequently Asked Questions about Reopening School - DESE
Our guidance from the state with regard to reopening schools is informed frequently. On Friday, July 10th a new document came out to provide more information to districts in Massachusetts. Here are some of the Commissioner of Education's comments regarding district expectations and clarity provided by the newest document linked below:
At this time, given the current low transmission rates of COVID-19 in the state, and pursuant to emergency regulations recently passed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, we are asking districts and schools to prioritize in-person instruction. Specifically, we have asked districts to focus on assessing the feasibility of bringing back students in-person, and those feasibility studies should be taking place in your districts now.
While you continue working to flesh out these models, I am requesting that you hold off on announcing any final decisions about what reopening will look like for the fall in your district until early August. While preparations for the fall must move forward, we are still waiting for key information that will directly impact the best fit reopening model for each community. This includes more information about financial resources that may be available, including the possibility of a second federal stimulus package, and any change in local COVID-19 transmission rates.
I understand that local communities are eager for districts to finalize their reopening plans as soon as possible. At the same time, I am confident that our families and students will be better served by a thoughtful planning process that works first to explore options and takes in critical additional information before local plans are finalized.
To support your planning, we have attached our first installment of answers to frequently asked questions. We will continue to release FAQs with updates and covering additional topics as more details become available.
Thank you for all of your tireless work on behalf of our students.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner