Newell Family Sunday Message 09/15

Newell Families,

Yay! DIBELS testing and Math MAPS testing are done and our students and staff are focusing in on the coming weeks of solid instruction! Thanks to all who are participating in PTA Fundraiser and who were able to join us for the Fun Run! Have a great week and remember no school on Friday!

- Mr. Balcom

Join us for our 3rd Annual Outdoor PTA Movie Night! We'll be watching Kung Fu Panda 4 under the stars on Thursday September 19th 2024. Movie will begin at approx. 8:00pm. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs to the East side of the school. Popcorn and bottled water will be available for purchase ($1 each). Kona Ice will also be on site for purchasing (A percent of proceeds will come back to Newell).

Reminder: There will be NO SCHOOL for students on Friday September 20th 2024.

On Fridays, the UNL Extension will again be offering the Morning Move-It Club at Newell before school. Students in Grades 3-5 can come and get moving from 7:30am to 7:50am.

1. 20 Lanyards will be available in a bucket next to Planty Plant by Door #1.
2. Students must EAT BREAKFAST FIRST before going to Morning Move-It Club.
3. Students take one lanyard and then go to the gym.
4. If the lanyards are gone, the Club is full for today, try again another day.

Lifetouch will be back at school on Wednesday October 2nd for picture re-takes and to take pictures of any students who were gone on picture day.

Each week we'll let you behind the scenes on what students are learning at Newell.

We use a lot of education terms, and one term that we use is MTSS. Let's take a look behind the Shield and see what MTSS means:

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a comprehensive framework we use to ensure that every student receives the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support they need to succeed. In elementary school, MTSS is structured in three tiers.

Tier 1 represents the high-quality instruction all students receive in the classroom. Some students, however, may need additional help beyond the general curriculum, which brings us to Tier 2.

In Tier 2, small group interventions are provided to students who need extra support in specific areas, like reading or math, but also regarding student behavior supports.

Finally, Tier 3 offers more intensive, individualized support for students who require further assistance. The goal of MTSS is to proactively address the needs of all learners and ensure no student falls behind.

At Newell, we implement MTSS through a collaborative approach. Teachers work together to identify students who need interventions and decide what strategies will best support them. One tool we use to provide this additional support is WIN (What I Need) time. During WIN time, students receive targeted interventions tailored to their specific needs, whether it’s extra practice, advanced learning, or support in specific skills. Teachers continuously monitor students’ progress and adjust interventions as necessary, ensuring that every child gets the right support at the right time.

This section includes updates and important information from our amazing Newell PTA! More information is always available on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/NewellElementaryPTA

Our next PTA Meeting will be Monday, October 14th from 6:30 – 7:30pm! We will meet in the commons area at Newell. We will plan fall and winter events, as well as apparel designs.

Make sure to like our Newell PTA Facebook Page so you don't miss out on any information!

https://www.facebook.com/NewellElementaryPta/

Did you know our school is a Box Top for education school? It’s super easy to help our school raise extra funds!

1. Download the Box Top for Education app!
2. Choose our school— A B Newell Elementary School
3. Go grocery shopping!
4. Scan every receipt just to make sure you’re not missing anything!
5. Repeat steps 3&4 as often as you need to!

Thursday, September 19th

• PTA Family Movie Night - Outside! Movie begins at 8pm.

Friday September 20th

• No school for students.

Monday September 30th

• First Grade Field Trip (Stuhr Museum)

Tuesday October 1st

• Kindergarten Field Trip (Pumpkin Patch)

Wednesday October 2nd

• Picture Re-Take Day!

Monday October 7th

• Dismissal at 2pm.
  
• Parent Teacher Conferences and Book Fair 3:40pm to 7:20pm

Tuesday October 8th

• Dismissal at 2pm.
  
• Parent Teacher Conferences and Book Fair 3:30pm to 7:10pm

Wednesday October 9th

• Dismissal at 2pm.

Thursday October 10th

• No School For Students
• Parent Teacher Conferences and Book Fair 8am to 11:00am

Friday October 11th

• No School

Monday October 14th

• Newell PTA Meeting at 6:30pm

Tuesday October 15th

• Newell PTA Dine to Donate at Dairy Queen (Capital Ave) 5pm to 8pm.

Keep up with our FULL Calendar of EVERYTHING going on here: http://bit.ly/newellcal

Enjoy these recent photos!

Click to zoom in.

Messages that are important all year long!

Your child’s education and well-being is important to us. If your family or child is experiencing difficulties at home, we would love to be able to provide additional support at school. We understand that you are not always able to share details and that’s okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, send a message or note with the words, “Handle with Care.” Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let us know that your child may need extra space, time, patience, and help during the day.

Parents, there is a lot of illness going around. Please monitor your child for symptoms.

Description of Fever:

1. A fever is a temporary increase in body temperature, usually caused by an illness.
2. In most mild, two to five day, childhood illnesses, fever is lowest in the morning, rises in the afternoon, and will be the highest in evening and night. As the child begins to recover, morning temperatures will be normal with fever still present later in the day.

Management:

1. Students with a temperature of 100 F or more may be sent home from school.
2. Students may return to school when their temperature has remained below 100.0 for 24 hours without fever reducing medication.

Social media posts as well as a phone call, email or text message will inform you of urgent announcements and weather emergencies. Please be sure our office has your most current telephone and email information.

A regular school day begins at 8:00am and dismisses at 3:05pm, Monday through Friday. Students may be dropped after 7:30am. Students must be picked up by 3:15pm.

Please make your child aware of his/her after school plan. If transportation or daycare plans change, please call the office so we can let your child’s teacher know. Thank you.

We start our school day right at 8:00am. It is VERY important that your child is in class ready to learn at 8:00. Breakfast is served from 7:30am to 7:50am. We are unable to serve students breakfast after 7:50am. If your child needs to eat breakfast at Newell, plan to have them on campus with enough time to get to our breakfast line by 7:50. Students arriving after 7:50 should go to their class lines. Breakfast is FREE for ALL students!

ALL visitors need to check in at the office and wear given identification while in the school. All visitors must ring the buzzer at door #1. Our staff is busily working with students during the school day. If visiting Newell to speak with a staff member, you may be asked to make an appointment at a later time.

Birthdays may be celebrated in each child’s classroom. Families are NOT required or expected to provide treats or gifts. However, if you want to offer treats, please provide healthy snacks that are individually packaged. Cupcakes, cookies, donuts, etc. will not be allowed.

As cited on page 34 of the GIPS Student Handbook:

"Students in grades Pre-K-5 are discouraged from bringing ECDs (Electronic Communication Devices) to school."

If you need to send an Electronic Communication Device with your student, the handbook states:

"Phones should be kept either turned off, or on silent following the rules specified by the classroom teacher."

At Newell students either keep their phones off or silent in their backpacks or they bring their phones to our secretaries in the office at the beginning of the day to keep them safe, also off or on silent. Note: your child will not be able to send or read messages or calls during the school day.

If you have questions please reach out to Mr. Balcom.

The full handbook is online here: https://www.gips.org/Page/105

Have a wonderful first week!

Nate Balcom- Principal

Heather Glause - Secretary

Kathy Schulte - Attendance Secretary

Jami White - Social Worker

Tiffanie Oswald - Nurse

Yolanda Seiler - Spanish Interpreter