Fall Family Days Coming Soon
We are excited to welcome you back to campus in four weeks for fall Family Days (Friday, Oct. 19–Saturday, Oct. 20; for families of juniors, Thursday evening, Oct. 18, too). As you review the schedule, we hope you’ll plan to join us. You’ll receive an official invitation by email on Oct. 2, with one link to register and another link to sign up for teacher and advisor conferences. 

As you coordinate travel plans, please note that students may leave for the long weekend only after their academic, athletics, arts, and workjob commitments are complete. All performing-arts students will participate in a show on Friday evening, Oct. 19. Athletics events occur on Saturday, Oct. 20. There are no classes on Monday, Oct. 22, or Tuesday, Oct. 23. The dormitories will be open for students who remain on campus. While classes resume on Wednesday, Oct. 24, seniors may use that day to look at colleges and return that evening. 

Here are some tips for getting the most from Family Days. For more information, please contact Julia Farmer.

The NMH charter bus stops have changed for the 2018–19 school year. We have taken away the New Haven stop as there was not as great a need, and have added a stop in the Bronx. The pick up in the Bronx will be about 25 minutes after Stamford southbound, and 25 minutes before Stamford northbound. The pick up location is the Bay Plaza (behind Party City, across from Staples).

Please note that larger NMH dorms will remain open during long weekend. However, smaller dorms—Ford Cottage, North Farmhouse, Oaknoll, South Farmhouse, and Rikert—will close for the long weekend, and those residents can’t stay in their dorm. With an invitation, these students may stay in a bigger dorm or go home with another student. This is a great opportunity for families to open their home to NMH friends.

Talk to Your Student About Vaping
Research is now showing that vaping/Juuling has become an epidemic, and the FDA is now taking action. Please read this message from Dr. Sara Rourke about the importance of educating yourselves and speaking with your student about this topic.

Upcoming Travel Programs
NMH students can see the world! The Global Engagement Office (GEO) offers a variety of study-abroad programs that we encourage all eligible students to apply for. Students participating in our programs range from those who have already lived in multiple countries to those who have never left the United States or even Massachusetts! GEO’s mission is to assure that NMH students graduate with a sense of global identity. 

Although many of our study-abroad programs are long established, we are constantly developing them and creating new ones. We offer interdisciplinary travel, Model United Nations conferences, spring-break trips, as well as language-immersion and special-opportunity programs. 

Study-abroad programs are selective and enrolled by application only. Here are our 2018–19 offerings. (Note: Applications for *starred trips are due October 1.)

• Sophomore interdisciplinary trip to Brazil (fall semester)
• *Model United Nations Programs (winter term): international conferences in Greece and Qatar; U.S. conference at U. Penn
• Spring-semester exchange at Scots College in New Zealand
• Upper-class interdisciplinary trip to New Zealand (spring semester)
• *Spring-break programs: Alpine Skiing in Norway; Healthcare, Development, and Service in Belize
• Summer Program: Dance, Drumming, and Culture in Ghana

Studying abroad provides opportunities students can’t find on campus. The intercultural competence gained while abroad will help students become adaptable, flexible, and self-aware global leaders ready to succeed back at NMH and beyond!

Detailed, program-specific information is available during fall Family Days. A travel program informational meeting for families with faculty trip leaders will be held the morning of Oct. 20. If you have inquiries in the meantime, please contact Study Abroad and Experiential Program Administrator Jensi Rovang. 

Turning 18 at NMH
We love to celebrate birthdays with our students! And while each birthday is a milestone that holds significance, turning 18 brings additional rights and responsibilities that we ask students to consider. 

When a student turns 18, they receive a letter from the NMH dean of students’ office that outlines the significance that this birthday holds. You will see that, in addition to wishing them a happy birthday, Dean of Students Nicole Hager outlines what actions the student must take to remain enrolled at NMH. 

In particular, they must read the school enrollment agreement (which you signed when enrolling your student) and sign an addendum to that agreement. They must also sign a permission-to-treat form for the health center. In this document, they also have the option to deny you access to their health information. As an adult, this is a legal decision that they can make and that we must honor. 

Please talk with your 18-year-old about these documents and about the roles and responsibilities of becoming an adult in the eyes of the law.

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Announcements

Supporting Your Student in the Early Weeks of School
Whether your student is getting back into the swing of boarding school quickly or is having trouble adjusting to living away, here are some tips to help your student adjust.
 
Weekend Overnight Rules
Day students, weekends: Day students are welcome to stay overnight in a dorm any weekend night without charge. Parents/guardians should contact the faculty member on dorm duty (see link below) after 7 pm to confirm that the student will be staying in the dorm.
 
Boarding students, weekends: Boarding students who wish to spend the night off campus must fill out an electronic weekend form by Wednesday night. The dean of students’ office will check appropriate permissions and make final approvals.
 
All students: If plans change after approval has been granted, the parent/guardian must call to confirm the change of plans. Click here for the contact information for all NMH dormitories. Day families, call the faculty in the dorm; boarders’ families, call the deans’ office or the duty dean (if after 5 pm on the weekend).
 
Follow NMH Athletics
Stay up to date by syncing your favorite team’s schedule from the athletics calendar to your personal calendar, by following our NMH social media accounts, checking results on the team pages (see links in left-hand column) and by catching a variety of varsity games on NMHlive. Go NMH!

Don’t Send Food to the NMH Mailroom
NMH understands that nothing is better than fresh food or home-cooked goodies. However, the NMH mailroom is not equipped to receive food from families or fresh-food delivery services. Please help the mailroom stay smelling fresh as a daisy by not mailing perishables to your student.

Remembering 9/11
NMH commemorated the 17th anniversary of 9/11 by flying flags at half staff, tolling the Memorial Chapel bell for five minutes at 8:46 am, and playing a brief concert on the bells in the RAC carillon. A plaque and maple tree outside Alumni Hall memorialize the four NMH community members who lost their lives on 9/11.

Flu Shots Available in October
The O’Connor Health and Wellness Center is planning ahead to keep your student healthy during flu season. The flu shot will be available in the health center beginning in mid-October. 

Meet Other NMH Parents in the Bay Area
Please join NMH Bay Area families for a gathering at the home of trustee David Steinberg ’79, P’21 and his wife Hilary, on Sunday Oct. 7, from 5 to 7 pm. For more information or to RSVP, please email rsvp@nmhschool.org. 

Academic Excellence Rewarded 
The Cum Laude Society — the high-school equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa — elected 16 seniors on the basis of their outstanding academic records as juniors. Learn who the new members are.

Hogolympics Photos
Last week, students participated in Hogolympics, a spirited dorm-against-dorm competition that includes events such as a slow bike race, building a pyramid out of plastic cups, an egg toss, hula-hoop pass, and more. See the photo and video galleries.

Athletes of the Week
Congratulations to this week’s standouts, Sage Valente ’20 (field hockey) and Louis Salz ’20 (cross-country). Read why they were chosen.

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Upcoming Events

9/14–10/21 Sandra Matthews’ art exhibition, Making Oneself at Home
9/23 College fair at NMH
9/23 Trip to the Big E
10/1 Fall Family Days e-invitation sent, registration opens
10/5 Admission Class Visit Day
10/7 Bay-Area families event
10/13 Admission Open House
10/19–20 Fall Family Days