Northwoods News

Northwoods Families,

It was great to see everyone at our Meet the Teacher event last Friday! We are so excited to launch the 2024-25 school year with you tomorrow!! To ensure that you and your families are ready for a great start to the school year, please review the information below.

Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, August 27th--First Day of School!!
• Tuesday, August 27th--Kindergarten Staggered Entry (for select students)
• Wednesday, August 28th--Kindergarten Staggered Entry (for select students)
• Thursday, August 29th--Kindergarten Class Lists Posted
• Friday, August 30th--Kindergarten Meet the Teacher
• Monday, September 2nd--Labor Day (No School)
• Tuesday, September 3rd--First Day of School for All Kindergarten Students
• Tuesday, September 10th--Beginning of Grade Assessment (3rd Grade Students Only)
• Sunday, September 15th--Hispanic Heritage Month Begins

Our goal is for each of our students to have a positive experience at school. However, as parents/guardians, we need your help and support at home. Please review the list of tips below to help ensure your child has a positive and successful start to the school year.

Elementary students need an average of 9-11 hours of sleep each night to ensure healthy brain development. Help your child develop consistent nighttime routines to ensure they come to school well-rested and ready to learn.

Place Limits on Screen Time:

As parents, it is important to model healthy use and limits of screen time. Designate device-free time at home, and ensure that your child's device is charged outside of his/her bedroom.

Check Your Child's Backpack Daily:

Checking your child's backpack daily ensures that you will receive communication from the school and your child's teacher in a timely fashion. Graded work, interim reports, and report cards are sent home weekly. Additionally, parents should ensure that students do NOT bring toys (pokemon cards, plushies, etc) or dangerous objects/substances (knifes, gel blasters, bb guns, vape pens, etc.) to school.

Leave Unneeded/Distracting Items at Home:

We ask all parents to ensure that their child(ren) leave distracting items (purses/cross-body bags, makeup, cologne/perfume, etc.) at home. Though trendy, these items can cause significant distractions during the school day. We reserve the right to confiscate personal items when misused at school. If confiscated, these items will be taken to the front office and will remain at school until a parent picks them up. Students may bring a small, discreet pouch for hygiene items if needed.

Monitor Social Media Usage:

Pay attention to the apps your child is using, especially social media. Monitor your child's social media posts. They may reveal apprehension or anxiety about the upcoming year or alert you to bullying or social pressures. Be sure the apps they are using, or sites they are visiting, are safe and don’t contribute to emotional distress.

Monitor Emotional Wellbeing:

Watch for signs of stress and anxiety in your child when school begins. Mental health challenges often become apparent at the beginning of the school year. Indications of stress/anxiety may present themselves as struggles with interactions with teachers or peers, difficulty with academics or organization, issues during transportation to and from school, and feeling pressured to fit in with other students, including wearing the right clothing and/or accessories.

Teach Coping Skills:

Help your child learn strategies for coping with stress. While there are many tools, some fairly simple examples are: listening to music, journaling, being assertive, reading, enjoying a hobby, creative art activities, being outside, getting some exercise, deep breathing and other mindfulness techniques, and talking with a trusted friend or therapist.

Stay Connected:

Keep the dialogue open and stay connected to your child. Be an active member of your child’s life. Make yourself available if they have questions, need to talk, or just need a hug.

Kindergarten Staggered Entry:

All kindergarten students will participate in staggered entry. This means they will only attend school on one day during the first week of school between August 27th and August 30th. Your child's assigned date for staggered entry was included in a staggered entry information letter, which was mailed out in late July. If you did not receive a letter, please contact the school and we will help identify your child's assigned date.

Kindergarten Class Lists:

Class lists for Kindergarten will not be posted until we have completed Staggered Entry. When finalists, class lists will be posted near the front office doors by 12:00 PM on Thursday, August 29th. As a gentle reminder, I do not accept parent requests for specific teachers. Additionally, because it is often difficult to accurately assess the extent of each child's unique needs during staggered entry, we may need to adjust teacher assignments during the first month of school to ensure that each classroom remains as balanced as possible. If your child is impacted, we will notify you.

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher:

Our Meet the Teacher event for kindergarten students and families will be held on Friday, August 30th from 10:00-10:45 AM. Please bring your child's school supplies during Meet the Teacher.

Vaccination/Health Forms:

Per state law, we are required to collect vaccination records and student health forms for each kindergarten student. Student vaccine records and health forms are due no later than the first day of school. Forms may be scanned and emailed to Crystal Hartzell at chartzell@wcpss.net, or they can be dropped off directly at the school.

Walking Students to Class:

As a reminder, parents may walk their child to class during the first week of school. If you choose to exercise this option, we encourage you to arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 AM. All parents will be asked to exit the building by 9:10 so that students are ready to begin instruction at 9:15. If your child struggles with separation anxiety, we strongly encourage you to NOT utilize this option. Instead, we will have several staff members, including counselors, available to help facilitate that transition.

2024-25 Transportation Updates:

Bus routes for traditional calendar students were posted online (https://www.wcpss.net/Page/174) on August 16th. Please confirm your child's bus stop location before the first day of school.

New Students to WCPSS:

Immunizations & Health Assessments are due no later than August 27, 2024. Please submit copies of both documents to our data manager, Crystal Hartzell.

