April Newsletter

Dear Parents and Students,

We hope you all had a restful and enjoyable Easter Break. April portends to be a very busy month. Grades for the 3rd quarter will close on April 1 and report cards are scheduled to be issued on April 8. Beginning on April 7-10, all 7th and 8th graders will be taking the Terra Nova Achievement Tests. This battery of testing measures students' overall learning potential as well as what students know relative to national standards. It is a rigorous 4 days of testing ; your child should eat well and get plenty of rest during the testing days. On March 31, we e-mailed to all parents a copy of a letter from Mary Moran, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, in which she described the purpose of the testing and what it means for your child. I hope you had a chance to read the letter.

On another note, as the weather continues to get less wintry and more spring-like, students sometimes have a tendency to be less focused on their school work. Please continue to encourage your child to "stay the course" and end the school year on a positive note. Some of our teachers have noticed a tendency by some to be less attentive to homework assignments - both long and short term assignments. Please address this issue with your child as lack of homework assignments can have a negative impact on grades - i.e., especially for 8th graders with graduation looming. Students who fail two subjects for the year will not receive a NC diploma until failures are made up in summer school!

NC Students see first hand Catholic Faith in Action:

On March 26, we had an assembly at NC featuring Mr. Mike Carroll, a well established free lance photojournalist whose work has been featured in many nationally know publications and journals. In his work as a photojournalist, Mr. Carroll has travelled all over the world and has covered many interesting stories. Part of his work included covering the aftermath of the fall of communism in Eastern and Southeastern Europe - specifically Hungary and Romania. While in Romania Mr. Carroll photographed the deplorable and tragic conditions that thousands of children in that revolution torn nation were subject to as a result of a pediatric aids epidemic that reaked havoc on thousands of abandoned and orphaned children. Thus, in the face of all he witnessed and photographed (some of his pictures were quite telling and captivated our student audience) Mr. Carroll decided to act. He founded the Romanian Children's Relief which, since the early 1990's, has been instrumental in improving the lives and health care for thousands of Romanian Children. Mr. Carroll shared his experiences in this regard with our students and ended by telling them that,like him, they too might someday be faced with an opportunity to help others and bring about some good in the world; he hoped that they too would act on their faith and strive to help those most in need.

Further information can be found on the work of the Romanian Children's Relief Organization by going to their website at www.rcr.org.

Congratulations to the NC Destination Imagination Team:

The Nashua Catholic Destination Imagination team competed in the New Hampshire state finals competition on Saturday and came in second place overall! Their performance earned them a spot on Team New Hampshire, representing the state at Destination ImagiNation Global Finals in May at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where they will compete against teams from all 50 states and 20 countries. This is a tremendous accomplishment for these students and a huge honor for Nashua Catholic. Our team is the ONLY team out of all of the Nashua schools and the ONLY Catholic school in the state to make it to the global competition level.

The cost to send our DI Team to compete in the DI Global Finals is prohibitive. Therefore, in an attempt to help raise money to send our highly successful DI Team to Knoxville over the Memorial Day weekend, we are accepting donations from anyone who wants to help us defray costs. Please send your tax deductible contribution to Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School, 6 Bartlett Ave, Nashua, NH 03064. Make checks payable to Nashua Catholic and write DI in the memo section.

Student Spotlight:

This month's student spotlight goes to the Destination ImagiNation Team whose accomplishments are mentioned above. Team members include: Andrew Mahoney, Ethan Plumley, Rebecca Noyes, Gabriel Gellotti and Katie Mahoney (Infant Jesus School).

Notice to 7th Grade Parents:

WATCH for FORMS!
ENCLOSED in the 7th GRADE REPORT CARD ENVELOPE you will find forms pertaining to next year. Please fill these out and return to the office as soon as possible so that we can have the best start ever next fall.

LEVELING TEST FOR 2008-2009 NEW STUDENTS:

The Leveling Test at Nashua Catholic will be Saturday, May 10 at 8:30. We have scheduled a make-up test for Tuesday, May 13 at 8:15 a.m. If any student needs to use the make-up date the parents should let us know by calling the NC office at 882- 7011.

ADMISSIONS CORNER:

We are looking forward to our Annual Open House for 5th Graders and Parents. This is actually a wonderful opportunity for any family to see all three Diocesan Schools of Nashua presenting curriculum. We ask once again for your help in telling your friends and neighbors.

SPRING OPEN HOUSE FOR 5th GRADERS AND PARENTS:

Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School
Infant Jesus School
and St. Christopher School

OPEN HOUSE NIGHT
For 5th Grade Students and Parents
Thursday, May 8, 2008
6:30pm to 8:00pm
Nashua Catholic
6 Bartlett Avenue
Nashua, NH

The evening will highlight the curriculum and opportunities for students from 6th through 8th grades in the Diocesan Catholic School System of Nashua. Principals, teachers and staff from the three schools will be on hand to answer your question. Tours of Nashua Catholic Junior High School will be given. All are welcome!

WEBSTER AVENUE IN THE AFTERNOON:

Parking on Webster Avenue (between Columbia Ave. and Bartlett Ave. bihing the building) is limited and should only be used for sports carpools, sports buses and urgent needs that require the parent to come in to the school in the last moments of the day to excuse the student.

NC RAFFLE! This is the last month!
WIN $200 Toward NC Tuition!

*No tickets to buy!
*Recommend Nashua Catholic
*All Applications received between April 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008 listing you as the recommending family will earn you a NC Raffle ticket.
*No limits
This is NC's way of thanking you for being GREAT!

News from the Business Office:

Just a quick reminder to the parents regarding their last tuition payments. For those folks who are paying on a monthly basis their last payments are due April 1 - please remember to deduct your $200/student.

News from the English Department:

For the second year in a row, Nashua Catholic's representative won the Nashua Regional Spelling Bee and went on to compete at the state level. The regional spelling bee took place at the Elks Lodge in Nashua, at 1:00 P.M. on Sunday, March 9, 2008. Our school representative, Avvin Radakrishnan, won this challenging competition among 19 other students from our region, in 16 rounds. The last four rounds featured the skills of three other students, including Avvin's sister, and words such as "succumb," "parallelogram," and "acquiescence." Avvin went to the state competition, which took place on March 22, 2008, at Memorial High School, in Manchester, New Hampshire. There he competed against 17 well-prepared regional winners. After correctly spelling such words as "amblyopia," "phlegmatic," "noosphere," "profligacy, " "malcology," and "quartziferous," he won the right to represent the state of New Hampshire at the National Spelling Bee in May! Congratulations, Avvin, for a very impressive job, and good luck in Washington, D.C.!
The 8th grade honors literature students enjoyed their trip to the Opera House, in Boston, to see My Fair Lady, on Sunday, February 17, 2008, and are preparing to visit the Mark Twain house in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 15th, along with two other classes of eighth graders. This will mean that all the Nashua Catholic 8th grade students will have had the opportunity this year to study about this significant American author, read some of his works, and visit one of the places where he created them.
Writers Club continues to meet from 3:00- 3:45 on Mondays. Students with a sincere interest in writing are always welcome.

News from the Math Department:

MathFax Contests

Congratulations to the winners of the third MathFax contest!

MATH 7 TEST (Math 7, and Advanced Math 7 classes):

1st Place: Isaac Morrier
2nd Place: B.J. Herbert
3rd Place: Austin Bauer, Andrew Yourell
PRE-ALGEBRA TEST (Honors Math 7, Advanced Intro., and Intro. to Algebra classes)

1st Place: John Bianco, Emma Brooks, Jennifer Dai
2nd Place: Connor Popik, Courtney Mansfield
3rd Place: Barbara Duckworth, Sam Fordin, Michelle Indelicato, Greg McCutcheon, Andrew Elliott, James Sasson, David Wilder

ALGEBRA I TEST (Honors Algebra I Class)

1st Place: Chris Francis, Luke Van Seters
2nd Place: Joseph Galibois, Samantha Powers, David Swallow, Colin Swanson, Robby Tocci, Olivia Veillette
3rd Place: Joseph Allard, Matthew Golden, Elizabeth Puder, Matthew Puksta, Brian Wells

News from the Music Department (Mrs. Joseph):

