NHS Integrated Arts
Using a media-lab approach, this new program will provide students with skills to explore and communicate through music, art, theater and engineering. Under the leadership of Principal Wulf, the team will explore interdisciplinary integration, workforce pathways development, and professional service programs. In 2022, the NEF funded the design plan for the space, iPad Pros/pencils for educators, iPad carts for students and digital photography equipment. In 2023, we purchased state-of-the-art technology for both teachers and students in the graphic arts and video labs. In 2024, we will fund the design, construction, and studio furnishings for a high-profile video production center on the first floor of the high school.
District-wide Visual and Performing Arts Festival
This event features students across all grade levels participating in band, orchestra, chorus and other forms of performance art. It is organized by our performing arts teachers at the Molin, Nock and NHS schools. “The Waterfront Festival is a wonderful opportunity for students across all grade levels to see each other perform. There are many excellent concerts and performances going on at each school throughout the year, but the audience tends to be the parents and families from that school.” This event captivates a wider audience and taps into the local community.
NHS Investment Club
The NEF conceptualized and funded an Investment Club at Newburyport High School, the first of its kind in a public high school in the state to have students investing and learning using real money (with supervision). Learn more.
Literacy: Feed Your Mind Book Vending Machines
The NEF is purchasing two book vending machines for our Bresnahan and Molin Elementary schools. The goal of the program is to increase excitement about books, offer incentives for students to read, as well as target high-risk students by offering them an avenue to earn books and close the achievement gaps. Student can earn tokens for positive behavior and then go to the vending machine to “purchase” a book. Learn more about past Literacy projects.
Molin/Nock Music Lab Upgrade
We have committed to upgrade the equipment, software, and furniture for 24 workstations in the Music Tech Lab, utilized for Molin Technology and Nock Music Composition & Production classes. This lab is currently running an audio and interface system (previously purchased by the NEF) nearly 20 years ago. Students in the Molin & Nock schools will be able to write music and explore composition. Updated equipment and software will also enable other classes to utilize the lab for projects such as video & audio recording and editing. We are also purchasing 8 additional microphones for the auditorium to be used by the Performing Arts Departments.
NHS Career Pathways Initiative
The NEF is continuing to raise funds for Newburyport High School’s Career Pathways program. We have expanded our support with 3 colleges: Northern Essex Community College, Endicott College and Southern NH University. Learn more.
One-to-One Student Technology
A 1:1 program guarantees that every student has access to a reliable and agile portable device, allowing uniformity, creativity, accessibility, learning beyond the classroom walls, innovation, and is an important component of the district’s “portrait of a graduate vision”. After years of planning, the district initiated a 1:1 campaign in the fall of 2023, using a lease-to-own program for iPad Air devices at Newburyport High School. The NEF plans to support need-based scholarships to ensure that every student/family will have a pathway to invest in a device that is their own.
District-Wide STEM Initiative
Newburyport High School STEM
The NEF is continuing to raise funds to provide students with the opportunity to explore a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum where they will be actively engaged in solving advanced problems with a high level of thought and decision-making.
Bresnahan and Molin-Nock STEM Labs
The NEF continues to raise funds for the completed interactive STEM Labs for our elementary and middle school students. The goal is to keep investing in state-of-the art components and materials to allow for inquiry and project based, hands-on learning around STEM topics.
Learn more about our STEM Initiative
District-wide Tower Gardens
In the STEM Labs and classrooms, our students maintain and harvest Tower Gardens. They learn about maintaining proper pH level, and troubleshoot the amount of light and water to produce the best plants. Students love to come into the lab to see how much the plants have grown each week. The gardens produce basil, cucumber lettuce, and kale. The vegetables often feed the turtles at the Bresnahan. We also have thriving aromatherapy gardens that grow lavender, lemon balm, basil, and mint.
Nock Seismograph Activity
Initiated in 2015, earthquakes can be detected all over the world and provide phone alerts that data is recorded on the seismograph. Data collected includes Time, Depth, Magnitude, Location. Learn more.
