NHS Principal Communications - March 2, 2023

Congratulations to both the Boys Hockey and Basketball teams on their wins last night.  Good luck to girls basketball and Hockey tonight.  

Have a great Day 3.  - Mr. wulf

Go Clippers! Course Registration - School Council - Class Spotlight - Lots of Student/Groups Highlights

Hello Clipper Families,

I hope you and your student enjoyed the February vacation and managed yesterday’s snow without issue.  Mr. Testa and I enjoyed welcoming all of our students and staff back to school earlier this week and it feels good to see everyone back in the school routine. In tonight’s update, you will find information regarding:

  • 2023-24 Course Registration Process
  • School Council Update and with the School Improvement Plan
  • Athletics and Activity Highlights
  • Class Spotlight – Read About the Technology Being Used in AP Biology
  • NEWBURYPORT SCHOOLS YOUTH ART EXHIBIT – THURSDAY, MARCH 16

 Have a great night and Go Clippers!

2023-24 COURSE REGISTRATION PROCESS

As a reminder, the Aspen X2 portal is open for students to select their electives and view course recommendations for next school year.  For parents to view this, you need to sign in through your student’s account.  The portal will close March 10.

If a student has a recommendation they would like to change, the deadline for submitting a waiver form is March 10.

During the course of the next three weeks, the guidance department will meet with each of their students individually to review and verify their course selections.

SCHOOL COUNCIL UPDATE

Here is a summary from the February School Council Meeting.  This highlights the high school’s improvement plan, in which you will see objectives that focus on expanding our programming to include pathways that lead to careers and upper level technical and arts programs.  Additionally, the plan shares a focus on making skills taught in the classroom more explicit to our students, as well as continuing to work on our school climate.

CLASS SPOTLIGHT

Using a new, cell-free technology to assemble proteins, students in Ms. Fallon's AP Biology created the green fluorescent protein that is naturally made by jelly fish. Students used loose amino acids and nucleotides, along with jellyfish DNA and associated enzymes, to create this protein in a micro-test tube. Usually, this can be accomplished in the lab using genetically modified, nontoxic strains of E. coli. Now, scientists (and students) can use freeze-dried cellular components (ribosomes from bacteria) to accomplish the process of using DNA to make a protein. All the materials were provided by a Boston-based Biotech company called MiniPCR. 

ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES HIGHLIGHTS

I want to wish our Boys and Girls Basketball and Hockey teams well as they begin their tournament competitions this week.  It should be an exciting 2 weeks for us.  Here is this week’s tournament schedule.  Good luck to boys hockey and basketball tonight.  Also, good luck to our skiers taking part in this afternoon’s State Ski Tournament:  Grace Chandler, Elisabeth DeGrano, Elizabeth Downs, Thisjs Tague, and Phoebe Whitcomb.

Some other exciting highlights include:

  • Winter teams who won the CAL Championship include both Boys and Girls Basketball, Girls Swim, and the Boys Track Team.  Congratulations to the teams on this accomplishment. 
  • Congratulations to swimmer Abriana Cronstrom for becoming our first state champion in four years on the swim team.
  • Our very young ski team has delivered their best season yet.  Be sure to check out the article in the Daily News highlighting this accomplishment.
  • Thank you to Basin Apparel for supporting our Bring Change to Mind Group with a generous grant raised through a January drive.   Through Bring Change to Mind, our students develop and implement creative ways to help destigmatize mental health in our school.  Their entrepreneurial spirit has been instrumental in helping us to address and talk about mental health across the building.
  • Congratulations to Cedar Schumacher who has been chosen to represent NHS at the Massachusetts Music Educators Conference.  Along with Cedar and the strong performances of our students in orchestra and band, I am excited about the ongoing growth that is taking place with our music program. I’m looking forward to the spring concert.
  • Congratulations to Ean Hynes who finished third in the state in all divisions and qualifies for the New Englands!
  • Another school record for the girls relay team in the 4x400.  Congratulations to Devin Strop, Annie Shay, Morgan Felts, and Annabel Murray.
  • Get ready for Fiddler on the Roof.  Our student performers, tech crew, and musicians have been working hard and are putting in the final parts of rehearsal.  Opening night is March 31st.

 

NEWBURYPORT SCHOOLS YOUTH ART EXHIBIT –

THURSDAY, MARCH 16

The Newburyport Schools Art Department is thrilled to announce the opening of the annual Newburyport Schools Youth Art Exhibit at the Senior Center. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 16th, for families of participating students. We welcome you to join the celebration.  A wide variety of student artwork representing kindergarten through 12th grade will be on display throughout the month of March. Families will be notified of their students' participation in the art show the week after February break.

Families will be invited to attend the opening reception at the times listed below.

Bresnahan 4:00-5:00 pm

Molin/Nock  5:30-6:30 pm

High School 7:00-8:00 pm