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What an amazing first week of school we have had! It is so nice to have all the foxes back in school and learning. Students have been learning and practicing school and classroom expectations and getting back in a new routine.

Thank you to everyone who has been following our arrival and dismissal procedures. For our families that pick up students in a car please make sure you have a paper in your car that has the student's grade and first and last name, for example: 2nd- Kiley Tenbrink. This allows us to call students faster and get you all home in an expedited manner!

Starting now our newsletter will come out every other week with updates and information. We hope you all have a great weekend!

Principal Tenbrink

AUGUST

21st- PTA Meeting 6:30pm Library

26th- MVP Training 6pm Nieman Library

SEPTEMBER

2nd- Labor Day - No School

3rd- Professional Learning for Teachers No School

Help us stock the teacher's lounge! Each grade will have a different month to help stock the lounge. 6th grade is first up for September! Please bring the goodies to the front desk between August 26th and August 30th. Our teachers are amazing and we would love to be able to refuel their energy throughout the day! Thank you!

6th Grade Families- Sign Up Here!

Stock the Lounge Schedule

September- 6th Grade

October- 5th Grade

November- 4th Grade

December-

January- 3rd Grade

February- 2nd Grade

March- 1st Grade

April- Kindergarten/PreK

May-

My Volunteer Pal (MVP) Program is a volunteer program for all Shawnee Mission Schools.

Who Needs to Be MVP Trained?

• When a volunteer is solely/directly responsible for the supervision of a student or students (other than their individual child/children), he/she must complete MVP training and an online background check.
• Solely/directly responsible means that the volunteer will be in a position to supervise students without a teacher or staff person present.
• Parents/guardians can still attend meetings, come to school events, help in the office, help with book fairs, carnivals, and field days without MVP training because they are not solely and directly responsible for other students.

Nieman will be holding two sessions to start off the school year:

• Monday, 08/19 at 8:30am
• Monday, 08/26 at 6pm.
• There is also a district one being offered on Wednesday, 08/14 at 4:30pm in the Center for the Academic and Achievement Board Room (8200 W 71st Street, 66204)

You do not have to train at the specific school you would like to volunteer at. If you are unable to attend these two dates, feel free to look on the district website for other locations and dates. https://www.smsd.org/families/volunteer-mvp

Once you are trained, you do not need to renew for another 5 years.

Contact Ms. Kwon, annekwon@smsd.org to check on your MVP status.

Thank you for a great first week of school! All the students I have seen in the Health Room have been kind, welcoming and respectful. Parents be proud of your kids!!

A few helpful reminders as we get started with Health Room procedures:

• Students are not allowed to carry any over the counter medication, including Tums and cough drops. If needed during the school day those will be dispensed from the Health Room.
• For emergency/lifesaving medications such as Albuterol and Epinephrine, the Student is allowed to carry with them if an authorization-to-self-administer-medication form is completed, signed by the medical provider and on file with the building nurse. If you need this form, please email Nurse Miller at kellymiller@smsd.org
• If you would like your child to receive Over-The-Counter Medications given by the school nurse or delegate, the online verification for the Medication Permission Form for school year 2024-25 must be completed. This is an annual requirement.

We are excited to announce Girls on the Run registration starts August 24th.

A flyer will be sent home with more information the following week.

Student safety is of the upmost importance to us. Please know that frequent changes in dismissal routines causes safety concerns. We ask that you have a regular dismissal routine and communicate this with the classroom teacher at Sneak-a-Peek or through email prior to the first day of school.

If a change has to occur the safest way to ensure the change is communicated is to email the classroom teacher BEFORE school starts and then ALSO call the office BEFORE 2pm. Teachers have different plan times and lunches, and they are not regularly able to read email. Any dismissal change received after 2pm is NOT GUARANTEED. We will do our best, but the end of the day is a very hectic time in a school. We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring the safety of your child.

Students have 10 excused absences a year that do not require documentation. If your child will be out due to a doctor's appointment, surgery, funeral, etc. please be proactive and provide the doctor's note or appropriate documentation for the absence and not wait until day 10. With appropriate documentation we are able to excuse more absences. Once your child's 10 "free" days are used all absences afterwards where documentation is not provided is considered unexcused.

