Middlebury Community Schools

We would love to have you join our MCS family!!

Northridge Middle School 6th grade science classes hatched chicks as a part of their learning. What a great experience!!

The NHS cookout is moved to today due to the chance of rain tomorrow! Hamburgers and hot dogs fresh from the grill along with many other delicious options!

On Friday, May 5th, students at York Elementary School celebrated Better World Day. Better World Day is a national event that encourages students to make a positive impact on the world around them. With York’s proximity to Bonneyville Mill, York students decided that is where they would like to make an impact. Third-grade students were hard at work pulling invasive plant species. York’s second-grade classrooms spent time cleaning the one-room schoolhouse and the mill area. The first-grade students built birdhouses and feeders that were then donated to Bonneyville.

May 10th is National School Nurse Day! Each of our schools is blessed with an awesome nurse who cares for students. Our nurses provide first aid to students after playground mishaps, help manage student medications, give comfort to students who are ill, communicate medical issues with parents, and take care of needs that extend to the families of students. They are truly servant-leaders in our school corporation. Thank you for everything that you do to help!!

As part of this year's technology refresh, Northridge Middle School staff members received new laptops and chromebooks today. The school will also receive new desktops over the summer. This refresh will help our middle school stay current with technology needs. 🔰

Students at York Elementary School are found doing a variety of different things during the school day. Here they can be seen learning about math, drawing, reading, and working in an individual setting with an adult. We love seeing their engagement!

Students in Mr. Sallee's class at Middlebury Elementary School were working hard last week to find clues around the room for their lesson on plants. This was such a creative way to engage students!

We are pleased to announce that Northridge Middle School has been named a “Distinguished School” by Project Lead the Way. NMS is one of only 212 middle schools in the entire US to receive this designation! Project Lead the Way (PLTW) helps students explore career paths in science, technology, engineering, & math while engaging in creative classroom activities. We love having this available for students in our middle school!

Today is National School Lunch Hero Day. Our cafeteria workers do a great job and provide awesome meals for our students!! We are lucky to have all of them working for MCS and appreciate all that they do! They are truly "unsung heroes". We also want to give a huge shoutout to their leader, Sara Reafsnyder. Sara is the Director of Food Services for MCS. She works directly with cafeteria managers, assists with food ordering, fills in serving food when needed, and ALWAYS has a smile on her face. Thank you!!

York Elementary School first grade classes had some special helpers come in earlier this week to help them build blue jay houses to take to Bonneyville Mill this Friday for Better World Day. The students have been enjoying studying birds this year and did a great job on this project!

Gary Moses has been hired as the Director of Transportation for Middlebury Community Schools. Gary Moses has worked in the MCS Transportation Department for three years. Mr. Moses has a variety of professional work experience, including many years working in leadership. Gary has previously worked as Division Manager for Connecticut Transit and Supervisor of Bus Operations at Ball State University. Mr. Moses is a product of Middlebury Community Schools, having graduated from Northridge High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies and has a graduate business certificate from Ball State University. Those who know Gary, describe him as a focused and organized leader who works incredibly hard while maintaining a fantastic sense of humor. We are thrilled to have Gary Moses as the new MCS Director of Transportation. We know he will do great things for the students, staff, and families of our community.

With the upcoming retirement of Northridge Middle School principal Rachel Vallance and the recent promotion of Dave Gaskill to principal at Heritage Intermediate School, we will be welcoming a new principal and assistant principal to the middle school leadership team next school year. Tonight, the MCS board of trustees approved the administrative recommendations of Kristyn Martin as principal of Northridge Middle School and Rob Zook as assistant principal beginning next school year. Kristyn Martin has served in public education for 16 years. Early in her career, she worked as an English teacher and a Curriculum Coach. She enjoyed many years teaching at the middle school level before accepting an opportunity to serve as Freshman Academy Leader at Penn High School. In that role, she worked across multiple subject areas, leading teachers in creating a more rigorous and engaging school experience for students. In 2018, Mrs. Martin was hired as an assistant principal at Schmucker Middle School. She quickly became involved in the creation and implementation of professional development for middle school teachers and acted as a leader in creating successful systems related to instructional practices and positive student behaviors. Mrs. Martin is currently the principal at Schmucker Middle School where she has built strong working relationships with students, staff, parents, and community members by emphasizing the importance of honest, respectful communication. Kristyn Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in English Secondary Education from Western Michigan University, a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Olivet Nazarene University, and a second master's degree in Educational Administration from Ball State University. She is also a Certified Advanced School Safety Specialist. Those who have worked with Mrs. Martin describe her as a passionate leader who is solution oriented and focused on building and maintaining a positive, healthy school culture. Mrs. Martin’s husband, Kyle, is currently the principal at Orchard View Elementary School and she is looking forward to joining him as part of the MCS family. We have no doubt that Kristyn Martin will be a wonderful principal at Northridge Middle School. Rob Zook has served in public education for 26 years. He began his career in MCS as a middle school teacher. After five years, he was promoted to assistant principal and middle school athletic director. In 2006, Mr. Zook left MCS to accept an assistant principal position in Concord Community Schools. He was later promoted and spent many years as a principal at Concord Junior High. Mr. Zook left public education in 2019 to accept an opportunity with Five Star Life. We welcomed him back to MCS in 2021. For the last two years, he has been teaching middle school social studies at NMS, and recently expressed a desire to return to a leadership role. Mr. Zook is a product of Middlebury Community Schools, having graduated from Northridge High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from IUSB, a master’s degree in Education from Indiana Wesleyan University, and school leadership certification from IPFW. Those who have worked with Rob Zook describe him as a person of integrity who is energetic and passionate about supporting all students. We are certain that Mr. Zook will be a great addition to the middle school leadership team.

Middlebury Elementary's new library looks fantastic! This is a cheery, friendly space where students can come each week to pick out a favorite book to read. Go Middies!

May 1st is National School Principal's Day. We want to thank all of our principals for working hard every day to help students and staff. We appreciate you!

We love our staff, yes we do!!! We wish to thank everyone who works in Middlebury Community Schools. You show up every day and dedicate what you do to helping students be successful. You are heroes in our eyes, and you make MCS a great place to work and learn! Please feel free to give a shoutout to our staff by replying to this message!

The MCS Art Department would like to invite you to join us for the 2023 MCS Art Show at Northridge High School. We will be displaying the best artwork from our K-12 students and recognizing them for their outstanding talents on Friday, May 12th. The show will start at 5 pm and conclude at 7pm. An awards presentation will start at 6 pm in the auditorium to highlight the best artwork from each school. Entrance to the show will be through doors 21 & 15 at NHS. We are looking forward to the show and hope that you can make it!

Volleyball is alive and well! Northridge now has a boys volleyball team. This is an exciting opportunity to advance interest in the sport. Go Raiders! 🔰🏐 Photo credit: Kass Ramirez.

We are happy to announce that ALL of our Northridge High School choirs received "GOLD RATINGS" at our ISSMA Choir Festival this past weekend. Starlights received a perfect score from one of the judges and Northern Lights received a perfect score from another judge. These kids are so amazing at how fast they can learn collegiate level music. Chamber Lights: Gold Varsity Lights: Gold and Gold in Sight Reading Vox Lumina: Gold Starlights: Gold Northern Lights: Gold and Gold in Sight Reading Thank you for all of your support for the music programs at Northridge! ❤️

Today is Administrative Professionals Day! We want to thank all of our hard working, friendly, organized, and dedicated administrative professionals. These people work in a variety of different positions around the school corporation and help out students and staff every day. They are the heart and soul of our corporation, and we couldn't do our jobs without them. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!