December 2025

Spanish Classes

In celebration of the Mexican Holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Spanish classes at North participated in cultural activities. This beautiful celebration is a joyful time for families to remember and honor deceased loved ones, students were excited to learn about it through stories, music, and food.

About Día de los Muertos

Though it takes place near Halloween, Día de los Muertos has a different origin and meaning; it is a joyful celebration of life, not a spooky holiday. Traditions often include creating an ofrenda (altar) decorated with marigold flowers, photos of loved ones, and their favorite foods. During this holiday, families celebrate the memory of those who have passed away and share family history with younger generations.

To make our celebration special, students were invited to participate in the

“Pan de Muerto Home” activity. Pan de Muertos (or “bread of the dead”) is a sweet

bread decorated with dough shaped into bones and is an important part of the alters, or

ofrendas, made for this holiday. Students baked fresh bread at home and proudly

shared it with the class, who eagerly enjoyed eating it.

The 6th grade students participated in the "Helping Students Grow" service initiative before Thanksgiving. They completed projects creating Kindness Cups, After School Fun Packs, Brunch for You Bags and numerous cards. The cards and projects will be distributed to adults struggling in senior communities, families dealing with poverty and food insecurity as well as children who need extra supports to help them be successful. The students did an amazing job being creative in their kindness messages and art. This will make a big impact on individuals in the Pennridge and surrounding communities.

If any students are interested in bringing The Giving Tree Families service projects to their athletic teams, scout troops or small group function, please reach out to Mrs. Verespy.

To end our first marking period and start off our second on a positive note, the North Climate Committee planned a morning of fun and togetherness. Each team rotated through three stations within the building for thirty minutes each. Mr. Hong hosted Karaoke in the auditorium. Students participated in a Turkey Trot around the track. Finally, all students had fun with trivia in the cafe! The morning culminated with a ...

After our morning of team and climate activities, we met back in the auditorium as a school to honor our Fall Sports Teams -- Football, Soccer, and Field Hockey -- for their hard work and effort all season long! Coaches and Team Captains spoke to the crowd, and we cheered them on! Mr. Wunder and Mrs. Griffin recognized all of our Volleyball Intramural athletes, and Mrs. Loughery highlighted the teacher Pickleball Teams. The morning ended with some Team against Team relays where all grade levels shone! Then ... it was off for Thanksgiving Break and time with families.

On Thursday, November 6th, we had our first Students of the Quarter Breakfast. Each quarter, North teachers honor students who exemplify certain characteristics: a great attitude, helpfulness, acceptance, and are all-around hard workers. The Students of the Quarter for quarter one were ...

From Gemini: Shane Chodoroff, Reese Diakon, Hannah Fuhrmann, Colton McHugh

From Hydra: Calvin Horoff, James Millili, Alice Slutsky, Aliya Wishwanick

From Phoenix: Eleni Gardner, Colby Graber, Cameron Loux, Ethan Resavy

From Art: Santiago Arreola, Meadow Bradley, Hayden Garber, CJ Smith, Royce Thomas, Athea Waldo

From FCS: Blake Brown, Daniel Grano-Zamudio, Glory Kapps, Alyssa Larsen, Aayan Patel, Ethan Volensky

Congratulations!!

Each month the teachers look to recognize students that exemplify various character traits. In November we honored students that exemplified Kindness. November's honorees were ...

• Landyn Keating

• Layla Hodges

• Sadie Voytko

• Mark Goldenberg

• Hailee Bupp

• Joshua Homolka

And the honored adult was Mrs. Crouthamel, Sixth Grade RELA & Math. Congratulations to all!

Mrs. Frable’s English classes have finished their fiction stories! They enjoyed a Publication Celebration in the library to share their masterpieces. We’d like to thank Mrs. Hester for hosting and all the parents who donated food.

