September 8, 2023
Good Afternoon,
Here are the weekly updates from the middle school:.
Mark Your Calendars for Important Dates:
Week of Sept. 11: Student Activity Fair during lunch periods
Sept. 21: MS Back to School Night: In person, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Oct. 9: No School for Students
Oct. 12: High School Open House (open to 8th graders, the class of 2028)
Oct. 17: Middle School Picture Day
Chromebooks: Chromebooks are an essential part of class, EVERYDAY! It is really important that students have their Chromebook charged and with them when they come to school. It’s like showing up to school in the 1990s without your notebook, textbook, and homework (combined). So please work with your child to create a routine where to charge the Chromebook every night and bring it with them to school everyday. A few points are noted below:
If a student does not have their Chromebook/charger, they will be sent to the main office to call a parent/guardian to bring what they are missing.
Students who have non-working Chromebooks should report to the main office for a loaner. When students receive their repaired Chromebook, it is expected that they return the loaner.
The cost to replace a charger is $35.
The cost to replace a Chromebook will depend on the age of the Chromebook.
Back to School Night: The middle school Back to School Night is Thursday, September 21, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Look for more information to follow. In the meantime, please mark your calendars. We look forward to meeting you.
After School Activities: Our fall sports teams will begin their practices next week. Also, some of our clubs and activities will be holding their organizational meetings. Students should listen carefully to morning announcements for information about when different meetings will occur. These announcements are published in the Daily Bulletin on PowerSchool for easy reference. It is important that students and their families communicate about what days and times the student will be staying after school to avoid any undue concern.
Assessment Schedule
During the course of the school year, students will participate in various standardized assessments. Assessment Information and NB’s Assessment Schedule is available on the Office of Curriculum and Instruction (Academics) website in the Student Assessment section.
Message from the School Nurse: Happy 2023-2024 School Year! First, a reminder about being cleared to take part in fall sport and it is a multistep process. In order to be cleared to participate in a Middle School Sport, your parent/guardian must create an account and register each student on the Northern Sports website https://northernburlington-ar.rschooltoday.com/ The forms there must be completed in full and that includes using the specific forms to have your doctor complete a specific sports physical and then upload it to the account. Then the school nurse and school doctor must review and approve it. THis process takes time and students submitting paperwork at this time will not be cleared before the start of practices, next week. However, we will work to get you cleared as soon as possible.
Second, here is an update on our school guidelines, with regard to infection control and preventing illness in school. They have not changed from last year. Please continue to keep students home for any sick symptoms. Please continue to report any positive COVID infections and Flu infections to your school nurse. Nursing will work with you and Administration to ensure that students home sick have excused absences. While COVID infection incidence is low, boosters are still reformulated for variants and recommended.
The Northern Burlington School District follows the most current New Jersey Department of Health guidance recognizing COVID as a community infectious disease- focused on prevention, identification and management.
Layered COVIDProtection Strategies:
Vaccination
Testing when COVID Compatible sick symptoms occur
Masking when exposed and/or recovering.
*IF COVID Positive: Individuals who test COVID Positive should: Stay home & isolate for at least 5 full days from onset of symptoms or 5 days from date of positive test if asymptomatic. May return Day 6 if fever free for 24 hours and have no symptoms/improving symptoms but should wear a mask when around others for an additional 5 days or until they test negative using two antigen tests collected at least 48 hours apart starting on day 6.
*IF EXPOSED to someone with COVID: (Close Contact=6 feet 15 min or >during 24H period): Quarantine is no longer recommended for people who are exposed to COVID-19 as long as they remain asymptomatic.
Exposed individuals should wear a mask for 10 days after exposure and get tested when sick or on day 6 after the last time of exposure.
Exception–a positive test within the last 30 days & asymptomatic–individual does not need to test.
Students/staff with sick symptoms should stay home.
If symptoms are COVID Compatible, student/staff should have at least one negative COVID test result (recommended 2 negative COVID tests 48 hours apart) and improvement/resolution of sick symptoms before returning to school.
Reminder of what is still considered "COVID Compatible" sick symptoms for which individual should have a COVID Test:
• At least two of the following symptoms: fever, chills, shivers, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion or runny nose; OR
• At least one of the following symptoms: new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or sense of smell.
https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/documents/topics/NCOV/PH_Recommendations_K-12_Childcare_Camp.pdf
Clinical Corner: Welcome back to school! What a mixed bag of feelings related to that sentence! Excitement, fear, stress, happiness…how amazing that in 10 weeks time we can get so used to not being in a school routine and then have to adjust all over again. Reacquainting ourselves with our peers, starting over with teachers and colleagues, even figuring out what to do for lunch could make anyone feel anxious. One way anxiety can be defined is worry over a threat that is still in your future. Emily Delzell, author of the article “How to Stop Feeling Anxious Right Now”, shares strategies to minimize that threat. One is to accept it and the other is to remember that you can have anxiety AND still perform well. Your body’s response to anxiety is its way of coming to your rescue and giving you energy(albeit uncomfortable), that would allow you to fight off the threat. When you avoid your anxiety by instantly distracting yourself, you never learn to deal with it, thus never giving yourself the chance to realize that you can tolerate it. The article also mentions doing a reality check and asking yourself, “On a scale of 1-100 how likely is it that the thing I am anxious about will happen?” Yet another option is to put your anxiety on a schedule: pick a 15-minute window during the day to think about your anxiety. When the anxious thoughts come outside of that time tell them to come back tomorrow at the scheduled time! There are too many great strategies in this article to list, so please read it in full here and pick a few to try! Hopefully this will help you face the first day of school head on, talking back to the bully that is anxiety and have a great year!
PTSC: Parent Teacher Student Connection (PTSC): Welcome back! The PTSC is the parent, teacher, and student organization for the Northern Burlington middle school and high school. Check out our website at www.nburlington.com/page/ptsc for more information and to become a member!
Northern FFA Fall Plant Sales: The Northern FFA Chapter will be holding 3 Fall Plant Sales during the month of September & October. Please see the flier for sale dates & times. Horticulture students have been working hard over the summer propagating, planting, and growing fall crops - including mums & pansies! This year we are happy to offer a unique selection of plants to our customers. We look forward to seeing you during the plant sale days! In addition to the sale dates below, the greenhouse will be open for plant sales during the High School Back-to-School Night on Thursday, September 14th from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm and at the HS Open House on Thursday, October 12th from 6:30pm-8:30pm.
Address: Northern Burlington County Regional High School, Greenhouse Complex, 160 Mansfield Road East, Columbus, NJ 08022
That is all for this week. Our first week of school coincided with a heat wave and there were certainly times when portions of our school were uncomfortable. Nonetheless, our students took care of business in spite of being uncomfortable, at times. That resilience was good to see.
Have a great weekend.
Andrew Kearns, Ed.D.
Principal