The Quokka
New Morning School Week 1 9.06.22
A Note from the Heads
Dear Parents,
The first week of school is always filled with anticipation and this year feels even brighter! To begin our 50th celebrations, students get to "walk the red carpet", taking a moment to take a photo op and smile for the camera. We could use a few volunteers to help make this happen on Wednesday morning, so if you have time between 9:45am and 11:30am, send Pauline an email today at pauline@newmorningschool.com.
Another way we are beginning to celebrate our 50th year is through our Anniversary Wear! Take a look at the info below on how to shop and when to order. Don't miss out!
The Welcome Back picnic was just a taste of how enjoyable it is to spend time with one another in community. We have some new families joining us this year and many that haven't had the opportunity to feel the warm welcome of New Morning School due to the pandemic. Be sure to take a few minutes at drop off and pick up this week to say hello to familiar friends and meet some new ones too!
We're looking forward to extending that connection at our first Community Meet and Greet on Tuesday, September 13 at 6:30pm. Can't wait to see you there!
Warm regards,
Elaine Kennedy, Head of School & Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School
Golden Nuggets
Our Values
This school year, we will be taking a look at our core values and focusing on them within our school program, as well as sharing them with parents. We're starting with one of our foundations, which is Be Kind. We'll be talking about ways to show kindness, both big and small, and how that makes a difference.
BE KIND
Everyone does the best that they can with the resources that they have. Start with that and show kindness throughout your day.
Quote of the Week
"How much more precious is a little humanity than all the rules in the world."
- Jean Piaget.
School and Kids' Club Hours
School Hours/Arrival/Dismissal
School Instructional Hours
Preschool AM: 9:00-11:30am (arrival begins at 8:50am)
Preschool Full Day: 9:00am-3:15pm (Kids' Club extended hours below)
Kindergarten through 8th Grade: 8:30am-3:15pm (Arrival begins at 8:20am)
Kids Club (Extended Child Care)
New Morning School is open from 7am until 6pm. If your child needs extended care services, please let your child and your child's teacher know which days he/she/they will be attending Kids' Club. Students may be dropped off in the gym for morning care between 7am-8:10am. If possible, please do not drop students off between 8:10am-8:20am as our Kids' Club staff is wrapping up the morning and our teaching and aide staff is preparing for the day. Thank you for understanding!
**Kids' Club is often available on half-days or no school days. Keep an eye out on the Quokka or your email for Kids' Club sign-ups prior to those dates!
Arrival/Dismissal Procedures
Please bring your child to school 10 minutes prior to their instructional day, 8:20am for K-8th and 8:50am for preschool. This allows time for students to put away their belongings and say hello to classmates and teachers before the day begins. Parents dropping off PreK through Elem students can drop off and pick-up inside the school at the classroom door.
News to Note
Kids' Club on Half Days or No School Days
We offer Kids' Club on half-days and most non-school days throughout the year, based on need. If you would like Kids' Club to be offered and held for your child, please sign up for dates and times in the office as soon as possible. This helps us know how many kids will attend and be sure to schedule staff to work.
We have a few dates upcoming in September, so please check your schedules and let us know if you need extended care for your child. Thanks for helping us out with early sign-ups!
Plymouth Fall Festival - we need you!
Thanks to all of you that have signed up for a slot to share the good news about New Morning School at the Fall Festival. A special thank you to Kristen Haas for leading and organizing this effort. If you need to sign up or have questions, please email her at kkozi3@yahoo.com. Thanks again, Kristen!
Anniversary Wear On-line Store - Order between Tues, Sept 6 and Fri, Sept 30!
We are thrilled to offer spirit wear and additional items for purchase to celebrate our 50th year! The New Morning School 50th Anniversary items will be available for purchase on-line through the Target Marketing link below. You'll find t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, travel mugs and more! You can download detailed order information by clicking on the .pdf or read below.
- View the items by clicking on the “SHOP” button on the main menu on the homepage, but you will need to register for an account to be able to place an order.
- Go to “MY ACCOUNT” menu selection.
- Click on the “Create an Account” button.
- Fill out the information and click “Register”.
- Once your registration request has been approved, you will be able to start adding items to your cart.
The New Morning School order will be open from Tuesday, September 6th through Friday, September 30th. Payment will not be taken at the time of your order. There are a few items that have order minimums and will not be billed to you if those minimums are not met. We will not process orders until after the NMS order is closed on the 30th.
An invoice will be emailed to the address provided with your order. We will provide additional payment information to you at the time of invoice. Please allow 2-3 weeks for order fulfillment after the order has closed.
