Nixon Elementary Weekly Update

Nixon Walkathon (Coming Soon!):

Today (March 25) we will have our Nixon Walkathon Assembly to kickoff our next big fundraising event. This is our biggest PTA Fundraiser of the year, so we look forward to as much participation as possible. 100% of the money donated/raised goes directly to our Nixon PTA.

Learners will come home with an envelope for money collection today. We encourage learners to ask people they know for donations, and do NOT encourage door-to-door requests unless a parent is with the child. Donations are made in one lump sum (we don't do $/minute of walking). Cash or checks are welcome (checks made out to Nixon PTA). All money is collected from 3/25-4/3. Any money collected earns a prize for the learners. All money is due April 3, and the Walkathon is April 5 at 1:30. We welcome families to join us for the walk around the Nixon Trail! See the flyer below for more information.

Important Dates:

We have several important days coming up, so be sure to mark these on your calendar:

• April 3-17: ISASP State Testing (3rd-5th grade)
• April 5: Nixon Walkathon (1:15 pm--parents welcome to walk/attend!)
• April 22: No School
• May 6-10: Teacher Appreciation Week

It's a great day to be a Bobcat!

I wanted to be the first to tell families that our learning environment for grades 2-5 will look a bit different next year. For the past 6 years, we have created a Personalized Learning approach for children at Nixon. This ensured that every child got the learning they needed, when they needed it, how they needed it to be successful in school and learn the soft skills needed for the future. My vision for our school has always been to teach learners in a way that prepares them for their next journey (middle school, new school, whatever came after they departed from our school) and part of that has been to create a system that allows for self-pacing, extension of learning, and remediation as needed. This system has provided our learners with not only top tier learning from teachers focused on specific content (math, reading, science, or social studies), but it also allowed for us to create friendships and peer coaches across grade levels. It has been a blessing to lead this work.

Unfortunately, with the addition of a new reading series in elementary buildings next fall, it will be difficult to continue this style of learning at Nixon. As such, going into next school year, we will move back into a traditional learning environment in grades 2-5. This will include 2 classrooms in each grade level (2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades). I have assigned teachers to their new grade levels, however I know our personalized team will continue to support all Nixon learners and provide amazing adult connections and relationships with children, even if they are no longer being taught by a specific teacher.

As you look ahead to next school year, please note that I do not take parent requests for classroom teachers and/or classroom buddies/friends. My teaching team will look across all learners in a grade level to determine which classrooms to place children into for next fall, and that information will be available in August in time for Open House.

I am sad to see the completion of this amazing learning experience for our Bobcats, but it is my hope that we will be able to move back toward this style of learning in the years to come, as we have had much success with this model. In the meantime, we will continue to support our learners and offer top notch learning in a traditional K-5 model.

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns,

Jeni Goebel, Principal

Nixon Elementary

jgoebel@crschools.us

Email: jgoebel@crschools.us
Website: https://nixon.crschools.us
Location: 200 Nixon Drive, Hiawatha, IA, USA
Phone: (319) 558-2188
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRNixon