North's News

A Note from NSE Administration

Dear North Smyrna Elementary Family,

Welcome back and happy new year to all of our NSE families! December held many joyous moments for our students and staff. Please check out a few below!

We look forward to all 2023 has to offer as we support our students in learning and growing in the new year. The role of our families is critical to student success, and we appreciate all you do. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office.

Sincerely,

Dr. Amber Augustus, Principal

Mrs. Amanda Noll, Associate Principal

Dr. Tiyana Mullen, Associate Principal

Important Dates

Monday, January 2

No School - Last Day of Winter Break

Tuesday, January 3

School Reopens for Staff and Students

Friday, January 6

Spirit Day - We've been in school for 70 days and we are celebrating Decades Day for the 70s! Dress in your 70s gear!

Monday, January 16

MLK Jr. Day - No School

Wednesday, January 18

SSD Board Meeting at NSE, 7pm

Thursday, January 19

NSE PTO Meeting in the Main Office, 5:30pm

Monday, January 23

Spirit Day - We've been in school for 80 days and we are celebrating Decades Day for the 80s! Dress in your 80s gear!

Thursday, January 26

NSE's Out of This WorldTitle 1 Night - 6:00-7:30pm

Friday, January 27

Inservice Day - No School for Students

Arrival & Dismissal Procedures

As we return to school, we want to take a moment to review NSE's arrival and dismissal procedures. We have over 600 students and 100 staff members entering and exiting our campus every day. With this volume, your cooperation and support are crucial for a safe and efficient drop-off and pick-up. Please review this information below as we all work together to make this happen.

A few reminders for K-3 transportation:

Beginning of the day car rider arrival: please do not form a double line until notified by staff. We need to ensure the parking lot is still accessible to arriving staff. Once directed, cars will begin to form a double line.
End of the day car rider line: begin forming a double line upon arrival.
The bus lane in front of the school is closed to all car traffic from 8:15-8:50am and 3:10-3:50pm every day. Cars may not enter this lane as the buses are pulling in and taking off with a large flow of students in and out of the building.

End of Day Dismissal

All early dismissals and changes to a child's dismissal plan must be made by 3:00pm. Dismissal efforts begin at 3:00pm. At that time, our staff is working hard with all students so that they are grouped, escorted, and dismissed according to each child's dismissal plan.

Please see the attached document for additional information.

Thank you for your help and cooperation as we work to ensure a safe arrival and dismissal for every child.

Outdoor Recess

Weather permitting, we continue take our students outside for recess as we believe this is an important time for students to get outside, move, expend energy, socialize with thieir friends, and get fresh air.

Please be sure your child comes to school each day with a jacket and other outdoor weather apparel (hats and gloves) so they are comfortable playing outside.

Other Updates

As we return to school, take time to note the following:

Make sure your child brings a water bottle and a healthy snack each day.
Check your child's lunch account for funds. While all students receive free breakfast and lunch, money can be deposited into their lunch account for snacks such as ice cream and chips.
Check your child's book bag regularly for completed work, notes from his/her teacher, and other information.
If your child absent, be sure that he/she returns with an absent note or medical note to turn into the office. These absences are reviewed and our school must abide by Delaware and Smyrna School District attendance policies.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the NSE Main Office at 302-653-8589.


Polar Express Day		1st Grade Grinch Day!

Polar Express Day

1st Grade Grinch Day!

A Note From Our School Nurses, Mrs. Hastings & Mrs. Warner

Please use the portal below to report a student's COVID positivity to our school. Melody Duverger, our CDC liaison, will contact each family to offer assistance. The portal is located on Smyrna School District website under District Site Shortcuts or can be accessed here:

https://www.smyrna.k12.de.us/COVID-19_Information

Math@Home - Mrs. Schultz, NSE Math Specialist

Start the year out right by making math fun. Check out the website below for fun ideas! https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/

From the Reading Nook - Ms. Brewer, NSE Reading Specialist

The Power of Joy for Early Readers

One of the best way to build skilled readers is to build a love of reading! Every child has unique interests and finding a book that appeals to them is one critical component. Check out the article below on how you can help build an affinity for reading in your child.

https://readingpartners.org/blog/the-power-of-joy-for-early-readers/

NAWIC CHAPTER #96 WILMINGTON, DE BLOCK KIDS COMPETITION

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Hodgson Vo-Tech, 2575 Glasgow Avenue, Newark, DE

Check-in starts at 8:30 am. and building begins promptly at 9 a.m.

