Parents and teachers working together to enhance the learning experience.
MAY 1st is our next big event—Alumni Night! Spread the word to any Nathan Bishop alumni you know, and ask them to register their contact information at nathanbishoppto.org. We need help getting ready for this big event—can you help plan the evening? Let us know!
A HEART FOR ART
Our art teacher Ms. Sundaresh needs parents to volunteer to
chaperone RISD Museum field trips NEXT WEEK.
The trips are on
Tuesday, March 9 (Silver Q3 and Q4 art students)
Thursday March 11 (Blue Q3 and Q4 art students) and
Friday, March 12 (a mix of Blue and Silver Q3 and Q4 art students)
All trips will leave school at 8:30 and return by 11am.
This is a really fun trip! The trip is well-organized, interesting, and a great chance to get a peek at what is up with our middle-schoolers! If you can get away from the grind for a morning, give Ms. Sundaresh a shout and help make this great trip happen.
Contact her at
arthi.sundaresh@ppsd.org, or 456-9344.
A SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM
Ms. Battisti requests our help once again in providing treats for the honor roll ice cream sundae party
THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 5th. This involves about 90 kids.
We need
10 tubs of ice cream and lots of toppings--
4 bottles of chocolate sauce
4 bottles of butterscotch
4 cans of whipped cream
4 jars of marshmallow sauce
5 bags gummy bears
5 containers of sprinkles
5 giant bags of M & Ms
Karen Welser once again has graciously agreed to serve as Ice Cream Czar and coordinate donations. Please email her at
welser@cox.net and let her know what you can bring! Sorry for the short notice (and proximity to the International Potluck)--let’s rally to celebrate these accomplished students!
Our sports guy, Vin Kilbridge, has conducted a survey of
student interest in sports! The top four sports were
basketball, volleyball, soccer, and swimming. Vin is looking for volunteers to take the lead in organizing our efforts in volleyball, soccer, and swimming (he’s got someone for basketball, but holler if you’d like to help). Your job would be to try to put together an afterschool team or clinic for our kids, in collaboration with parents, teachers, PASA, and/or other community organizations. The kids are full of enthusiasm—can we step up to meet it?
Please contact Vin at
Vincent.Kilbridge@citizensbank.com,
kilbridgev@cox.net, or on his cellphone at 378 4717.
The
self-portraits of some NB students are still on display as part of the In
Your Face exhibit at The Hive Archive. The Hive Archive is at 28 Wolcott Street, off of Valley Street, near the VA Hospital. Opportunities to view the exhibit continue, and are paired with social events and creative projects! Please scroll down to the end of this email for the full list of opportunities to view and make art at the Hive over February vacation!
As many of you are aware, the school department’s facilities consultant has recommended that Vartan Gregorian Elementary School be converted into a K-8 school. The PTO Executive Committee is concerned that such a move would have potentially damaging effects on Nathan Bishop’s identity as our neighborhood middle school and hub of community activity. We would like to write to the school department to express our concerns.
If you have a different view or would like to make a comment, please reply to this email or contact Harlan Rich (Harlan_Rich@brown.edu), Michael Kenney (kenneyconsulting@verizon.net), or Karen Seiler (kseiler@aol.com).February is
Book Drive month! The Library Subcommittee asks you to donate new or gently used BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS. Any kind of book that might be appropriate to our middle-schoolers—grade-levels 3 to 12—is welcome! Look for a donation box in the front lobby.
7th grade!! Our kids are not quitting growing, learning, and changing, and Mr. Lazzareschi and the staff have big plans to stay a few steps ahead of the crowd. They will be sending information home shortly on their plans for the 7th grade program. Here are some highlights:
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Accelerated courses in math, science, and english. A process is being developed to determine which students will be eligible for advanced coursework. Eligibility will be based on a number of factors, not simply test scores.
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Electives. Special topics will be offered in many areas, including music and art. Students will have a chance to express their preferences for electives such as (hypothetically) Digital Photography or Chorus.
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Mixin’ it up. While 6th-graders’ schedules operate entirely within the Blue or Silver Teams, 7th-graders’ classes will include kids from both “sides.”
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New faculty. 200+ new 6th-graders will mean a new round of hiring for Mr. L. and his team. Among those coming on board will be an Assistant Principal, clerk, an additional guidance counselor, phys ed teacher, foreign language teacher, and two new teachers in every core subject!
Report cards will be coming home on or around February 10th; an automated phone message will go home to let you know exactly when to look for, sign & return the report card. Ms. Battisti also reminds us to encourage our students to use their daily planners! This helps keep wide-eyed middlers organized and on-task!
Our
First Annual International Potluck Supper on
Thursday, March 4th. This is a time to celebrate the diversity of cultures and heritages among us, through food and games from around the world! Are you interested in working on this event?? Your enthusiasm and hard work are desired! Please e-mail Lucia Gill Case (casacase@cox.net) or to our Events/Fundraising Co-Chairs,
Victoria Richter (victoria_richter@cox.net) or
Julie Cicerone (topiaryjulie@verizon.net).
This link is to an application for
scholarships offered by the
Providence Performing Arts Center and
Textron.
The ARTS Scholarships provide up to $500 in tuition to students ages 11-14 to attend summer arts-education camps and classes. This is an exciting opportunity for any family of a young artist that would face a financial challenge paying for a summer camp or class.
Ms. Krawczyk, our Blue Team science teacher, needs parent volunteers over the next few weeks to help out at
Science Olympiad,
Wednesday afternoons at 3pm for an hour or so. You do not have to be a scientist (though hooray if you are!), she just needs a helping hand to supervise as the kids are in groups working on computers. Please respond to me or directly to Ms. Krawczyk at
Kerri.Krawczyk@ppsd.org.
Ms. Roberti and Ms. Callaghan are launching the first
Nathan Bishop Yearbook at our re-opened school! They would like
parent assistance in getting ads—the more ads, the lower the cost of the yearbooks will ultimately be. Please contact
Lauren.Roberti@ppsd.org or
Stephanie.Callaghan@ppsd.org if you are willing to lend a hand to this exciting effort!
Just an alert that
PASA has sent home the AfterZone sign-up forms for Winter Session. Programs are filled on a
FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE basis so get your child signed up asap for Art Stars, Karate Team, Yearbook, Chorus, Tennis, So You Think You Can Sing, etc..!! There are many great choices!
A message from PASA about our AfterZone program:As you know, AfterZone programs have expanded at Nathan Bishop! We now offer four days of on-site and off-site AfterZone programs at NB, and it has been a smooth transition. Most of the programs are at their capacity, but there is still room in two fun, hands-on programs! Please see the attached flyers to learn about the exciting offerings Handy Kids Go Green and MUSE: Middle School Science Explorer. These programs will give your child the opportunity to learn unique skills including using tools, building models, engineering solar panels, and creating computer games and music videos! Encourage your child to get involved!To get more information or to enroll your child, contact our AfterZone Coordinator Missy Elwell at 641-4520, or melwell@mypasa.org.
Our first fundraiser is underway thanks to parent Deb Herman, who has registered Nathan Bishop with Stop and Shop’s A+ Bonus Bucks program! Register your Stop and Shop card online, and Nathan Bishop can start raising money! Get as many of your friends and relatives as possible to register. Register at www.stopandshop.com/aplus. Every time a registered Stop and Shop card is used between now and March, we will raise money to support our school. This program only runs until March, 2010...so STOP AT STOP AND SHOP AND START SHOPPING!!
Keep your EASTSIDE MARKETPLACE receipts, we are enrolled in their program as well. Have your middler bring them in to the office. We'll have a box for them.
