Nighthawk News

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In February, the students will participate in basketball skills, review throwing/catching and then we have a big surprise for a dance unit.

Our 3rd-5th graders have been working on their stamina, endurance, and pacing themselves throughout the year. Each month they participate in a 10 minute run. Students learn that it is ok to walk, but are setting goals to do their best. If they jog the entire 10 minutes they earn a mini shoe they can put on their shoestrings. Ask your student how they are doing?

Shoes are an important part of PE class and everyone’s safety. I was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the Sun Prairie Education Foundation to get new shoes & socks for students to borrow if they forget them at home.

The students are learning a lot of skills in PE class, but they are also incorporating literacy & math skills into their lessons. Check out some of these fun activities.

• ABC Catch

• PE Add-Up

• Bowling BINGO

• Moolah Mountain

• Snap Word Relays

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Mr. LaFleur 1-608-834-7111 or jslafle@sunprairieschools.org

Mr. Headington 1-608-834-7158 or mheadi@sunprairieschools.org

February's artist of the month is Prince.

K-1st Grade

With K-1 grades we will continue developing the sense of the beat by playing percussion instruments, dancing, and singing while we explore the sounds rhythms of the keyboard.

2 Grade

With second graders we are learning songs and chords in ukulele.

3-5 Grade

With 3rd to 5th graders we are developing the basic techniques on the piano and applying the music reading on the C posicion.

Please reach out to Mr. Edi with any questions.

February is clay month!

The most anticipated unit of the year…. CLAY!! Our clay unit will take place during February and will spill into the beginning of March. Scholars will be exploring different hand building techniques and after their clay is fired, they will glaze their clay to add color. Clay is one of our messier units and your scholar may come home a little dustier than usual. Don’t worry, clay easily washes off in the regular laundry. You may need to give your scholar extra lotion or moisturizer during this month as clay is very drying on the skin.

I will be reaching out towards the end of our clay unit to remind caregivers to send their scholar with a plastic bag to bring their clay home in. This year, clay will be staying at school a little longer than usual as we choose artworks for our art show.

Arts and Poetry night - April 25 2023

Mark your calendars for April 25 for our Northside Arts and Poetry night! This event will showcase poetry written by our POETICS club, creations from Fiber Arts Club, and a whole school art show! More information to come later.

Donations welcome!

We love to use materials that you may not need or were going to throw away anyways for our art making! Donations we are currently seeking for our art studio:

- toilet paper and paper towel tubes

- pop tabs

- plastic lids

- corks

- yogurt cups

- fabric scraps

- yarn

- old t-shirts and pants

- old craft materials

- plastic grocery bags

Please reach out to Ms. Henker with any questions.

Hello Northside Families!

Please read on for a few updates from Ms. Nieft in the Library and Makerspace.

• Book Fair: Northside's Book Fair will take place during Conference Week (Feb. 12-16) in our Makerspace Lab. We will be open Monday-Thursday after school until 3:30pm and on Friday from 8-10. We will have a table with free books from the Madison Reading Project in the hallway outside the door - please plan to bring a book home! If you would like to set up your student's e-wallet (Scholastic's cash-free option) or shop at home, visit NS's website - https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/northsideelementaryschool90
• Makerspace/Lab Lessons: In February, our Scholars will move on from our Author Study Unit to focus on our Black History Month work! We will enjoy learning about the BLM theme, 25 years of hip-hop, and read books about DJ Kool Herc and Basquiat. We will experiment and create using turn-table apps, writing in the graffiti style, and much more!
• Nellie's Network: Don't forget to check out Nellie's Network on the NS Facebook page. In February, we welcome our 1st and 2nd Grade Anchors and will premiere commercials by our 5th Grade Nellie's Network Club.

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, Kelly Nieft

With winter comes snow and wet clothes. Please make sure to have an extra set of clothes for your student in their locker, classroom, or backpack. If you have clothes you'd like to donate to our nurse's closet (especially Kinder - 2nd grade size), we would appreciate the extra items.

Is your contact information on file current? It is important to have accurate phone numbers on file with the school in case we need to reach you during the day.

If your child needs any medication during the school day, please click on and complete this medication form. Forms are also available in the Health Office. Students are not to carry medications with them in their pockets or lockers. Medications need to be kept in the health office and be labeled with the student name.

If they are experiencing any of the following symptoms, please keep them at home:

• Fever of 100.4 or higher Your student's temperature should be below 100.4 without the assistance of medication for at least 24 hours before returning to school.
• Active vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Rashes along with fever and redness
• A positive Covid test within the last five days. See PHMDC or call the Health Office at 608-834-7106 for more information.
• Students with communicable diseases requiring antibiotic treatment (pink eye, strep throat, etc) may return after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment or 24 hours symptom-free.

Please call Nurse Joy in the school health office at 608-834-7106 or email jmfoust@sunprairieschools.org, if you need assistance.

Hello families,

Northside Events

• Read Your Heart Out will be held on February 23rd-all day.

• All Community Schools have been invited to watch the Little Mermaid Musical put on by East High School on February 4th at 2:00 PM for FREE. Sign up here to attend. Make sure to include in your sign up that you attend Northside Elementary.

Community Events

• Night at the Museum with Jimmy the Groundhog, February 10th from 5:00-7:00 PM (part of Frozen Fest).

