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PHS SUMMER
SCHOOL OPTIONS
NOW AVAILABLE
ON LINE
Portsmouth School District Friday
Newsletter
Portsmouth School Department
May 29, 2015
RJLA STUDENTS TANGLE WITH KNOTWEED
CLIPPER ACADEMY
SUMMER
ADVANCEMENT
PROGRAM
NOT YOUR
TYPICAL SUMMER
SCHOOL!
Clipper Academy is an
opportunity for all high
s ch o ol s tu den ts an d
incoming freshmen in the
Seacoast region to advance
their education during the
summer.
For a list of courses available
to students, please click
HERE.
Your child won’t want the
summer off!
The Ecology Class at Lister
Academy has been researching
the impacts of invasive species
upon the ecosystems of New
Hampshire.
recipes.
Check out the before and after
pictures of the trailhead sign!
After reading an article in the
Portsmouth Herald about how
a local restaurant has been
serving dishes made from the
invasive Japanese Knotweed, the
class decided to get involved.
Students worked together to
clear knotweed from out in
front of an interpretive sign at
the Buckminster Way trailhead
into the Great Bog.
Besides improving the
appearance of the trailhead,
students brought samples of the
rhubarb-like plant back to the
school kitchen, where they plan
on experimenting with a few
ECO CLUB POLLINATOR GARDEN AT PHS
The bees and the butterflies will find a happy ca, as well as the announcement that the be- Portsmouth High School and member of the
home at PHS this summer thanks to the loved Monarch Butterfly was entering endan- PHS ECO club, accepted a $280.00 grant
Portsmouth ECO club, Portsmouth Garden germent status. ECO club members planned from the Portsmouth Garden Club for the
Club and Rolling Green Nursery.
for the garden during the winter months and installation of the Pollinator Garden.
submitted a grant to the Portsmouth Garden
On May 14th nearly twenty volunteers conClub, which they were fortunate to revened on the PHS Library lawn to create a
ceive. The garden was designed by Rachel
butterfly and bee oasis complete with a waMoores and Katie Cole. Rolling Green
tering hole. The garden is designed to atNursery supplied the loam, plants and comtract the bees and butterflies, as well as propost all at a reduced price. Master Gardner
vide much needed pollen and nectar to our
and School Board Chair Leslie Stevens assistlocal bees and butterflies.
ed the students in the construction and
The motivation to create the garden began planting of the garden.
last fall when students learned about the dramatic reduction in honey bee hives in Ameri-
On May 13th Madison Morris, a Junior at
This past fall all of our schools enjoyed
moving directly to classroom instruction
without having to schedule the New
England Common Assessment (NECAP) in
October.
Portsmouth
School
District Friday Newsletter
As you may already know, New
Hampshire
is one of many
states
shifting to an online
Portsmouth
School
Department
computer adaptive test known as Smarter
May 29, 2015
Balanced
Assessment (SBAC).
P
M represents
S STUD
E N particularly
T S A R Eat the
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!
This
a shift,
elementary
school,Incoming
in grade Grade
3-5. We6 Stuare
PMS
Welcomes
providing our elementary students an
dents and Parents - Incoming Principal
experience with the SBAC practice test
Phillip Davis and the 6th grade team of teachbefore they sit down and take the
ers
would like
to welcome
assessment
in the
spring. the parents of all
th
incoming 6 grade students to Portsmouth
Technology integrators are leading this
Middle School on June 9th from 6:00 – 7:30
effort using regularly scheduled computer
PM.
lab time for students to explore the
practice
available
SBAC.school
Be
Mr.
Davistest
willmade
present
thefor
middle
sure
to
ask
your
child
about
the
program, tell parents what they can expect
experience.
in the middle years, and answer quesOur middle
and high
school
tions.
Parents school
and guardians
will have
the
students already
havethefamiliarity
with classthe
opportunity
to tour
building and
Northwest
Assessment
th
rooms
with a 6Evaluation
grade teacher.
There will
(NWEA) which is also a computer adaptive
be a presentation by the Special Education
test.
Department prior from 5:00 – 6:00 in the
For more
school
library.information, please visit the
Smarter Balanced website.
5th grade classes will be visiting the middle
school on the following dates:
summer once schedules are generated so Portsmouth Middle School’s physical
that students can re-acquaint themselves education teacher, Kathy Birse-Siegel,
with the buildings and walk through their teamed up with French teacher, Jennie Siegel,
actual schedule. This will be on August 18th to bring action en français to seventh and
from 9:30 – 10:30 or from 12:30 – 1:30.
The seventh grade French classes at Eric Raymond, francophone from Montreal
Portsmouth Middle School got a taste of and part of Kin-ball Canada, came to instruct
French cuisine during an outing to the Gas- students how to play Kin-ball in French. Kinlight in Portsmouth.
ball is an international sport that was created
in Quebec in 1986. The International Kinball Federation has 3.8 million participants—
primarily from Europe and Canada. Kin-ball
is played with a gigantic ball (pictured) and is
different from other sports in that it has 3
teams playing at once.
The day was a blast and we are currently
looking into training a team of next year’s
eighth graders to compete in Quebec during
The Gaslight offered a 3-course prix fixe the French class trip!
June 3rd – LHS
June 10th – NFS
meal—complete with escargot (yes, snails!),
coq au vin, and pot de crème for des-
June 11th – Dondero
sert. Almost 100% of the students dared to
Students will have a chance to tour the build-
try the snails! Students who tried the snails
earned a badge of honor: a temporary snail
ing, meet current sixth grade students and
“tattoo” on their hands.
teachers, and eat lunch in the Stokel Student
Thanks to the Gaslight for offering this opCommons.
portunity to the Portsmouth Middle School!
There will be additional 6th grade tours this
INTERACTIVE DAY OF GIVING
They said it couldn’t be done…..get high school students to do
community service on a Saturday morning, the same day as the
junior prom….well I guess they didn’t know these 54 super stars!
39 Portsmouth High Students
6 York High School Students
6 Dover High School Students
3 Oyster River High School Students
Plus 6 Interact Advisors/Rotarians
eighth graders.
Nice Job Interact Club!!!!!
JUNE 2015
2
PPMtv will be recording the 2015 Graduation Ceremonies on
June 12, 2015
DVD’s of the event
are available for Preorder by sending a
check for $15 before
6/12/15 to:
PHS Graduation 2015
PPMtv
280 Marcy St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801
3
6:30 PM LITTLE
HARBOUR Kindergarten - Parent
Information Night
4
5
6
10
11
12
17
18
19
LAST DAY
SCHOOL - LHS
ONLY
LAST DAY
SCHOOL
7:00 PM Middle
School Spring
Concert
7
8
9
14
15
16
7:00 PM SCHOOL
BOARD PUBLIC
MEETING
Orders received after
6/12/15 will be available for $25


