Welcome February!
Dear Wonderful Families,

Thank you to the 150 plus individuals who completed the Family Feedback Survey. This is an important step in our ongoing effort to maintain high quality, seek out insights into how families feel about their World Academy experience and to make improvements. Your feedback was reviewed and discussed with our Administrative Leadership Team and shared with our Staff and Advisory Board. Your suggestions were reviewed and some changes implemented.

We’d like to share the highlights with you, our World Academy Community:

  • 100% of families agree/somewhat agree that World Academy provides a welcoming and safe environment for all and that their family feels welcome in their child’s classroom.
  • The Survey results indicated that communication with families is a tremendous strength at World Academy. (98% of families agree that they can easily communicate with their child’s teacher. 97% of families agree/somewhat agree that their input is heard and valued. 97.4% agree/somewhat agree that they are kept informed about what is going on in their child’s classroom. 100% of respondents agree/somewhat agree that they are kept well informed about what is going on in the school community, upcoming events and programs additions/changes. )This is important to us as we consider family engagement a vital component in the educational process and achieving our mission..
  • Greater than 9 out of 10 parents feel that our staff are courteous and respectful to families. We will strive to keep this number high!
  • More than 96% of our families are satisfied with the curriculum and the progress that their child is making at World Academy. We will continue to work until this is 100%. If you have any particular concerns, please reach out to our ECE Director, Angela Hehir at ahehir@worldacademynh.com or our Principal, Marie Kirk at mkirk@worldacademynh.com. 
  • A whopping 9 out of 10 parents feel comfortable seeking out information and resources for assistance when needed. 
  • 97% of families feel we have a very strong curriculum at all levels. 
  • 99% of our families were likely to recommend World Academy to family and friends. Word of mouth is invaluable, so thank you! This is an endorsement we take seriously. 

There were more comments than we can put here about special teachers and particular strengths. We feel gratified that good work is noticed and we pass that on to the teachers and teams who made them happen. FYI our range of scores on all questions was from 96.4 to 100%. We are proud of that and will continue to strive to serve our families’ needs 24/7. Again, thank you to those who took the time to respond and if you would like to speak with us, personally, about an issue, please know that we are here for that very reason. Quality control is our primary job.


Warm regards,
Kathy and Lisa for all of us
President and Head of School  
Upcoming Events and Important Dates
Important Re-Registration Reminder 
The re-registration process for current families was to be completed ONLINE by January 31st. If you have not re-registered, we are filling your student’s/child’s space with those from our waitlist which we gratefully have for almost every grade. If there is an oversight and you are intending to re-register, it is vital for you to contact Samantha Wingate at  swingate@worldacademynh.com ASAP to see if there is still space. You can go on the waitlist if you still wish your child to enroll. Thank you to all the families who completed the registration process in a timely manner. Your children will be grateful! 
Upcoming Important Date Reminders
  • Saturday, February 8th 
  • Grades 1-8 Admissions Testing 8:00-11:00am
  • MathCounts team competing at UNH
  • Wednesday, February 12th
  • Class Robotics - Grade 3
  • Grade 8 Rube Goldberg 10:00-11:30am Join us!!
  • Thursday, February 13th 
  • WA Advisory Board Meeting 3:30-5:00pm
  • Grade 1 to McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center 8:30-2:00
  • Friday, February 14th
  • Valentines Day Friendship Parties 
  • Pre3/Emergent 4s Valentine Teas 9:00-11:00am 
  • Grades 2-4 Lunch Order Form due for March 
  • ECE Mid Year Parent Meetings End

  • Week of February 16th - No Dance This Week 
  • Sunday, February 16th
  • RECF IQ NH State World Qualifier 7:30-5:30pm @ Manchester Community College
  • Monday, February 17th 
  • World Academy CLOSED In Observance of Presidents’ Day 
  • Wednesday, February 19th 
  • Coffee and Conversations 8:00-8:45am
  • Recognition & Award Assembly 8:45am - Grade 1 Mrs. Tucker – Caring & Compassion
  • Grade 3 - Class Robotics 
  • Thursday, February 20th 
  • Future K-Grade 4 Step Up Day 
  • Friday, February 21st 
  • Maha Shivaratri 
  • RIZE IQ Meet @ WA 6:00-8:00pm
  • Saturday, February 22nd 
  • RIZE League Meet @ World Academy 

