1st Year Comes to an End

Today was the last day of school and the last day of my 1st year as a Principal- it was emotional!  Thank you to our wonderful students, dedicated parents/guardians, district leadership and Normandin community for making my 1st year a special one.   

At our last staff meeting I shared with our team the top 10 things I learned in my 1st year as Principal at Normandin MS in New Bedord, MA.  This is a follow up to my post Top 10 Most "UN" Interesting Things about your New Principal I shared on my first day with the staff 10 months ago.  I share with you my top 3 (so as not to bore) below.  I am humbled, honored and blessed to be the Principal of such an outstanding school on the move, and look forward to our growth in the years to come.

#3:  That we have an unbelievably dedicated, hard working, caring staff, who have welcomed me into their home.

• Thank you teachers, clerks, paraprofessionals, custodians, cafeteria staff, counselors, resource officer, attendance officer, Ms. Parker/consultatnt, Ms. Doherty/Math Support, Citizen school, Gear Up and our Administration team!

#2:  That there are special people in our school family who have committed the majority of their lives to children & to this great profession and I am blessed to have met and learned from them.

• Thank you Mr. Alves, Mr. Lowe and Ms. Ferreira! Enjoy your well-deserved retirement!

#1:  Work hard, be myself & build trust with staff

• Schedules!!! One of the biggest concerns staff had was receiving their schedules the first day of school.  I promised that would change, and it did! Staff left today for the first time ever with their fall schedules :)  Thank you to our outstanding admin team (Mr. Farrell, Ms. Murphy, Ms. Rodriguez), Ms. Latessa, Ms. Rocha and our clerks for making this happen.  Hard work and promises kept are true characteristics that build trust. 

Staff Raffle!! We ended our last staff meeting with a fun Raffle

Happy Summer All!

Normandin Celebrates Excellence!

Our 7th Grade Award Ceremony

 

Our focus at Normandin MS has been to work hard and celebrate our many successes.  Another new tradition, the POD Awards, was held this week in our gym.  The brilliant idea came from dedicated teachers who attend our voluntary "Good to Great" bi-monthly meetings to improve school culture.  The concept was to have ALL our teachers in the building recognize the students in our school who are achieving success and show we appreciate them.  Each grade came up with positive attributes to recognize and then POD's and Unified Arts teachers chose children who embodied those attributes.  Awards ranged from top ELA student to Art and Technology awards, and everything in between!  Thank you teachers for taking the time to honor our students and thank you Ms. Aubertine for the outstanding certificates you made our deserving students!  Kids you were truly amazing, nice job!

 



Normandin - Attendance Champions!!!

Where are You Headed?

The Where are YOU Headed? campaign was designed with the goal to educate students, parents and our community and plant the seed of the tremendous importance of something as fundamental as attending school every day.  The concept has evolved and expanded to become the foundation and framework for a variety of dropout prevention programs across the district. We believe that school attendance is the single most important factor in school success. If our children are not in school — they cannot learn! Thank you to Dr. Heather Larkin for her outstanding leadership and vision to improve school attendance - it's working! Check out this link for more information on Where are You Headed click here.



Normandin Attendance Champions!

A healthy competition exists between the three middle schools in New Bedford to see who can have the highest attendance for the year.  We are proud to say that Normandin is this year's champion - congratulations students, families and our dedicated staff!  In September we will have the first ever "Banner Raising" ceremony. 

Attendance Walk

On Friday June 21, 2013 our school participated in our district Walk for Attendance day.  Close to 1300 students and staff enjoyed a 35 minute walk around the Normandin campus.  The weather was perfect and Mr. Chambers provided some music, including "We are the Champions" to celebrate our success. A big thank you goes out to Ms. Aungst for organizing the entire event!!! 

 





Normandin Field Day 2013

Our 8th Graders taking a well deserved break

Normandin MS has several outstanding traditions.  One of the most popular being end of the year field day.  Students participate in a variety of events with their class and enjoy some healthy competition.  I would like to thank our wonderful teachers for their flexibility in making this happen, and for their assistance with all the events.  Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) generously supplied water bottles for all - thank you! A special thank you to Mr. Chambers, who organizes the entire event!  Enjoy the photos!

