Middle School Parent Message
March 12, 2021
Important Dates:
Calendar for 3rd Marking Period can be found at this link.
Course Selection Process in PowerSchool Parent Portal is OPEN
March 14: Daylight Saving Time Begins (2 am)
March 17: Course Selection Portal Closes
March 19: Early Dismissal of Students/Teacher PD
March 22: High School Counselors Begin to Meet with 8th Grade Students
March 29: Middle School Counselors Begin to Meet with 7th Grade Students
March 29: Cohorts A, B & F on premises (Monday)
March 30: Cohorts A, B & F on premises (Tuesday)
March 31: Cohorts C, D & F on premises (Wednesday)
April 1: C, D & F on premises (Thursday)
April 1: Early Dismissal
April 2 to 6: School Closed for Spring Break
April 7: School Resumes
April 16: End of MP3
April 19: MP4 Begins
Good Afternoon:
Course Selection: Course selection process for next year has begun. The Academic Directors visited the eighth grade health classes on Wednesday, March 3 to go over the key aspects of the high school scheduling process and course selection. Videos describing some of the high school course options can be found at this link.
For our current seventh graders, the middle school counselors met with them during their physical education classes to go over scheduling options with them.
All course selection will be done electronically through PowerSchool. The Parent Portal opened on Wednesday, March 3rd for current 7th and 8th grade students to select their courses and will close on Wednesday, March 17th (that is next week).
The instructions for course selection can be found here simply click on the appropriate class:
Class of 2025 (Current 8th Grade Students): High School counselors will begin meeting with students individually to finalize selections on Monday, March 22nd.
Class of 2026 (Current 7th Grade Students): Middle school counselors will begin meeting with students individually on Monday, March 29th to finalize selections.
Students should continue to check their email (and your spam folder) for communication from the Counseling Department. Course selection appointments to confirm selections are being held virtually. Students can access their email by logging in through the link on the website, ‘Student Email’ (it is not Gmail account!). Students can also reach out to their counselor via email or through Counselor Connect at any time. Since this is the first year using online course selections on PowerSchool, we are cleaning up several errors to ensure your course selections are accurate. If you do not meet with your counselor, you may not have the correct selections entered.
Clinical Corner Spotlight: Seven tips for talking to a loved one about their mental health. While 1 in 5 people will experience a diagnosable mental health condition in their lives, 5 out of 5 people will go through a challenging time that affects their mental health. There are simple things that every person can say or do to help the people in their life who are struggling to get through the tough times. Please click the link to access the full webpage:
https://screening.mhanational.org/content/7-tips-talking-loved-one-about-their-mental-health/
Yearbook Photos: The yearbook staff needs YOUR help in gathering photos from this year. Please consider helping us by uploading a photo or two each month to https://images.jostens.com/415623968. Thank you!
Looking to Spring Sports: We are now accepting Athletic Participation packets for the Sprinter/Spring Seasons. A link to the packets can be found here.
Wrestling – March 1st, 2021 All Other Spring Sports – April 12th, 2021
If your child’s physical exam is current and does not expire 60 days prior to the start of the season, please complete pages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the packet and submit them electronically to middleschoolathletics@nburlington.com . If your child is in need of a new physical, please contact your physician’s office to secure an appointment. Please take page 3, 5 and 6 of the packet with you so that your doctor can complete the physical forms. Please submit the entire packet (pages 1-7) electronically to
middleschoolathletics@nburlington.com.
At this point, we anticipate that the spring season will be similar to the fall season with mostly intramural competitions, but the situation remains fluid.
New medical guidelines have been issued at the local and nationwide levels recommending any person who has been Covid-19 Positive or presumed (suspected) Covid-19 Positive must be medically cleared after COVID-19 infection and before participation in sports, gym, or any school physical activity as there is a risk of post-Covid cardiac complications. Please contact the school nurse with any questions.