Future Important Activities
  • Friday, March 6th
  • 2nd Term closes for Grades K-8
  • Friday, March 13th
  • World Academy Alumni Association’s Annual Alumni Basketball Game
  • K-8 Report Cards and ECE Progress Reports distributed to families.
  • Friday, March 27th 
  • Father/Daughter Dance - theme “Country” Save the date and get your boots out!!
  • Sunday, April 19th
  • WORLD ACADEMY ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE 2-4pm - JOIN US!!
We wanted to let the World Academy community know that Fifth Grader, Kiran Klein will be playing a duet at the Nashua Chamber Orchestra Family Concert this coming weekend, February 9th at 3pm. It is a free family concert at the Nashua Public Library.  Click here for more details! Good luck, Kiran!
World Academy Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week
World Academy will be growing a kindness tree right in our Entrance Hall from February 17th-21st as part of Random Acts of Kindness Week. This event will be supported by our wonderful School Community and Leadership Club (AKA Kindness Club), who will be working closely with our School Counselor, Mrs. Hulfachor, to ensure that kindness is spread all over our school community. Everyone in our "World" is encouraged to participate.

"No Act of Kindness, No Matter How Small, is Ever Wasted."  - Aesop

Students, staff and families are encouraged to write acts of kindness on the heart-shaped leaves we will be providing. All students should write a rough draft and have it reviewed by a teacher for errors. We want our tree to reflect appropriate grammar and sentence structure. When completing your final draft please use black marker. Here are a couple of examples that were shared last year:
 
"Joe said something nice to me when I was feeling bad" - Luke
"Sara helped me pick up my crayons when they fell on the floor." - Larry
"Brian was nice to me during lunch." - Tom

Kindness Trees are a beautiful way to focus on and acknowledge the importance of showing kindness within a school. The tree helps foster kind, supportive relationships among students and in our community. We will all enjoy watching the tree “grow” as each good deed is recognized. This is so conducive to creating a bully free environment.  
 
Our goal is to set up the tree this coming Monday, February 10th and see the tree blossom for the rest of the month. We can't wait to see World Academy's tree bloom and a million thanks for your support.
PTO News
Box Tops for World Academy
Help the PTO raise money for their fun programs and activities for our whole school community by scanning OR clipping those Box Tops! Every Top scanned or clipped is worth $ .10 and that adds up fast. If you need to download the Box Tops app to your phone, you can learn more and do that by clicking here,

Even though the Box Tops program has changed, you can still collect Tops in a clear plastic bag (be sure the Tops are not expired) and write your child’s name, grade, and teacher’s name on the bag. One submission per family is fine—just include all students’ info. Bring the Tops into school and drop them in a Box Tops collection box found near the Front Desk, in the Elementary hallway or in the Middle School entry area. 

For more information, please contact Karen Bradshaw at kebleo@me.com. Thank you, in advance, for your participation! 
Thank Yous, Kudos and Reminders
Congratulations to Toddler Teacher, Kristin Westaway, who received her NH Early Childhood Teaching Credential Level 3 with an Infant/Toddler Endorsement!!!!! Congrats, Kristin!
Fourth Grade Invention Convention 
The Young Inventors’ Program is project-based learning that encourages critical thinking, and introduces basic principles of design thinking through out-of-the-box problem solving, leading youth in the creation of their own invention. Since 1986, YIP’s hands-on approach has brought STEM into the K-8th Grade curriculum for more than 6,000 students each year. YIP is unique in that students present and market their idea at the Invention Convention where STEM industry representatives and community members serve as role models, resources, and judges for the school and regional competitions. Our students at World Academy thrive as they collaborate on these projects and utilize all of their skills to create successful inventions.  

We are extremely grateful for the talented group of World Academy parents who volunteered their time to score all of our 4th Grade inventions. Check out their amazing bios below! If you wish to support us in this way in the future, please let Dr. Dias know at ldias@worldacademynh.com. Parent interaction makes our school stronger!

John Hehir, Parent of a WA Toddler   
John is a Civil Engineer and Aviation Project Manager for Jacobs Engineering Group, the top ranked design firm in the United States. He currently designs parts of airports that are in need of development or maintenance. He is also Ms. Angela’s husband and we are grateful for his support, daily!

