December is quickly upon as, along with three quick weeks before our winter break. As a reminder when dropping off your students, please make sure you pull all the way forward in the drop off area in the rear of the building for students safety and an efficient drop off. It is also encouraged to drop students off in front of the school on Nichols street, and do not drop students off in the faculty lots. This will become even more important as the weather worsens this winter, and we will have a little bit of practice tomorrow morning.
Here are some updates from NHS and some events to put on your calendar;
Challenge Day - On Tuesday November 29th, 92 students and 25 teachers and community members participated in Norwood High School’s first Challenge Day. Challenge Day is a full day interactive program that encourages students to take a step out of their comfort zone and get to know their classmates (and themselves) beyond first impressions. Our students were incredibly enthusiastic about the program, and have asked to do a second event in the spring - more details to follow. Our NHS TV program aired a story on Friday about Challenge Day that you can view at http://www.mustang.media/nhs-
A special thank you to Leah Stevens, Lisa Colosimo, Kristen McDonnell and the NHS Guidance staff for helping this event come together! Our custodial staff also put in some long hours on Monday evening and Tuesday morning to help this work - a true testament to the strength and dedication of our NHS community!
Honor Roll - As you know Term 1 student report cards have gone out via iParent a few days ago. We are experiencing some technical difficulties with honor roll status for some students. We are looking into this issue and hope it will be resolved as soon as possible. This may affect the status of your child's honor roll.
Unfortunately, this error from iPass also resulted in 24 students being invited to apply for the National Honor Society, although they did not meet the academic requirements. We have examined this error closely, and have determined that the iPass software ‘update’ was the cause of the faulty report. While it is another reminder about why we are switching to the X2/Aspen student information system, it by no means assuages the let down experienced by some of our students.
Given that the students in this situation made no mistake, and that the error is ours, we met with the students before the end of the day Friday to offer them an opportunity to address their academic records to make them eligible to apply to the National Honor Society by using their December 14th progress report grades. This was explained in more detail in a letter to each student and parent - a copy of that letter was sent home to each of those students.
Given that an updated report from iPass could not reliably identify other affected students, and in order to be equitable to other students in similar academic standing, we will extend this same opportunity to other Juniors and Seniors with a similar academic profile. If you think your child should be eligible to apply to our National Honor Society, please contact your student’s guidance counselor, who will inform our National Honor Society advisors if the student should receive an application.
Attention Senior parents - If you would like to purchase a congratulatory ad in the 2017 Yearbook for your graduating student, visit www.norwoodyearbooklounge.com and fill out the form on the "Parent Ads" tab. All materials for Parent Ads are due by December 23, 2016.
Post Prom Party Committee – Help Needed! - The Post Prom Party is a long-standing tradition and a point of pride for the Norwood community that serves to keep students safe on prom night. Students create lasting memories with their classmates and peers as their high school careers come to a close. The committee is in need of more volunteers to help plan and carry out this year's party. Meetings are 1-2 Mondays per month. Parents and students of all grades are welcome. The next meeting is Monday, December 5 at 7pm in the NHS library. Contact Mrs. Kaplan for more information:
CALENDAR REMINDERS
December 7th - 1pm dismissal - Students will be dismissed at 1pm on Wednesday, Lunch will be served.
December 23rd - 11:30pm dismissal - lunch will not be served.