The Common, Edition #14

The Nashoba Regional School District is committed to cultivating learning environments that support our students in advancing their social emotional learning and development. To this end, the NRSD Strategic Plan includes a goal of integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) best practices into daily instruction and student life.

In order to support our work and better understand the needs of our students, the district has partnered with Panorama, a platform that supports us in administering student surveys to assess support needs relative to social-emotional competencies and students’ overall sense of belonging within their school.

Panorama was selected because of its alignment to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning framework (CASEL), an evidenced informed framework that supports five core learning competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Between December 19th-22nd, the district will administer surveys to students in grades 3-12. We will reassess students later in the spring. Responses to these surveys will provide us with invaluable insights into student experiences so that we can improve and enhance our practices to better meet student needs.

The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on competencies such as: Growth Mindset, Self Efficacy, Self Management, Social Awareness, Emotional Regulation, and Sense of Belonging. We have provided some sample questions below to give you an idea of the type of questions the survey asks.

“If you fail to reach an important goal, how likely are you to try again?”

“How confident are you that you can learn all of the material presented in your classes?”

“Overall, how much do you feel like you belong at your school?”

The survey is short and will be completed by students anonymously this fall. The goal here is for us to engage our student voices to look for patterns and trends on a macro level, by grade level and by school. Should you wish to view the survey in its entirety, please feel free to reach out to your building principal directly.

We hope to have all of our students participate. While our goal is 100% participation, parents/guardians may choose to not have their child participate. The survey is voluntary, and your child can skip any question or choose not to participate. If you prefer your child not to participate in this survey, please fill out the Opt Out Form by December 16, 2022.

Today, December 2nd is dedicated to National Special Education Day. On December 2, 1972, the

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) was signed into law. This law mandated that children

with disabilities were entitled to the same free appropriate public education to eligible

students. Within the law, Congress stated “Disability is a natural part of the human experience

and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society.

Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our

national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and

economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.” The implementation of this law

ensured the rights of children with special education, promoted the efforts to educate students

with disabilities and raised disability awareness.

On this day, we should be mindful that all of our students have exceptional abilities. It is

important that we celebrate our differences and recognize that is what makes us unique. We

thank our students, families and teachers who deserve our recognition as they drive us to

improve the teaching and learning for all students in our schools.

Nashoba Regional School District

SEPAC General Business Meeting

Monday, December 5 · 7:00 – 8:30pm

Via Google Meet joining info

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/efi-kdib-rje

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 406-686-2498‬ PIN: ‪632 235 954‬#

During this Thanksgiving Holiday season, NRSD was able to assist 69 families with food baskets and grocery cards from generous donations from the Bolton Community Fund and Mission of Grace. Baskets were delivered by our Health Services and Resource Nurse.

Celebrating everyday greatness! Is there a Nashoba teacher or staff member out there who you think deserves some special recognition? Send a Nashoba Notable Award their way! Fill out the form below and thank a Nashoba employee today!

Nashoba Notable Awards thank Nashoba employees for supporting students, families, and their school communities in all ways great and small.

Employees will receive a certificate that includes a brief explanation from the nominator of why they are Nashoba Notable. This form is open to everyone. Students, families, staff and community members can send a Nashoba Notable Award to any Nashoba employee.

There is no limit to the number of Nashoba Notable Awards someone may receive. Thank a Nashoba employee today!

Click here to tell someone they are Nashoba Notable!

Checking out a new 3D book in the Florence Sawyer Library.

The full day preschool class celebrated Family Literacy Month by inviting parents to join them in The Center School library for a story and activity. Jenna Fitzgerald, the school librarian, read Old Bear by Kevin Henkes and the children borrowed books from the “preschool collection” to read at home. The children and their parents also decorated bookmarks.

Grade 6 Engineering creating water flow systems

The NRHS winter sport season is off to a good start and the swim team is ready to go!