Dear Choir Parent,

Our big competition is only two weeks away! Saturday, March 21st our students will be meeting at NMS and taking buses over to Goshen Middle School for ISSMA Contest 2026.

Our choirs will be performing 3 competition pieces for 3 judges and will be rated on their note and rhythm accuracy, tone quality, blend, dynamic contrasts, breath control, phrasing, and overall musicianship. It’s been so exciting to watch them as they have really worked to perfect their music in hopes of being the best choirs in their division. ISSMA is an exciting time for our students to show their very best and be rated among all of the other area choirs. They will be shooting for Gold and we would love for our kids to achieve the “With Distinction” Award recognizing their scores as some of the top in the state!

Here are a few details that will help you plan ahead. 

a. We will wear our black and white concert attire. Ties and rosettes will be handed out at GJHS. 

b. All students must travel over together on the bus. If parents wish to bring their child home after ISSMA, students will need to turn in a handwritten note to the chaperone as they board the bus on Saturday or email Mr. Maura and Mr. Norwood ahead of time. Please do not wait until after they sing, it makes things confusing for our chaperones. They must know where each child is before the buses can return to NMS. 

c. Students will board their assigned bus in the NMS front teacher’s parking lot (Door #1). The buses will drop them off in the same parking lot after our performances. 

d. Below you will find the list of times for departure, arrival, performance, and return to NMS. 

e. Please be on time to pick up your child. We will not have access to the building and chaperones will not be able to leave until your child is picked up. 

f. This is a free show open to the public. Warning: if you are late you won’t get in the door. 

Drop Off at NMS	Buses Leave	Arrival at GJHS	Warm-up	Perform	Buses Leave	NMS Pick Up
7th: 1:00pm	1:15pm	1:40pm	2:05pm	2:25pm	2:50pm	3:10-3:15pm
6th: 1:55pm	2:10pm	2:35pm	3:00pm	3:20pm	3:45pm	4:05-4:10pm
8th: 2:40pm	2:55pm	3:20pm	3:45pm	4:05pm	4:20pm	4:40-4:45pm

What our kids should be wearing for ISSMA:

BOYS: Black pants, black socks, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, all black tennis shoes are acceptable), white long sleeve shirt with a collar. No colored shirts under the white button up please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. A clip-on tie will be given to them when they arrive. 

GIRLS: Black knee length skirt (or longer) or black pants, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, tennis shoes are acceptable), White blouse with a collar that buttons closed. They will receive a rosette tie to put on when they arrive. No colored shirts under the white blouse please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. Hose or tights are not necessary, but if students choose to wear them, please ensure they are black. Please ensure any shorts worn under skirts do no exceed the length of the skirt.

Chaperones will receive specific instructions. They will ride buses to PHS and return with the kids. They will be taking attendance on the bus and following us throughout the warmup and performance route! These are the chaperones for this competition: 

6^th grade: Andrea Christian, Amber Byers, Heather Wyse, Amanda Turner

7^th Grade: Lauren Walker, Josh Schneider, Jacquelyn Fair (We’d love at least one more chaperone!)

8^th Grade: Jennifer Dickhaut, Chad Dickhaut (We’d love at least two more chaperons!)

Photographers for ISSMA will be taking pictures during the warm up time, and throughout their performance.

Grade 6: Felicia Nolt, Amber Byers 

Grade 7: N/A

Grade 8: Jessica Runions

Locker Decorations: 

6th: Alyssa Yutzy

7th: Misty Stroup (Period 2), N/A (Period 4)

8th: N/A (Period 5), Amanda Turner (Period 6)

If you are able to fill in any of the blanks listed above would you please send Mr. Maura an email or tell your child? Anytime you move 270 middle school students back and forth it helps to have as many adults as we can! 