Grade 8

Grade 7

Grade 6

 



National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony

 Congratulations 2012-13 & 2013-14 NJHS Members!

 

Parents, guardians, family, friends, students, faculty, and administration gathered to celebrate our National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) members.  NJHS advisor Ms. Hendrickson noted that "the student’s gathered before you represent the finest that Normandin has to offer.  Each student has earned this honor by effective demonstration of the five qualities held in high esteem by the Society – Scholarship, Leadership, Service, Citizenship, and Character."

 

Grade 8 members were acknowledged with certificates and beautiful medallions that they will wear at their promotion ceremony.  New grade 7 members were inducted to carry the torch for next year.

Grade 8 NJHS Members:

 

Marissa Aguiar, Kaitlyn Arruda, Logan Avelar, Caitlyn Baker, Carina Borges, Patrisha Bousquet, Kendal Carvalho, Nicholas Claudina, Shanyah Cunha, Hailey Currin, Gwynne Eichman, Tyler Horton, Nickolas La Force, Myles Larkin. Angela Locke, Ashley Maloney, Taylor Markey, Serena Marques, Sarah Medeiros, Alyssa Mello, Isaac McCormack, Tyler Monteiro, Elizabeth Pereira, Kendall Pacheco, Savannah Resendes, Helen Rivas, Felicity Santos, Alicia Silva, Justin Silva, Alexias Soares, Ryann Souza, Jailyn Tavares, Lindsey Vermette

Grade 7 NJHS Members:



 

Emanuele Abi-Younes, Kaylee Pavao, Kaleigh Almeida, Ardent Lyn Peters, Kamrin D. Andrade, Rhyan Ramos, Gabriella Burris, Erin Rezendes, Tori Calbo, Alyssa Silva, Nolan Carreiro, Averi Soares, Kirsten DaCosta, Alexandria Sousa, Megan DaCosta, Sarah Swible, Mackenzie Davis, Taonre Taylor, Ninah-Rose Dias, Sydney Teixeira, Jake Ewaszko, Daniella Fernandes, Brad Ferris, Sarah Flynn, Peter  Gomes, Brittany Hamarquist, Abigail Jupin, Jessica Lawrence, Zara Alexis Lemieux, Meng Lian, Julie Martins, Diana Matos, Alexis Medeiros, Hailey Meunier, Angelica Nascimento, Thiago Palma



 

There are a number of people that we would like to recognize for their contributions in making this event a success:

1.      Ms. Simon-Correia and Mr. Chris Fernandes for organizing the requirements for candidates and for over-seeing the application and selection process.

2.      Our Guidance Counselors, Mrs. Duphly, Mrs. Duane, Mr. Forgue, and Mr. Sullivan, for checking on the eligibility of each of the candidates and for collecting the applications.

3.     Mrs. Ruth Aubertine, for her tenacious work on ordering the necessary supplies, typing the certificates, and creating our programs.  We also thank her for all of her support.

4.     Our custodial staff for getting the stage and cafetorium prepared for this event.

5.     Our hard-working teachers, for their constant support and encouragement.

6.     The school Administration team – Mr. Burkhead, Mr. Farrell, Mr. Pacheco, Mrs. Murphy, and Mrs. Rodriguez – for ensuring that we have a learning environment where we can reach our full potential and for pushing us to move from “Good to Great.”

7.     To our parents, guardians, family and friends who without your support we would not be receiving this top academic honor.

8.  And to Ms. Hendrickson, thank you for all your hard work in making this evening a memorable one!

 

 

New Tradition: Leadership Celebration at Normandin

 

Congratulations to Normandin 8th grade student leaders!

 

Gwynne Eichman 8-2, Taylor Markey 8-2, Alexias Soares 8-1, Justin Silva 8-3, Derek Lacen 8-1, Katelynn Amaral 8-3, Alyssa Gonzales 8-4, Kristin Gonzales 8-4

 

These students were honored at a breakfast with staff, administration and family members on June 14th.  The students were nominated by teachers for meeting the NELMS (New England League of Middle Schools) criteria of academic initiative and scholarship, providing service to classmates and school, exemplifying positive attitudes and demonstrating leadership in the classroom and school activities.



Teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and special guests joined the students to celebrate their accomplishment.  Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Walsh, Ms. Hendrickson and Ms. Perry represented their respective pods, acknowledging each student and providing them with a certificate and specially wrapped gift (book 7 secrets of Highly Effective Teens).  Dr. Bonneau was our special guest and shared an insightful speech on the importance of a well-rounded education.  



Invention Convention!

 

On June 6^th students from Normandin participated in the 9^th annual Invention Convention at Bridgewater University. Our team “Operation Innovation” worked all year creating an invention and presented it to a team of engineers from the university. Our invention was a device that attached to snow shovels which would allow the user to dispense rock salt as they shoveled. The students named their invention “The Shovel Shaker”. Excellent idea, especially for the snowy New England winters! Our team of Kyle Young, Megan deCosta, Brittany Hammerquist, Seth Borden, Gwynne Eichman, Juan Rivas, Nolan Carreiro, Kamrin Andrade worked hard all year on this project. They overcame many technical issues and design problems and ended up with a great product that worked flawlessly! At the convention our team represented our school with pride. Their presentation and demonstration of our product was articulate, funny, and on point. Although our team didn’t win 1^st place they showed what hard work and perseverance can accomplish. With one year under our belt, our team will be returning next year with our eye on the prize! All of Normandin should be proud! Excellent job! Thank you Mr. Slawson for leading such a GREAT team!





Family Fun Night

Ms. Campos having 'Math Fun' with Students and their families

 

Team 7-1 successfully had their 2nd Annual Family Fun Night! Parents joined their kids and worked on several math based activities involving probability and geometry. In Science they worked on an experiment with density. Parents were also given the opportunity to view students projects they have completed throughout the year. PTO kindly donated prizes for the families and Gear up helped out with pizza for everyone. Mrs. Jesse got to practice her preschool skills using math with arts and crafts with the younger siblings! It was a great night!!  Thank you to the dedicated Pod 7-1 teachers - great event!

Ms. Pacheco bringing Science to Life! 

Welcoming our future stars!

 

Research has shown that the transition years in a child's education are the most difficult.  It is important to us at Normandin Middle School that we have a system in place to welcome our incoming 6th grade students, parents and guardians into our school family.  We want our future stars to know our school, the great people in it and our criteria for success before they enter our doors in September.  A successful plan like this could not happen without the support of our outstanding feeder school Principals and their staff, our dedicated teachers and administration and our wonderful students!   Here's our 7 Step Plan:

 

Step 1: Principal Visit (May)

We have 7 elementary schools that feed into our school.  It was important to me as Principal to meet our future 6th grade students personally, and to do so on their turf.  My intent was to share all the awesome opportunities we offer at Normandin Middle School, answer all of their questions, and get them excited to visit!  I stayed until I answered every last question- my favorite being "are their any male teachers there?" 

 

 

Step 2: Meet & Greet (May)

We set a date and our feeder school Principals sent home information to parents/guardians.  Our event was prepared by our 6th grade Assistant Principal (Ms. Murphy) and involved several of our teachers (all who volunteered!).  We offered an introduction to our school, tours of the building (in English, Spanish and Portuguese) and had our terrific community partnerships GEAR UP & Citizen School set up booths sharing information on our after school opportunities.  Our staff stayed after to answer ALL of our student and parent/guardian questions.  This evening couldn't have happened without a caring and committed staff volunteering their time to welcome our future family members.

 

Step 3: School Field Trips (June)

Now that we have the kids excited about our school we want them to see it in action during the school day.  Each feeder school has their own day to visit our school and we call it a "field trip" to keep it exciting and fun.  The focus of the trip is for our future students to see our school in progress, meet our students and ask more questions.  We involve our National Junior Honor Society students as tour guides and they answer student questions.  It is important to us that future stars meet current stars and learn what it takes to be successful at our school. 

