NSD eNews
Volume XVIII Issue 11
Mario Andrade, Superintendent of Schools
February 22, 2023
Dear NSD Families and Staff,
I had the great pleasure of taking part in an excellent high school Student Voice session with about 50 students from North and South last week. The session is part of our ongoing work to be sure all students are learning and thriving in school. The work will culminate next year as a formal Portrait of a Graduate/Learner, designed to refocus our collective vision for student success. To hear firsthand from students how important it is to be heard, seen, valued, and listened to on a daily basis in school was telling and reinforced our understanding of the importance of a supportive school culture that respects student point-of-view.
Monday was an important day for our staff, with nearly 50 different sessions offered in reading and math as well as other disciplines, and sessions promoting well-being and curricular planning. Thank you to our presenters, both internal and external to our school district, for leading the learning among our staff. My thanks to all who took part Monday.
Enjoy vacation next week!
Mario Andrade, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Nashua School District
Nashua Board of Education
The Nashua Board of Education met Monday with a full agenda and approved many motions, including passage of the tentative bargaining agreement that represents approximately 80 school and department secretaries from across the district.
Here are additional highlights from the meeting:
Finance and Operations: The Board approved purchases for touchscreen devices with storage carts for K-2 students at the Title I schools, student desks for Dr. NW Crisp Elementary School, and workbenches for high school engineering classes. The Board also approved regularly filed reports on invoices over $10,000 and budget transfers.
Policy: The Board approved nine recently updated policies:
B: Board of Education Governance and Operations
D: Fiscal Management
DBJ-R- Procedures for Transfer of Appropriation
DI-Fiscal Accounting and Reporting
DI-R-Fiscal Accounting and Reporting Regulations
I: Instruction
IHAK-Character and Citizenship Education
K: School-Community-Home Relations
KB-Title I Family and Community Engagement
Curriculum and Evaluation: The Board approved a counseling contract with the Youth Council, and contracts for the Lexia Core 5 reading program and Acadience reading assessment tool.
Human Resources: The Board reviewed and approved two policies that address the committee's purpose and district hiring process, and approved several personnel actions.
The next Nashua Board of Education meeting will be held Monday, March 13, 2023 at Nashua High School North.
Superintendent's Comments
February 20, 2023
Nashua Board of Education Meeting
Good evening,
I want to start my comments tonight with news about our high school students, without compromising their right to confidentiality. I want to let everyone know that we continue to work with the Nashua Police Department and Nashua North administrators to investigate the altercation that happened earlier this month outside the North gym, following a basketball game between North and Manchester Memorial.
We are addressing the incident. We are following proper protocol and disciplinary procedures and we have met with the students who were involved and with their families.
I feel it is important, with the gravity of the situation, that we let it be known that safety in our schools is paramount. We have counseled the students and their families and alternative learning plans have been developed for them. The plans allow the students to continue with their education but outside of our classrooms.
I must say this has been a difficult and unfortunate time for all of us involved. But we owe it to all our students and staff to know that we will not condone fighting and we are committed to providing a safe learning environment in our schools.
Thank you.
And now on to more uplifting news…
Elaine VanDyke Award
Congratulations to our School Breakfast Champions! Dahlia Daigle, our Food Service Director, and her staff won the inaugural, statewide Elaine VanDyke Award for going above and beyond for our students by advocating for good nutrition (note photo above). NSD is leading the way to promoting the importance of breakfast on school days.
Ms. Daigle was presented the VanDyke School Breakfast Champion Award at the NH Food and Nutrition Security Summit earlier this month. We are proud of the dedication of our food service staff. Certainly a well-deserved award for our staff!
DECA Success for both North and South
Congratulations to Nashua High School North and Nashua High School South DECA students who competed at the state level earlier this month and earned the opportunity to compete on the international level. They will join winners from the other forty-nine states, and from Canada, Germany, and Japan at the 2023 International Career Development DECA event in April in Orlando, Florida.
DECA is for students interested in marketing. Students compete in individual role plays, team role plays, and/or written events that are designed to develop their leadership skills. It is great to see so many students compete again after a COVID-19 hiatus. Again, congratulations to our DECA teams!
Kindergarten Registration
This is the second year of online registration and it’s working. Having online registration has allowed a convenient way for families to submit forms and to confirm the spelling of names, addresses, and contact information. In the first 24 hours of online registration earlier this month, we registered 91 kindergartners. We now have registered more than 200.
If you have or know of a family or neighbor who has a child turning five years old by September 30, please ask them to log into nashua.edu to register for kindergarten.
Thank you.
North and South Begin Transition from 5.4 GPA to 4.0 GPA
We published in the last edition of NSD eNews that our high schools are transiting to a new GPA scale to measure course grades, and we thought it worth repeating this important news. The current semester is the last semester of our current 5.4 GPA scale to measure course grades.
Starting with the new school year, the schools will do away with class rank and transition to a 4.0 calculation, which will include all courses. A 4.0 GPA scale is a more commonly used scale to measure grades.
Nashua High School Transition from 5.4 GPA to 4.0 GPA
Class of 2023 = 5.4 GPA Scale
Class of 2024, 2025, 2026 = 5.0 GPA Scale
Class of 2027 and subsequent classes = 4.0 GPA Scale
If you have questions about this transition, you can find FAQs that our guidance directors published on the North and South websites under the Academics tab. The FAQs are also published on the nashua.edu website under the Academics tab. If parents have specific questions, please contact their high school students’ guidance counselors.
Kids Heart Challenge at New Searles Elementary School
New Searles families have raised more than $5,000 to date for the American Heart Association with two weeks to go! New Searles students chose to move more this month for a more healthy heart! All families are challenged to watch the American Heart Association Hands-Only CPR You Can Save A Life Too video.
Kudos to Deanna Lavoie, New Searles physical education teacher and Kids Heart Challenge team leader.