Titan Newsletter
#KnowNova #GrowNova
January 2019 / Volume 5
Nova Blanche Forman Elementary School
Russell Schwartz - Principal
Janet Calamaro - Assistant Principal
Email: Russell.Schwartz@browardschools.com
Website: novablancheforman.browardschools.com
Location: 3521 Davie Road, Davie, FL, United States
Phone: 754 323-6600
Twitter: @NBFelem
Nova Blanche Forman Elementary Attendance Line 754 323-6602
Broward County Homework Hotline 754 322-1970 4 PM-8 PM
Rumor Control Hotline 754 321-0321
Dates to Remember
Jan. 21 - Schools & Administrative Offices Closed
Jan. 30 - Report Cards Issued
Happy New Year!!! I can’t believe that we are already in 2019. I truly hope that each of our Nova Blanche Forman families took the time during the break to relax and enjoy family and friends. I hope that 2019 brings all your wishes, goals, aspirations to life.
At Nova Blanche, we are continuing to strive towards academic excellence in our classrooms. The start of the new year will include a county assessment for grades 3-5 that will help us identify specific strengths and weaknesses of each of our Titan students.
Just a reminder about our focus on the program iReady; If you child has access to a computer and the internet at home, I strongly encourage that they spend at least 10 minutes per day (50 minutes per week) to enhance their skills. Take the time to speak to your child to reinforce how iReady will help them improve in school. Encourage your child to take each lesson and test question seriously! You can also discuss with them their results by looking at the My Progress feature together. My Progress will show you how many lessons they have completed and the percentage of questions that they answered correctly. iReady is a great tool to assist you, as the parent/guardian, with supporting your child at home. Please contact your child’s teacher if you need assistance logging in to iReady.
Also to remind you, if you have not received text message alerts during our Code Yellows, Code Reds, and Fire Drills, please send us an email to share a current phone number that you use for text messaging. The Parent Link system allows us to quickly send a message during drills and actual events. We have utilized this system during events but it seems that some families are not receiving the timely messages. If you are not, please send an email to Sandra Cooper, Sandra.Cooper@browardschools.com, and share the number that should be in our system for text messages.
Finally, ATTENDANCE MATTERS!!! Being in school is vital to the success of your child and our school. Being absent means a loss of instructional momentum and a lost opportunity to acquire knowledge. Our educators do an amazing job trying to catch up or supplement when students are absent but the best way to learn is to be in school daily. Absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals should be limited!!!
In closing, on behalf of everyone at Nova Blanche Forman, we wish you a happy and prosperous 2019. Thank you for being a part of our Nova family!!!
Sincerely,
Mr. Russell Schwartz
Campus Safety and Security
Everyone on campus, including but not limited to, faculty, staff, students, PTA, visitors, volunteers, maintenance, etc. MUST always wear a badge or issued form of identification. Additionally, all visitors to our campus MUST sign in through the STAR Security System located in our Front Office. If you notice someone on our campus without a visible form of identification, please refer them back to our Front Office and/or inform one of our staff members.
We are asking that you help keep our parking lot and car lanes free of parked cars. In the event of an emergency, we want to be certain rescue vehicles have access to our campus. Therefore, if you are parked in line waiting to drop off or pick up, your car MUST be attended to. Do not get out of your car and leave it unattended.
At arrival, our campus doors open at 9:00 AM. These doors will be manned by school staff. Students who are eating breakfast will report directly to the cafeteria. All other students will wait at their designated location for their teacher to allow them into class or to pick them up for the start of the school day.
At dismissal, vehicles left unattended MUST be in a parking spot. As you line up in the car line, we will start by forming one lane. At the indicated sign/cone we will form two lines in order to alleviate traffic off of Davie Road. Again, please remain in your vehicle. Also remember that students should ONLY enter and exit vehicles from the right side (passenger side). We never want students to walk into a lane of traffic.
In the event of an emergency, we will attempt to provide you timely information via our Parent Link system. These messages can be sent via text, e-mail, and/or phone call. Please be certain that the contact information you provide to the school is accurate. These messages could contain very valuable and time-sensitive information, therefore, we wouldn’t want having an outdated phone number or an unchecked e-mail address to keep you from receiving the message.
The character trait for this month is Respect. Respect is showing consideration, understanding, and regard for people, places, and things.
Here is the family newsletter for Respect: https://www.browardschools.com/cms/lib/FL01803656/Centricity/Domain/13726/Respect_Elementary_Family.pdf
Grades 3-5 will participate in the Broward Standards Assessment this month. Dates are listed below.
1/14/19: 4th and 5th grade ELA Session 1
1/16/19: 4th and 5th grade ELA Session 2
1/17/19: 3rd grade ELA Session 1
1/18/19: 3rd grade ELA session 2
1/22/19: 4th and 5th grade Math Session 1
1/23/19: 4th and 5th grade Math Session 2
1/24/19: 3rd grade Math Session 1
1/25/19: 3rd grade Math Session 2
1/29/19: 5th grade Science Session 1
1/30/19: 5th grade Science Session 2
PTA NEWS
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!!
Register to become a volunteer - browardschools.com/getinvolved
Become a Member of the NBF PTA - membership dues $5
Tentative Future SAC Meetings:
1/22/19 @ 8:45 AM
2/26/19 @ 8:45 AM
4/23/19 @ 4:15 PM
5/28/19 @ 8:45 AM
ANNOUNCING A RECYCLING PROGRAM FOR MARKERS!
