Seven Hills Elementary News
A Home-School Connection
January 15, 2020
School Safety Updates:
Keeping your children safe while at school is our district's and campus' top priority.
Listed below are several safety measures currently in place designed to safeguard students and to affect positive student learning in the classroom. As always, we welcome your feedback and would be delighted to discuss any ideas or concerns you may have regarding the matter of school safety or emergency preparedness.
Though our nation has seen sad and frightening violence in our public institutions over the past few years, we still believe the public schools in Northwest ISD are some of the safest places in the community for our students and staff for a variety of reasons. Consider the following:
- Controlled Access: All exterior building doors are remotely controlled and/or monitored and locked. All guests must request access to the building.
- Raptor: All visitors must sign-in with the front office using the Raptor system to receive a visitor badge. Any visitor without a badge will be redirected to the front office. All new guests will need to scan their ID the first time they visit this year. We appreciate your patience and understanding with this safety measure.
- Closed Circuit Television: We have digital cameras in our schools to monitor activity inside and out. Through this system, we can capture video images that have aided in investigations into activities in and around our schools.
- School Resource Officer (SRO) Program: Our district has used the assistance of the Wise County Sheriff’s Office; its officers are assigned to our schools to provide security and education.
- Emergency Training: Each campus conducts a variety of emergency preparedness training each semester. Examples include “shelter,” for severe weather; “evacuation,” for fire emergencies; “reverse evacuation,” for dangerous issues requiring an expeditious return to the building and “lockdown,” in which an imminent danger towards students exists within the school property. We also have monthly fire drills ensure our students and staff are prepared for a quick exit of our buildings in the event of an emergency. Students have the opportunity to practice these drills throughout the year.
- Emergency Operations Plan: This plan encompasses many issues designed to prepare us for a multitude of emergency events. School crisis management teams discuss these issues throughout the year in order to be prepared to respond in a timely and accurate manner should the need arise.
If and when an emergency arises, our campus and district staff is thoroughly trained to respond in a timely and accurate manner. Together, we can continue to create a broad and superior security network for the safety of students and staff.
Please also understand that in the event of a campus emergency, the safety of the staff and students on campus comes first. Communication efforts, whether from the campus or the district, will be made as quickly as possible.
In reflecting on the severe weather threat from last week, we want parents to be reminded of a few important details:
- If you are visiting the campus during a drill or actual event, you are expected to follow campus protocols. This not only ensures your safety, but also helps support a calm environment for our students and staff.
- Should the threat of severe weather arise at dismissal, parents in the parent pick up line are invited to enter the side door at the back and shelter with the school. You will be directed to a designated location to shelter, and then directed to go back to your car once the shelter has been lifted. We will resume our dismissal routine in order to make sure all students are accounted for and dismissed safely.
- If you call our phones during the shelter, we may not be able to answer, as our staff will be sheltering. Once the threat has passed, we will return to answering the phones.
In our district and on our campus, your children come first. Thank you for entrusting them to our care.
7 Habits at Home...A Home School Connection
Define outcomes before you act
Create and live by a personal mission statement
Set long-term and short-term goals
Your family can practice this habit by creating a family mission statement! The Leader in Me recently shared tips and tools for helping families create mission statements. Check out their ideas here: https://www.leaderinme.org/blog/create-family-mission-statement-3-steps/?fbclid=IwAR3GkHR3nYRO2Sr56LcPG3UVfPOvSVZKx9N7CDUQ2XBcks_VbAja0cXUiLU
Congratulations to Our Spelling Bee Winner and Runner Up!
Friendly Reminder About Arrival and Dismissal Procedures:
Arrival and Dismissal Reminders:
- Car riders will drop off in the morning and pick up in the afternoon using the back circle drive. Student leaders and staff will be assisting with morning drop-off in the back. In the morning, please make sure you are pulling all the way up to cone one. This helps us unload 7 cars at the same time, and clears the large drain opening at the end of the circle.
- Buses will drop off in the morning and pick up in the afternoon using the front circle drive. For information about bus routes please contact Durham at at 940 - 242 - 3900 or http://www.nisdtx.org/departments/transportation
- If you are continuing to have difficulties getting your child registered to ride the bus, please let the front office know.
- Daycare and Pre-K/PPCD/PACEE (and their siblings) will use the front “L” drive for morning arrival and afternoon dismissal.
- Seven Hills issued hang tags will be required for afternoon car rider dismissal. These can be picked up in the front office.
- Please notify the school of any transportation changes prior to 2:30 pm. This will help ensure that your student receives the information and makes it home safely.
- We request that if you are needing to pick your child up early from school, you do so before 2:45 pm. There will be no office pickups after 2:45. All car riders must be picked up in the back circle drive.
- Student safety is a priority. Please do not drop students off at school before 7:20 am. Staff and student leaders assisting with arrival in the back circle drive will go inside at 7:40 am and the back doors will be locked. If you arrive after 7:40, please bring your child to the front of the school so they can enter through the front office.
The Parental & Family Engagement Connection December Newsletter is Now Available:
The December newsletter (Volume 16, 2nd Quarter), The Parental & Family Engagement CONNECTION, is available in English, Spanish, German, Korean, and Vietnamese. https://www.esc16.net/page/title1swi.3_newsletter%20-%20Copy
This edition of the newsletter includes articles about Parent-Teacher Conferences, Homework Help, Protecting Children from Human Trafficking, Volunteering, and Teen Discipline.
Save the Date:
- Friday, January 17th; 1:30 pm
No School in Observance of MLK, Jr. Day:
- Monday, January 20th
Spring Family Leadership Night:
- Tuesday, January 28th 5:30 - 7:00 pm
National School Counselor's Week:
- February 3- 7
Random Act of Kindness Week:
- February 16 - 23
NISD Ultimate Book Challenge:
- Tuesday, February 11
Valentine's Parties:
- Friday, February 14
PTA Sweetheart Dance:
- Saturday, February 15 at 6:00 pm at Seven Hills
Campus Reminders:
- The doors to the school will open at 7:20 a.m., and students may go either to the cafeteria to eat breakfast or to their classrooms to begin their day. To ensure student safety, please do not drop students off at school before the doors open at 7:20.
- Our school day begins promptly at 7:40 a.m. Students are expected to be present in their classrooms and ready to begin “Habit Huddle” when the 7:40 tardy bell rings. Any student who is not in their classroom, or arrives after the tardy bell, will be counted tardy. Please encourage your child to be proactive and arrive at school on time.
- Please contact the school office if your child will be absent from school. This helps us verify our overall attendance for the day and properly account for all students. When your child returns to school after an absence, please be sure to send a note explaining the reason for the absence.
- For information on lunch menus and accounts, visit the NISD website at: https://www.nisdtx.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=232201&pageId=268259
Stay Connected!
Website: http://northwestseven.ss10.sharpschool.com/
Location: 654 FM3433, Newark, TX, United States
Phone: 817-215-0700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SevenHillsElem/
Twitter: @7HillsNISD