HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! WELCOME TO 2023! Our North Side staff wants to thank you for sharing your precious children with us each and every day.

As you know, our school year that is focused on reading is half over! I am in shock! As we have shared with you, every student is receiving guided reading daily at North Side. This is small group reading instruction at their reading level. When we completed middle of the year benchmarking, we saw growth for almost all students. By the end of year benchmarking, we would LOVE to see even more growth than we did this last time, but we NEED your help! You have heard the saying....It takes a village.....we are asking you to find time each day to read with your child at home as well. This additional reading will make such a difference!

Please see below for tips for reading at home with your child! Please feel free to reach out to me or Ms. Tribolet with any questions regarding these tips.

Yours in education,

Stephanie Leasure

Before winter break your child took two different diagnostics, an i-Ready math diagnostic and an i-Ready reading diagnostic. The purpose of each diagnostic is to give your child’s teacher information on how to best support their learning. It also helps your child’s teacher determine their specific needs, personalize their learning and monitor their progress throughout the year. Your child was sent home with two “For Families” reports before winter break that showed their diagnostic scores. For more information on how to understand and interpret the report, please follow the link below. If you have any further questions, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.

Understanding Your Child’s Diagnostic Results Link: https://i-readycentral.com/download/?res=39944&view_pdf=1

Tuesday, January 3rd - First day back to school from winter break

Wednesday, January 4th - Board Meeting @ CO, 6 p.m.

Monday, January 9th - WIDA Testing begins

Thursday, January 12th - Progress Reports go home with students

Monday, January 16th - Student Council meeting, 3-3:45 p.m.

Monday, January 16th - PTO Meeting, 5:30 p.m. in library

Wednesday, January 18th - Board Meeting hosted by North Side, 6 p.m.

Monday, January 23rd - Friday, January 27th - PLTW Week

Thursday, January 26th - Donuts w/ Grown-Ups for students last name A-M, 7:00-7:30 a.m.

Friday, January 27th - Donuts w/ Grown-Ups for students last name N-Z, 7:00-7:30 a.m.

Final book rental payments are due by February 15th. If you need to make other arrangements, please call Mrs. Hilterbrand to set something up. We must turn you into collections if you do not pay or call and make other arrangements with us. We do not want to take this action, please plan accordingly.

If your child is in need of a coat, hat or gloves, please call our office. Many of these items have been donated to us by local churches and we will gladly help you and your children out. Students do go outside for recess unless it is under 10 degrees, including windchill. Please help us to make sure that your child(ren) wear the appropriate outerwear to school based on temperature, precipitation and windchill.

Our lost and found collection is rapidly growing! Please consider labeling sweatshirts, coats, hats, etc.... This helps us to return items to their rightful owners.

School hours:

Mondays - 8:45-2:40, Doors open at 8:15 a.m.

Tuesday - Friday - 8:00 - 2:40, Doors open at 7:30 a.m.

Attendance –

Attendance is an important part of your child’s education. Being present at school each day and on time helps them achieve their full potential. As a school district, we keep parents aware of absences. Some have received letters, and some have received phone calls. Our policy was given out at the beginning of the year to the procedures we follow and is printed below as a reference. We take into consideration the doctor’s notes and try not to send letters if we have those on file. We understand that a doctor will not always be needed. Communication with the office is the best step to take so we can all work together. We all want the best for your child.

Safety –

We participated in fire, earthquake, tornado, relocation, shelter in place, lockdown, and bus safety drills during the first semester of school. We continue to practice such drills to prepare our students and staff in the event we would need to put this into real life action. During the month of January, we will be practicing the following drills:

- Fire drill

- Lockdown/Shelter in place drill

- Bus evacuations

As you can tell by looking at the list, safety is an important part of preparing our students and staff in case of an emergency. Talking to your students about safety will help them be prepared for an actual emergency. Stress to them not to panic and react to each situation with confidence and calmness.

If you should have any questions regarding attendance or safety, please contact me at the school or by email at jperlich@eastnoble.net.

If you watch the news, you know that Influenza, Covid, RSV, and Strep are all running rampant at this time of year. Please take time to remind your child(ren) to wash their hands after sneezing, coughing, blowing their nose, and using the restroom. Also, stress the importance of using hand sanitizer or washing their hands before eating something. If we all work together and continue to encourage our children to perform these safe hygiene habits, it will hopefully become more routine. Thank you for your assistance with this!

Another thing to consider:

• Please send a change of clothes in your child’s backpack for those occasional accidents or spills. I will do my best to provide your child with a change of clothes, but if I do not have the appropriate size, I will have to call home and ask for a change of clothes.

Nurse Whitney