September Community Update

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Dear NHI Friends and Families,

We are off and running! Yesterday 874 students walked through the doors and into the new school year. There is nothing more exciting than the hope and enthusiasm that come with the first day of school, and it is our job at Nature Hill to keep that energy going throughout the next 175 days. With that being said, we are thankful and excited to form an open partnership between our school community and our families in order to ensure every wolf has the best school year of their life!

Please never hesitate to reach out if I can help you in any way!

Wolf Pride!

Jason Curtis

Principal

Success at Nature Hill: Join the Pack! Fall Club Sign-Up

At Nature Hill, we value the importance of having students participate in clubs, athletics, and activities. Our test data shows that the more clubs and activities students are involved in, the higher their scores are on our MAP assessment. On Thursday, students will have a class meeting with either Ms. Hedrick or I to go over the club sign-up process. Click here to read the Club information Packet to find out about all of the fall clubs being offered, meeting times, and additional fees.

Students will have the opportunity to sign up for fall clubs in the main lobby between Friday, September 8 and Thursday, September 14. To learn more about the club sign-up process, please take a minute to click here and read Mr. Curtis’ blog post from September 1 highlighting all of the details.

Finally, please make sure you are checking our daily announcements, which include the NHI operational calendar with the meeting dates and times for all of the clubs and activities.

Wolf Recognition Spotlight: Service Award Recipients

I am extremely proud of the team we have assembled to help your child through the school year. This past week, Dr. Rindo recognized a few of our staff members for their dedication and commitment to the Oconomowoc Area School District. Please join me in congratulating the following teachers for their years of service:

•         Mrs. Kris Chadwick (Computer/Tech), 5 years
•         Mr. Trefor Jones (5^th Grade), 5 years
•         Ms. Xiaopeng Pang (Mandarin), 5 years
•         Mrs. Jen Holloway (Spanish), 10 years
•         Mrs. Brooke Holzbauer (8^th Grade), 10 years
•         Mrs. Susan Ohm (Band), 20 years
•         Mrs. Amy Jappinen (5^th Grade), 25 years
•         Mr. Kurt Schneider (German), 25 years

Teaching is a fun job, and NHI is lucky to learn from the experience and expertise of these amazing educators! Congratulations!

PTO: It’s Your Opportunity to Join the Pack!

Our next PTO meeting is on Monday, September 11 at 6:30pm in room 152A at Nature Hill. Please consider joining us as we start planning our major fall event, the Halloween Dance, which is scheduled for Friday, October 27.

NHI Gear

Ready to show off your Wolf pride? We conduct a few spirit wear sales throughout the year, and the link to our initial fall sale is located here. Orders must be completed by September 8, and all proceeds benefit the PTO.

Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Testing

Each student will participate in the initial round of MAP testing throughout the month of September. Please check with your child’s teacher for a specific schedule. This is a great opportunity for our students to showcase their understanding of key language usage, reading, and math concepts as we work to develop our curriculum plans for the upcoming year. Additional rounds of testing will be completed in January and May. 

Important Dates

Please mark your calendars for the following school-wide events that will be occurring between now and early October.

Date	Time	Event
Thursday, September 7	All day	Join the Pack Club Fair Students will learn more about how to sign up for all of the clubs and activities being offered at NHI between now and November.
Thursday, September 7-Friday, September 8	All day	Picture Day Pick out your favorite outfit and get ready to smile!  5th and 6th grade will have pictures taken on Thursday; 7th and 8th grade will have pictures taken on Friday.
Friday, September 8- Thursday, September 14	All day	Fall Club Sign-Up: Front Lobby Students will be able to sign up to Join the Pack this fall during this time.
Monday, September 11	6:30-7:30pm	PTO Meeting: Nature Hill Room 152A Join us for our monthly PTO meeting. We will be discussing details related to the Halloween Dance scheduled for October 27.
Wednesday, September 13	6:30-8:00pm	7th Grade Transition Night: NHI Cafeteria 7th grade families are invited to come and learn more about the transition from our elementary to secondary education model.
Tuesday, September 19	6:30-8:00pm	5th Grade “Day in the Life”: NHI Cafeteria 5th grade families are invited to NHI to meet with their child’s teacher in order to learn more about the classroom expectations and how to best support their student in their transition to NHI.
Monday, September 26- Friday, September 30	All week	Homecoming Week! Dress-up day themes are: Monday — Hat Day Tuesday — Jersey/Sports Day Wednesday —NHI Pride Day (Red and Black) Thursday — Neon Day Friday —Oconomowoc Spirit Day (Purple and Gold)
Friday, September 29	4:00pm	Oconomowoc Homecoming Parade We want as many wolves as possible to join as we march with our float! Watch for more information in the daily announcements.
Friday, October 6	All Day	No School: District Professional Learning Day There will be no school on Friday, October 6. NHI staff will be participating in district curriculum committee meetings.
Monday, October 9	6:00-8:00pm	Into the Woods, Jr. Information Night: NHI Cafeteria Students and parents interested in more information about auditions for our all-school musical are strongly encouraged to attend this informational meeting. Please contact Amy Jappinen with any questions (JappineA@oasd.org).