The 30th Annual Seminar On Contemporary Music For The Young will be held at the Rivers School Conservatory in Weston Massachusetts on Friday April 4th, 5th and 6th, 2008. This event starts with a Faculty Recital at 7:30 PM on Friday April 4th. Saturdays performances begin at 11:30 AM and run through the afternoon till approximately 6:00PM. Sundays performances begin at 1:00PM, run through the day, and conclude with a finale at 6:00PM.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets purchased are good for the entire day. Anyone wishing to attend can come to any portion of the days events.
This contemporary music festival is an amazing event. Students and faculty perform works written specifically for them by contemporary composers commissioned by the Rivers Music School specifically for this occassion. The composers are there, attending these world premiers and often take the time to speak to the audience about the work they have written, how it is constructed and why they chose to write it the way they did. It is a very genuine and exciting experience with current composers, their music and the amazingly talented students who are performing these exciting and interesting pieces.
This year features 29 world premiers, and a Lecture/Demonstration by the Chair of the Piano Department at New England Conservatory of Music, Bruce Brubaker, an advocate of new music and tremendous pianist.
Come and enjoy the excitement of new music and meet the composers!
For more information contact Mrs. Joseph at kjoseph@NCRJHS.org or call the Rivers school at 781-235-6840.

SUMMER IS COMING SOON!:

Despite the cool air outside, summer is coming soon! It is time to start planning for our fifth annual SUMMER STARS ENRICHMENT PROGRAM! Our summer Study Skills and Junior High Success courses are open to all students who will be attending Nashua Catholic in 2008-2009. Don't miss this chance for a great start to the next school year! Our courses quickly sell out and have waiting lists! Registration starts April 1 and will continue until all courses are filled!

Please check our website (www.ncrjhs.org) for this year's SUMMER STARS program information and registration forms!

EXTENDED DAY NEWS:

With the warm weather coming soon, the students who stay for NC's Extended Day program (3:30pm- 5:30pm) will be enjoying some time in the sun and fresh air. When weather and space permit, we will make use of the small grassy area to the side of the Cafeteria, and the larger "field" behind the school adjacent to the staff parking lot to play croquet, wiffle ball, touch football, tag and other games. If it is a sunny day and you don't see us in the Cafeteria, please drive around back to pick up your child. The Extended Day staff calls out the make, model and color of cars as soon as we see them, but we need your child's help to keep an eye out for you, too. Please discuss with your child when you will be dismissing him or her daily.

On a final note, if your child has your permission to leave school grounds after school, they may do so, but they are not permitted to return to the Café or Extended Day programs. We cannot be responsible for students who leave school grounds, or for students who are not where they are supposed to be after school. Once students sign in to Café or Extended Day, they are expected to remain in the programs until they are picked up by a parent or authorized person, or leave to walk home or to an activity or location you have permitted. These policies are for student safety, and violations of them will be reported to the administration. Thank you for your cooperation!

Trinity High School Spring Open House for 6th &7th Graders:

Trinity High School will host a Spring Open House for 6th & 7th graders on Thursday, May 15th, from 7 to 9 PM. Late applicants to the 9th grade and transfer students are also welcome. "Meet THS Night" will enable you to view our school facilities, meet our faculty and students and see what we mean by "It's about values. It's about program. It's about people. A great beginning to a great future!"

At the same time you may register for our 7th grade practice exam which is being held on Saturday, May 17, from 8:30 to 11:30. Late applicants may also take their exam at this time. Doors open at 8:15 AM. Pre-registration is required. You may do so by downloading the Admissions Exam form on our 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 with any questions. See you on the 15th!!

Calendar:

APRIL 2008

1 Grades Close
7 -15 Terra Nova Testing
8 Report Cards - Parent Pick-up
18 Spring Fling Dance
28-2 Spring Recess

MAY 2008

8 Mass 9:00a.m.
8 Spring Open House for 5th Graders and Parents. This event is from 6:30 - 8:00p.m. at Nashua Catholic with Infant Jesus and St. Christopher Schools
9 Progress Reports
10 Leveling Test for new students for the 2008- 2009 school year. Test starts at 8:30a.m.
13 Make-up Leveling Test 8:30a.m.
22 Baseball/Softball Playoffs Begin
23 Staff Development Day - Early Release 11:30a.m.
26 Memorial Day - No School
27 Track Championships

God Bless,

Thomas Kelleher
Principal