Nokesville News
News for Parents & Guardians from The Nokesville School
November 9, 2023
Important Updates
VETERANS DAY - NOVEMBER 11
As we approach Veterans Day, we want to make sure that we send a thank you to all those that have served and are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces! Thank you for your sacrifices and service provided for our community and country!
Today, we celebrated with our military-connected families with a special lunch. We also talked on the morning announcements to our students about the importance of this holiday. If you are a military-connected family, please continue to reach out and let us know how we can best support you!
NEW NOTIFICATION FOR STUDENT ABSENCES
There is a renewed focus on attendance in Virginia and PWCS. TNS last year was identified as Tier 2 in the state, which meant that we had over 15% of our students that were Chronically Absent. We are working hard to reduce that number and have students in school more this year, and back to the more typical, pre-covid norms for attendance.
Below are a few updates:
- Notifications of student absences in PWCS are automated and sent as texts to parents/guardians through SchoolStatus.
- Notifications are sent via automated letters through a program called Attention 2 Attendance, which monitors absences and sends letters to parents after a specific amount.
- Effective Monday, November 13, a text notifying parents/guardians of their middle and high school student’s absence will go out between 10:20 and 10:30 a.m. The 7 p.m. notification will continue and include specific missed periods. This mid-morning notification will notify parents/guardians early enough to intervene if their child has missed the first block/period of the day.
Thank you for your support in this. Please reach out to your child's teacher and/or counselors if you need extra assistance.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL'S BASKETBALL UPDATE
The Nokesville School's Middle School Girl's Basketball Season begins right after winter break! Tryouts will be January 22nd - 24th. Open gym and off-season workout dates will begin sooner. Your athlete will be required to have their middle school physical, concussion training, and blue card filled out prior to participating in any basketball activities. Once completed these items can be returned to the office to be added to the tryout roster. Please make sure the front and back of each form is filled out and signed to avoid missing tryouts and other pre-season activities.
Please respond to the form below if your child is planning to tryout and join off season workouts.
NOKESVILLE BASKETBALL LEAGUE UPDATE
A message from Mrs. Farmer:
The Nokesville Basketball League still has room for more players. If you want to have fun learning the game of basketball with your friends, join us! We have four spaces left at 2nd/3rd grades. We have 10 spaces left at 4th/5th grades. We have 10 spaces left at 6th/7th grades. Come to the gym and talk with me anytime from 6-8 pm Monday through Friday with any questions or if you would like your child to join.
COMMUNICATION & EVENTS
We have had some recent communication that has been sent out that we are reviewing for improvements. This includes giving enough notice to parents for events and being more clear when possible with information. For instance, today's Thanksgiving lunch for parents was a program through PWCS Food & Nutrition Services in elementary schools across PWCS. We didn't realize that they were not already notifying parents about it until this week. We have a lot of great things happening at TNS, and with having both elementary and middle levels, we are going to have to get better at planning and communicating these programs and events as we move forward. Thank you for your feedback and patience in these efforts.
Reminders
FEDERAL IMPACT AID PROGRAM
The federal Impact Aid program provides financial support to Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) for students from families of active duty military and federal employees who work in Virginia. This survey must be completed each school year for PWCS to receive funding. The deadline to complete the survey is November 30, 2023.
The Impact Aid survey is now open and available for completion in ParentVUE. All parents should complete this survey as soon as possible. Please visit the PWCS Federal Impact Aid website for instructions on how to complete the survey.
If you need any help with this, please contact the school and ask for Mrs. Lombardi, our Parent Liaison, at (571) 781-3040.
THANKSGIVING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Thanksgiving Assistance Program is here to support families in need during the Thanksgiving Break. There are two programs at TNS, one at the elementary level and one at the middle level. If you have students at both levels, you may choose which one you would like to support (or support both!).
Elementary Level
The kindergarten team has decided to be a donation point for collecting food for PWCS families to help them during the holiday season. Any elementary level students/families are encouraged to donate to this and the kindergarten team will help coordinate these supplies and send them to The New Life Church of Bristow. The New Life Church of Bristow assists all the PWCS Schools in the Western Region to provide a bag of non-perishable food items plus a gift certificate for a main entrée.
The list for the New Life collection is very specific. Please feel free to choose any item from the list if you would like to help support our classroom in providing Thanksgiving meals for our community. Our last day to collect donations will be November 17th.
Middle Level
NJHS at the middle level is also organizing a food drive and hosting another competition to collect canned good and perishable food items. These items will be organized and donated by our NJHS to the New Life Church for Holiday Baskets and to the NVFS Hunger Resource Center in Manassas.
Need Assistance?
If you have questions or need assistance for the holidays, please contact Heather Moul, TNS School Social Worker, at MoulHA@pwcs.edu or 571.781.3150.
STEM GRANT/AWARD OPPORTUNITY
The Trailblazing STEM Educator Award recognizes K-12 educators who go above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators. Winners and their schools will each receive $5000, free access to Challenger Center’s STEM education programs, and the opportunity to attend a space launch. Nominations are open until Dec. 15, 2023. For more information contact Jake Williams, AIAA K-12 Program Manager
Calendar & Rotations
ROTATION DAYS NEXT WEEK
Monday - MS Black Day, ES Day 3
Tuesday -MS Orange Day, ES Day 4
Wednesday - MS Black Day, ES Day 5
Thursday - MS Orange Day, ES Day 1
Friday -MS Black Day, ES Day 2
SCHOOL CALENDAR REMINDERS
October:
- 11/10 - Veterans Day - Schools Closed
11/13 - Principal's Advisory Council Meeting, 6 pm
11/17 - Friendship Grams Fundraiser
11/20 - PTO Meeting, 6pm
11/23-24 - No School, Thanksgiving Holiday
TNS ADMIN TEAM
Assistant Principal, Mr. Geoff Brunson brunsogr@pwcs.edu
Assistant Principal, Mrs. Abbey Martinez martinae1@pwcs.edu
Administrative Intern, Mrs. Brittney Giovannelli giovanbl@pwcs.edu
The Nokesville School
Prince William County Public Schools
Email: jacksam@pwcs.edu
Website: https://nokesville.pwcs.edu/
Location: 12375 Aden Road, Nokesville, VA 20181, USA
Phone: (571) 781-3040
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNokesvilleSchool
Twitter: @NokesvilleSch
Important Links:
- TNS Attendance & Dismissal Form
- Literacy Resources for Parents
- PTO Updates (Facebook)
- Say Something Anonymous Reporting Tool
- Nokesville Nexus Family Support Newsletter
- TNS Counselor Connection Newsletter
- Staff Introduction Padlet.
- Tiger Task Force Registration
- Parent & Guardian Communication Archive (Previous Nokesville News links)