Racer Review
October, 2019
Staff Member Spotlight
Dawn Plummer
Dawn has five kids, two adult boys, one daughter in law, and three adopted girls who are in middle school. Dawn has been married to her husband, Doug, for 27 years.
Newcastle Public Schools Begins Strategic Planning Process
Newcastle Public Schools is launching a new strategic planning initiative this fall, beginning with a series of opportunities to hear from the community about its hopes and dreams for
Newcastle schools and students.
“Our mission at Newcastle schools is to expand educational opportunities for all students,”
Superintendent Melonie Hau said. “Meeting that mission is dependent on enlisting our entire
community to support and encourage our children to meet their individual potential. Listening
to community expectations and establishing achievable goals will allow us to set an exciting
course for the future.”
Community members can complete an online survey about the district’s future at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020NewcastleCSICommunity
The school district is working with the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, which
assisted with last spring’s superintendent search, and the K20 Center for Education Community Renewal at the University of Oklahoma to facilitate the Continuous Strategic Improvement process.
School board President Gary Knowles is urging all members of the community to participate in the process.
“The board team is excited to be implementing the collaborative CSI process, which has
resulted in important goal-setting and remarkable improvement in all districts committed to
the process,” Knowles said. “We are looking forward to engaging and seeking input from
students, teachers, parents, staff, business and community partners to ensure that community expectations and district priorities are aligned as we plan for the future."
Planning teams involving community, business and school district representatives will use
student achievement data, results from the survey and forums and research to develop the
five-year continuous improvement strategic plan.
A proposed plan is expected to be presented for school board approval in mid-2020.
PLEASE HELP US!
ID Cards
Students are required to wear a student ID created and issued by Newcastle High School. The ID serves as a key to exterior doors and is required to enter our school buildings. For safety and security purposes, students must wear their ID cards at all times during the school day. The card must be prominently displayed by wearing it around the neck and on the outside of all clothing.
Because of the importance of the IDs, we will be implementing a new procedure starting on Monday, November 4. Students will NOT be allowed to enter the classroom unless they are wearing it around the neck and on the outside of all clothing. Students who chose to violate the rule will not be allowed to enter the classroom and will be sent to an administrator. Students will be allowed to return back to the classroom as soon as they have their ID properly placed on their neck. Students will be given an unverified absence for all class periods missed. PLEASE HELP US by asking your student to wear their ID every day.
Cell Phones
All teachers at NHS have classroom rules regarding cell phones. Unfortunately, the cell phone use by our students has become an increasing problem in many of our classrooms. Starting on Monday, November 4, students who do not put away their cell phone after being instructed by the teacher one time will be given a referral to the office. Failure to obey the rule will result in a consequence which may include suspension from school. Please help us by NOT calling or texting your student during class hours. Also, please talk to your student about practicing mature and responsible cell phone usage.
Hall Passes
Students are not allowed to leave class the first 10 minutes or last 10 minutes of class. Classroom instruction time is of utmost importance. If your student isn't allowed to leave a classroom, please help us by respecting the teacher's decision. If you have questions regarding a teacher's decision, please visit with the teacher. Again, thank you in advance by NOT calling or texting your student during class hours.
Picture Retakes
RIBBON CUTTING for NEF Brick Yard
Newcastle Education Foundation would like to invite you to the Brick Yard ribbon cutting.
Tuesday October 29th at 11:30 am at Racer stadium.
We will be honoring all Academic Allstate Recipients (since 1989) with a personalized brick.
Please join us in celebrating Academic Excellence and promoting our “Beautification for Education” project.
Our goal is to raise enough money with brick sales each year to fund all teacher grant requests, beautifying our school in the process.
Substitutes Needed
"ACT" Information
We are pleased to announce NHS was selected for Juniors to received a free non-writing ACT on the December 14th day. ACT is conducting testing with on-line tests, juniors who participate will be randomly assigned by ACT to take either a computer or traditional paper test (both will result in a valid ACT score). We have 95 slots for Newcastle JUNIORS only. Please go to https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4DA9AD23ABFF2-class to sign up for your slot. Vouchers and instructions on how to sign up will be given out to those on the list on November 18th.
Any student wanting to take the ACT in December that does not qualify as a junior will need to choose a different location. Blanchard and Bridge Creek both offer the December ACT.
Parent Volunteers Needed
Safe and Healthy School Committee
We need two parents from each grade level to serve on this committee. The focus of the committee is to review and discuss school safety and overall well being of our students.
NHS PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association)
If you are interested in serving on a committee to start a PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) at the high school please join us on Monday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the high school library. Our students could greatly benefit from a PTO at the high school level.
Health Corps October Update
Happy October Newcastle! I hope this month has been full of fun fall activities and enjoyment of the cool weather. Here are a few updates of what HealthCorps has been up to here at NHS…
- Walktober During the month of October, the staff members at schools across the country are competing in a step challenge with each individual aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day. We have 19 staff members participating and competing against each other and other schools in hopes of winning prizes. As of 10/15 we had 841,405 steps recorded!
- HealthCorps Club There’s a new club at school open for all students to join! HealthCorps Club is a club where students will learn how to create different healthy snacks, play games such as capture the flag, and learn how to take care of their mental health through different strategies such as meditation. It is held Wednesdays during Racer Refuel in room 104. Encourage your students to come!
- Classroom Updates In the beginning of the month, students receiving HealthCorps curriculum in their classes finished up learning about nutrition. They did multiple classroom activities such as measuring how much sugar is in popular beverages, learning how to read a nutrition facts label, and putting together the components of a healthy, well-balanced meal. Now, they are learning the benefits of exercise and putting together workouts that they could easily do at home.
- October Health Tip! Try mixing one cup of a favorite 100% fruit juice with carbonated water to give yourself a healthy, bubbly fruit drink. You’ll receive a serving of fruit, and it’s a healthier alternative than drinking sweet tea or a soda!
Enjoy the rest of your month as Halloween comes along and we look forward to Thanksgiving! As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments at addison.jendza@healthcorps.org.
Well Wishes,
Addison Jendza
HealthCorps, Program Coordinator
Yearbooks
STATE CHAMPS!
STOP IT APP
It is the desire of Newcastle High School and the State of Oklahoma that each school be a safe place for all students. We need your help. Students who see something unusual or out of the ordinary are required to say something. Confidential incident forms can be completed in any administrative or counseling office.
Students can also report incidents by using STOPit which is an online and app-based system to empower students, teachers and others to anonymously report anything of concern to school officials – from cyber-bullying to threats of violence or self-harm. Parents and students can download the app from the App store or Google play or utilize the web based version at this address:
https://appweb.stopitsolutions.com/login.
The access code for the high school is: newcastlehs6322
Name Change Request for Yearbook
Reading Proficiency Test
Mrs. Burchett (sburchett@newcastle.k12.ok.us).The November exam will be held on Wednesday, November 6 at 3:30 in the counselor's office.
Class of 2020 Information
Yearbook Senior Ads
Senior ads are on sale now, prices increase on December 1st.
Baby Picture
Salvation Army Volunteer Opportunities
Racer Cafe
High School
$1.50 Breakfast
$2.75 Lunch
Reduced prices-all sites
$0.30 Breakfast
$0.40 Lunch
Every meal includes milk, juice & unlimited fruits & vegetables (sides & salad bar).