Nova Blanche Forman has partnered with Crayola Corporation to participate in marker recycling. Crayola has repurposed more than 70 tons of expended markers in the United States and Canada since 2013. The plastic is converted to make wax compounds for asphalt and roofing shingles as well as to generate electricity that can be used to heat homes, cook food, and power vehicles.
Students may bring markers from home and drop them into the art room Colorcycle box. All brands and types of markers may be recycled- even dry erase and highlighters. Crayola prepays the postage for students to send the worn-out markers to the repurposing center.
Through the Colorcycle program, Crayola keeps tons of plastic out of landfills each year, and our students have a concrete way to show they care for our earth. As well, there is an additional benefit. Before the markers are packed up and shipped out, the remaining ink is going to be collected and used by our students as watercolor paint!!!
Learn more at http://www.crayola.com/colorcycle
Direct questions about Nova Blanche Forman’s participation to pamela.k.brown@browardschools.com
School Choice Information
If you are interested in submitting a School Choice application for your child for a magnet program, Nova school or school reassignment for the 2019/2020 school year, the School Choice application window is open December 1, 2018 - February 6, 2019.
You can apply online beginning December 1st or learn more about the application process by visiting browardschools.com/schoolchoice.
**Any child applying for the Nova lottery will need a student identification number. Please contact your nearest Broward School for information on the documents that are needed to obtain the ID number.**
For more information, contact the Demographics and Student Assignments Department at 754-321-2480.
Nova Cafeteria Information
Welcome back to another amazing school year!
Just a few reminders from your café team here at Nova Blanche Forman:
· Breakfast is free for all students every school day
· Ice cream is served Wednesday’s for $0.65 and frozen fruit shape up’s are served Friday’s for $0.50
· Free/Reduced applications are available online at www.applyforlunch.com
· Online payments and account monitoring is available at www.myschoolbucks.com
Don't forget to clip and save Box Tops.
Arrival
School begins promptly at 9:30 AM. Students being transported to school by car must not arrive before 9:00 AM. Upon arriving late, after 9:30 AM, students must report to the front office where they will be given a tardy pass to be admitted to class. Parents must escort their children into the front office. Except in cases of a late bus, students will be marked tardy at 9:30 AM. As per the School Board of Broward County Discipline Matrix, habitual tardies can result in consequences such as time out, detention, social worker interventions and/or rescission of Nova placement.
Dismissal
Children are dismissed at 3:30 PM. If a student is to be picked up early, a note must be given to the classroom teacher in the morning. No child is permitted to leave the school at any time prior to the regular dismissal time unless he/she is signed out in the front office. Students will not be called to the office for early dismissal after 3:00 PM. Only persons listed on the registration form will be permitted to sign out a child. Parents are required to report to the office before visiting classrooms or any other school area. Parents attending after school conferences need to decide prior to the conference how their child is going home or if they will be attending the conference with them.
Per School Board Policy, there will be no dismissal after 3:00 PM. Dismissal begins at 3:30 PM. If your child is a car rider, please be on time, in an emergency call the office.
Children who are car riders at dismissal will be seated according to grade level. Parents who do not wish to park, must wait in the car line. Parents need to wait outside, not in the front office. Students will not be released to meet parents across the parking lot. Names of children and their grade level should be placed in the windshield of the passenger side of the car. It is of extreme importance that children be picked up on time or enrolled in the After Care program at Nova Blanche Forman. Parents who habitually pick their child(ren) up late will be referred to the school social worker.
To ensure the success of your children, it is important that they be in school on time and that they remain in school through the end of the day.
Nova Blanche Forman Unified Dress Code Policy
Students may wear the following:
Tops: Students may wear Polo-style shirts, turtleneck shirts, collar blouses or school T-shirts. All tops must have sleeves and collars and be in a SOLID school color (with the exception of the Nova T-shirt). The colors for tops are: white, navy, yellow, black, and hunter green. It is not necessary to have emblems on the shirts.
Bottoms: Students may wear cotton twill long pants, knee length shorts, skirts, jumpers, Capri pants or skorts. Girls may also wear skirts and jumpers. A belt is optional as long as the pants are worn properly at the waist. Jeans may be worn on Fridays or the last day of the school week with a school shirt. The colors for bottoms are: khaki, navy, black, and hunter green.
Students can wear jackets, sweatshirts, vests or sweaters with an approved Nova shirt underneath.
Elementary students may NOT wear backless shoes. Sneakers are recommended.
No article of clothing or jewelry that may cause injury, such as belts, bracelets, wallet chains, collars with spikes or heavy link chains are allowed.
VOLUNTEERS
We welcome parents, friends, and community to become involved in educating students. Help build a strong future by becoming a Nova Blanche Forman volunteer. Volunteers can assist in classrooms, cafeteria, clinic, media center, field trips, special events and even the office. Teachers determine the degree of volunteer assistance that is needed in their class. All volunteers must complete an online registration form and be cleared to volunteer as required by the Jessica Lundsford Act.
To apply on-line go to www.browardschools.com/getinvolved.
This includes parents who chaperone field trips. Volunteer must always sign in before going to their assignments. Younger children are not allowed to accompany parents on the volunteer’s activities in the school.