Updates

Welcome to NCSSM and 3rd West!

Hello Everyone. I am Alex Currin and  I will be your Community Coordinator this year.  I am reaching out today to share with you several resources that will help you prepare for the transition to NCSSM and life on 3rd West.  I know the transition to NCSSM can be a lot, and I look forward to helping you navigate your time here; it is also my first week at NCSSM and can't wait explore the campus and culture here alongside you!  Please check back here in a few days, as I am working a video tour of the hall that I wills share here !

I want to take a moment to highlight the purpose of this website and all the resources contained within. The hall site has lots of helpful information for you.  On the home page you will see the 3rd West Activities calendar, the School Activities calendar, and the Academic Calendar.   The leadership page of the site includes an introduction to me and an explanation of my role, as well as brief introductions to our amazing team of Residential Life Assistants (RLAs) and their role on hall. There are also pages of resources for both students and families; these are meant to be helpful hubs where you can find reminders of policies and any links you may be looking for.

SAB Intro:

As students adjust to the rigors of NCSSM it is also important for them to make time to have fun, relax, and enjoy all parts of the Science and Math experience. To that end, it is important that you and they know about the NCSSM Student Activities Board and all the amazing opportunities that it offers students. 


SAB is made up of student and employee volunteers from across campus. Under the supervision of Kori Willoughby, the Student Activities Coordinator, SAB meets every other Thursday throughout the year to plan activities and events for the student body. Meetings are open to all students.


Some popular SAB events, outside of major campus-wide events like Welcome Week, the Halloween Carnival & Costume Contest, Winter Semi-Formal Dance, Prom, and End-of-Year Celebrations, include:

You can find out more about SAB and see upcoming events on their website.

PSAT:
NCSSM will be administering the PSAT to the entire junior class on Wednesday, Oct. 11th. You do not need to do anything to register nor do you need to make a payment as that was part of the security deposit. If you think your student might qualify for a fee waiver, please email financial.assistance@ncssm.edu to get the information you need ASAP. Students may access the PSAT student guide electronically. If students would like to prepare further for this exam, they can do some practice problems through Khan Academy.


In preparation for Wednesday’s PSAT administration, we will follow a regular Wednesday schedule during the day on Monday, Oct. 9th. All juniors will take the PSAT in the morning on Wednesday; we will then follow an abbreviated Monday schedule that afternoon. Evening classes and Online webinars will meet on their normal Monday schedule.



1:1s:

Over the next few weeks your students will be receiving emails from me to schedule 1-on-1 meetings. These meetings give me a chance to get to know your students better, respond to any issues they are having on hall or campus, get ideas about things they would like to see on hall, and just generally check in on how they are enjoying their time at NCSSM. 1:1s typically last between 20 and 30 minutes. We will have these meetings every semester.

Progress Reports

As October draws to a close, faculty across campus will be completing grading assignments so that we can release second progress reports for your students on November 3rd. 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.



Residence Halls Closing & Opening:

Just a quick reminder that the Residence Halls will be closing on Friday, October 27th at 5:00pm. Halls will reopen on Monday, October 30th at noon.

Students will complete an electronic Extended Sign-Out Form during hall meeting. On this form 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.