Singcerely, Mr. Maura and Mr. Norwood maurad@mcsin-k12.org/norwoodc@mcsin-k12.org

As we’re gearing up for our Northridge Choral Invitational this Saturday, the high school wanted me to pass along that there are still several volunteer slots available/needing to be filled to help the day go off without a hitch! If you are thinking of attending and could take a glance at some of those opportunities to see if there might be anything that you might be able to help out with, it would be greatly appreciated! (*just remember to avoid the 11:30ish timeslot so you can catch the Knight Lights performance!😉)

Link to 2026 NCI Volunteer Sign-Up

Thanks all and hopefully see you there!

Our NMS Choir Beasts have been hitting the performances hard this weekend! To start, the members of the Knight Lights show choir traveled to Carroll this past weekend for their first competitive performance of the year. Going up against 8 other groups from all over the state, the Knight Lights put on an awesome performance taking 2nd Runner-Up out of 9, with 8^th Grader, Corban Hershberger receiving the Best Performer award for the group as well! If you weren’t able to make it down for the fun-filled evening, you can find the recording of last night’s livestream here (KL performance starts around 3:46:00). They take the stage again next week at the Homestead Classic Showcase (Friday, Feb. 13th @8:55pm). Huge congrats to the Knight Lights on their fantastic first performance!

But wait, there’s more!

27 brave beasts from grades 6-8 also traveled out to Fairfield Jr/Sr High on Saturday for the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest. Out of our 27 Middle School Choir Students who took a solo, 25 of them received a gold rating (highest possible rating)! On top of that, we also had 7 from among those 25 students who also earned a perfect score from their judges along with their gold rating! Mr. Maura and I could not be prouder of all of these kids and the hard work and practice they put into these performances! Awesome job kids and keep it up!

This announcement is for all 7th Grade Choir Parents (8th Grade Parents, look out for an update after Christmas Break!;)

Hey all! Coming home with your choir daughter/son today should be the following parent letter with the information for our upcoming 7th Grade Christmas Scavenger Hunt Night. (Link to Parent Letter can be found here for your convenience)

1. Who: 7th Grade NMS Choir Students Only
2. What: 7th Grade Choir Pizza and Christmas Scavenger Hunt Night (Cost: $5)
3. Where: Northridge Middle School
4. When: December 17th, 2025 (after school until 5:30pm) *Pick up outside of Door 1
5. Why: To reward and get to know these awesome kids outside of the classroom and have some festive fun to celebrate the season!

This will not be a mandatory event but we sure hope your daughter/son can join in for the fun! Pick up time will be at 5:30pm at Door 1 of the Middle School.

Hope to see them there! – Mr. Maura and Mr. Norwood

Hey all!

If you weren’t able to make it out to the high school on Saturday evening, you missed an amazing show! These kids absolutely knocked it out of the park, putting such an awesome performance together in such a quick turnaround (crazy to think they had just hit the stage for the first time this year three weeks ago!?)! A huge thank you to all of our parent chaperones, photographers, ushers, box office workers, treat/water/locker decoration volunteers who helped make this show possible! We’ve already started having some awesome pictures of the night come in to share with you all(thank you to Mrs. Norris for this first batch)! Link to NMS Christmas 2025 Album Please feel free to share and enjoy (Please download any images you like (rather than taking screenshots, which are not as crisp or clear). Thank you again to her for catching these awesome shots!

On to a somewhat sad note, the camera that we had set up to record the show ended up having an card error and failed to save a recording of the show.😔 This unfortunately means we do not currently have a full performance link to share out with you all or to show the kids. To help see if we can crowdsource a solution to this problem, if any parents/family members/friends/neighbors/etc. happened to snag recordings of any or all of the performance we would love to get a chance to get ahold of them. To that effect, here is a link to a google drive folder that you all should be able to access and upload any recordings of the show to help (feel more than free to email Mr. Maura or Mr. Norwood if you are not able to access/upload).

Thank you all again for all of your help in making this awesome show happen! Excited to start stepping into contest music next semester and show off how much their voices can grow in the next 3 months (but happy to have a little more of a pause between now and then this time😉)! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas season and break in the next couple weeks! Thanks all!

