As you can see, we are trying a new format.....

Jan 26: End of Q2

Feb 16: School in Session to make up for snow closure

Feb 19: School Closed - Presidents’ Day

Mar 22-23: MS Spring Musical

This morning, the middle school conducted a lockdown drill that coincided with arrival time. This drill is part of our bimonthly safety and security drills. Our practice is to alert parents when we conduct a drill via text message. Typically, we do this after the drill. However, this morning, because of the timing, we alerted parents moments before the drill began. We conducted the drill with assistance from the Mansfield Township Police and our assessment was that it went well. Nonetheless, it was a jarring experience for some of our students because of when it took place and there was no advance warning. As a result, your child(ren) may want to talk to you about the experience when they get home.

Per the district calendar, the emergency snow closures will be February 16 and June 17. Please plan accordingly. An updated district calendar will be available after the February board meeting.

Looking ahead, The week of February 12 will be our Blue Grey Week int eh middle school. This is when we divide the middle school into Blue and Grey teams. The Blue Team is all students with a last name beginning with the letters A-K, and the Grey Team is all students with a last name beginning with the letters L-Z. Over the course of the week, there will be various dress day competitions as well as other contests during the day that will provide opportunities for students to earn points for their teams. More details will follow, but we wanted to provide a heads up.

One part of the competition is a FOOD DRIVE. Students earn points for their teams by bringing in non-perishable food items. At the end of the week, the food collected will be donated to a local food pantry.

We will provide more specifics about some of the themes and contests as we complete our planning with our Student Leaders for the Blue-Grey Week. In the meantime, we are looking forward a good competition between the two teams.

January 26, 2024 is the final date to order a yearbook with a personalized cover and/or accessories. Payments are made online via credit card or PayPal and can be split into three installments, if preferred. Additional options such as a plastic cover, additional autograph section (one is included in the book already), and other accessories are also available on the website. https://linktr.ee/nbcrmsyearbook

Spring sports registration is now open! If you already have an account, please log in with your username and password to register your student-athlete. If you are new to the system, please create an account and continue as a new user. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the athletic office at moneill@nburlington.com or call 609-298-3900, ext. 2093. It amy seem a long way off, but take care of it now.

The board of education approved a tentative calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. It can be found at this LINK.

Since January is always the month that people commit or re-commit to exercise or at least try to, I thought this article I found might be helpful in encouraging your child/student to think about exercise/activity a little differently (and yourself!). The article explains the concept of NEAT-Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis-all the calories that a person burns through their daily activity excluding purposeful physical exercise.The author Will Stone reports, “It’s not that NEAT should be considered a substitute for more structured bouts of intense physical exercise, which has its own well-established health benefits. But revving up NEAT can be more accessible for some people, especially those who don’t exercise as much, if at all.” It can help balance all the screen based activity we do which is largely sedentary. Here are some examples of how adolescents and adults can incorporate NEAT into their day especially when it’s difficult to fit in a 30 or 60 minute workout:

• Taking the stairs instead of the escalator at the mall

• Bobbing your leg up and down at your computer(yes-fidgeting)

• Shopping

• Household chores

• Making a meal

• Getting coffee with a friend and walking with it

• Even chewing gum!

The idea is just this: move more! The more you move, the more your body gets comfortable with it. It’s really just about being mindful. So maybe that is a good goal to start with and the extra movement will make working out easier too. Either way, it seems that it’s a good thing to do. For more on NEAT click here.

Please see this FLIER from our transportation office. The district is looking for full and part time bus drivers. The job includes free training to earn CDL, as well as flexible hours. Feel free to share this flier with others who may be interested.