Dear Parents and Students,

Get ready! Here we are in August already. The start of the school year will soon be upon us. Again, we anticipate another successful school year. Our staff has remained reasonably stable. Mr. Scott Abercrombie who will be replacing the retiring Mr. Leonard in the History Department and, in the Science Department, Mrs. Susan Mack will replace Ms. Brinley who has taken a teaching position elsewhere. Also, we are presently interviewing for a new music instructor and hope to have someone in place shortly.

Some of our teachers have chosen to use the summer to continue to enhance and supplement their educational experience by taking on extra course work at various colleges and universites - i.e., Ms. Megan O'Brien at Keene State and Mrs. Glena McFadden at MaryMount University in Virginia.

Over the course of the summer, we have added a new, and much needed, communication/intercom system to the school and, more importantly have constructed - thanks to the success of our Spring Fashion Show - a brand new state of the art computer lab to augment our computer science curriculum.

So again, we anticipate another exciting year as we strive to provide your children with the best possible "faith-based"and academically stringent education possible. With your prayers and support, we hope to meet your highest expectations.

Following the Nashua Public Schools, the first day of school for students will be on Tuesday, August 26. We will have full days of school for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday - they will be full dress up days. We will, however, have Friday off to enjoy the long Labor Day Weekend. During the first week of school (i.e., August 26-28), students will be offered an a la carte menu for lunch or they can bring their own lunch. Hot lunch menu will begin on Tuesday, September 2.

Also, be advised that all Fall Sport tryouts will begin on Tuesday, August 26. School will resume, on full throttle, on Tuesday, September 2.

You will be receiving, towards the end of this week, a mailing with your child's schedule and any and all other pertinent information to assist you with the start of the school year. If you have any questions, feel free to call the school at any time to have your questions/concerns addressed.

For your future planning, our annual Parents Night this year will be on September 10 from 6:00-8:30 PM. This will be a great opportunity for you to meet our staff and exerience a "day in the life of a Nashua Catholic student" by participating in an abbreviated version of your child's daily schedule- we promise no detentions or homework will be issued that evening!

During the late Spring of 2008, your child received 10 Cow Deeds in preparation for our upcoming Fall Nashua Country Fair and Cow Maneuver. This event constitutes a major fundraising effort that benefits the 3 Nashua Catholic Diocesan Schools (i.e., Infant Jesus, St. Christopher's and Nashua Catholic). Please try to sell those Cow Deeds in a timely manner to assure the success of this years event. The Nashua Country Fair and Cow Maneuver is scheduled for Saturday, September 27. More information will be forthcoming.

Just to keep you informed, this year we will have a few students in our school with severe, life -threatening nut allergies. We have taken and will continue to take extra precautions to sensitize all members of our Nashua Catholic community to this issue. To insure that the health and safety of these students is not jeopardized, we will have a designated peanut free area in the Cafe and will minimize as much as possible any exposure to peanut products and/or airborn nut particles.

Nashua Catholic Announces Scholarship Award:

Starting in the Spring of 2009, Nashua Catholic will award a four year scholarship to a graduating 8th grader. This scholarship has been made possible as a result of a bequest to Nashua Catholic by Father Denis Horan in loving memory of his sister Helen. Fr. "Deny" was Nashua Catholic's Chaplain from 1997- 2006 and a staunch supporter of Catholic education. This scholarship will be awarded to a deserving 8th grade student who has successfully completed two years at Nashua Catholic and is continuing on to a Catholic high School. The scholarship will be awarded in four annual installments during the student's Catholic high school years. The total amount of the four year award will be determined at the time of graduation from NCRJHS. The application form can be downloaded from the NC website.

School Uniform Company:

Educational Outfitters of New Hampshire is open for business so visit them as soon as you can to obtain the appropriate school uniforms for the 2008-09 year. The company is located at 14A Broad Street in Nashua and, in case you missed it on our website, their number is 603-233- 3368 or contact them via email at MichaelA@educationaloutfitters.com.

News from the English Department:

Mrs. Barker hopes that her 7th-grade Honors Literature students are engaged in The Upstairs Room. Remember to have it completely read by the start of school. Be ready to discuss the setting, characters, plot, and themes. Mrs. Barker looks forward to meeting you soon and hopes you thoroughly enjoy the rest of your summer.

News from the Athletic Department:

Practices for all Fall Sports will begin after school the first week (i.e., August 26 - 28), Tuesday thru Thursday, 3-5 p.m.. The following week (i.e., after Labor Day), Tuesday thru Friday, 3-5p. After that teams should be picked and parent meetings will be held.

Soccer will be held at Greeley Park along with X-C. volleyball will be held here in our gym.

Textbook Purchasing:

The Nashua Catholic site on www.varsitybooks.com is ready for use. This is a very convenient way of purchasing your textbooks using the course numbers sent home in June. Please, if purchasing from another source besure the books ISBN match those listed on the Nashua Catholic website - www.ncrjhs.org Your student will have the best start to his year with textbooks ready the first week of school.

Health Highlights: URGENT Request

If your child ever carries and epi-pen, there is a special permission form that needs to be signed by your doctor this summer. If you do not have one please request one from the office or through Mrs. Kirkwood.

Permission for inhalers, even if they are used occasionally must be from you doctor on the same permission form (pink) as the parent permission for acetaminophen and ibuprofen. These forms need to be in to Mrs. Kirkwood by the first day of school.

Traffic Patterns:

It is for the safety of all of our students that we ask that those dropping off and picking up students follow these quidelines:

Morning: All students coming by car should be dropped off in the parking lot - Columbia Avenue entrance - close to the cafeteria. All students, unless specifically stated or late should use this entrance in the morning.

Afternoon: Cars should use Columbia Avenue to Wellington Avenue (TWO streets up from the school) and come down Wellington to Bartlett Avenue in time for a 2:30 dismissal. Students will exit the school through the foyer and meet their rides on the school block and school side of the street ONLY.

Webster Avenue in the Afternoon: Parking on Webster Avenue is limited and should only be used for sports carpools and urgent needs that require the parent to come in to the school in the last moments of the day to excuse the student.

Nashua Catholic Calendar:

August 2008

26 School Opens for the 2008-2009 year - 8:00a.m.

29 Labor Day Weekend - No School

September 2008

1 Labor Day Weekend - No School

10 Parents' Night 6:00 - 8:00

27 Country Fair and Cow Maneuver at Holman Stadium - Come One Come All!!!

God Bless,

Thomas Kelleher
Principal