Welcome to our Healthy School Community!AtlantiCare has dubbed Northfield Community School the Healthiest School in Atlantic County! We won the Healthy School Index 2008 Contest!
NCS - The Healthiest School in Atlantic County!
As participants in AtlantiCare's Healthy School Contest 2007-2008. Northfield Community School has won the title of "The Healthiest School in Atlantic County." This award "honors those schools that are exemplary in their work and have made a strong commitment to improving the health of their school." (quoted from AtlantiCare's Healthy School Index website). As the grand prize winners, NCS receives $5000 toward our Healthy School Initiative and an in-school celebration for our students, staff, and families. Specifics and arrangements for this celebration will be determined at a later date.
Northfield Community School is a health-promoting school where Administration, teachers, staff and parents "work together to provide students with integrated and positive experiences and structures that promote and protect their health." (World Health Organization definition of a health promoting school)
FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF ALL OF OUR HEALTHY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES GO TO OUR COMMUNITY PAGE
Northfield Middle School has been awarded the Physical Fitness State Champion Award from the Office of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) and The President's Challenge Program. We are one of three schools in New Jersey to receive this award. It is the highest award for outstanding achievement in physical fitness. Congratulations to our students and Physical Education Teachers for making Northfield Middle School a leader and role model in physical fitness. This year, Northfield Middle School continues to implement The President's Challenge Active Lifestyle program into its Physical Education program. Again, congratulations students and teachers!
Announcements
Running Club for Grades 5-8, March 24-April 25 and June 1-June 12
All students in grades 5-8 are welcome to join the running club! Members will run three times a week on the bike path, help plan an Extreme Fitness Friday on April 24, GYSD, and help plan a health awareness campaign for grades 5-8. You will be more fit, get to hang out with friends and have a great time! Click here for a flyer/permission slip. Click here for a physical fitness form. This club is partially funded through a YSA/UnitedHealth HEROES Grant.
Power of Choice After School Activity!!!
Great new after school activity for students in grades 5-8. Students make healthy snacks, learn cool ways to stay healthy. Click here for flyer and more information.
Healthy School Website
For complete coverage of all of our Healthy School Programs, and more information, CLICK HERE!
Parent Volunteers Needed for Walking School Bus!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
The LeanGreenWalking Machine has arrived!!
The NCS Healthy School Steering Committee is planning a walking/cycling HOME school bus on April 24, 2008 (where students and parents walk/cycle home as a group)! Volunteers are needed to help with the planning and “chaperoning/walking” the day of the event. If you are interested in helping, please contact Jodi Maccini at jmaccini@ncs-nj.org.
Come out and exercise with friends and family and help make this even a great success! Click here for flyer.
TV Turn-off Week April 21-27, 2008 - Win a New Bike!
Dear Parents, in honor of International TV Turn-off Week during April 21-27, 2008, we are inviting all students in K-8 to enter a poster contest that celebrates the theme "Do More, Watch Less." Prizes will include a $25 gift card and the winning posters will be displayed in school and on our website. Please encourage your child to enter. In addition, on the back of the flyer is a TV Log, where students pledge to watch less TV and record what they watched during the week of April 21-27. When they complete that and write a short essay on what they did instead, they can hand it in for a chance to win a BRAND NEW BIKE! Both the poster contest and the TV Log are for students in ALL grades, we hope everyone participates. Click here for the flyer and log.
Disease Preparedness in Schools - Free Training
ASHA has a free, online training on "Disease Preparedness in Schools: School Planning for Disease Outbreaks." http://ashaweb.org/dpm/player.html (great info for Teachers, Parents, School Nurses, School Administration)
Description: This interactive, online training course will help school health professionals prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks that might affect schools. Module 1 focuses on Influenza, but others to be released in 2008 will address the specific needs and roles of Administrators, School Nurses, Teachers, and Mental Health Professionals in planning for and dealing with a disease outbreak. The module examines Influenza Facts, Signs and Symptoms, Types, Protective Measures, and more. In addition, the module describes the differences between Seasonal Flu and Pandemic Flu.
Nurses can earn 1.0 Continuing Nursing Education Contact Hour
Healthy Family Kick-off Meeting
January 17, 2008
6pm - 7pm
Mainland Fitness Gym, 1201 New Road, Linwood, NJ, 08225
ANNOUNCEMENT!!!Five Families Announced in "Look Who's Healthy Now"Healthy Family Makeover Contest! The families chosen to compete are the Devines, McClains, O'Neils, Rabels and Smilowskis. Click here for pictures of their journey!
"Look Who's Healthy Now"Healthy Family Makeover Contest and Healthy Family Scrapbook Contest has launched! Flyers went home on 12/10/07! This is a chance for all Northfield Families (with at least one child who is at least 10 and in grades 5-8, including private school) to change their lives for the better, receive a health and fitness package estimated at $10,000, have a chance to win a shopping spree and a family vacation! For more information see attached flyer!
