Northwoods News
A Message from Principal Nixon--July 29, 2022
Northwoods Families,
We are moving quickly towards the start of the 2022-23 school year! Over the last few weeks, we have been carefully planning our various beginning-of-year events for students and families, and I'm excited to now share that information with you.
Within this newsletter you will find information that is separated into four main categories:
- Kindergarten Information--Please read if you have a rising kindergarten student
- Grades 1-5 Information--Please read if you have a child(ren) in grades 1-5.
- General School Information--Information that everyone should read.
- PTA Information--We want/need parent volunteers! Please read through the various ways you can get involved to support our school.
Additionally, please mark your calendars for the following events:
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday, August 23rd--Class lists for Grades 1-5 will be posted.
- Wednesday, August 24th--Teachers will send welcome emails.
- Thursday, August 25th--Meet the Teacher for Grades 1-5.
- Monday, August 29th--First Day of School!!
- Monday, August 29th--Kindergarten Staggered Entry (for select students)
- Tuesday, August 30th--Kindergarten Staggered Entry (for select students)
- Wednesday, August 31st--Kindergarten Staggered Entry (for select students)
- Thursday, September 1st--Kindergarten Class Lists Posted
- Friday, September 2nd--Early Release Day (students dismissed at 1:45 PM).
- Friday, September 2nd--Kindergarten Meet the Teacher
- Monday, September 5th--Labor Day
- Thursday, September 15th--Curriculum Night
Respectfully,
Joe Nixon, Principal
2022-23 Kindergarten Information
Kindergarten Staggered Entry:
All kindergarten students will participate in staggered entry. This means they will only attend school on one day during the first week of school between August 29th and September 2nd. Your child's assigned date for staggered entry was included in a staggered entry information letter, which was mailed out last week. If you did not receive a letter, please contact the school and we will help identify your child's assigned date.
Kindergarten Class Lists:
Class lists for Kindergarten will not be finalized until we have completed Staggered Entry. Lists will be posted near the front office doors on Thursday, September 1st. As a gentle reminder, I do not accept parent requests for specific teachers.
Kindergarten Meet the Teacher:
Save the date: We will hold an in-person Meet the Teacher event for kindergarten students and families on Friday, September 2nd at 10:00 AM. Please bring your child's school supplies during Meet the Teacher.
Vaccination/Health Forms:
Per state law, we are required to collect vaccination records and student health forms for each kindergarten student. Student vaccine records and health forms are due no later than the first day of school. Forms may be scanned and emailed to Crystal Hartzell at chartzell@wcpss.net, or they can be dropped off directly at the school.
Grades 1-5 Information
Class Lists:
1st-5th grade class lists will be finalized by Tuesday, August 23th and lists will be posted near the front doors of the school and at the bus loop doors by the afternoon of the 23rd. Families may park and review the lists at that time. Be advised: I do not accept requests for specific teachers. Once published, class lists are considered final and I will not accept requests for changes. Classroom teachers will send a welcome email to each family on his/her classroom roster on August 24th.
1st-5th Grade Meet the Teacher:
I'm pleased to announce that our Meet the Teacher events will be 100% in-person this year! Open House/Meet the Teacher for students in 1st-5th grade will be held on Thursday, August 25th. Times are listed below.
- 9:30 - 10:15 AM--Last Names A-L
10:45 - 11:30AM --Last Names M-Z
School Supplies:
Supply lists for the 2022-23 school year are posted below. Student supplies should be brought to school during your family's designated Meet the Teacher time.
General School Information
2022-23 Transportation Requests:
If you are not currently registered for transportation but would like service next school year, register for service immediately. Please only request service if you plan for your student to be a regular rider. Students who don’t ride consistently will be removed from bus rosters. To register, go to www.wcpss.net/busrider.
Bus routes for traditional calendar students will be posted online (https://www.wcpss.net/Page/174) on August 19, 2022. Once posted, families should confirm the location of their student’s bus stop. Bus stops change each year based on actual ridership.
2022-23 School Meal Prices:
Please be advised that school meals will no longer be free for all students during the 2022-23 school year. The WCPSS Board of Education met last week and approved a plan to increase meal prices by $.025 to cover the rising costs of food and supplies. Meal prices for the 2022-23 school are noted below. If your family is in need of meal assistance, I strongly encourage you to complete and submit an application for Free/Reduced Cost Meals. Applications will be mailed out to all WCPSS families in the coming weeks and will also be available during our Meet the Teacher event at the start of the year.
2022-23 Breakfast Cost--$1.50
2022-23 Lunch Cost--$3.00
Pre-Pay for Meals Online:
The easiest way to pay for school meals is to create an online account at www.MySchoolBucks.com. Please remember, you will need your child's student ID number to register. Once registered, parents may load money, set spending limits, and set-up auto-loading so that your child never runs out of lunch money.
2022-23 Free/Reduced Price Meal Application:
Families in need of meal assistance must reapply every school year if they are interested in receiving meal benefits. Applications may be submitted online at https://www.wcpss.net/Page/1849. Paper copies are also available at the school.
Student Medications:
Please remember that students cannot receive medication (prescription or over-the-counter) at school without a signed 1702 form. The 1702 form is linked below and must be signed by a licensed medical doctor before being submitted to the school.
All prescription medication must be in original packaging with a pharmacy label. OTC medications must be in the original packaging and labeled with the student's name. Medications may be dropped off at school at our Meet the Teacher event in August.
Q1 Curriculum Night:
Save the date! Our first Curriculum Night of the 2022-23 school year will be held on Thursday, September 15th at the following times:
- 5:30 - 6:00 PM--3rd-5th Grade
- 6:00 - 6:30 PM--PTA General Meeting
- 6:30 - 7:00 PM--K-2nd Grade
2022-23 Early Release Days:
Six (6) Early Release Days were added to the 2022-23 school calendar. All WCPSS students will be dismissed from school two hours early on each of their designated Early Release Days. For students at Northwoods, this means that they will be dismissed at 1:45 PM. YMCA after-school care is available on Early Release days for students who are already registered for the program. Families who do not have students participating in the YMCA after-school program are responsible for making appropriate childcare arrangements in advance.
Before & After-School Care Options:
Before and after-school care will be available for students onsite at Northwoods for the 22-23 school year. The before-school program will be managed by Northwoods staff as it has been in the past. The after-school care program will be managed onsite by the Taylor Family YMCA. Applications and registration information for the before and after-school care programs can be found on our website at: https://www.wcpss.net/domain/11295.
Carpool Tags:
Please discard your old carpool tags! New carpool tags (new design and color) will be issued to families that utilize carpool as the primary means of after-school pickup. New tags may be picked up in the cafeteria during our Meet the Teacher event on August 25th. Please remember, carpool tags are not required for families who only use carpool for morning drop-off.
2022-23 NES Parent/Student Handbook:
Our parent/student handbook (linked below) contains a comprehensive list of our school-based policies and procedures. Please take several minutes to thoroughly read through the handbook to ensure that you are knowledgeable about our established policies.
PTA Information
Join the PTA!
Interested in joining the PTA? Please our memberhub site:
Mel's Garden
There are lots of opportunities to help with our garden. For more information, please visit:
Volunteer with the PTA!
Interested in volunteering with the PTA! We'd love to have your help! To learn more about opportunities or to get started, Contact the PTA VP of Volunteers, at NorthwoodsMembership@gmail.com.