Happy Sunday Northlake!

I hope you had a great weekend. I enjoyed a visit from one of my nephews who lives in Virginia. He's in town on business this week and came in a little early to visit with me, such a treat. We had a busy week last week! Students worked hard on their second round of interim assessments, we had two field trips and a Thanksgiving Feast! It looks like construction is still going on at each porch, so 1st and 2nd grade will continue to enter and exit from the main porch this week.

Looking ahead this week...

• We have Multicultural Night on Thursday evening from 5:00-7:00. I hope to see many of you here for this fun night. Please feel free to dress in clothing that represents your culture and bring a dish to share. We will start in the cafeteria at 5:00 with some performances and a short PTA meeting. Then, you will have an opportunity to sample foods and play some games in the main hallway.
• We have Book Fair this week! Students will visit the book fair during the week and it will be open during Multicultural Night.
• We will participate in Richardson Reads Day on Friday! Students may dress up as their favorite story book character. If they can bring the book that goes with their character, that would be great! We will have some mystery readers visit classrooms and we will have a school wide reading time from 2:30-2:45.
• PTA is collecting $10 Gift Cards for Teacher/Staff Holiday Gifts. Please consider donating one or two $10 gift cards to PTA. You can drop them off in the box in the front office at Northlake.
• We are also accepting donations for the Golden Ticket Store! Donated items may be brought to the front office or given to Ms. Sorensen.

Also, I just want to remind you that we will be out of school the week of November 25th - 29th for Thanksgiving Break.

Ms. Kellagher

Second grade took a field trip to the zoo and had such a good time! The weather was beautiful and fun was had by all. Thanks to all the volunteers that came chaperoned and helped keep our kiddo's safe at the zoo!

Third grade went to Kathy's Critters this past week. I have heard rave reviews about this field trip and I think it's safe to say we'll be going back again.

First Grade enjoyed their annual Thanksgiving Feast together in the main hallway! Thanks to all the parents that came to help out!

We are looking for parent volunteers to help monitor students during lunch in the cafeteria. If you have some time or flexibility in your schedule please consider giving an hour or so each week. I am attaching a sign-up link below. Once we have our group of volunteers together, Mrs. Walker will host a training, so we can go over campus expectations with you. Consistency is key and we want to be sure you have the tools you need to help things run smoothly in the cafeteria.

Our annual Multicultural Night will be held on Thursday, November 21st from 5:00-7:00. We will start in the cafeteria with some performances and then families will have an opportunity to walk through the main hallway and learn about some different cultures and traditions by playing games and sampling some delicious food! We need your help! We are asking families to bring a dish to share. This can be from your culture or simply a meal that is special to your family. PTA will provide the tasting cups and spoons, you just need to bring and serve the dish you decide to share. Please use the link below to sign up for a dish to share.

I am working with PTA to prepare for our annual December to Remember calendar for the NLE staff. I always build a calendar with some fun activity or theme for each day of December. Some days are more for teachers and some days are for kids too! PTA will be providing a breakfast for our staff one morning in December. They will also be giving each staff member a gift card. We are asking each family to donate a gift card or two to help ensure each staff member receives at least one gift card.

Here's how you can help:

• All gift cards should be for $10.
• Favorite places include White Rock Coffee, Starbucks, Jersey Mikes, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
• All gift cards should be brought to the front office and placed in the PTA gift card box.
• Do not write any teacher or student names on the gift cards.
• We will be collecting gift cards between now and December 6th.

Students in Pre-K - 5th grade have been having fun doing some Cup Stacking! Please see the attached information from Coach Bridges about ordering a Cup Stacking set for your kiddo's to have at home. Please reach out to Coach Bridges if you have any questions.

The annual UIL A+ Competition is on the horizon. Ms. Fisher is our Northlake Facilitator and Rivka Altman has offered to help organize and coach. The UIL competition is an academic competition that takes place on March 1, 2025 at JJ Pearce and is an all day event . Each school that participates is limited to 3 students per category. Two years ago NLE participated in multiple categories and last year we only sent one team of 3 students to the Number Sense Competition. We are open to competing in up to 3 categories this year, Number Sense, plus two other categories, but if we have enough kids and parents volunteer coaches we can enter into more.

So what’s next? Please see link below if you would want to volunteer to coach or sign up your child. The link tells you what grades are eligible and what the completion entails. Please email Ms. Fisher (sarah.fisher@risd.org) if you are interested in coaching a team and if your child is interested in joining a team. We already have a Math Sense Team with 1 open spot left. The commitment will likely be 4 days after school for an hour in the weeks between Jan 27 - Feb 24 (once a week practice). There is material for all the coaches , so it won’t be anything you need to create. It is really just for getting the kids comfortable with the rules and practicing the events.

We can have teams up to 5 for practicing so we have alternate participants in the event of a kiddo getting sick, having a schedule conflict, etc. We know this competition occurs during the sports season, so please check your schedules before you commit to a team.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1s-21Wpl40jlwHBtFgt7JfIz23fGeMWj7E9EKCK0ivmk/edit

https://www.uiltexas.org/aplus

Parents are welcome to bring a small birthday treat to celebrate their child's birthday. Here are a few reminders:

• Treats must be store bought or baked (cupcakes and cookies are best). We ask for store bought so teachers can see the ingredients listed in order to be mindful of any allergies students may have.
• We do not pass out drinks, party bags or balloons.
• Parents may drop treats off in the main office and we will get them to the classroom.
• We will not call students out of class to come to the office for pictures with their treats.
• Teachers will pass treats out at the end of the day.

Please be sure to sign up for your Parent Focus Account. This will give you access to all kinds of important student information. Most importantly, you will have access to your child's grades. We will not send a home paper copy of your child's report card. So, please be sure to sign up for an account soon!

The Golden Ticket store is coming soon! This is one of my favorite Northlake traditions. As we begin preparing to set up the The Golden Ticket Store, we need your help! If you have any new or gently used items that you think would be a great item for the store, please be sure to bring them to the front office. Many of you have been so generous in the past and have donated new items as well. The best selling items include any games, dolls or toys. Soccer balls and basketballs are a favorite too. I always use this as an opportunity to regift some items that I may not have used over the past year or don't need. I also take advantage of some Black Friday deals and get a few new toys or games. We appreciate any donation to our Golden Ticket Store. The more gifts we have, the more golden tickets we can give to our kids. If you have any questions about how to help, please reach out to Anita Sorenson at anita.sorensen@risd.org.

Richardson Reads Day is November 22nd. Students are encouraged to dress up as their favorite story book character and if they can bring the book to go with their character, even better! We have a few fun things planned for the day. Mystery readers will drop into classes to read and we will have school wide reading time from 2:30-2:45.

The district has updated the Elementary Dress Code. Please be sure your students are dressed appropriately for school each day. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We will are ready for lunch visitors! Please be sure to read through the following rules in order to keep the cafeteria running smooth and safe.

• No siblings, due to limited space on the stage.
• You may eat with your child only.
• Please do not take any pictures while visiting for lunch.
• When you are finished with lunch, please check out through the main office. Parents may not go back to class with their children to visit.

The school day is from 7:50-3:10

• The building opens at 7:30.

• Breakfast is served in the classroom from 7:30-7:50.

• Your child is tardy at 7:51 and will receive a tardy pass to get to class.

• Your child is late for school after 8:05 and a parent will need to sign them in at the office.

• If your child arrives to school after 9:00 AM they are counted absent for the day.

• If your child is absent for any reason, please be sure to send a note to school on the day your child returns, letting us know the reason for the absence. Any excuse notes must be received within 3 days of returning to school in order to receive an excused absence.

If you have any questions regarding attendance, please email our Student Data Specialist, Mrs. Logan at pam.logan@risd.org.

If you would like to volunteer at Northlake Elementary, you must complete a volunteer background check EVERY new school year. Volunteering could include helping with class parties, attending field trips with your children, working in the library, helping at Field Day, or many other activities. We will not allow anyone who has not completed and passed the volunteer background check to volunteer. Please click on the link below to complete the background check. You MUST also watch the very short powerpoint at the end to complete the entire background check. Failure to watch the powerpoint will make your application incomplete and you will not be able to volunteer.

We are so fortunate to have a wonderful PTA. They have been working so hard already this year! PTA has helped with school supplies, spirit wear, Back to School Night, Reflections, etc. Our Garden Committee is planning Phase II of our NLE Garden and the Carnival Committee is planning for our annual NLE Fall Carnival later this month. Please be sure to check out their website for different ways you can help out. You can also reach out to Amanda Hinders at Preseident@NorthlakePTA.com for more information about PTA.

We need your help! We are working hard to grow our PTA membership. It costs $10 to join PTA and there is no time commitment needed. We always need volunteers at PTA school events such as Carnival, Multi-Cultural Night and Buddy Fun Day. But, we are flexible and you can work as much or as little as your schedule allows.

You can find more information out about our PTA on their website. Thanks in advance for supporting our school!

Parents must apply for their child/children to receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch. Last year everyone received free school breakfast but this year families must apply to receive free or reduced breakfast. The application must be completed as soon as possible to ensure that there is no interruption to their meal service. This application needs to be filled out every year. Please click on the picture or link below to get to the lunch application.

Students are welcome to pack a nutritious lunch from home or a lunch may be purchased in the school cafeteria. If your child happens to forget their lunch from home, please drop it off in the front office by 10:30 AM. This will ensure that the lunch will reach your child by their lunch time. Please refer to the RISD Child Nutrition website for menus, pricing and payment options.

In the interest of safety & security, every visitor to a Richardson ISD campus must present a valid form of identification and be processed through the Raptor background check system each visit, regardless of previous checks. Please be sure that you have your valid identification with you every time you visit Northlake Elementary. Thank you for your patience and understanding as RISD works to ensure the safety of students and employees. Volunteer questions may be directed to the office of Strategy & Engagement.

Additionally, the front office staff will use the intercom system to ask visitors to identify themselves and the purpose of their visit before granting access to the office. This is part of our heightened security measures. Please be cooperative and patient as we all get used to these new measures. As you enter the building, please do not allow others to enter with you or to follow you through the doors as you enter or leave. Everyone who enters should ring the buzzer and speak to someone in the office before entering the school building.

November 18 - Book Fair this week

November 21 - PTA Meeting and Multi-Cultural Night 5:00-7:00

November 22 - Richardson Reads Day

November 25 - 29 - No School