Dear Parents & Guardians,
Attached is our Weekly Sunday Update, which can be found at the link or text below.
Thank you.
Dr. Mayes & Mr. Horlick
This Week’s Major Headlines:
- START OF REMOTE LEARNING: Remote learning for all BASD middle school students begins on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 9am. Please review carefully the information below about the start of instruction on Monday, March 30, 2020 for all middle school students. There is also a separate phone call & email following the Sunday Email. Please have your child contact their teacher by email for specifics on questions about lessons & activities. They are ready to help!
- SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION: Food is distributed to all children who live in Bethlehem at Nitschmann Middle School from 10am-1pm daily Monday to Friday. Paper packets are available weekly for elementary age students weekly. Paper packets are available weekly for middle school students without internet at home. If you have the internet at home, students should be using Schoology. If you have not picked up your child’s Chromebook or need a computer repair, use the bus lane from 10am-1pm daily.
- NEED IT HELP? Any BASD parents or students needing IT Help should fill out this form https://forms.gle/ZJE6SJNaX6RSSd927 Once submitted, this form will create a Service Desk ticket and a BASD Information Services Department team member will contact you via email (the email will come from “ISD Service Desk”).
Parent & Student Weekly Email
Nitschmann Middle School Weekly Update, Home of the Nitschmann Nation!
Sunday, March 29, 2020, to Sunday, April 5, 2020
All of this information can be viewed at our
Nitschmann Middle School Website under Weekly Announcements (Click Here!)
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Links to Review
Schoology Directions for Parents
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Upcoming Dates to Be Proactive!
All dates are listed from our NMS Website, BASD Event Calendar, & BASD Academic Calendar
Weekly Schedule & Highlights
Monday, 3/30/20 Week One Remote Learning Begins 9am
Tuesday 3/31/20
Wednesday, 4/1/20
Thursday, 4/2/20
Friday, 4/3/20 End of the 3rd Quarter (All Assignments Due 3pm)
Saturday, 4/4/20
Sunday, 4/5/20
Monday, 4/6/20 Week One Remote Learning Assignments Due 12pm; Week 2 Remote Learning Begins 9am; First Day of the 4th Quarter
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Academic Information
End of 3rd Quarter (Mayes) The end of the 3rd Quarter will be Friday, April 3, 2020 at 3pm. Any outstanding assignments may be submitted through Schoology or email by students to their teacher to be graded. No 3rd Quarter assignments will be accepted after this time and date. Teachers will then prepare to issue report card grades for distribution.
Start of 4th Quarter (Mayes) The 4th Quarter will be from Monday, March 30, 2020 to the end of the school year (date TBD).
Text of Phone Call/Email (Mayes)
Good afternoon, this is Dr. Mayes, principal of Nitschmann Middle School. I hope all of you are well and are doing your best to stay healthy. The BASD’s Tier Five Mitigation Plan will officially start on Monday, March 30th, when all teachers will begin to provide formal instruction to all students as per the following district guidelines:
– BASD middle schools will perform asynchronous instruction, meaning that instructor and student interactions are not dependent on real time. Asynchronous instruction will allow the student to engage in learning activities anywhere and anytime during a defined window of calendar time.
– This window of calendar time will be defined as one week during Tier Five which will begin on Monday at 9:00 AM and continue through the following Monday at 12:00 Noon when assignments will be due.
– Each BASD middle school will provide Common Tier Five Assignments that will be issued weekly on Mondays by 9:00 AM.
– The Common Tier Five Assignments will consist primarily of one assignment for each content area each week and will take no longer than sixty minutes to complete. Only these Common Tier Five Assignments will be required and graded.
– Teachers will oversee the core instruction of the weekly assignments in Schoology and will communicate directly with students and parents. Paper packets will be available at each middle school and food distribution site from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM for those who do not have access to technology.
– The BASD core on-line curriculum resources such as EnVision, StudySync, Discovery Ed, etc. can be accessed through Clever and will be utilized in the delivery of the Common Tier Five Assignments.
– Encore teachers will formally provide their students’ academic continuity by offering weekly learning and communication opportunities (not graded) to their students in Schoology.
If your child’s Chromebook is still at school, please send an email to Dr. Mayes at pmayes@basdschools.org. Once he receives your email, he will contact you with a time you can pick up your child’s device.
