Nieman News

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What an AMAZING Family Fall Fest we had on Thursday! Thank you to everyone who came out; we have over 476 people in attendance- AMAZING! We hope that the information about our Home Help System was helpful and has provided you all with strategies and items that you can help your students with at home.

While the Home Help is not required homework, we do know that additional practice and a strong partnership between home and school has a HUGE impact on student achievement! This system directly supports our building Wildly Important Goal (WIG) around academics that by the end of the 24-25 school year we will go from 55% to 60% of students scoring at or above benchmark on their Reading Acadience Assessment.

Our school's start of the year composite score for reading came in at 42% of students scoring at or above benchmark. Knowing this, we have a lot of work to do and need your help to reach our goal! Just for reference we started last year at 45% of students at or above benchmark and ended the year with 55% of students at or above benchmark. During conferences your child(ren)'s teacher will let you know where your student scored in reading and review items they are doing at school to help them grow.

Speaking of conferences, they are coming up soon! Thursday, October 17th is evening conferences from 4:30-7:30pm and Friday, October 18th is day conferences from 8am-3:30pm (no school day for students). If your child's teacher has not yet reached out to schedule conferences they will be very soon. We ask that you please sign up for a conference time for each of your children. This is an extremely valuable time for you and the teacher to share about your child's progress and what we can do to partner for their future success.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Principal Tenbrink

SEPTEMBER

30th- Move More Monday

• Choir 3:15-4:00
• Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30

October

1- Chess Club 3:15-4:30

• 6pm MVP Training @Nieman

2- Custodian Appreciation Day

• Choir 3:15-4:00
• Mathletics 3:15-4:00
• PTA Meeting 6:30pm Library

3- 8:30 MVP Training @Nieman

• Movement Club 3:15-4:15
• Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30
• Skate Party 6-8pm

7- Choir 3:15-4:00

• Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30

8- Chess Club 3:15-4:30

9- Choir 3:15-4:00

• Mathletics Competition @Nieman 4:00-5:00

10- Last Day of 1st Quarter

• Movement Club 3:15-4:15
• Student Council 3:15-4:15
• Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30

11- NO SCHOOL- TEACHER WORKDAY

14- NO SCHOOL- TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

15- Chess Club 3:15-4:30

16- Choir 3:15-4:00

• Mathletics 3:15-4:00

17- Grade Cards Posted End of the Day

• Girls on the Run 3:15-4:30
• Night Conferences

18- No School Conferences

Help us stock the teacher's lounge! Each grade will have a different month to help stock the lounge. 5th grade is up for October! Please bring the goodies to the front desk anytime. Our teachers are amazing and we would love to be able to refuel their energy throughout the day! Thank you!

5th Grade Families- Sign Up Here!

Stock the Lounge Schedule

October- 5th Grade

November- 4th Grade

December-

January- 3rd Grade

February- 2nd Grade

March- 1st Grade

April- Kindergarten/PreK

May-

We hope you were able to join us on Thursday for our Fall Fest family engagement event. If you weren't, no worries! Included is a QR code and link to our Nieman Canvas page. Once there, click Home Help, then your child's grade. There you will find different optional home help activities for your child(ren) to work on at home. Your child's teacher can also review this with you during conferences if you have any questions.

Link to Nieman Canvas page: https://smsd.instructure.com/courses/70535

**Ms. Kwon has noticed quite a few adults have expired in their MVP status. Contact Ms. Kwon, annekwon@smsd.org to check on your MVP status. Once you are trained, you do not need to renew for another 5 years.

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 additional sessions due to field trips coming up:

Tuesday, October 1st at 6:00pm and Thursday, October 3rd at 8:30am

There is also two being offered at Rosehill Elementary (9801 Rosehill Rd, Lenexa, KS 66215) on 10/08 at 6:15pm and 10/30 at 8:15am.

Title I Information Letter:

• See this letter for what it means to be a Title I School. Letter is translated in both English and Spanish. Pictures of the letter are included below as well.

Building Report Card:

• You always have access to our building grade card from KSDE by visiting our school website or utilizing this link https://nieman.smsd.org/about/ksde-nieman-grade-card.

Family Engagement Policy:

• Linked here is our current Family Engagement Policy. We will be reviewing this at our upcoming PTA meeting and making any necessary revisions we deem necessary. If you have any feedback please email kileytenbrink@smsd.org.

