November 2024

• Progress Reports:

Don’t forget that the second set of progress reports for your students will be released on November 8th. To view your student’s progress report you will need to log into Blackbaud and select the “progress” tab. Then click where it says “report cards” to open all the progress reports for this year. Select either “Semester 1 - Durham” or “Semester 1 - Durham (no comments),” depending on whether you want to view grades and teacher feedback, or just grades.

If you have concerns about your student’s performance, please let me know. I always meet with students who have multiple Cs or a D to help develop a plan for improvement, but will be happy to meet with anyone if there are concerns. It is also important that your student reach out to their individual teachers, guidance counselor, and the Center for Advising and Academic Success for advice on how to improve. This is also a good time for students to evaluate whether they should be attending tutorials more often.

• SAB Winter Semi-Formal:

Semi-Formal, NCSSM’s annual winter dance, is Saturday, December 7th from 8:30 – 10:55 PM in the PEC Gymnasium. All students are invited to enjoy the evening with friends and hallmates! There will be festive winter decorations, music, snacks, and dancing!

Students planning to attend are encouraged to bring semi-formal dress clothes back to campus after the break. Appropriate attire includes a dressy skirt, shirt and tie (jacket optional), dress pants, a dress, and dress shoes.

In keeping with tradition, several opportunities will be available for parents and families to be involved with Semi again this year. More information about how to provide support will be shared in the coming weeks. 

• Early AM and Late PM Amtrak Transportation:

Due to the volume of potential requests and our staffing ability, we cannot provide transports prior to 7:30 AM or after 9:30 PM.

• Residence Halls Closing & Opening:

Just a quick reminder that there are several extended breaks scheduled over the next couple of months. In each instance, halls will close at 5pm on the closure date and reopen at noon on the opening date:

• Closed Friday, November 22nd - Sunday, December 1st

• Closed Friday, December 13th - Tuesday, January 7th

For the Thanksgiving and Winter breaks we ask that students unplug all items in the room. This includes fridges and fish tanks. Students should defrost their fridges completely and clean out excess water before they leave for the break. They should also make sure that they take any houseplants or fish home.

    A new process being implemented this month is that students will submit an Overnight pass on Orah before or during our hall meeting right before the extended weekend. On this Orah pass, they indicate where they are going for the break, who they are traveling with, and how they are getting to their destination. If students have specific questions about checkout procedures for extended weekends, they should speak to me. This is different from previous extended weekends when we would have students fill out a Google Form to share that information and then an Orah pass if it was necessary, such as a student leaving before the extended starts or returning after check on that first night back on hall. This will cut down on students’ confusion about whether or not they need to submit an Orah pass for their specific travel plans and their questions about why they needed to sign out if they already filled out the Google Form.