This Tier Five Mitigation Plan, although not ideal, will provide our teachers the opportunity to deliver some detailed content while primarily focusing on positive engagement and communication with students. Please continue to stay current with our district and school web sites as well as on Twitter for updated and important information. Also, look for our Sunday Email newsletter. If you are not receiving that newsletter, please email Mr. Horlick at bhorlick@basdschools.org.
Thank you and please stay safe.
Dr. Mayes, Principal
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School-wide Announcements
BASD E-News (Dr. Roy) Please see Dr. Roy’s videos on our BASD Website.
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Teacher Updates
Assistant Principal – Mr. Horlick –
Student Services: Each grade level’s school counselor now has a schoology group to provide resources and additional communication for students. Please contact your grade level school counselor with questions or concerns via email.
Team Lafayette (6th) (Twitter @NMSLafayette Team Leader Mrs. Hackman) We are looking forward to touching base with you this week as we start a new chapter in this school year. Please feel free to email your teachers with any questions you might have after the weekly assignments are posted through Schoology on Monday morning. Remember, this is new for all of us so take a deep breath and relax! We will get through this as a team. Stay safe, stay home, and stay healthy!
Team Lehigh (6th) (Twitter @NMSTeamLehigh Team Leader Mrs. Oliver) Hi Team Lehigh!!! First of all, and most importantly, we hope everyone is well and taking precautions to stay that way. We have all enjoyed communicating with you over the past two weeks, but it is definitely not the same. Hopefully everyone is getting used to using the laptops from home. At this point it is also going to become increasingly necessary that routines are set up to get school work done at home and good work habits are reinforced. To this end, I am going to throw out to everyone something I have told each of my classes many times, “You only get out of something, what you are willing to put in.” Distance learning is much more individual in nature. Use the online tools available to you and do not be afraid to ask questions. There will be required work each week but also opportunities to extend, challenge and move forward. It is up to you to take advantage of these opportunities . Each of us are here for you! Miss you all and stay healthy!!!! Note from Mrs. Dugan – please check your school email for messages from me!
Team Moravian (6th) – (Twitter @NMSTeam Moravian/Facebook@NMSTeamMoravian Team Leader Mrs. Roufakis)
Hello team! Hope everyone is taking care of themselves and enjoying time with family. This coming week starts our remote learning. Please make sure to look at your classes in Schoology to see what needs to be done for each class. If you have any questions, please email your teacher. We miss you! Stay healthy!
Team Kutztown (7th) (Twitter @TeamKutztown Team Leader Mr. Hess)
Mr. Pearson – First of all, I hope all our students and their families are safe and healthy! Students should be checking Schoology to see if they are missing any assignments from the third marking period. If they are, the assignments can be accessed through Schoology, printed out, and completed. Students can then take pictures of the completed work and email them to me. Alternatively, if they are not able to be printed out, type up the answers to the assignment in a Google Doc, attach it to an email, and send it to me. Any missing assignments need to be completed by this Friday, April 3rd. A reminder that submissions for all of the daily warm-ups from the third marking period are currently enabled. Students may redo any of these warm-ups where they would like to improve their grade. This may be done until Sunday, March 29th at 10 PM at which time I will be disabling submissions for all of those warm-ups in preparation for Monday. Finally, please make sure that you are completing and submitting the new lessons for each of your classes starting this week. They will be posted to Schoology on Monday, March 30th and due Monday, April 6th. These assignments will count as a grade and they will be your first grade for the 4th quarter. As always, keep checking Schoology and email regularly for updates and email me if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to keep in touch. Stay safe and healthy!
Team Penn State (7th) (Twitter @NMSPennState/Facebook @NMSTeamPennState/ Instagram pennstatenms Team Leader Mrs. Miller) We are missing you all very much! We hope that you are all healthy and helping out at home and truly using the motto of PSU…WE ARE!…..we are all in this together and together we are strong! Lessons will be posted Monday (March 30) and due April 6 (4th quarter). We love getting messages from you and keep in contact with any teacher that you need assistance from.
Team East Stroudsburg (8th) (Twitter @@nmsteamesu Team Leader Mr. Amen Instagram @nmsteamesu8) Team ESU is looking forward to getting back to school tomorrow morning!
