North Highlights

Hello North!

Believe it or not, we're already halfway through the school year!

Parent/Teacher Conferences –

Thank you for your patience as we navigated rescheduling our Parent-Teacher Conference Night. Coordinating a date that works across three busy high schools was no small task, but we’ve found a solution! Parent Conferences will now be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. The online sign-up portal will be open from Thursday, January 30 - Tuesday, February 11. To sign up, simply log in to your WITS parent account and click the link at the top of the home page. If you had previously scheduled a conference for December 12, 2024, please note that you will need to re-register for a new time. If you’ve already met with your child’s teachers during the first round of conferences, we kindly ask that you allow other parents who have not yet had the chance to sign up.

Tri-High PTA Meeting –

Join us this Monday for our next PTA meeting, where we’ll be hosting Gabriella Pelosi, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Gabriella will present on the important topic of mental health in her talk titled, "Leading with Connection: Navigating Mental Health Conversations with Confidence: A Message for Parents." Following the presentation, dinner from Andiamo Takeout Bistro (courtesy of North PTSA) will be served. To help us plan, please RSVP as soon as possible by completing this form so we know how much food to order.

School Start Time Proposal Virtual Forum –

There will be a virtual forum discussing the School Start Time Proposal on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 5:30 PM. Please see the flyer below for more details and to register.

Go Spartans!

Andrew Bowen
Principal

North High School will be conducting a lockdown drill sometime during the week of February 3 - 7.

During the January 14th Board of Education meeting, the School Start Time Committee presented the 2025-2026 Proposal for School Start and End Times. Following the January Board meeting, there will be a feedback period to allow for school community feedback. All are encouraged to provide feedback by February 7 using this link. There is also a frequently asked questions document available here. New school start times are anticipated to be reviewed and considered for adoption at the February 11th Board of Education meeting.

Join the Williamsville Central School District at 5:30 pm on Tuesday February 4 for a Virtual Forum on School Start Time and End Times. This is an opportunity for Stakeholders to to hear from experts as it relates to sleep, academics, and school start and end times. Panelists will also be able to answer pre-submitted questions. While the webinar is limited to 3,000 attendees, this event will also be LIVE streamed on the District's You Tube Channel. Questions can be submitted by scanning the QR Code. We look forward to hosting this event and answering your questions.

Elementary Schools

• Dodge, Heim, Forest and Maple East Elementary Schools – 7:50 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Country Parkway and Maple West Elementary Schools – 8:20 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Middle Schools

• Casey, Heim, Mill, Transit Middle Schools – 8:20 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

High Schools

• Williamsville East, Williamsville North, Williamsville South High Schools – 8:50 a.m. – 3:40 p.m.

A video of the presentation made to the Board of Education on January 14 may be seen HERE.

An informational video on the District's School Start Time Proposal may be seen HERE.

All are encouraged to provide feedback on the School Start and End Time Proposal. Please use this link to provide your feedback by February 7. Thank you.

• NO SCHOOL - LUNAR NEW YEAR: Wednesday 1/29/25

• WINTER ORCHESTRA CONCERT: Thursday, 1/30/25

• SIGN UP FOR FEB 25 FAMILY CONFERENCES: Thursday, 1/30/25 - Tuesday, 2/11/25

• LOCKDOWN DRILL: One day during the week of 2/3/25 - 2/7/25

• PTSA TRI-HIGH MEETING: Monday, 2/3/25

• VIRTUAL FORUM FOR SCHOOL START/END TIMES: Tuesday, 2/4/25

• SIDE-BY-SIDE CHORUS CONCERT: Thursday 2/6/25

• FEEDBACK DUE ON SCHOOL START/END TIMES: Friday, 2/7/25

• "GLOW" DANCE: Saturday, 2/8/25 - CANCELLED

• BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, 2/11/25

• TASTE OF NORTH: Thursday, 2/13/25

• MID-WINTER RECESS - NO SCHOOL: Monday 2/17/25 - Friday, 2/21/25

• FAMILY CONFERENCES (Rescheduled from 12/12/24) - Tuesday, 2/25/25

Due to weather-related closures, family conferences originally scheduled for December 12th had to be postponed. These conferences have now been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 25th. Conferences will be conducted either via Google Meet video conferencing (virtual) or as an in-person meeting as requested on WITS when scheduling. Parents/guardians who select virtual conferences will see the Google Meet links on their schedule, and those who choose in-person conferences will see the room locations of their meetings on their schedule. All conference schedules will be available in your parent (not student) WITS account.

Parents/guardians are able to schedule conferences for unlimited core and non-core classes from Thursday, January 30 - Wednesday, February 11. To access, please login to your WITS parent account. There will be a link located at the top of the home page. Please note that appointments are limited as it is based on teacher availability.

North's Cultural Awareness Club is hosting the "Taste of North" on Thursday, February 13, 2025. Check out their VIDEO for more information on how to sign up.

The Amherst Youth Coalition is preparing for their biennial survey of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 in collaboration with the Search Institute. The survey aims to discover the strengths and supports that our students identify related to well-being. This year we have agreed to administer the Developmental Assets Profile, which is directly tied to the categories of the 40 Developmental Assets. In collaboration with our WCSD Youth Wellness Facilitators the plan is add grades 4 and 6 to the survey administration this year. Parents who do not want their child to participate will be able to opt out by February 14. More information will be shared via WITS. Please see a copy of the letter that is being mailed home to parents of 10th and 12th graders here.

Due to the Emergency School Closing Day on January 21, the Speaker Series on Literacy was postponed. More information will be shared at a later date.

