Nathan Hale Middle School: Northvale, New Jersey, USA

Dear Fellow Participants:

We are 6th grade students at Nathan Hale Middle School in Northvale,New Jersey. Northvale is a small town with a population of 4,000 people,located in Northeastern Bergen County. Our community cares about children. We have many recreatrional activities and facilities and several sports teams that are sponsored by the town. But,even more important, we have the best school system in the county.

There are 199 students from grades 5 through 8 that attend Nathan Hale.We have many extracurricular activities,such as,Chorus,Band,Intramurals,Sports,Student Council,Cheerleading Squad,Newspaper,Technology Club,Art Club,Rocketry Club,International Club, and Chess Club. We also have a branch of the Junior Nartional Honor Society. There's a homework club for students who may need some extra help and we have a Peer Mediation Program that makes it easier for kids to solve their problems. We have a state of the art library and the most advanced computer technology in the area. When it comes to Science curriculum,we rule.

Our 6th grade has a mini weather station that is computer linked to a satellite in Mr. Stein's room. We record the weather conditions and make a forecast and announce it on the school P.A. systen every morning. We will be testing a stream near our school to learn about chemical and bacterial pollutants and water quality in general. At Nathan Hale, the environment is an important part of our school experience. But we have a lot of fun too.

Every year,each grade has a class trip. This year, our class is going to spend 3 days at Stokes State Forest, which is a national environmental learning center. We will learn about conservation and survival. Other grades take trips to Washington and Philadelphia. We will have the opportunity to go to Manhattan to see a Broadway play(the students who will be in the school play). When we think about it, we are really lucky to have such a great school and town, and we are glad to share it with the world.

Yours truly,
Dana De Sena, Julie Res, and Christopher Sperduto