Team Northampton (8th) (Twitter @TeamSpartanNMS Team Leader Mrs. Hood)
The District Wide History lesson for all 8th grade students will focus on the impact of the War of 1812 on the early history of the United States. You will learn how our Nation’s song, The Star Spangled Banner, was born! We want you to continue to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, during your time at home. Reach out to us if you need help with anything! We are here for you as we have been since Day 1:)
Encore (All Grades):
From Mr. Carlstrom. Follow the published Schoology assignments for our class. Please check for any messages from me regarding additional activities for you to do in relation to Engineering and Fabrication. Email me if you have any questions.
Kocon&Burzynski: Please double check our lesson information on Schoology tomorrow at 9am!
Music (de Vries): Hello everybody! Please check your Schoology messages and updates. All of the district middle school music teachers have collaborated on a music lesson for this week. Check Schoology starting Monday morning. We hope you will enjoy our short, easy lesson! It should give you a way to stay connected and share a little about yourself during this difficult time. Also look on Schoology for some cool enrichment things to try. I love getting your emails and messages, so stay in touch and stay well!
Spanish (Sierra): ¡Hola! I hope you are all doing well. I have sent various emails and have received many replies in a variety of ways. Please remember quarter 3 closes on April 3. The new assignment that will be posted Monday the 30th and due on April 6th (4th quarter). I will continue to be available to answer your questions or just to say HOLA 🙂 Stay healthy and help your family 🙂 Check schoology updates for when I am available (LOL you know I usually am), but for more concrete hours and any info: see updates.
Spanish (Bouhana): Please double check my lesson information on Schoology tomorrow at 9am!
French (Lare): Please double check my lesson information on Schoology tomorrow at 9am!
Team PITT (Hoffman/Villani/Long/Weinert): Please double check our lesson information on Schoology tomorrow at 9am!
Library (Pohlidal) Hello Nitschmann! I really miss seeing your smiling faces coming into the library every day to check out books! Keep on reading any library books you have checked out and don’t worry about due dates. Did you know you can read books on your computer right from home? Go to the library web page and click on the link for OverDrive Ebooks. There are lots of great books from which to pick! Maybe you and a friend can read the same book and then discuss it on the phone. Why not read to a younger brother or sister? Please email me if you need help choosing a book or have any other questions. Keep on reading Nitschmann!
ESL (Bartolacci) Holá! Olá I hope you and your families are all well. I miss seeing you and hearing you speak in English and in Spanish or Portuguese. I know it will be different than having me there in person, but I trust that you will do well with the assignments. I have reopened your grammar test from before we left if you wanted to correct any errors and receive a better grade. Also, it is always good to go on Quizlet and look up my name or class and keep up with your English vocabulary. Finally, remember the 3rd quarter closes April 3rd. I am finishing grades on Study Sync and putting them on Schoology. If there are any assignments you would like to redo for a better grade, please let me know through email. There will be a new lesson posted on Schoology on Monday. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance. Email me or contact me through Schoology. I will check daily. I hope to have group audio conferencing on Schoology with all of you. I look forward to communicating with you online. Stay healthy and hang in there!
Nitschmann Middle School Performing Arts Department Updates
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Nitschmann Middle School Instrumental Music Website (Click Here!)
Mr. Daniel Zettlemoyer, Instrumental Music
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- We are now using the SmartMusic computer program to deliver and facilitate instrumental music instruction. Parents and students will be receiving a detailed email containing information how to log on and proceed with using the materials.
- Student information will be posted on Schoology.
- Parent links and resources will be posted on WWW.NMSIM.ORG
- The performance and event calendar has been updated to reflect cancellations and rescheduled events. You can view the calendar at http://www.nmsim.org/eventscal/
- Information for parents on how to tune your child’s string instrument is available at http://www.nmsim.org/orchestra/
8th GRADE MUSIC AND DRAMA TRIP UPDATE
Complete details of the trip are on the website at http://www.nmsim.org/8th-grade-trip/
SPRING TRIP TO BOSTON
Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic I have made the difficult decision to cancel the spring trip to Boston, MA on May 8 & 9. Many factors had an impact on this decision such as the workshop location being closed for the remainder of the school year and contractual obligations to avoid financial losses. I have spoken with the travel company and we are tentatively looking at 4-6 week window or even longer for refunds to be issued. You will be contacted with more information with where we stand. I am taking every step possible to ensure that we get as much back as we can..