Speaker Series Schedule

Tuesday, January 21 - Literacy (POSTPONED DUE TO SCHOOL CLOSING)

• Zoom Webinar (Passcode - 9Ua61d)

Thursday, February 27th - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEAM)

• Zoom Webinar (Passcode - rC04Ni)

Tuesday, March 18th - Math and Computer Science

• Zoom Webinar (Passcode - Ttyzr9)
  

We look forward to sharing and engaging with you at these events during the next few months.

Please CLICK HERE to access our January Calendar.

Please CLICK HERE to access our February Calendar.

Please join us at North on February 3 for the Tri-High PTSA Meeting.

Do you have.....

North alumni home from college?

A spouse with a flexible work schedule?

Older neighbors that would benefit from some socialization?

Introduce them to THE BEST VOLUNTEER GIG AROUND!

Please take a moment to visit the sign up link by clicking here and

reach out to Jen at snackerrs@yahoo.com with any questions.

We truly appreciate the gift of your time!

The North PTSA invites you to visit the online store to purchase memberships. We're stronger together! To join, please click here.

Please consider joining SEPTSA!! To join SEPTSA, click here.

Please click here to access North Athletics page.

Please WITSmail the attendance office to provide written notice of an absence.

Parents/guardians should contact the attendance office to report any student absence. If your child needs to leave school prior to the end of the scheduled school day, please call the Attendance Office so proper notification/dismissal can be accommodated. If you have any additional questions regarding attendance, absences, or dismissal, please call the Williamsville North High School Attendance Office.

The following are examples of excused absences in the Williamsville Central School District:

• Family Emergency
• Illness
• Legal
• Late Bus
• Medical Reason
• Religious Observance/Activity
• School Activity (i.e. Field Trip)

Should you have any questions or need further information, please call the attendance office:

Phone: 716-626-8555/8556

Board of Education Attendance Policy #7110

Scheduling for the 2025/2026 school has begun. Please take a moment to review course offerings now. The Course Catalog for the 2025/26 School year is available for viewing here. The deadline to select courses for next year is Friday, February 14.

Parents/Caregivers of students enrolled in French 4A, French 5A, Spanish 4A, and Spanish 5A will receive or have received correspondence from their teachers regarding registration information for the NUStep program. Students taking these courses may opt to enroll in this course through Niagara University (https://www.niagara.edu/nustep/), pay a highly reduced tuition rate, earn 3 college credits (pending meeting requirements), and the potential to earn a scholarship to Niagara University. The window for registration opens January 29, 2025, and closes February 14, 2025. Please contact your child's French/Spanish teacher or Director of World Languages/ENL/Multilingual Education Daniel Murtha (dmurtha@williamsvillek12.org) with any questions. Thank you!

The District’s application to offer the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) Seal of Civic Readiness program at each of our high schools was approved for the 2024-2025 school year. Please be sure to contact your building's Seal of Civic Readiness Coordinator to begin reviewing progress towards attaining the Seal of Civic Readiness. The deadline for June 2025 graduation candidates to meet with the SCR Coordinator is April 11, 2025! Please click HERE for further information.

Please click HERE to see important updates from our Student Services Department.

Please use this link to access our Student Services / Guidance Office website to learn about the services available and find out who your child's school counselor is:

https://sites.google.com/williamsvillek12.org/north-student-services/home

We are excited to announce a change in the way Assistant Principals will be assigned to students. Moving forward, students will be assigned based on the first letter of their last name. This new approach is designed to provide greater consistency and continuity for our families.

Patrick Smith, Assistant Principal - Students with Last Names A-F

Kristen Rizzo, Assistant Principal - Students with Last names G-O

Kaitlin Beaudet, Assistant Principal - Students with Last Names P-Z

Kristin Juergens-Tonge, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director - Athletic Code of Conduct Violations

Medication Drop Off Procedures

All medication, including non-prescription medication, must have a written order from the student's physician or licensed prescriber.

PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION must be in the container prepared by the pharmacist with the original label specifying the name and strength of the medication. (Note: the pharmacy label does not constitute a written order and cannot be used in lieu of a written order from a licensed prescriber.)

NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION must be in the original and sealed manufacturer's container with the student's name affixed to the container. ALL medication must be delivered directly to the school nurse by the parent or guardian. No student is permitted to carry non-emergency medication on the bus. Medication orders must be renewed annually and whenever there is any change.

For more information about North's Health Office, please click here.

The “Spartan of the Month” program is meant to promote success in and out of the classroom. For a student to be a well-respected citizen, they must be able to balance many different areas of life. They must exemplify outstanding characteristics both as a student and as a citizen of the community. The student must be able to handle many different aspects of student life while maintaining excellence in the classroom. This award is designed to nominate and select students who promote and take pride in Williamsville North High School and in themselves

Please see the list at the right for our students who were nominated during the month of January 2025. Each student has been issued a certificate highlighting the details of their nomination.

A team of two North High School students (Joshua Anand, and Oz Abramovich) and one South Student (Arhan Patel), - won the 2024 Congressional App Challenge for New York's 26th District for their app, "Catalyst: Machine Learning for Breast Cancer". Their app, Catalyst, uses Linear Regression and machine learning to tell if a breast cancer cell is malignant or benign and will be displayed in the US Capitol Building for one year, featured on House.gov for one year, and featured on CongressionalAppChallenge.us All three students will be invited to attend #HouseofCode, located at the US Capitol Building, and will take place in April 2025. Congratulations!!