Dr. Todd Pollack, World Academy Advisory Board Member and Parent of an Elementary Student
Todd is the current Director of Dental Analytics for FraudLens, Inc. where he leads a team of dentists in developing algorithms to detect dental insurance fraud. Prior to that he practiced general dentistry for 31 years, including 23 years of owning his own family practice in the historic district of Nashua, NH. He has older children who are World Academy Alumni. He has been a valued part of our “World” for many years!

Jamie Curran, Parent of World Academy Preschool Student 
Jamie is a Biomedical Engineer. She has worked in biotechnology for 15 years with a current focus on manufacturing immuno-oncology medicines at Bristol-Myers Squibbs. Her support of our ‘world’ is greatly appreciated!

Adam Allard, Parent of World Academy Middle School Student 
Adam is an Engineer and Senior Manager for Autodesk’s Technology Centers in Toronto, San Francisco and Boston. These Centers house the latest fabrication technologies in additive manufacturing, multi-axis machining, laser & waterjet cutting, metal working, woodworking and robotics in the fields of architecture, engineering, construction, biotech and manufacturing. Thank you, Adam, for joining us today!

Below are the winners of our World Academy Invention. Congratulations to all of our students who participated. Ingenuity and creativity was evident all around!!!

2020 Invention Convention Award Recipients:
  • Overall Theme - “Green School” 
  • Anthony Alongi with Fun Energy, a water wheel that produces energy and fills up water bottles
  • 1st Place  
  • Joshua Hinkle with Super Max, a submersible that would help eliminate microplastics from rivers.
  • 2nd Place 
  • Isabella Park with Trash Sorter, a trash sorter that integrates AI to sort trash from recyclables.
  • Environmental Invention 
  • Broden Morse with Co2 - Matic that uses Co2 to produce energy to produce electricity to power lights 
  • Practical and Useful Invention
  • Saya Lecourt with Smart Can, a robotic receptacle that sorts trash, compost, recycling, et al.
  • Original and Unique
  • Opaline Chawla with Sporttricity, a fan that uses the vibration on the floor to push on the air pump to blow on the fan which powers on lights.

World Academy is so excited to send our first place, second place, and “Overall Theme “Green School” winners to the Northern New England Regional Invention Convention will be on Saturday, March 28 at Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett, NH. Good luck to Anthony Alongi, Joshua Hinkle, and Isabella Park!
Save the Date! 
The World Academy Alumni Association would like you to save the date for their annual Alumni Basketball Game on Friday March 13th at 6:30 pm. This annual event bridges the ages of our NorthStar community and brings all together for laughter and fun! Following the game there will be a reception for all World Academy Alumni! Please spread the word to all past World Academy students. 

Alumni Highlights
A former NorthStar standout in the classroom and on the court, Xahn Frater, is now a freshman at Gordon College where he is already making his mark- earning playing time on the court and making an impact for his team. We can’t wait to follow his academic and athletic accomplishments! (Many congrats to his parents, Gerard and Audrey Frater who must be so proud!!)
Also, Kyle Goleman, who attended Small World Learning Center along with his 3 siblings, shared with us that he was involved in choreographing the halftime show at this year's Super Bowl. Using his dance experience this way was, as he described it, ‘a surreal experience!’ Way to go, Kyle!
Vacation Program Sign-Ups
Our Vacation Program is a safe and fun option available to any Kindergarten through Grade 8 student (even those who do not regularly attend World Academy) who is looking for a fun alternative during school vacations. This program supplements the days outside of the school calendar so a separate daily rate applies. It is filled with lots of age-appropriate, fun activities for all ages and staffed by our World Academy team. In order for us to properly plan/staff our programs, advanced sign-up is required for the days your child will attend, and there will be no refunds for unused days. Space is limited and will be filled on a first-come/first-served basis. Registration will close one week prior to the vacation day or once the spaces are filled. 
 