Hey all! Hard to believe we’re already here at the start of December! As we count down the last few days heading into the start of show week, we just had a few tidbits of “need to know info” that we wanted to pass on your way!

1. The Christmas Concert is only 5 days away on Saturday (December 6th at 6:00pm)! There will only be one show for this concert, so we hope to see you there!
2. Concert Tickets are on sale now! Tickets are $3 and can be bought by the students during choir classes all throughout this week. Tickets will also be available at the Door on show day (same price).
3. We will be having our Tech Rehearsal for special roles (solos, dancers, speaking parts, show choir, etc.) tomorrow (12/2) in the High School Auditorium. All students will be done at 5:45 and released to Door 23 (corner near the Natatorium/MAC).
4. We will be having our Dress Rehearsal for all choir students on Thursday (12/4) in the High School Auditorium. Students will be released at the same time (5:45pm) for this rehearsal (6th Grade – Door 23, 7th Grade – Door 1, 8th Grade – Door 29). Knight Lights will rehearse until 6:30pm and release to Door 23.
5. On the day of, we have been told that there may be limited parking spaces available around the concert time due to other events happening at the MAC. The parking lots outside of Door 23 and 29 will be the normal recommended parking location, however overflow parking will also be available at the front of the High School outside of Door 1 if spaces are limited (with Door 1 being open as an additional entrance). Thank you for your understanding.
6. We are still looking to add a couple more chaperones for both Dress Rehearsal and Concert (mainly 6th and 7th Grade), as well as potentially adding a few more ushers. If you might consider helping out in this way, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Maura or myself asap! Thank you!
7. Finally, we have reminded students in class, but those students interested in taking a solo/ensemble to ISSMA S&E in February must have their registration forms turned in tomorrow morning to be entered into the event. *In the event of a 2-hour delay please reach out to Mr. Norwood/Mr. Maura with intent to register.

I believe that’s everything we have to throw your way at the moment! Super excited to show off what the kids have been able to put together since you last saw them at SwingFry 3 weeks ago! Just you wait! Thanks all!

Dear Choir Parents,

I know we just finished up Swing Fry, but our Christmas Concert is less than three weeks away! Below you will find some information that will help you and your family plan for the show! The Christmas Concert itself is going to take place at NHS on Saturday, December 6th at 6pm. This year, we are only putting on 1 performance as opposed to 2 separate shows (thank you for your survey feedback over the summer!). Below you will find info about our Tech Rehearsal, Dress Rehearsal and the show itself.

We will be having a mandatory tech rehearsal for all choir students who have special roles in the Christmas concert. This tech rehearsal will take place after school on Tuesday, December 2nd. Students do not need to dress in their outfits for this rehearsal. It will be at the high school so you will pick up your child there. See below for the time and location:

All Students should be picked up  at 5:45 at Door 23 (Back side of NHS closest to US20.  Pool Parking Lot.

Tech Rehearsal, NHS Auditorium, Tuesday, December 2nd

1. Parent Volunteers who signed up for treats please send in treats or water for Tech Rehearsal. Please drop them off December 1st or 2nd.
2. Students will be either walking over to the high school, or riding buses, depending on the weather.  Students should bundle up for the short walk! After the rehearsal students will be dismissed to Door 23 for pickup in hopes of reducing the waiting lines in the parking lot.

We will also be having a mandatory dress rehearsal for all choir students after school on Thursday, December 4th. Students do not need to dress in their outfits for this rehearsal. It will be at the high school so you will pick up your child there. See below for the time and location:

All Students should be picked up at 5:45, 6th Graders at Door 23, 7th Graders at Door 1 and 8th Graders at Door 29 (Back side of NHS closest to US20.  Pool Parking Lot.

Knight Light Students will rehearse until 6:30 p.m.  All Knight Light students should be picked up at Door 23 (Back side of NHS closest to US20.  Pool parking lot. 

