ENSC Family Notes
March 2, 2015
Impressive Conversation
What I heard was, the Rome City teachers are very deliberate in how they design, deliver, and assess instruction for their students. It was impressive to listen to a group of teachers who are very passionate about their profession and their students.
Thank you Rome City staff for all you do for your students.
Cold Weather Delays and Bussing
Calling a delay or cancelling school for cold temperatures is always a very difficult decision. We have to predict what the temperature will be when busses run and when students will be walking. There are times with the temperatures get colder, stay the same or warm up. If the sun is shining during a delay time, the temperatures can seem much warmer. If the wind is blowing, it will feel much colder.
The basic "rule of thumb" for districts is to delay when the wind chill feels close to -20 and cancel when the wind chill is closer to -25. Families have asked why we don't delay more on these cold days. The main reason is the number of students whose parents drop them off to school on their way to work. If we delay, that often means these students would now be walking to school or waiting on a bus. Essentially, we put even more students outside when the temperatures are not significantly warmer.
Families and students get very frustrated when busses run late. To help keep busses on time, please have your children at their stop at least five minutes early. Some drivers have as many as 50 stops. If each student was just 20 seconds late, by the time the driver picks up the last student, that student could be picked up as much as 20 minutes late.
Also, please have your child at their designated bus stop. Some students are not getting to their stop and then running across the roads to get to a different stop. When they do this, it slows the driver, but more importantly, it places your child in danger of being hit by a car.
Thank you for your help, and hopefully, the weather warms quickly as we near spring and spring break.
School Board Meeting
All Star of the Week
Denise Gordon, an instructional assistant who works with the North Side Elementary third grade team is this week’s all-star of the week! Denise goes the extra mile every day!! She works over every day to give more support in the classroom. She takes home her lessons and students’ work from university (success) to better meet students’ needs the next day. Her rapport with students is amazing!! They love her, respect her, and they do what she asks. When asked one colleague said, “Denise comes into my room everyday first thing with a smile on her face. She is a blessing to North Side and I am so glad she works in my classroom and with my students. We are blessed!!!” Mrs. Gordon, thank you for your positive spirit, thank you for all that you do for North Side students, and thanks for gracing us with your wonderful attitude every single day! Congratulations!
Building Notes
North Side Elementary
It was an exciting week at North Side as students in grades 3-6 made final preparations before ISTEP+ begins this coming week. Students across the board were getting pep talks, taking brain breaks, and working on focusing on doing their best rather than worrying about a score. Students in Kindergarten through fourth grade participated in another tech Tuesday in which they took their iPads home and extended their learning and technology exposure.
Congratulations are in order for North Side’s Math Bowl team!!! They won a thrilling competition this past Thursday that came down to the wire. They have been practicing for so many weeks after school, twice a week and it is wonderful to see their hard work pay off. Great job team! Thanks for all your hard work and special thanks to Mrs. Jennings and Ms. Wilder for leading this team, putting in the time and energy to put them on top. You all make us very proud!
Rome City Elementary
It is evident from the expressions on our student’s faces that Rome City School has a fantastic environment in which to learn and spend our days! We have been taking full advantage of our complete school weeks to focus on our education and celebrating our achievements.
As a school, we have had a tremendous amount of exciting activities happening. Just to name a few, we started out with a No Excuse University ISTEP Kickoff. Mrs. Green planned an eventful assembly involving numerous activities for the students that will soon be showing us all they have learned through the coming state tests. The assembly was a fantastic start to promote a positive atmosphere that has our students ready to do their very best. We also enjoyed a morning of presenting awards to numerous deserving students for their hard work and perfect attendance. Our gymnasium was filled with many proud family members that came to support their students. To end the week, students that earned the chocolate buffet were treated to an astonishing display of an exceptional assortment of candy bars and every imaginable food item to be dipped into beautiful chocolate fountains. The chocolate buffet was a true awe inspiring event that multiple students exclaimed made for the best day of their lives! Romans know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated.