Exclusion Date for Vaccines: October 16th

October 16th is the exclusion date for vaccines that are not up to date. If your student is still missing some vaccines and is due to receive them before October 16th, I sent an email through Skyward last week. If you received notice, those must be turned in before October 16th or your child will be excluded from school until it is received. Here is the website for the Johnson County Health Department which has a walk in vaccine clinic. https://www.jocogov.org/department/health/immunizations

Updated vaccine forms may be dropped off in the office, emailed to kellymiller@smsd.org or Faxed 913-993-4099

Exclusion Date for Immunization: November 13th

November 13th is the exclusion date for physicals that have not been completed on any newly enrolled student 8 years of age and younger. If your student is missing a physical, I sent an email through Skyward on Monday. If you received notice, those must be turned in before November 13th or your child will be excluded from school until it is received. If you need information about where you can go to get a physical completed, here are two resources:

• Health Partnership Clinic (HPC)
• This clinic partners with SMSD and has a clinic at Shawnee Mission West High School. HPC offers medical, behavioral, and dental health services. In addition to the clinic at Shawnee Mission west, they also have a pediatric clinic near Advent Health Shawnee Mission and their main location in Olathe. Click Here for more information. They accept all students regardless of insurance and have sliding scale fees or waived fees for those experiencing homelessness. Insurance is also accepted. Please call to make an appointment for these services.
• Mercy and Truth Clinic
• A low-cost health clinic located near by at 11644 W 75th St., Suite 103. You can get more information on their website, click Here

Complete physical forms may be dropped off in the office, emailed to kellymiller@smsd.org or Faxed 913-993-4099

Health Screenings: October and November

We will be doing vision, hearing and dental screenings as mandated by state law. If you Opted out of screenings during online verification, your student will not be screened, even if we are screening their grade.

• Vision: scheduled for October 8th (Includes PreK through 3rd grade, and all new students in the district in grades 4th and 6th.
• Dental: scheduled for November 21st and 22nd
• Hearing will be done on Tuesdays in October and first part of November (Includes PreK through 3rd and 5th grade, and new to the district students in grades 2nd, 4th and 6th.

Please contact Kelly Miller, Nieman School Nurse, if you have any questions.

913-993-4002

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/profile.php?id=61564652443542

Graphic Designed by: Vielka Corrales

SMS Student, Social Media Manager of Opportunities for Latin American Club at SMS

National Hispanic Heritage Month takes place annually between September 15 to October 15 and provides a time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions, diverse cultures, and extensive histories of the American Latino community. Along with recognizing the importance of Hispanic Heritage Month, it is equally important for us to raise awareness and further our own learning and depth for understanding. For more information and resources, visit this site.

24-25 Hispanic Heritage Month Resource Document

On Saturday, October 12th, the Shawnee Police Department and several area churches are hosting our annual Faith & Blue event at Shawanoe Elementary School, 11230 W. 75th St., Shawnee, KS. This free community event will feature:

• Free hot dogs, chips, water, ice cream

• Bounce houses, police vehicles & equipment

• Free personal care and cleaning products from Giving the Basics

Come out for some fun and to meet some of the police officers who keep our community safe!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As part of ongoing support for families, your child’s school is offering a series of classes for parents and guardians through a partnership with the Behavior Intervention Support Team (BIST). These training sessions are designed to provide ways you can support your child’s developing academic and behavior skills, as well as increase consistency between home and school.

BIST Virtual Parenting Series

• 5:45 PM - 6:00 PM Enter Zoom Waiting Room
• 6:00 PM – 6:45 PM Informational Session
• 6:45 PM – 7:00 PM Questions and Answers

• October 3rd: “Moving from Resistance to Resilience”

These classes are designed to:

• · Create consistency between school and home
• · Provide language for adults to use when redirecting children
• · Share ways to problem solve to increase your child’s success
• · Increase generosity and kindness in your children
• · Bring a sense of calm to your home

How to Register for Free Training

These virtual classes are provided free of charge, however, we do ask that you please register through our website on or before Friday, September 13th, 2024. Instructions for registration are on the page below.

We are excited to offer this opportunity to you!

Sincerely,

Marty Huitt, Director

Behavior Intervention Support Team/Cornerstones of Care

8150 Wornall Rd

Kansas City, MO 64114

@MartyHuitt

Students, Parents, Families & Friends... Literally, anyone and everyone!

Sign up for our first ever pickleball tournament happening this Saturday!

Details Below:

• Anyone can participate

• 4 on 4 Tournament

• Choose and Register Team as a Whole

• Has to be a co-ed team

• Pre-Registration is $40 Per Team

• Registration is $50 Per Team if you Wait Until the Day of

• 1 Warm Up Game Followed by Bracket

• $2 Spectator Fee

• Food Provided for Purchase: $10

  • Street Taco Platter with Rice & Beans

  • Water

  • Cookie

• Hosted at SMN Tennis Court

• Winners choose shirt of their choice + $10 Gift Card to each teammate

• All Profits Support ONLY FOOTBALL & VOLLEYBALL TEAMS

• NO REFUNDS

Sign-Up Here:

https://www.smnfootballboosterclub.org/footballbisonstore/p/pickleballtournament

Reach out to

Carly or Amber with any questions

Carly Martz <Carly.martz@gmail.com>

Amber Pittman <webmaster@smnfootballboosterclub.org>

The SMAC clothing exchange information in the fliers below.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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