North Plains Hawks
Sept. 17, 2016
Principal's message - week 3
Greetings from North Plains Elementary School! It was great to meet so many of you on Thursday night at our Back to School Event. Thank you all for being so understanding with the changes that are happening, I know many of you are anxious regarding your child's teacher.
After much discussion, we have finally decided on the following class configurations and teacher assignments. Please know that this was not an easy decision. No teacher wanted to give up students in their room, but we needed to do what was best for the teaching and learning environment as a whole.
K - Ms. Monahan (no change)
K/1 - Ms. Debolt (no change)
1 - Ms. Gale (no change)
2 - Ms. Underhill (some students moving)
2 - Ms. Job (some students moving, some coming from Ms. Underhill)
3 -Ms. Schneider (some students moving)
3 - Ms. Phipps (a change from 4th grade to 3rd, a new group of students)
4 - Ms. Ravins (this is mostly Ms. Phipps previous class with a few changes)
4/5 - Ms. Lee (a new teacher and a new group)
5 - Ms. Richter - (no changes)
6 - Mr. McDowall (some students moving)
6 - Ms. Chronister (some new students)
It is difficult to predict where the new students will come in, but we already have notice of a few in grades 3 and 6 where we now have room to grow. Kinder and 1st are still fairly large, but would have been too small if we split them right now. These classes will be supported with assistants. 4th and 5th are still fairly large as well and will receive additional assistant support. Letters will be sent to all families to make sure you know if your child has changed teachers. These will go home Monday afternoon.
Our new teacher is Ms. Lee who comes to us from Minter Bridge Elementary. Although she is sad to leave her current students, she is very excited to join our North Plains staff and meet her new group of 4/5 this week. Ms. Lee will be in the building Monday and Tuesday to get her room ready and prepare for students, so all new classes will begin on Wednesday. This will give us time to notify both students and parents of the changes. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Lee to our community!
This week we had our first fire drill and the students did an excellent job! I tried to pick the class that was the most responsible during the drill and couldn't choose from all of the outstanding classes! Yesterday students were rewarded with an Otter Pop for their responsible behavior. (Grades K and 1 still need their prize and will receive it on Monday)
Many of you have talked with me regarding attendance as you know it is an important topic and one we take very seriously. I've decided to add an attendance piece to this newsletter each week which you will see below. All of the information will be coming from the website, http://www.attendanceworks.org/ I encourage you to go to the site yourself to see more information on the importance of attendance, plus tips for you if you are struggling to get your child to school. Please do reach out to me with questions and concerns.
This will be a challenging week with the classroom changes happening. Please talk with your child, whether changing classes or not, to help them understand and deal with their feelings around this. There may be a few bumpy days, but we'll get through it and be better for it. Thank you for your help.
Have a great week!
Ms. Smith
Upcoming Events
This Week
Wed. - academic seminar, early release
Upcoming Events
Sept. 20 -Evergreen Back to School Night grade 7, 7-8PM
Sept. 22 - Evergreen Back to School Night grade 8, 7-8PM
Sept. 26 - Picture day
Sept. 26 - Glencoe Back To School Night, 6:30 - 8 PM
Sept. 30 - Fund Run through PE classes
Oct. 4 - PTO meeting, 5:30 PM all are welcome!
Reading comprehension strategy
6th grade helpers
Village of Hope
Volunteers needed!
Attendance: 9 or less is best!
Last year we had 27 students, grades k-5, who had less than 90% attendance which is considered chronically absent. Our goal is to reduce this number by at least half, if not more. Remember, 9 or less is best!! (average 1 per month or less)