Don't forget to sign up for the Winter and Spring Break Vacation Days! Winter Break is from February 24-28th and Spring Break is from April 27-May 1st.
  • Click here for the sign-up for Kindergarten Vacation Program
  • Click here for the sign-up for the Grades 1-8 Vacation Program
This year,  the World Academy Alumni Association is celebrating the 40th year anniversary of the founding of World Academy by participating in a donation drive called "40 for 40"! Since 1980, the school has educated and nurtured over 20,000 students, and we would like to honor that accomplishment by paying tribute to the students, teachers, alumni and special memories from our “World!” We are aiming to attain 40 gifts in honor of the 40 years of excellence.  Please consider donating a gift of any amount to the WA Alumni Association . All gifts designated to the  “40 for 40” will go directly to the WA Alumni Association’s Scholarship Fund to support a quality World Academy education to even more deserving students.
Thank you to donor, Xianglan Zhu , who made a donation in honor of current student, Dylan Jiang !

Lost and Found
Please keep checking the Lost and Found area for clothing and other items. It appears some items are being slowly claimed...The others are waiting to find their way home. It is important that you put your child’s name on the tags or wherever, so we can return them. Losing things is developmentally appropriate for young children. It is our quest to help the items find their way back to the owners. We are also working on supporting executive function growth of our Middle Schoolers by having them be responsible for at least checking for lost items. This is always a teachable moment!! Thank you.
Local Community Softball
Registration is currently open for 2020 Babe Ruth Softball for ages 7-14!
To register, log on to Nashua.recdesk.com, or visit the Parks & Rec Dept, located at 100 Concord St. For more information on the program, click here! If you have any questions, please email Jeff DiSalvo at disalvoj@nashuanh.gov.
NorthStars Athletics & Competition Results
World Academy Claims Tri County Basketball Championships!
Congratulations to our Coach Congdon and our both our NorthStars Girls and Boys Basketball Teams on winning the two Tri-County Championship this past weekend. (That will add two more banners to our gym wall!!)

The Girls game was unbelievable! The poise, determination, strength and focus that our young athletes displayed was remarkable. Despite the fact that the girls were trailing the entire game after the first two points, they never gave up! At the 30 second mark, World Academy was down by 4 points but our girls continued to battle! A three pointer from Tahlia Pena pulled the team within 1 point. A timely inbound pass from Tahlia led to the game winning basket made by Eighth Grade Captain, Hannah Lynch, with 7 seconds left in the game. The excitement from the crowd is hard to put in words, so please take a moment to see for yourself! 
In the Boys championship game, they were always in charge and played a finessed game to beat their opponents handily. They displayed incredible skills, sportsmanship and maturity throughout and were a delight to watch. 