If you have any questions, concerns or problems placing an order, please contact Target Marketing at: sales@targetmi.com or 248-437-7550
NMS Happenings
Upcoming Dates
Tue, 9/6: First Day of School for Preschool and K-1; Goal-setting Day for EL and MS
Wed, 9/7: First Day of School for EL and MS
Fri, 9/9: Half-Day for EL and MS, dismiss at 11:30am (Kids' Club available)
Fri, 9/9- Sun, 9/11: Plymouth Fall Festival
Mon, 9/12: No School for EL and MS (Goal-setting)
Tue, 9/13: Community Meet & Greet Potluck 6:30p (ALL families attend)
Sept 26-29: Aide Meetings 12:30-1:00p (attend on your aiding day)
Fri, 9/30: No School - Professional Development Day (Kids' Club available)
Classroom Updates
Preschool Brainstormers
Preschool Teachers:
Marisa Downs marisa@newmorningschool.com
Danielle Provencher danielle@newmorningschool.com
Preschool Lead Aide: Crystal GerwatowskiWelcome to Preschool at New Morning School! We are very excited to welcome your children and have been working hard preparing. Our first week will be a time for getting comfortable with each other and our school.
We will learn while reading, singing, moving, playing, and creating. We won’t begin plans this week so there won’t be much coming home. Art will consist of work which we’ll save for portfolios. At discovery friends can explore using scales and estimating. We’ll have playdough at our sensory tables.
Each morning, your child will have five basic steps. We call them the 5 When You Arrive. Please help them:
1. Put things away (Each child has a cubby. We have a refrigerator for lunches.)
2. Wash hands (We do this a lot to keep us all healthy.)
3. Check in (Friends remove their name stick from a board and put it in a cup.)
4. Say goodbye to grown-up (As soon as it makes sense. Parents are always welcome.)
5. Join friends (We’ll either be playing on the floor or on the playground.)
Don’t forget to pack or send in:
● A refillable water bottle (labeled with child’s name).
● A snack separate from your child’s lunch box. That will make snack time much easier.
● A spare set of clothing (label everything) in a bag for your child to keep at school.
● A healthy lunch for full day friends.
● A small pillow, blanket, and crib sheet optional for all day friends.
● A family photo for our family tree.
● A one inch or larger binder for a portfolio.
Be prepared for tired children. Getting used to a school schedule and making new friends can be exhausting.
Patience is our best friend this week and always. Just in case, a link to the information for preschool parents is below.
We are very excited! Thank you everyone for helping in many ways to make this a great start to the year. We are appreciative of our supportive community!
~Marisa and Danielle
Physical Education
Appropriate clothing is always required while participating in physical education class. To help
us protect your child from serious injury please adhere to the following policies.
Do’s:
Sneakers (Athletic type)
Sweatpants
Shorts
Bottle of water with child’s name
Hat or sunglasses for outdoor play
Sunscreen (applied before school)
Extra clothing for outdoor play (please label for easier identification)
Don’ts:
Fashion sneakers (heels or slip on)
All jewelry must be removed prior to class (bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings (except
medical alert jewelry). If your child has a new piercing, please send in a note stating this
along with appropriate tape to cover the whole earring front to back.
Jeans
Annual Curriculum
1st and 2nd Grade
Activities may include:
Listening Games
Locomotor Skills
Movement Exploration
Scooters, Bean Bags, Hoops
Games of Low Organization
Parachute Activities
Playground Ball Manipulation
Throwing + Catching
3rd to 5th Grade
Basketball
Lacrosse
Volleyball/Newcombe
Group Challengers
Offense/Defense
Soccer
Football
Hockey
Games of Higher Organization
6th to 8th Grade
Basketball
Lacrosse
Volleyball
Tennis
Track and Field
Soccer
Football
Hockey
Games of Higher Organization
All Grades
Jumping Rope
Tumbling
Stations
Holiday Games
Dance/Rhythms
Field Day
Fitness Testing
Striking games
Primary Explorers (Grades K-1)
Teacher: Lucy Bratt lucy@newmorningschool.com
K-1 Lead Aide: Shelley Blakeney
Hello Families,
We have been busy preparing the classroom for the start of the new school year and cannot wait to welcome the children on Tuesday!
This week will be spent familiarizing everyone with our space and learning routines and expectations. We are going to be having lots of fun exploring, getting to know each other and making new friends.
Please bring personal and classroom supply items on the first day of school, we will advise you where to put everything when you get here. Remember that any personal items such as clothing, shoes, lunch box, water bottle etc should be clearly named.
The weather next week is still looking warm and sunny so you may wish to apply sunscreen to your child and/or send some into school with them. We also find insect repellent useful at this time of year. Again, if you do choose to send in sunscreen and insect repellent, please ensure they are labeled - a name label lets us know we have your permission for your child to use that product, we do not allow them to share.