Open for Business! The Hound Pound, NBC Middle School’s campus store is having a I'm So Lucky Sale for the month of March...take 15% off your entire order by using the code IMSOLUCKY on our website. Lots of new merchandise...take a look at:
www.squareup.com/store/houndpo...
NB Greenhouse Fundraiser: Please help support the NB Greenhouse Club with your purchase of See's Chocolates. Click the Easter link for holiday wrapped Easter assortments or click the Gold box to view other items sent in all occasion gift wrap. orders must be placed by March 19 so Easter items will arrive in time for Easter. Thank you for your support.
Ordering School Lunch for ALL Students 18 Years and under: Please NOTE: Our pickup window is 10 am through 11:15 am on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Ordering School Lunch for ALL Students 18 Years and under: Please note that Lunches are FREE FOR ALL YOUR STUDENTS through the month of June 2021. PLEASE CONSIDER ORDERING LUNCHES. Use the link below to place an order:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdSCfgxym6WPcJofHaCxJa5lS1jTZzsRyr2-UUxGsXWCpnxbg/viewform
The pick-up location is near the Middle School’s rear entrance (Middle School Door C-3 that leads into the teachers’ lounge) via the Island Road entrance and taking the 1st left to go toward the back of the school. Masks must be worn at all times and for social distancing purposes, NB will limit the number of people entering the middle school facility at one time.
Message from the Middle School Nurse: Mrs. Theresa Pugliese, 609.298.3900, ext. 4030
It is important to emphasize a few points with regard to health and safety. Most importantly, students should not come to school if they are sick. The remote option is available on a day to day basis if a student has any sick symptoms on a day that was supposed to be an in person school day.
The New Jersey Department acknowledges COVID-19 infection among school children is often without any symptoms. Therefore, the NJDOH recommends no student should attend school with any COVID-19 like symptoms until they have either received a negative COVID-19 Test OR have completed a 10 day Isolation period including fever-free for 24 hours and sick symptoms resolved or improved.
Please continue to share any COVID-19 cases or exposures with our school nurses. We ask that you directly contact your student’s nurse as this information is critical for monitoring community incidence & planning for safely keeping our school open.
Mrs. Theresa Pugliese, RN, MS, NJ-CSN : tpugliese@nburlington.com
Phone (609) 298-3900 Ext 4030
New medical guidelines have been issued at local and nationwide levels recommending any person who has been Covid-19 Positive or presumed (suspected) Covid-19 Positive must be medically cleared after COVID-19 infection and before participation in sports, gym, or any school physical activity to rule out the risk of potentially dangerous post-Covid cardiac complications.
Travel Advisories: As we anticipate Spring Recess April 2 - April 6th, please remember we must still adhere to NJ Travel Quarantine Advisories: If your student travels outside our immediate area (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, & Delaware), the student will need to quarantine for 10 days upon date of return to NJ.
Students are able to attend all of their classes virtually during that time, even if they are in the hybrid model. In the event your child will be quarantining and attending school virtually during that time, please notify your child’s counselor & school nurse A link to travel advisories is included below:
NJ Travel Quarantine Information.
Health & Safety Reminders:
COVID Cannot test out of Quarantine
COVID-How-Long-Isolate-Quarantine
Health & Safety Reminders:
National Honor Society Tutoring: Is your child in need of some extra help? NHS tutoring is here to assist! Virtual tutoring will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:30-2pm. All you need to do is have the student who is in need of help email the NHS adviser at jnewman@nburlington.com and then the student will receive a link to the virtual tutoring session.
Parent Teacher Student Connection (PTSC): Please remember to become a member of our organization this year. If you are already a member, thank you! You can access our link through the Northern Burlington site. Payments of $10 per family are accepted via check or through PayPal. It is important that we receive your contribution as this money is channeled back to our students in the form of mini grants, awarded to teachers for use in their classrooms, as well as Scholarships granted to seniors. We can always be reached via email at nburlingtonptsc@gmail.com.
Have a good weekend. Don’t forget to “spring forward!”
Andrew Kearns, Ed.D.
Principal