South Side Elementary
At yesterday's Trailblazer University Celebration, students gathered in the gym to blow off some steam and show support for our "Big Kids" as they get ready to take their "Big Test" next week. Special guest Elsa from Disney’s Frozen paid a visit to share her stories about the "ICE"-Step, and our 3rd-6th graders faced off in a game of human hungry-hungry hippo. The crowd broke out in spontaneous organized cheering for their fellow classmates: "Let's go 6th grade.....Let's go 6th grade....." at every grade level complete with clapping and cheers at the end of each round. In the end, our 3rd grade students were the hungriest! Afterward, our K-2nd grade students, teachers, and staff formed a cheer tunnel in the hallway while Mrs. Smith gave a pep talk to our big kids. The message is this: Our students have worked hard all year. ISTEP week is no different. They have already put in all of the hard work--coming to school every day, working hard in their classrooms, completing their assignments, asking questions, seeking and accepting support where they need it. ISTEP week will be no different. It is an opportunity to show off some of what they have learned. We want students to do their best, to eat a good breakfast and get plenty of sleep so that their brains and bodies are ready; but we do not want them to feel pressure or anxiety for an assessment that only measures a very narrow scope of all they have learned and will continue to learn this year at South Side. Students left the gym to be greeted by signs, cheers, and high fives all the way through the hallways as they paraded through the cheer tunnel. The best part of the whole assembly was seeing the support our students show to each other.
Our grade-level update this week is from Kindergarten: Kindergarten has been "Working Hard"! As a part of our building-wide PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support) incentive, kindergarten has set goals for their behavior, their academics and how they use good character. All week long kindergarten earns Dojo Points for staying on task, doing their personal best, using good character, and making good choices during their school day. Each Friday, after "Working Hard" all week, when students reach their goals they get to pick a "Play Hard" room. Some of their choices include a movie room, games room, and even a craft room. They are really enjoying working hard for their points, reaching new goals and celebrating their success each Friday.
Kindergarten has been reading and learning all about Penguins. We have been using Close reading techniques to dig in deeper to our reading. Kindergarten is learning new vocabulary, parts of the penguins, how and what they eat, and so much more. They have been surprised to learn that Penguins can't fly even though they have wings!
In Math, we have been learning how to measure in steps by counting the steps we take while walking throughout the building. We have been learning all about money. They know what the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter looks like and what it is worth. They have been doing money exchange with penny and dimes. Kindergarten continues to practice counting by ones and skip counting by fives and tens. Kindergarten has been enjoying the new challenges in math.
Wayne Center Elementary
Last Friday several of our students and their parents enjoyed a fun evening at our Father/Daughter & Mother/Son Dance. Students and their parents danced to some fun songs, enjoyed some snacks and had their picture taken as a keepsake of the evening. Many thanks or our parent group, PAC, for sponsoring the event for our students and their parents!
This week, students in preschool through fourth grade got to participate in the Officer Phil program. Students learned about bullying and safety, all while seeing some great magic tricks.
Lastly, February's No Excuse University convocation was held on Friday. Wayne Center was privileged enough to have meteorologist Curtis Smith from 21Alive News join us. He talked to students about his job and the importance of students going to college noting that he had to study a lot of math and science to become a meterologist. Students got a behind the scenes look at what Mr. Smith does as a meterologist each day through a DVD that he showed. Mr. Smith explained how he prepares the forecast, what a green screen is, what the different parts of the news studio are, and how the technology for delivering the weather forecast is different nowadays.
After Mr. Smith's presentation Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Erexson, and Mrs. Bollman's classes talked about the Pillar of Character caring and how to show caring behaviors towards everyone! The convocation ended with our monthly spirit award announcement. Congratulations to Miss Hull and Mrs. Ihrie's classes who were the winners of our Spirit Wear contest! Each class had their picture taken with Wayne, the WC Tiger.