Essays to participate in the Healthy Family Makeover are due on 1/11/08! Your essay should include: Why your family wants to participate, brief description of your family, comment on your schedule (flexibility or restrictions), your commitment to health and wellness or this project, any other information that you'd like to add, and finally, why your family should be selected! In case of ties, these semi-finalists will be selected through a drawing. Fifteen semi-finalists will be selected, based on the essay. (All names will be deleted and essays will be judged outside of the NCS school district) The semi-finalists will be interviewed and 5 final families will be chosen (In case of a tie, semi-finalists, finalists will be selected through a drawing).
Kickoff and Informational Meeting: January 17, 2008 at 6pm at Mainland Fitness Gym. Final families will be announced!!
You can email your essay to Dr. Carol Ferguson or mail/hand it in at BOE office, MS Office, or ES Office, attn: Dr. Ferguson.
We received the Healthy Community Grant from the Department of Health and Senior Services! We also received the NJ Healthy School Award Mini Grant from the Department of Agriculture. Finally, in June, we received the Most improved School Honorable Mention Award from AtlantiCare. These grants will provide upcoming Health, Nutrition and Physical Fitness after school programs for students! Check out January's calendar of events!! One of them is the "Walk and Talk" club for MS!
Also - The Jets are coming! NY Jet Football players will be coming soon to talk to our students about healthy lifestyle choices! Northfield has been recognized as one of six healthiest schools in NJ by the New York Jets Program “Eat Right, Move More” and the NJ Department of Agriculture!
Healthy School Initiative 2007-2008
Click here to check out all of the incredible events that our HSSC have planned for NCS this year! Wow!!!
Game - 9-10 year olds
New!!! 10-10-07
AMAZING FOOD DETECTIVE:
Based on a popular character from Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Program, the Amazing Food Detective takes children through activities that show how to choose healthy foods and how to get more active. Children playing the game follow the routines of eight culturally diverse children whose activities or conditions would benefit from healthy food and exercise choices. The game, aimed at children 9 – 10 and available to everyone at www.kp.org/amazingfooddetective, complements Kaiser Permanente's nationally recognized childhood obesity clinical strategy.
New additions to Information
Parents, Teachers and Students,
Don't forget to check the dates for updating sections of this page! We added great information to many pages, including the following information files (see lower left hand side)
News - Three Key Vaccines for Your Preteen
The CDC is urging parents to schedule a checkup for 11- to 12-year-olds, complete with three highly recommended vaccines that can protect kids from some serious, sometimes deadly diseases. http://www.kidshealth.org/research/preteen_vaccines.html
Healthy Family Eating (posted 6/17/07) Good nutrition and a balanced diet will help kids grow up healthy. Find out how to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits by clicking here.
Check out other Parent tips in Parent Section on the right! This is updated weekly!
Breakfast Program
Dear Parents and Students:
The Northfield Middle School has started a pilot breakfast program. Come early and enjoy a healthy breakfast and start your day off right!!!
Cookbook Submission!
Congratulations to Mrs. Duran's and Mrs. McGlynn's class who participated in the AtlantiCare Cookbook. See their April entry in the file's section in the lower right corner!!! It has great recipes and it is a beauty!
Healthy School Art Contest
Congratulations to all of our students who participated in the Healthy School Poster Contest. Click here to view the winning drawings. Once there, click on "view slideshow." Enjoy!!!!!
Healthy School Steering Committee and Study Group
We have established a study group, made up of faculty and administration, who has completed a pre-assessment from AtlantiCare that identifies our strengths and our services already in place, as well as illuminates areas for improvement.
Most recently, we have developed a Healthy School Steering Committee that includes key members of our school and community. Ultimately, our work will identify priorities, describe activities and develop time lines that will result in a school culture that supports a coordinated approach to meeting the health, safety, and academic needs of our students.
AtlantiCare Initiative
Our schools’ administration recognizes the importance of creating a school that supports the well-being of our students and staff to improve their abilities to learn and teach. To begin this work, we are participating in Atlantic Care’s Healthy School Initiative where we assess our current efforts to create a healthy environment for our students and staff and compare those results with best practices recognized on the local, state, and national levels.
Kidnetic.com Kidnetic.com is a healthy eating and active living Web site for kids ages 9-12 and their families. Developed by the International Food Information Council , the site is intended to encourage kids and their parents to begin the process of behavior changes toward healthy lifestyles. The site includes kid friendly recipes that provide not only satisfying and healthy eats but an excellent dose of information.
Kidshealth Created by The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, KidsHealth provides kids, families and teachers with accurate, up-to-date, and jargon-free health information.
Please note: some of the links on this website will let you leave our site. These linked sites are not under the control of our school district. The district therefore is not responsible for the contents of any such site, or any link contained in those sites, or any changes or updates to those sites. The district is providing these links to you as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement of the site by the district.