• Health Assessments: State law requires that every child entering public schools in N.C. complete a N.C. Health Assessment due on or before the child's first day of attendance. If the school hasn't received the completed health assessment by the 30th calendar day of school, the principal is required by law to exclude the child from school on the 31st day until the document is submitted.

• Immunizations: North Carolina General Statutes (G.S. 130A-155) require that a parent or guardian of any child enrolled in public schools must present proof of immunizations. Do not depend upon school records to arrive from another school system since records may arrive late or with incomplete medical information. If the school hasn't received an immunizations report by the 30th calendar day of school, the principal is required by law to exclude the child from school on the 31st day until records are submitted.

Existing WCPSS Students:

If you have already submitted these documents to a WCPSS school, you do not need to resubmit at this time. However, if your child has received new immunizations since submitting your documents, providing an updated copy of those immunizations is encouraged.

2024-25 School Meal Prices:

Meal prices for the 2024-25 school are noted below. If your family is in need of meal assistance, I strongly encourage you to complete and submit an application for Free/Reduced Cost Meals. Applications will be mailed out to all WCPSS families in the coming weeks and will also be available during our Meet the Teacher event at the start of the year.

• Breakfast Cost--$1.75
• Lunch Cost--$3.50

Pre-Pay for Meals Online:

The easiest way to pay for school meals is to create an online account at www.MySchoolBucks.com. Please remember, you will need your child's student ID number to register. Once registered, parents may load money, set spending limits, and set-up auto-loading so that your child never runs out of lunch money.

Free/Reduced Price Meal Application:

Families in need of meal assistance must reapply every school year if they are interested in receiving meal benefits. Applications may be submitted online at https://www.wcpss.net/Page/1849. Paper copies are also available at the school.

Student Medications:

Please remember that students cannot receive medication (prescription or over-the-counter) at school without a signed 1702 form. The 1702 form is linked below and must be signed by a licensed medical doctor before being submitted to the school.

• Form 1702--Parent's Request and Physician's Order Form for Medication

All prescription medication must be in original packaging with a pharmacy label. OTC medications must be in the original packaging and labeled with the student's name. Medications may be dropped off at school at our Meet the Teacher event in August.

Before & After-School Care Options:

Before and after-school care will be available for students onsite at Northwoods for the 24-25 school year. The before-school program will be managed by Northwoods staff as it has been in the past. The after-school care program will be managed onsite by the Taylor Family YMCA. Applications and registration information for the before and after-school care programs can be found on our website at: https://www.wcpss.net/domain/11295.

Carpool Tags:

Families that were issued carpool tags last year may continue to use those same numbers. New backpack tags for carpool riders will be issued and affixed to student backpacks on the first day of school. If you need replacement placards for your vehicles, you may request them as needed.

Parent Visitors at Lunch/Outside Food:

As we prepare for the beginning of the school year on Tuesday, August 27th, I would like to remind everyone that parents/guardians will not be permitted to eat with their child during his/her lunch time for the first 30 days of the school year. It is essential that we have this time to help students and teachers build clear, consistent expectations. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this matter. Additionally, as a friendly reminder, outside food from local restaurants is not permitted during parent visits.

School Visitors/Student Check-Out Requirements:

The safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost importance. In accordance with district recommendations as well as to maximize school safety, school staff will follow the procedures outlined below for ALL visitors, including all recognized parents and district staff members.

• All visitors will be required to ring the doorbell near the front office prior to gaining entry.
• A front office member will greet visitors, ask their name and the purpose of their visit.
• All visitors will also be required to present a valid photo ID.
• After obtaining their name and purpose, and ID, a front office team member will permit entry. If a visitor refuses to provide a name, purpose, or identification, or if the staff feels uncomfortable with the interaction, the visitor will be denied entry and access to the building.
• Upon entry, all visitors are required to sign in on the Verkata Visitor Management System in the front office and will be issued a visitor's badge before being permitted to move throughout the building.
• Students will NOT be dismissed from their classroom for early dismissal until all processes and procedures noted above have been satisfied.

NES Parent/Student Handbook:

Our parent/student handbook (linked below) contains a list of our school-based policies and procedures. Please take several minutes to thoroughly read through the handbook to ensure that you are knowledgeable about our established policies.

Carpool Procedures (AM & PM):

To help increase traffic flow on our campus as well as to reduce traffic congestion on Chapel Hill Road during our arrival and dismissal times, our campus has been designed with two carpool lanes. If you plan to drop off or pick-up your child via carpool, we ask that you observe the following rules:

1. Incoming traffic should queue in both carpool lanes (pictured below).
2. Follow the Chick-fil-A (zipper merge) method of alternating vehicles (left side, right side, etc.) when merging at the designated merge point.
3. Be patient and give grace. Allowing other vehicles to merge in front of you won't significantly impact your wait time.
4. Have your child's car seat positioned on the passenger side of the vehicle so that we can safely screen and unload from the safety of the sidewalk.
5. To help carpool run more smoothly, please make sure your child has his/her backpack, lunch, and water bottle ready so they can quickly exit the vehicle after their screening.

Northwoods Spirit Wear:

The Northwoods Spirit Wear store opens on September 9th and will remain open until September 23rd. Click the button below to view and order items. Shipping to the school is free! This is the only time this fall that the spirit wear store will be available, so don't miss your chance to order!