What an amazing season for our teams and a proud time to be a World Academy NorthStar!!!
Seen Around Our 'World'
We love to know what our students and families are up to outside of school! If you have something you would like to share, please don't hesitate to share it with us! Click here to email us your photos with details for us to post! We especially love to hear (and brag!) about student accomplishments outside of school! We love sharing ALL about each of our students!
100th Day of School Celebrations!
Mrs. Tully’s Kindergarten class had lots of fun with the number 100! They counted to 100 by 10s, 5s, 2s and 1s. They read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates The 100 Days Of Kindergarten, made "100" hats and necklaces, recalled events of the story, and made "100" books. They also shared their "100" projects by telling the class what they found, where they found the items, and how they counted to 100!
Mrs. Spaulding’s Kindergarten class completed activities throughout the day revolving around the number 100. Students made a necklace with 100 Fruit Loops, practiced writing the numbers 1 to 100 and building a tower out of 100 cups. Students had fun writing and sharing about 100 things they would like to eat, something they wish they had 100 of and what they would buy if they had 100 dollars. They were hoping it could be the 100th day of school everyday!! 
Mrs. Seguin’s Kindergarten class enjoyed various stories about the 100th Day of School and completed various activities based on the number 100! They worked on their counting skills with counting to 100 by 1s and skip counting by 10s, 5s and 2s. Students also made a headband and a necklace with 100 Fruit Loops creating their own color pattern. 
Mrs. Tucker’s First Grade class experimented with the number 100! What can you do in 100 seconds? What does a 100 word story look like? What do they think they will be like when they turn 100? What does 100 collections of different items look like? Students then shared their 100th day projects that each completed at home with their class, which are on display in the Entrance Hall.
Mrs. Guidoboni’s First Grade class practiced how many times they could do many things in 100 seconds such as jumps, sitting down and standing up, blinking, and writing their name.  They colored a secret picture on a hundred chart and discovered what the end result was. They each also presented their 100 day projects to the class. They told the class how they came up with their idea and who helped them. At the end of the day, they celebrated with an ice cream sundae party. Their projects will be displayed in Entrance Hall along with Mrs. Tucker’s class’ projects.
In Mrs. Chiccarelli’s class, the Second Graders celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing like they were 100 years old! They solved multiple step word problems that involved the number 100 and wrote goals of what they want to accomplish before they turn 100 years old. 
It was all about “100’ in Mrs. Stone’s Second Grade! The class began the day with “100’ sets of physical activities, came up with Incredible Equations that equal 100, found 100 smaller words within the word “supercalafragilisticexpealadocious’, and finally wrote about how they would spend $100 dollars! The students realized $100 goes quickly. One hundred is one terrific number!
In the morning, Miss Hill’s Third Grade math class played 100 Chart Jeopardy. Students answered questions about mathematical patterns, rules and equations that can all be solved within the number 100. In the afternoon, and in honor of Groundhog Day, students worked together to find 100 groundhogs hidden around the classroom. After they collected all the groundhogs, they discussed and arranged the groundhogs in different ways to make sure they found all 100 of them. All of the students then creatively arranged the items. 
Mrs. Novak’s Third Grade celebrated the 100th day of school completing a variety of activities including how many different words could be made from the word ‘Hundred’ and writing down all the different ways to make 100, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, Roman Numerals, etc. They also made a polygon with a perimeter of 100 centimeters and made a list of 100 compound words, as well as listing 100 things they want to do before they are 100 years old! They made 100 Day sunglasses and got new 100th Day of School pencils!
Congrats to Sixth Grader, Alex Egbuonu and his AAU basketball team, ASA Select of Massachusetts, on landing a top 10 ranking in the country! Additionally, he is working hard with his Nashua Nighthawks team who are currently undefeated at 11-0 and he helped our NorthStars take our Tri-County Championship!  Keep up the great work, Alex!
Middle School Hydroponics Garden is in Bloom! 
The Fifth Grade Science classes planted their Hydroponic Garden a week ago and it’s starting to grow and thrive! They have added water as needed, added another cycle of nutrients to the plants today and continued the lights on the plants for 14 hours a day. The students have been documenting the gardening process on their lab sheets and writing about the benefits and details of Hydroponics. Students also hypothesized as to which plants (flowers, herbs, tomatoes, or lettuce) would grow the quickest. They will graph the results as the growth continues. Stay tuned! What a wonderful lesson on sustainable farming!
During this STEM activity in Miss Danielle and Miss Michelle's Preschool 3.2, friends worked together to make Lego tracks for marbles to run through. The children were trying to copy one another’s builds and communicated ideas on what worked and what didn’t. 
The Preschool 3.2 children were so proud of the fact that they were able to put this puzzle together all by themselves without the help of a teacher! They showed great communication and collaboration skills as they helped one another find the correct placement of the pieces!
Both Preschool 3s and Emergent 4s collaborated for a fun game of duck duck goose out on the playground during afternoon outside time! This activity definitely tied into their theme of friendship this week.
This past month, Mrs. Chiccarelli's Second Graders learned all about the different types of energy! We explored sound, light, and heat energy with various experiments. The students worked cooperatively in groups and made an electric circuit! They began with one light bulb and evolved into two light bulbs with a switch! Check out some highlights of the unit!  
The Fourth and Sixth Graders built their core strength and challenged themselves to get to new heights on the rock climbing wall!
The Middle Schoolers thoroughly enjoyed their final day on the slopes as their winter ski program ended this week. Thank you to Mr. Congdon, all of the Middle School teachers and our parent volunteers for another successful team and skill building project. 
During a collaboration and problem solving activity with Miss Bishop, the Middle Schoolers were put into teams and given one plate each. They had to race to get their whole team from one side of the gym to the other keeping their feet on the plates! Fall off a plate or put a foot on the floor, you have to start over. Plates were shared, plates were torn, and all had fun!
Check out some of our students enjoying ice skating at Conway Area. They had a special visit during their final session when Dr. Dias stopped by to skate with them...and can she skate!!!!
Pictured here are a few Middle School students using their creativity to make music using the Garageband app.
Just a regular day in Miss Bishop's afternoon homeroom!
Have a great weekend!
(603) 888-1982