November 2017
Dear Nature Hill Community,
November is a busy month at Nature Hill! This month’s update outlines
some important information including:
- Details about Family Night Out for STEM
- A reminder about the winter club sign-up process
- A review of our winter weather guidelines and procedures
- Key dates and events happening at NHI through early December (Whoa! Where is time going?!)
Wolf Pride!
Jason Curtis
Principal
Success at Nature Hill: Family
Night Out for STEM
Nature Hill is excited to be the host school for John Deere’s Family
Night Out for STEM! The free event is a one-night celebration of math and
science education that recognizes our vital role in stimulating your child’s
imagination through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This
one-time event will take place on Thursday, December 14th from
5:30-8:30pm at Nature Hill. The night will feature four hands-on activities
that will be facilitated by engineers from John Deere. These activities include:
·
Index Card Building Towers (Building Trades)
·
Water Filtration Simulation (Natural Science)
·
Robotics Sumo Wrestling (Electrical Engineering)
·
Lava Lamps (Chemical Science) and Magic Math
with M&Ms (Math)
Information and registration forms are available by clicking
here. Packets are also available in the main office. Hurry, space is
limited!
I am incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities our community
partners provide our students. Our school is stronger because of our community support.
From John Deere’s willingness to host this exciting event to the YMCA’s Habit
Heroes Program and the countless number of organizations and individuals who
volunteer or have made financial donations to support our school, we have offered
our students so many opportunities that are beyond what I could have ever dreamed
for our Pack!
Staff Recognition Spotlight: Mrs.
Jen Donovan and Ms. Alyssa Reid
This month I would like to take a minute to recognize Mrs. Jen Donovan
(8th Grade ELA) and Ms. Alyssa Reid (5th Grade Learning
Strategist). Together, they advise our National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) and
are responsible for organizing and mentoring over 70 students in the program.
NJHS is such an important organization at our school. The students are
responsible for planning our annual Veterans Day celebration, organizing our
Talent Show, and conducting dozens of other community-wide events throughout
the school year. The best thing about NJHS is that it is a student-run
organization. However, that means Mrs. Donovan and Ms. Reid have to spend a lot
of time coaching our students through the logistics of planning these events.
It would be so much easier for them to just plan the events themselves. Instead,
they have given up control and invested a great deal of time and energy into
supporting our students and advising them on all of the components that come
with planning fundraisers, parties, and other
events. Thank you to Mrs. Donovan and Ms. Reid for taking the time to help our
students learn the important leadership skills necessary to be successful in
high school and beyond!
Join the Pack! Winter Club Sign-Up
Reminders
Sign-up for winter clubs will be held in the library from November
29-December 5. You can click
here to review the club brochure. Make sure you take a look and don’t miss
out on your opportunity to join PIYO, Fantasy Basketball or Ski/Snowboarding
Club (just to name a few!).
Winter Guidelines from NHI and
OASD
As winter quickly approaches, it is
important to take a few minutes to prepare for the change in season. Please
take note of the following information as you turn up the heat and dig out
those hats, gloves and scarves.
- Beginning
November 28, students will have the options to go outside as long as the
wind-chill is above 0 degrees or they can stay inside and read a book or
talk to friends. You can click here to see our winter
recess guidelines.
- Students
can play in the snow, but only if they have snow pants and boots.
- With
the cold weather, the 200 students that normally walk or ride bikes to
school will now receive rides. This means there will be an increase in
traffic. Please plan ahead.
- Extreme
cold, snow or ice can close school. Please review the district’s inclement weather
school closing policy.
PTO News
I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our Halloween
Dance a success. We had over 400 ghosts and goblins attend the event, and it
would not have been possible without the help of the PTO!
The PTO does not meet again until the winter. At that time, we will
need your help with Teacher Appreciation Week and with our Annual Fun Run
Fundraiser. Please stay tuned!
Veterans Day Reminder
Our annual Veterans Day Celebration will
be on Friday, November 10. NJHS has sent out messages to all families inviting
our Wolves to bring their relatives and friends who have served our country to
Nature Hill for a morning of celebration.
Click here to view the invitation. We hope you can join us!
As a reminder, the agenda for the day is as follows:
- 8:00am Veteran Appreciation Breakfast
- 9:00am All School Assembly
- 10:15am Veterans are invited to visit classrooms
This is also an early release day, with school being dismissed at
11:55am.
Lost & Found
There are about 300 items in our Lost & Found. Please take a look
to see if your child’s belongings may be there. All items left in Lost &
Found after November 15th will be donated.
30-Day Outlook (November and
Early December)
Please mark your calendars for the following school-wide events that
will be occurring between now and early December.
Date
|
Time
|
Event
|
Through November 7
|
Various Hours
|
Fall Book Fair: NHI Stage
Check out the Book Fair on the
stage in the cafeteria. Extended hours are available during parent-teacher
conferences.
|
Thursday, November 2 &
Tuesday, November 7
|
3:15-7:30pm
|
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Teachers have communicated
their schedules for parent-teacher conferences. The building will be open for
conferences, drop-in visits with Explore teachers, and anything else you may
need to do (pay fees in the office, check Lost & Found, or clean out your
child’s locker J).
|
Wednesday, November 8
|
6:30pm
|
6th and 7th
Grade Fall Band Concert
Please join us for our first
concert of the year! We look forward to hearing our musicians after all of
the hard work they put in during the first trimester.
|
Thursday, November 9
|
6:30pm
|
7th and 8th
Grade Choir and 8th Grade Band Concert
Join us for a patriotic event
as we prepare for Friday’s Veterans Day celebration!
|
Friday, November 10
|
8:00-11:00am
|
Veterans Day at NHI
Put on your red, white and blue
and let’s get ready to thank our veterans and honor our country with this
year’s Veterans Day celebration!
|
Friday, November 10
|
11:55am
|
Early Release
School will end at 11:55am.
Buses will depart NHI at 12:02pm.
|
Friday, November 10
|
12:30-3:15pm
|
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Again, Nature Hill will be open
for your conferences with teachers.
|
Monday, November 20 or
Tuesday, November 21
|
Morning
|
All-School Field Trip to See
Wonder
We look forward to celebrating
the close of the first trimester by traveling as a Pack to see the movie
Wonder. In the weeks leading up to the film, we will be discussing the themes
of including others, and acceptance and empathy among our peers and others in
the community.
|
Wednesday, November 22-
Friday, November 24
|
All day
|
No School: Thanksgiving
Break
Happy Thanksgiving from
everyone at NHI! The school and office will be closed during this period for
the Thanksgiving holiday.
|
Monday, November 27
|
All day
|
No School: Professional
Development Day
Enjoy an extra day of Thanksgiving
break! Staff will be working in grade-level and curriculum teams to help build
on our school and district goals. The Nature Hill office will be closed for
the day.
|
Wednesday, November 29-Tuesday, December 5
|
All day
|
Winter Club Sign-Up: NHI Library
Swing by the library to sign up
for winter clubs!
|
Friday, December 1
|
All day
|
Trimester 1 Ends
We are 33% of the way through
the school year! We anticipate publishing report cards on Thursday, December
7.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment