Dear Parents and Students,

We hope you all had a restful, blessed and holy Christmas Holiday as well as a wonderful New Year's celebration. It is our hope that the Year 2008 brings much joy and happiness to all our Nashua Catholic Community.

Our Parent's/Grandparent's Mass will be at 9:00 AM on Jan. 10. The following day (Jan. 11) will be an Early Release Day for all NC Students as our staff will be involved in a Professional Development workshop. Second Quarter grades will close Jan. 15 and report cards will be issued on Jan. 23. The annual Father/Daughter Dance is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. We've always had a great response to this event and we hope that you Dads out there take advantage of what could be a last opportunity to spend a lovely eveniing having fun and dancing with your daughters. Parents are also reminded that there is no school on Monday, Jan. 21 in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Step-Up Day 2008:

Parents, please remember that there is no school on January 25, 2008 in order for us to host Step-Up Day for current 6th grade students. There have been many inquires from your friends and neighbors and we thank you for all your Nashua Catholic spirit! The NC Tuition Raffle is still going on so do remind any of your friends that are filling out an application to mention your name. Our drawing is in April!

Homework Online:

Please note that many of our teachers are posting tstudent homework assignments online. Please check our school website for links to teacher postings.

History Department News:

The history dept held their annual geography bee before our christmas break, bringing 13 students to the fore as the winners from their classes. On January 3rd, the run-off continued, where one winner, and two runners-up emerged. The winner of the nashua catholic geography bee for 2007-2008 is Andrew Yourell, an 8th grader. First runner-up was Jeremy Bayne, also in the 8th grade; second runner-up was Austin Bauer, another 8th grade student. Congratulations to all 13 of the finalists, both in 7th and 8th grade.

News from the English Department:

We are nearing the end of the first semester, and much is planned for the coming months. The following seventh and eighth grade students will participate in the school-wide spelling bee during study hall on January 24, 2008: Emma Brooks, Matthew Golden, Daniel Sypek, Avvin Radakrishnan, Joseph Campenella, Thomas Hart, Dana Alabadi, Jonah Soucy, Alex Ura, Sean Olbert, Allan McQuarrie, and Caleb Mitchell. We wish to congratulate these students for being chosen to participate in this year's bee and to wish them all good luck! Mrs. Maloney and Mrs. Pinsonneault will see them during study hall on the 24th in Room 406.

The eighth grade literature classes are wrapping up their study of short stories and American folk tales and are about to embark on an exploration of drama and poetry. The honors 8th grade will be reading Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and attending a professional performance at the Opera House in Boston of a British production of the musical My Fair Lady on Sunday, February 17, 2008. All of the literature classes, both 7th and 8th grade, will be discussing the history and elements of drama and reading an assortment of radio, television, stage, and film scripts as literature. The elements of poetry will also be taught this quarter, and various traditional and modern poems will be read, ranging from sonnets and ballads to ones narrative or lyrical in nature. Our students will also be asked to create some poetry of their own.

Speaking of creative writing, Writers Club continues to meet from 3:00-3:45 on Mondays. Students with a sincere interest in writing are always welcome.

Graduation News Flash from Mrs. McFadden:

It's the dead of winter and very cold, yet here I am working toward a sunny graduation day on June 12th. The first step of the process is the ordering of the graduation gowns. Your student received an order form and letter (which was to be given to you) the week of December 10th. This form was due back on December 21st. So here is step two! I need your help to get these forms back to me. Please ask your student for the letter/form and return this to me as soon as possible. If your student has lost the form, he or she can get one from either Mrs. Kirkwood or me. Step three, the ordering of the gowns must be done shortly. Thanks for your help!

Athletic News:

The four basketball teams are playing well. All four are in the post season play off hunt. Nashua Catholic will host the A2 division, (JV teams) Championship Games on Saturday, Feb 2nd. We will also play host to the 2008 NH Catholic Schools basketball tournament to be held in February. The wrestling team is improving with every match. We recently hosted four teams, great night for all participants. They continue to prepare for the Tri County Championships to be held at Pelham High School on Sunday, January 27th.

Development News:

The winner of this year's Design the Cover contest for the 2008 Fashion Show is Kai Chen. Congratulations to Kai! We are currently soliciting ads for the program book. If there are parents who have their own business or know a company that would like to advertise please contact Mr. B at rbsnlt@ncrjhs.org or the Program Chair, Mrs. Sue Mack at sue.mack@verani.com. We have several levels of opportunity available.

The Annual Father Daughter dance will be held on Saturday, January 19, from 7-10p. Tickets are $15 per couple.

News from the Nashua Catholic FIRST LEGO Team:

The Nashua Catholic FIRST LEGO League competed at the NH State Tournament on Saturday, December 8th at Nashua North High School, and the team did very well. The team competed against 51 other teams from all over New Hampshire, and they won 3rd place for their research presentation and received a LEGO trophy. The team's robot finished in 6th place in the robot competition.

Congratulations to the following team members:

8th graders: Matthew Zeeb, Andrew Nissen, Greg Bilodeau,

7th graders: Michael Raposo, Michael Aldana-Proulx, John Morgan Wight, Andrew Sanborn.

Trinity High School Admissions Exam:

Due to many requests, Trinity High School will host an additional Admissions Exam for 8th graders and transfer students on January 26th from 8:30 to 11:30. The doors open at 8:15 AM. Pre-registration is required. You may do so by downloading the Admissions Exam form from the THS website at www.trinity-hs.org and mailing it to Trinity High School, Admissions Office, 581 Bridge Street, Manchester, NH 03104, or by calling the Admissions Office at 668-1779 to register or to ask questions about the process.

Reminder:

Webster Avenue is for after school sport buses and sports car pools. In order to have Bartlett Avenue clear of this stagnant traffic for regular student pick up Webster Ave is for sports buses and sports car pools only. Please use Bartlett Avenue only for regular after school pick up.

January Calendar

2 Welcome back!

10 Parent's/Grandparent's Mass 9am

11 Early Release 11:30am

15 Grades Close

19 Father/Daughter Dance

21 No School

23 Report Cards - Parent Pick-up

25 Step Up Day for next year's students - No school for Gr. 7 & 8

27 Tri-County Wrestling Meet

27-2 Catholic Schools Week

25 Manchester Monarchs Face-Off for Catholic Schools Week Tickets $13 See Mr. Boissonneault

28 Basketball Playoffs Begin

February Calendar

6 Ash Wednesday Mass 9:00am All are welcome!

15 2008-2009 Registrations due into NC office

2 Basketball Championships

2 & 3 Wrestling Regionals

9 Tri-County Cheerleading Competition

9 &10 CYO Basketball Tourney

10 Wrestling - States

14 CYO Championships

17 Nashua's City Wrestling Tournament

18 No school

20 Progress Reports

25-29 Winter Recess - No School

God Bless,

Thomas Kelleher
Principal