Finally, don’t forget drop off and pick up is now at the internal classroom door, I shall see you there at 8.20am on Tuesday morning!
Have a great holiday weekend, I feel like it’s an opportunity for one last hurrah of summer!
Ms. Lucy
Elementary Scholars (Grades 2-5)
Teachers:
Hannah Diaz hannah@newmorningschool.com
Christine Jansen christine@newmorningschool.com
Cynthia Weber cynthia@newmorningschool.com
EL Lead Aide: Karen Staples
Theme for the Year!
This year we will be exploring! We will be studying early explorers and going on a simulation of the Oregon Trail so we thought our theme would be space - exploring the unknown!
Goal Setting
If you haven't signed your child up for goal setting yet, please do so!
Supplies
Here is a copy of the supply list for the year if you still need it.
Each student will need:
- 1 Three Ring Binder (1 inch)
- Dividers (5- Please Label): Reading, Math, Writing, Social Studies, Spelling
- Notebook (for daily journal)
- Composition Book (for math)
- Change of clothes (for those unexpected accidents - water, mud…) placed in their locker
- Water Bottle - labeled!
The following needs to fit into your cubbie:
- 4-5 Glue Sticks
- Colored Pencils
- Markers
- Headphones (labeled please!)
- Pencil Box/Pouch
- Tape
- Scissors
- Pencils and erasers
Classroom Needs: (Please donate if you can)
Kleenex
Clorox Wipes
Dry Erase Markers
Ream of lined Paper
Ziplock Bags- Sandwich & Gallon
Color Pencils/Markers for the class
Pencils for the class
Sharpie Markers all colors
Bottles of Elmer's Glue
Things For Make Something (Please pick a few things and donate if you can)
Colored Duct Tape
Clay
Stickers
Google Eyes
Socks (dollar store)
Shoe Boxes
Fabric
Yarn
Beads
Clothes Pins
Pipe Cleaners (all colors)
Buttons
String
Popsicle Sticks
Anything you think the kids could be creative with.
This is going to be an amazing year!
Christine, Hannah and Cynthia
Middle School Leaders (Grades 6th-8th)
Teachers:
Linda Hyde linda@newmorningschool.com
Nicole Matoian nicolem@newmorningschool.com
Welcome Back Middle School Families! We hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating summer and enjoyed your long Labor Day weekend! We are excited to be back at school and look forward to a great first week.
As a reminder, we will be conducting Goal Setting on Tuesday, September 6th, Friday afternoon, September 9th, and Monday September 12th. As of this writing, all students are signed up for a Goal Setting Session and we are looking forward to meeting with students and discussing their Academic, Social, and Personal Goals for the year.
This week, students will become familiar with our new schedule, participate in team building and welcome back activities, and create a set of classroom values. Students will also be assigned a cubby and a locker so they should bring their needed classroom supplies. Just a reminder, that students are not permitted to have their cell phones in the classroom and should be prepared to keep them in their lockers if they need to bring them to school.
Something new this year is that we will begin morning Jump Start at 8:30 a.m., so it is important that students arrive at school by 8:15.a.m.
We are looking forward to an exciting and productive 2022-2023 school year, and as always, we welcome any of your comments, questions, or concerns!
Ms. Linda and Ms. Nicole
Goal-setting for Elementary Scholars and MS Leaders
At New Morning School, we begin the year with goal-setting for grades 2nd-8th. This supports student investment in their learning and allows teachers to start the year with individualizing your child's program. Goal-setting days are when the teacher meets with your child to plan academic goals for the fall. On these days, there is no school and students come by appointment to meet with their teacher. The school calendar also includes specific dates/times for goal-setting.
Elementary Scholar and MS Leader parents: You will receive a sign-up schedule from your classroom teachers to schedule your appointment.
For Elementary, parents DO NOT attend their child's conference. This allows the goal-setting to be more authentic and come naturally from your child.
For Middle School, parents DO attend with your child. At this age, parents can provide support by having a supportive conversation as part of your child's educational team, which is your child, their teachers and you.
Fall Goal-setting Dates:
Tuesday, September 6: No School for EL and MS. No Kids Club.
Friday, September 9: Half-Day School for EL and MS. Kids Club is available 11:30am-6pm.
Monday, September 12: No School for EL and MS. Kids Club available 7am-6pm.
Helpful Links
Contact Us
School Contact Information
Office Phone: 734.420.3331
Email: nms@newmorningschool.com
Elaine Kennedy, Head of School elaine@newmorningschool.com
Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School pauline@newmorningschool.com
Joan Barrett, Admissions Director joan@newmorningschool.com
Kit Zrull, Administrative Assistant nms@newmorningschool.com
Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation
14501 N. Haggerty Rd., Plymouth, Michigan 734.420.0331