THE
CLASS
OF
2017
IS
SPONSORING A SPRING RAFFLE
from May 26th to June 5th. There will be
at least 14 winners. Tickets are $2.00 for
one ticket, or $5.00 for three tickets. All
proceeds will benefit the Class of 2017
Class Council. The raffle will run from
now until Friday, June 5th when the
winners will be selected. To purchase
tickets, you can drop off a check at PHS
or mail it to PHS (50 Andrew Jarvis
Drive). If you have any questions, please
contact Lauren Casimiro or Bryan Rogers.
THIRD
ANNUAL
CLIPPER
SOCCER CLINIC One of the main
objectives of this clinic is to provide
constant feed-back on what players need
to work on during the summer in
preparation for high school try-outs or
next fall season, whether playing for PCSC
or the middle school team. For more
information, contact Martin Carter.
June 15—17 (Mon—Wed).
Portsmouth High Turf Field
6-8pm Boys and girls entering 8 + 9
Cost: $45 (or $20 per day)

CHECK OUT NEW
SUMMER PROGRAMS!
HEIGHTS

ST. JOHN’S CHOIR COMING TO
PORTSMOUTH in the Fall of 2015. For
students in grades 4-7. For more
information, contact Meg Harper.

2015
PO RT S MO UT H
HI G H
SCHOOL 10TH ANNUAL BOYS
BASKETBALL CAMP FOR BOYS
ENTERING GRADES 4-8. PHS, JULY 15,
16, 17. 10AM-12PM. For more
information, contact John Mulvey.

UNH
SUMMER/VACATION
CAMPS AT UNH - CLICK HERE

GIRLS ON THE RUN NEW
HAMPSHIRE is actively recruiting
coaches for the Fall 2015 season at Little
Harbour School. A GOTR coach is a
volunteer position that facilitates and
supports the GOTR curriculum. The
position requires approximately 2-4 hours
per week for 10 weeks with the additional
commitment of a one-time new coach
training. Coaches do not need to be
runners but must be willing to lead with
an open heart and assume positive intent.
Please contact Betsy Cissel if you are
interested.