Please keep in mind that money you have fundraised cannot be returned to you as cash. It will be put back into your fairshare account. Regarding 8th graders who have fundraised money, we are working on a plan to do a one-time transfer of your fundraised amounts to the high school for use towards activities associated with the high school program. Specific details will be made available once all the details have been worked out. Payments you have made in cash or check are available to be returned to you. We will issue refunds to you, when available, when NIMAS has received a refund from the vendor.
Complete details of the trip are on the website at http://www.nmsim.org/spring-trip/
FUNDRAISERS
- NEW Fun Pasta – March 7 – April 25 (Click here for information)
- Gertrude Hawk Candy Boxes – Suspended until further notice.
- Wawa Shortie Hoagie Coupons – Suspended until further notice.
- Weis gift cards – Suspended until further notice.
- ShopRite gift cards – Suspended until further notice.
- Giant gift cards – Suspended until further notice.
- The Nitschmann Instrumental Music Association is now part of the Amazon Smile program. Now you can shop at Amazon, get great deals and support the Nitschmann Instrumental Music Association all at the same time. Please share this with your friends and family. Go here for more information: http://www.nmsim.org/nimas/fundraising/
COLOR GUARD:
- LHS Majorette tryouts will be on APRIL 20 beginning at 3:30 pm in the LHS band room.
As usual – LHS will teach you 64 counts of routine. Each person who auditions should prepare a 64 count LHS/traditional style routine with music accompaniment.
Our sound system can accommodate iPhones, computers, etc.
All candidates need to bring their “most current” report card that contains their “current” GPA.
If there are any questions please contact me. klong@basdschools.org
See the email updates from Mr. Z for specific details and reminders.
PRACTICE INFORMATION
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- All the music we have been rehearsing is now available online.
- Each link corresponds with the ensemble you are in. Each file is MULTIPLE PAGES. Scroll down through each PDF to find your part. You may print out a copy of your part or just view it on your chromebook.
- DO NOT JUST HIT PRINT! YOU WILL PRINT OUT THE ENTIRE BAND ARRANGEMENT. Go to the page(s) you need and select the print current page option or specify the pages you need to print.
- I will be providing you with any recordings I have of the pieces as well as other useful tools to assist you with practicing at home.
ONLINE LISTENING
- Jazz for Kids – Featuring Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
- Army Field Band Virtual Concerts – The US Army Field Band will program daily content, to include live, interactive performances, beginning Friday, March 20. . Programming will start at 7 pm Friday and Saturdays, 1 pm Sunday – Thursday, Eastern.
- List of live virtual concerts during the Coronavirus shutdown.
NEWS OF NOTE:
- LHS bagpipe information – If you are interested in receiving information regarding playing the bagpipes at Liberty text @piping2020 to the number 81010.
- Stay up to date on the latest by following the instrumental music groups on Twitter. @NMSBandOrch
- Do not forget to check the Instrumental Music Website www.nmsim.org for everything dealing with instrumental music.
CALENDAR AT A GLANCE:
April 20 LHS Majorette tryouts (LHS band room) 3:30pm
April 29 NIMAS General Membership meeting 7:30 PM
May 4 Orchestra & Jazz Spring Concert 7 PM *This might be moved to later in May
May 12 NIMAS General Membership meeting 7:30 PM
May 20 Spring Band Concert 7 PM
June 3 NIMAS General Membership meeting 7:30 PM
June 4 Moving up ceremony 6 PM
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Nitschmann Middle School
A LEAD School, partnering with The Leader in Me
“Lions Lead the Way!”
Our Collective Vision Nitschmann Middle School is committed to cultivating a respectful community of innovative learners who are socially competent citizens ready to meet the challenges of their future.
Twitter @NitschmannMS
Facebook @NitschmannMiddleSchool
Instagram @BASDNitschmannMS,
Web http://basdwpweb.beth.k12.pa.us/nitschmann/
1002 West Union Blvd
Bethlehem, Pa 18018
Main Office (610) 866-5781
Fax (610) 866-1435
IMPORTANT/CONFIDENTIAL: This communication is intended solely for the confidential use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and the privileges are not waived by virtue of this having been sent by electronic mail. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify me immediately & permanently delete this message including all attachments. Thank you.