Excessive unexcused absences will lead to Truancy being filed with the District Attorney. Please know that we are required by the state to do this and the information provided here and any information sent out from our office is not meant to be seen as a threat; we are simply trying to communicate regularly so there are no surprises. We will send excessive tardy emails, 7 day attendance warning letters, 10 day attendance warning letters and truancy letters all via email. Please ensure you have a valid email on Skyward and that you check it regularly.

We worked EXTREMELY hard last year to decrease our chronic absenteeism numbers at Nieman and we were very successful! Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 10% of their educational time. We went from 24% of students being chronically absent during the 22-23 school year to 13.8% being chronically absent during the 23-24 school year. We will continue to prioritize lowering this percentage for our families and are so thankful for your help in this!

We are so excited to start the 24-25 school year! Please join PTA using the links below. PTA can be as big or small of a commitment as you would like. All proceeds made go back to supporting Nieman students and staff!

https://niemanpta.givebacks.com/

We would also love for you to follow us on Facebook for the most up to date information, including spirit wear information, dine outs, and yearbook information!

https://www.facebook.com/nieman.elementarypta/

The Knight School is returning this fall to Nieman Elementary! The Knight School Chess Team will be your school's official chess team and chess party.

This revolutionary, party-based approach to chess has had amazing success—winning multiple state championships—because our unique and unprecedented educational philosophy, “the chess party,” is the perfect way to transform a complete beginner into a devastating chess machine.

Our unique model has swept America because it has never been seen before: we simply invite every beginner in your school to join our school chess team and we use only super-fun teaching methods such as super-fast chess clock-slapping chess games, zany chess videos, a strict bully-free environment, silicone wristbands for tactics mastery, chess puzzlers for candy, driving music, hilarious tactics-lesson videos, Mardi-Gras bead chess tournaments each day we meet and National Online tournaments every weekend!

In this kid-centered classroom environment, we teach our kids every cool trick, strategy, opening, and tactic in chessdom and our kids soon learn to love and master chess and to masterfully control their classrooms, sports fields, and home lives as well! Laughter, fast clocks, and compelling teaching approaches make this class the week's highlight for the current 4500 Chess Party members who make up the awesome network of The Knight School's 300+ school chess teams.

Join The Knight School chess party and give your child the gift of amazing chess friends, undeniable academic confidence, self-identity as a smart kid, and a weekly dose of childhood joy that is the highlight of their week! Sign up today! Learn more and sign up for our school chess team at www.theknightschool.com or email Coach Brian Harris: brian@theknightschool.com (785) 341-6590.

Let’s continue to celebrate the outstanding educators in SMSD. We are SO VERY PROUD that our own Ms. Amber is the final running for Kansas Teacher of the Year this year! Let's get another Nieman teacher in the running for this coming year! The deadline for nominations is August 30.

• English Nomination (https://bit.ly/SMTOY2024)
• Spanish Nomination (https://bit.ly/SMTOYESP2024)

The SMAC clothing exchange information in the fliers below.

Digital Learning Website: This webpage will provide information on our SMSD District-Wide Digital Platforms, Curriculum Apps, Approved Apps, Information for Families, and Digital Citizenship.

Breakfast starts at 7:40am- only breakfast students may enter at this time.

7:50am doors open for all other students to enter into the gym.

8:00am front doors open and students can go straight to their rooms.

8:10am front doors closed all students arriving after this time are tardy.

Students are released at 3:10pm

Our Shawnee Mission Student Handbook provides information on our philosophy of education, code of conduct and a of variety policies and procedures. Students and parents can read this handbook to better understand the behavior expectations of Nieman Elementary and also the Shawnee Mission School District.

Click Link to learn more!

Email: kileytenbrink@smsd.org
Website: https://nieman.smsd.org/
Location: Nieman Elementary School, West 67th Street, Shawnee, KS, USA
Phone: 913-993-4000
Twitter: @Tenbrink512

Email: MelisaTVick@smsd.org
Phone: 913-993-4009

Email: annekwon@smsd.org
Phone: 913-993-4031