 

Step 4: Counselor Watch (May/June)

It is important to us we personalize our incoming student's learning experience and meet their needs the best we can.  Familiarizing our counselors with their future students is a terrific 1st step.  Our counselor's meet with each feeder school's staff to discuss children and ensure we are doing whatever it takes to meet their needs as they enter our building. 

 

Step 5: Summer Visits (July/August)

There are certain students that may not feel comfortable attending the large field trip visits to our school and/or need a more personalized visit.  We set these visits up through the feeder school Principal and make sure the experience is extremely beneficial to the child and their family.

 

Step 6: Open House (August)

Similar to our Meet & Greet, we offer our future stars and their families another opportunity to learn more about our school.  We discuss more specific expectations, provide another tour and end with question & answer sessions. 

 

Step 7: 1st Day of School (September)

Our district believes strongly in supporting students during the transition years.  Students in Grade 6 come back to school one day before their Grade 7/8 classmates.  This is an excellent chance for us to connect the students with their new teachers, future teachers and entire school staff.  It allows us to slow things down and begin introducing routines and school expectations to our new students.  We look at it as a celebration!

 

It is our goal to provide the best possible transition for our incoming sixth graders and their families.  Our dedicated staff, collaborative feeder school leadership and staff, and our students commit to this process, which allows our future stars and their families a reassurance that we are doing whatever it takes to make this difficult transition a seamless one. 

 

 



Having Fun with Science!

Collin Couto

Students in Mr. Walsh's 8th grade science class took part in the classic Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment this past week. Working in teams, student scientists elicited prior knowledge of the scientific method to create a contraption that would best get the Mentos into the Diet Coke bottle before it blew up! Focusing on the concepts of physical and chemical reactions, student scientists discovered that this was a physical change because no new product was formed. There are plenty of simple science experiments that can be done right at home with everyday items. Give it a try!

Steven Brito, Andrew Perez, Julian Lopes, and Tyler  Monteiro

 





Alica Silva, Selena Slbano, Sydney Goetz, and Carina  Borges

Selena Albano





 

Normandin's 1st Sorority Group a Huge Success!

Normandin's 2012-2013 Sorirty Group, Gifts to Give Members & School Administration

Vision: By connecting middle school girls with women in the community who are role models, the girls will become powerful change agents for making healthy choices in their lives and in the lives of their family and community.
Mission: To help middle school girls grow into successful, confident women.

Click Here to check out the Sorority Website!

It’s not rocket science, it’s not complicated and when you think about it – it’s pretty simple – it’s just not easy!  If we are to build a community around helping children be successful in school and in their lives, then we have to “show-up” and do the work.  This motto, taken from the Gifts to Give website exemplifies the strong partnership between GiftsToGive and Normandin Middle School. 

Assistant Principal Louise Murphy worked diligently with GiftsToGive staff, an all voluntary team, to bring caring adults into the lives of the Normandin children.  Thank you to Ms. Murphy and the dedicated staff at GiftsToGive for working with our young ladies and modeling excellence!

Normandin's Sorority 2012-13

Congratulations to the following Sorority members- your dedication & commitment is what makes Normandin MS a GREAT place to learn!

Mackenzie Davis, Beatrice Crespo, Yanitzy Vazquez, Victoria Cosmo, Zillan Carrion, Alondra Pino, Delilan Cruz, Natalye Vasquez, Janelle Clester and Cordelia Frates

Thank you GiftsToGive Team! In-school Volunteer Mentors: Karen Leblanc, David Pena, Alyse Blake, Natasha Ferro, Jeanne Butler, Missy Hoefel and Brittany Coker – that would be great!

The GiftsToGive support volunteers: Martha Kay, Elizabeth Richardson, Felicity Forbes-Hoyt, Gail Fortes, Ilana Feinerman, Jeanne Bonneau, Jennifer Markey-Golden, Karen Browning, Karen Gierhart, Kelley Cabral-Mosher, Rachel Joseph, Sarah Thomas, Stacie Charbonneau Hess, Theresa Fitzpatrick and Tinker Saltonstall.

We look forward to our girls leading next year's Sorirty Group and welcoming Normandin's first Gentlemen's Roundtable!!!