NAWIC Chapter #96 sponsors a FREE program for elementary school children in grades 1st-6th to learn about the construction industry. The students, working independently in each age group, use 100 Lego-like building blocks, string, cardboard, one rock, and foil to build something related to the construction industry (no people or animals). All materials are provided. When they're finished, students discuss their projects with the judges, who are local construction business people, owners, architects, etc. Monetary prizes are awarded to overall winners and winners from each grade.

To participate, scan the QR code located in the flyer below or register online at www.nawicde.org by January 31, 2023. Space is limited so students must be pre-registered to participate. No walk-ins are allowed. Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times.

Contact BlockKidsNAWIC96@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Check out the NSE PTO Facebook Page

We are continuing to update the PTO Facebook page with learning activities and information for families. Please check it out at North Smyrna Elementary School PTO.

The last PTO meeting took place on Thursday, December 15th. At this meeting, the following was discussed:

Reviewed the NSE PTO Winter Wonderland Event

Our next PTO meeting will take place on Thursday, January 19th at 5:30pm. We hope you will consider joining as we work together to provide the best educational experiences to our students throughout the year!

Child Nutrition

At NSE, all students receive one free breakfast and lunch daily.

The NSE Cafeteria is also offers students the option to purchase a snack, drink, or a double entree at lunch. If your child is interested in purchasing one of these options, he/she will need additional money in their account. Money can be added to your student's lunch account by sending in cash, a check (made out to the Smyrna School District), or by creating a myschoolbucks.com account to deposit funds electronically. If you have any questions,, please contact our Main Office.

A few reminders

Please send your child to school each day with:

a water bottle
a snack
an extra pair of clothes to keep in their bookbag
a charged Chromebook (1st-3rd grade)

1st-3rd - Headphones

Please be sure your 1st - 3rd grade students have a pair of headphones for use with their Chromebook. This is a vital supply to help them access the technology used in the classroom on a daily basis.

If you are interested in donating headphones we are happy to distribute them to students in need.

Contact Information

If your family has moved at any point since last year or if there are changes to your phone number or email address, please contact our Main Office at 302-653-8589 as soon as possible to update this information. Having the most up-to-date contact information is crucial to providing your family with timely information, updates, scheduled events, and in the event an emergency arises.

Interested in being a NSE substitute?

If you are a NSE parent and are interested in substituting at North Smyrna Elementary School only, please stop by the Main Office and speak with Mrs. Berryman to get more information. We have flexible schedules and a great team! We hope you consider joining us!

Chromebook Usage & Care

Please see below for additional information on Chromebook usage and care to help ensure your 1st-3rd grade child is ready to use his/her Chromebook each day:

Charge the Chromebook nightly.
Place the Chromebook back in the bookbag before each morning.
Treat the Chromebook with care and avoid placing food or liquid near it.
Keep the charger with the Chromebook to avoid loss.

We are excited that students have the opportunity to use technology across home and school as they build a skillset that they will use throughout their lives.

Chromebook Student Accounts

As our students begin the year working with district Chromebooks and district Google accounts, we want to share information on student IDs and passwords needed for logging in:

For all students, their userid is firstname.lastname. If there are students with the same name in the District, we append a “1”, “2”, etc onto the lastname (john.smith, john.smith1, john.smith2). If this applies to your child, you will be notified.
For all K-6 grade students, their password will be SSD###### with the “######” being the student’s School Lunch Number, and it will stay the same from year-to-year.

If you have any questions with logging in, please contact your child's teacher.

Student Attendance

Regular attendance is a critical component to a successful school experience. We understand students may need to be absent for a variety of reasons throughout the year. Upon returning to school, please send an absent excuse note in with your child to turn in to your child's teacher.

Grading Policy for K-3

Smyrna School District has adopted standards based grading K-5. Grades will be reported in trimesters for K-6 as well. We encourage you to check out the following resources to learn more: https://www.smyrna.k12.de.us/Page/626.

Parents continue to have access to their student's grades at any time by utilizing the Home Access Center website. If you need your user ID and password to login, please contact the NSE Main Office at 302-653-8589.

As a reminder, Early Childhood students do not receive grades, interim progress reports, or report cards. Updates on student progress are available midyear and at the end of the year as well as by contacting your child's teacher at any point.

Smyrna School District Food Pantry

The Smyrna School District Food Pantry is available to families with students in the Smyrna School District. Pre-packaged boxes will be distributed at Smyrna Middle School located at 700 Duck Creek Pkwy. Smyrna, DE 19977. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Scott at 302-653-8308 or at jennifer.scott@smyrna.k12.de.us.