Alternative Learning Center
This week the ALC ended out Trimester 2 with record breaking credits earned, with over 140. The students worked hard and showed their determination for graduation. Congratulations to the most recent early graduate, Shianne Chavis. Good luck to her in the future!
Trimester 3 starts on Monday, March 2nd, so many faces will be changing at the ALC. If there is a cancellation Monday for weather it will be an e-learning day. All current students and new coming students were emailed a letter explaining the e-learning expectations. All new students were also emailed their login information for Apex, so they can get started working right away.
Avilla Elementary
Many of OUR sixth grades students have been creating a monthly/yearly budget. The budget is based off minimum wage pay and working 40 hours a week. Students have been making calculations, using Excel, and other various resources on the internet. Not only have they had to find a car and house, but they also had to calculate insurance. The next step for OUR students is to create a budget based off their possible career choice and its average salary. More from OUR budgeting sixth graders later.
The video is from a student who is talking about this project. Please click on the link below to find out what one of OUR students is learning about budgeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzZcM37Q104&feature=youtu.be
This past Tuesday evening Parent/Teacher Conferences took place. We would like to thank all of OUR families that participated in these conferences. OUR students cannot continue to grow educationally without families and staff working together for the child. We are very blessed to have such a great community to work with. Panther University took place Wednesday evening and we would like to thank Mrs. Ruth Guthrie from the Noble County Library in Avilla for leading a story and craft. OUR families were treated to a very cool read aloud that was based on sound. Students were then able to create a musical instrument.
Avilla's Math Bowl team competed last Thursday at the regional competition in Hamilton. Although OUR team didn't place in the top three, the members represented OUR school with the utmost show of good character and team pride. We congratulate North Side and Wayne Center with their 1st and 2nd place finishes respectively. Thank you Mrs. Smith for coaching OUR team this year. Great job by all!
East Noble High School
East Noble High School has been working on a project to improve the campus experience for students and fans. HS students recently upgraded the south end of the turf field by planting 80 trees, and there have been upgrades to the concession stand. We are now ready for the next major phase of the project, and we would like to invite everyone to be a part.
This summer, we will proceed with the Paver Plaza! The area just east of the building will be upgraded with a paver design to show off school pride. We are selling personalized bricks to support the upgrades. There are three sizes to choose from, and range in price from $100, $300, or $1,000. The small bricks offer three lines of text, the medium bricks provide either six lines of text or three lines with an image, and the large bricks are customizable and great for businesses or organizations. Bricks sold prior to April 30, 2015 will be engraved and included in this next phase of the project. Mail in your order forms to be part of this wonderful event. Show off your school spirit for everyone to see! Individuals and groups are encouraged to leave a positive message that will be available for future generations of Knights. Help us spread the word to Knights and Knight Supporters near and far! For more information or to print out an order form for your own brick, check out our website: www.enhscampusbeautification.com.
East Noble Middle School
It was a busy week at ENMS. Social studies classes wrapped up units on East Asia and the Constitution. Math began their geometry unit with students finding the area, perimeter, and volume of different shapes. While in science, students have been exploring chemistry. 8th grade science students created digital wanted posters for atomic scientists and created 3D models of atoms. While in language arts, students have been reading Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry and researching the racial divide of the South in the early 1900s.
Everyone at ENMS has been focused on preparing for ISTEP over the last many months and weeks. With the end of Practice Tests and the Applied Skills section of the test coming this week, the middle school held an ISTEP pep session on Friday. The staff recorded a parody of Uptown Funk performed by our very own Kevin Haydl. Students loved the video. The message of the pep session was to prove to everyone how great the students of ENMS are. "Don't believe me just watch!"
East Noble School Corporation
Email: alinson@eastnoble.net
Website: eastnoble.net
Location: 126 West Rush Street, Kendallville, IN, United States
Phone: 260-347-2606
Facebook: facebook.com/eastnoble
Twitter: @ENobleSchCorp