12/4 -- Winter Choral Concert, 7:00 PM

12/9 -- Band/Orchestra Concert, 7:00 PM

12/11 -- -- Upstanders Presentation for Seventh Graders

12/12 -- StuCo Winter Dance

12/17 -- Eighth Grade Chorus Trip to Broadway

12/19 -- StuCo Gingerbread House Family Event (must be paid and ordered in advance)

12/23 -- Lip Sync Battle (student assembly only)

12/24 through 1/4 -- Winter Break

The Winter Chorus Concert is on Thursday, December 4. Students should arrive at 6:00pm wearing their concert black attire: black pants, black shirts, black dresses, black shoes, etc. The concert begins at 7:00pm and is open to everyone!

Be sure to come out to the North Middle School Band and Orchestra Winter Concert on Tuesday, December 9, at 7:00! It will surely be a wonderful evening that will put you in the holiday spirit. The concert will feature students in grades 6 through 8 performing with the String Ensemble, the Vivaldi Orchestra, the Concert Band, and the Symphonic Band. Each group will play a few pieces to highlight some of the skills that they have been working on over the last few months.

Please reach out to Mr. Hong, Ms. Rue, or Mr. Vollberg with any questions. We hope to see you there!

German 1 students are going to the Bethlehem Christkindlemarkt (Christmas market) on December 4th. They will be making a comparison between our local Christmas market and those famous markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Some German 1 students will also be participating in an Ornament making activity at the High School with the German club on Tuesday December 16th. All ornament made will be donated to those who need to stay in Grand View Hospital over the holidays.

Elevate your future with Upper Bucks County Technical School! Their cutting-edge Career and Technical Education programs are tailored to prepare you for both college and the careers of tomorrow. Don't miss out!

Please watch the following videos to learn about the incredible programs that are available!

Learn more about the Value and Benefits of Career Connected Learning at UBCTS:

UBCTS School to Work Competitive Advantage (youtube.com) (The Technical Advantage)

Enrollment is currently not available for the 26-27 school year, BUT ...

... when available, since many programs fill to capacity quickly, we encourage you to complete your application by February 14, 2026 as soon as it opens.

In preparation for the upcoming holidays, we would like to support our families in need through/with donations to Pennridge FISH (Fellowship In Serving Humanity), which provides food, clothing, and has a Christmas Gift and Meal Program for the Pennridge community.

Many of our staff members will also be partnering with Pennridge FISH to support their holiday gift program. If any family would like to contribute a donation directly to Pennridge FISH you can make a monetary donation via Pennridge FISH’s website.

Families that need holiday gift help are asked to contact Pennridge FISH directly to register or visit the Pennridge FISH website for the Gift and Meal Program 2025

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Pennridge FISH directly.

Dear 6th grade parents,

We still need many completed 6th grade physical exams. Please have the physical form completed by your student’s doctor as soon as possible. The following immunizations must be completed before your child can be admitted to 7th grade next school year and can be handed into school this school year if completed at their 6th grade physical exam appointment. Children attending 7th grade need the following immunizations:

· 1 dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) (if 5 years has elapsed since last tetanus immunization)

· 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV)

Medical or religious exceptions to this requirement can be explained by the school nurse and require a parent/guardian signature.

• Link for PDE physical exam : https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/school-health/PHYSICAL%20EXAM%20form%202012.pdf

Dear 7th grade parents ,

We still need many completed 7th grade dental exams. School dental exams are mandated by PA state for school entry and 7th grade. Parents are urged to have dental examinations completed by their family dentist and submitted prior to September 30 of the year that they are due. A completed exam dated no earlier than September, one year prior to the required grade, is acceptable.

· Link for PDE dental exam: https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/school-health/Private%20Dentist%20Report.docx

If you have already provided these forms to the health office, please disregard. If you have not done so, please provide a copy of these exams at your earliest convenience.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the health office at PNMS!

Thank You,

Barbara Curtin RN,BSN,CSN

Tuesdays and Thursday rom 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the IST Room! Come prepared to work! Make sure you have secured transportation from a parent or signed up for a bus!