• 76th Annual Groundhog Day Prognostication, February 2nd starting at 6:50 AM at Canary Square

Northside Community Schools Reminders

• The Northside food and clothing pantry has been serving a lot of families this year. If you are interested in donating to the pantry the items we need the most right now are: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and laundry soap. We are also in need of boots for kiddos ages 9-5 years old. Thank you for being a part of our Northside family. If you are in need of these items please contact Stacey Christenson, Community Schools Site Coordinator.

• Our SCONES parent group would love to have YOU a part of the team. This group meets monthly and works hard to put on special events for our school, like our recent Movie Night and they do a lot to support our amazing teachers. This is a lovely chance to be a part of the Northside community and spend time with other parents and help to build community at our school. If you are interested please contact SCONES president: Erin Luehrs: northsidesco@gmail.com.

Please contact Stacey Christenson for more information.

Hello families,

At Northside, we want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.

All students at Northside will be learning these skills through the Second Step curriculum.

What is Second Step? Parent Letter Overview (English) (Spanish) (Hmong)

UNIT 3 - Empathy & Kindness

English (Kindergarten) (1st grade) (2nd grade) (3rd grade) (4th grade) (5th grade)

Spanish (Kindergarten) (1st grade) (2nd grade) (3rd grade) (4th grade) (5th grade)

Hmong (Kindergarten) (1st grade) (2nd grade) (3rd grade) (4th grade) (5th grade)

Empathy & Kindness: Children will learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of building and maintaining relationships.

Random Acts of Kindness Day is Saturday, February 17th!

Plan to make kindness the norm at home, work, and school!

Check out The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation and Random Acts of Kindness Poster

Click HERE to learn more about Ms. Feltz, your School Counselor

Greater Dane Anthology Project

There were 160 5th through 8th grade students who submitted entries to the Greater Dane Anthology Project Sun Prairie judging, and only 24 of those entries moved onto the regional judging that is happening January 31st. Of those 24 submissions, four of them are from Northside 5th graders! Way to go Northside Nighthawks!

Math 24

The Sun Prairie Math 24 competition is on February 8th for 4th and 5th graders. If your scholar is in the club and showed interest in participating in the competition, a permission slip should have gone home, or will be coming home soon. Fourth graders will be competing using the double-digit cards and fifth graders will be competing using the variable cards.

Math Meet

In February, 5th Grade students will have the opportunity to try out for the Math Meet. The tryout consists of a paper and pencil exam with different math challenge problems. The top students at Northside will get the opportunity to participate in the Sun Prairie Math Meet in March. The top students in Sun Prairie will get the opportunity to move on to the Regional Competition.

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Contact Jessica Tucci at jstucci@sunprairieschools.org or (608) 834-7138 with any questions.

Greetings Nighthawk families and happy February!

We’ve had a great winter despite - or because of! - all the snow. We hosted informative meetings where we’ve invited speakers to shed light on things happening in our school. We’ve hosted Movie Night where we were able to spend some fun cozy time with some Northside families. We’ve been busy planning and brainstorming new ways to be a great caregiver and educator resource for Northside.

Having said that, we are looking forward to all the upcoming months have to offer. Events on the calendar include:

• Feb 9 & 23: Read Your Heart Out
• March 25-29: SPRING BREAK!
• May 6-10: Staff Appreciation Week
• May 31: End of the Year Party
• June 7: Last day of school and 5th Grade Recognition

Our next SCONES meeting is Tuesday Feb 13 6:30 to 7:30 where we’ll meet school board member Latoya Holiday. Latoya will share her experience, information about the school board, and answer any questions you may have.

You can learn more about what happened at our last SCONES meeting here.

If you have any questions about or for SCONES, learn more about the upcoming events, want to help, or just want to check in and say hi, you can find us at northsidesco@gmail.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NorthsideSCONES. Donations to SCONES can be sent to our PayPal here and volunteer opportunities will be posted on our social media.

Sincerely,

SCONES

SCONES School Community Organization of Northside Elementary School

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

Please give the bus drivers space. It is important to stay clear of the bus loading zones. No parking in the bus zone on W. Klubertanz by the 4K-3rd Grade door #8 or the open area near the shipping dock on the parking lot side. Thank you!

Bus Driver Recognition Week - February 12-16, 2024

February 12-16, 2024 is School Bus Driver Recognition Week in the State of Wisconsin. We encourage families to go the extra mile to show appreciation to the men and women that work hard to get our students to and from school safely every day. Please take a moment to thank them or consider having your child make a token of appreciation.

Your kind words, cards, etc., will surely make the driver’s week brighter!

.National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) - March 4-8

If you have any questions regarding your students food service account please contact us at nutritiondepartment@sunprairieschools.org.

Please call us at 608-834-7100 and press 1, to report a student absence. If you email your student's teacher, please include ckrusch@sunprairieschools.org. It is important to keep your contact numbers up to date in case of an emergency and for safe arrival calls.

2023-24 Elementary School Hours

Mornings: 7:30am (Drop Off / First Bell) 7:40am (Attendance Taken)

Dismissal: 2:40pm (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)

Thursday Early Dismissal: 1:30pm

IMPORTANT REMINDERS about attendance as we head into 2nd semester. Here are some important “trigger points” that will generate contact from our attendance team:

Please review the attached attendance letter for more information:

ENGLISH

SPANISH