Dress Rehearsal, NHS Auditorium, Thursday, December 4th

1. Parent Volunteers who signed up for treats please send in treats or water for Dress Rehearsal. Please drop them off the week of December 1st.
2. Students will be either walking over to the high school, or riding buses, depending on the weather.  Students should bundle up for the short walk! After the rehearsal students will be dismissed to a specific door for pickup in hopes of reducing the waiting lines in the parking lot.

SHOW DAY – SATURDAY DEC 6TH – students should be in the NHS Band room 30 minutes before the show starts:

What our kids should be wearing for their show: (NOT FOR DRESS REHEARSAL)

BOYS: Black pants, black socks, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, all black tennis shoes are acceptable), white long sleeve shirt with a collar. No colored shirts under the white button up please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. A clip-on tie will be given to them when they arrive. 

GIRLS: Black knee length skirt (or longer) or black pants, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, tennis shoes are acceptable), White blouse with a collar that buttons closed. They will receive a rosette tie to put on when they arrive. No colored shirts under the white blouse please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. Hose or tights are not necessary, but if students choose to wear them, please ensure they are black. Please ensure any shorts worn under skirts do no exceed the length of the skirt.

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

• Dress Rehearsal Chaperones will meet Mr. M & Mr. N in the NMS Choir room on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 2:45.  You will be given instructions at that time. You should be finished around 6:00 p.m. A rehearsal outline will be sent home to you with detailed instructions the day before dress rehearsal.
• Chaperones for Christmas Concert Day should meet Mr. Norwood in the choir room at NHS 40 minutes before the performance times listed above. You will be asked to take attendance on the clipboards and assist the kids as they put their ties on ☺.  
• Treats and Water reminders will be phoned/emailed next week. Please drop them off the week of December 1st.
• A complete list of each grade’s parent volunteers (treats, water, dress and show chaperones) may be found on the nmschoir.org website under the Sign-Up Genius page.

        Sincerely, Mr. Maura and Mr. Norwood

   maurad@mcsin-k12.org; norwoodc@mcsin-k12.org

Hi everybody!

Today is the last day to pre-order your swingfry tickets! They will still be available at the door tomorrow, but if you want the discounted price, you will need to order them by 4pm today using the link below.

https://northridgechoirs.ludus.com/index.php

Hello folks,

Mr. Norwood and I wanted to make a post clarifying a few aspects of our dress code for Swingfry. If you have an outfit that adheres to the old dress code, you will find that you are adhering completely to this updated dress code as well, so no need to panic and scramble to find your kids a new outfit! We just wanted to update some of the language and clarify a few things to ensure all our students look and feel their absolute best.

What our kids should be wearing for their show (NOT FOR DRESS REHEARSAL):

BOYS: Black pants, black socks, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, all black tennis shoes are acceptable), white long sleeve shirt with a collar. No colored shirts under the white button up please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. A clip-on tie will be given to them when they arrive. 

GIRLS: Black knee length skirt (or longer) or black pants, black dress shoes (if not dress shoes, tennis shoes are acceptable), White blouse with a collar that buttons closed. They will receive a rosette tie to put on when they arrive. No colored shirts under the white blouse please, the stage lights amplify any color under the white tops. Hose or tights are not necessary, but if students choose to wear them, please ensure they are black. Please ensure any shorts worn under skirts do no exceed the length of the skirt.

We are so excited to show you all the hard work your students have been putting in! Happy Swingfry!

SINGcerely, Mr. Maura

Hey all! We finally got to combine the grade level choirs today and we are super excited to show off these kids’ sound on Saturday! Just in case you were wondering/wanting a rundown of the schedule for the day of, we have received the show order for Saturday. Call times should be 30 minutes before their performance time (6th Grade – 2:40pm, 7th Grade – 3:20pm, 8th Grade – 4:00pm, KL – *5:25 Dressed and Ready).

Reminder: There is still time to order tickets ahead and save a little money, so consider skipping the line and ordering those online here (https://northridgechoirs.ludus.com/index.php)! More info on prices can be found below.

Excited for the kids to get an opportunity to show you the hard work they’ve been putting in! Hope to see you there!