Parent Newsletter

January 17- K-4 Report Cards sent home

January 23- JK Report Cards sent home

January 20- School Board Meeting 4:00

February 3- No Junior Kindergarten

February 3-7- Scholastic Book Fair -9am-4:30pm

February 4- PTO- Pj's, Pancakes & Books 5-7:30

February 7- Northview Clothing Day

February 10- PTO Meeting 5:00

It is nice to be back at Northview with students and staff after our holiday break! I thrive on routine and so do my own children at home. January can feel like a long month with bitter cold weather and short daylight, but our students are continuing to grow and learn and before we know it...it will be spring!

The month of January is the beginning of second semester and many assessments for our students at Northview. Kindergarten through third grade are taking the AIMSweb reading assessment. You will be receiving letters home explaining the assessment, how your child did, and if your child is in need of a reading plan. If your child scored at the 25 percentile or lower, they are required to have a reading plan to help them improve their reading scores. This plan will be sent home within 10 days of the screener for you to review, sign, and return to their classroom teacher. All student plans will look different based on their current needs.

Students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade will then take our district diagnostic assessment, iReady for reading and math. This gives us a deeper look at specific needs and helps prepare intervention and extension groups. It also gives Northview staff data to see if there are trends in the data for improvement of direct instruction happening in the classroom for all students. Weekly grade level teams meet to discuss ongoing data and student needs.

All assessment scores will be shared with families when the assessments are completed. Grade levels will be completing them at different times, so if you have children in more than one grade, you can anticipate them to come home a few days apart. Please reach out with any questions you have about our district screener and diagnostic assessments.

Decodable Texts

Decodable texts are key to providing early readers with practice in their newly learned phonics skills. These texts provide words with the phonics patterns that students have been taught allowing for student success. Many decodable texts are available at public libraries and for free online. Here are a few examples:

At Mead Library

BOB books by Bobby Maslen

My Decodable Readers Series by Kim Thompson

Phonics Fun Decodables by Robert Sutro, Taryn Painter, and Ellise Wallace

Early Bird Readers (various authors)

Jump Inc. Decodables (various authors)

Online

Just Right Readers - for K-2, short vowels through vowel teams (free online)

Half Pint Readers- for K-2, covers short vowels through vowel teams (free online, choose your child’s “level” depending on skills they need to work on)

Phonics Books- Moon Dogs Series- for 3rd/4th grade, covers long vowels with vowel teams (free online to view or print)

SPELD SA (free online, can print/download)

Beyond Decodables (free, can print/download)

Success For All (free online, can print/download)

Five students' artwork will be part of the Wisconsin Art Education Association Youth Art Month Regional Exhibit. The show will be hosted from January 25 through February 23, 2025 at the Neville Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The artist reception will be held on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at the museum at 1:00 pm. The reception will end by 4:00 pm.

If a student’s artwork qualifies for state, the Youth Art Month State Exhibit will

be on display from March 1 - March 28, 2025 at East Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin. The celebratory awards date is Friday, March 28, 2025 from 12:00 - 1:00 PM.

Congratulations to our talented artists!

THANK YOU!

Family Skate Day: A big thank-you to everyone who joined us for Family Skate Day at the Sheboygan Lakers Ice Center this past Monday! We were thrilled to see nearly 150 participants lace up their skates and enjoy a morning of fun and community.

SAVE THE DATE

Monday, January 27 – Spring Carnival Planning Meeting: Join us on Monday, January 27 at 5:00pm in the Northview Library for our Spring Carnival Planning Meeting. This kick-off meeting is your chance to help plan our biggest annual fundraiser. Be part of something truly impactful – the funds raised at the Spring Carnival enable us to give back to our amazing teachers and students each year. Let’s make this year’s event the best one yet! We hope to see you there!

Tuesday, February 4, 2024: PJs, Pancakes, & Books at Northview Elementary. There’s just something extra special about pancakes for dinner! Put on your favorite PJs and join us for a fun evening of reading and a yummy pancake dinner at Northview Elementary.

Monday, February 10 - PTO Meeting: Join us for our monthly PTO Meeting at 5:00pm in the Northview Library. Everyone is welcome! Free babysitting is provided if requested within 72 hours of the meeting. Please contact hgpto@yahoo.com for more information.

LEARN ABOUT THE PTO!

Take advantage of the opportunity to give back and support your school community by joining the PTO. Interested in learning more, reach out anytime via email or check us out on Facebook!

Email: Reach out to Stacey Yager, PTO President, at hgpto@yahoo.com for any questions you may have.

Facebook: Follow us on Facebook (Howards Grove PTO) for all the latest information!

During the month of January, Northview students are learning about having a Growth Mindset! We are learning that our brain is like a muscle and doing challenging things gives our brain the exercise it needs to get stronger! Part of having a growth mindset is knowing that it's okay to make mistakes, and that persevering through challenges only makes us stronger. We are focusing on the concept of “The Power of Yet” and learning that some things take more time and effort than others. It’s not always easy to persevere when things get tough, and using the word “yet” helps us feel empowered to keep trying! Yet the Yeti (stuffed animal) visited our school-wide assembly as a reminder to practice adding the word "Yet" to every "I can't" statement that pops into our mind. For example, instead of saying "I can't do it" we can say "I haven't figured out how to do it...YET!".

As we move into February, we will continue our theme of Growth Mindset by shifting our focus to Flexible Thinking. Being a flexible thinker is a first step in being able to adopt a Growth Mindset. Flexible thinking is a key executive functioning skill that involves adapting our thinking and behavior in response to change or unexpected circumstances. Being a flexible thinker has many benefits, including the ability to deal with uncertainty, solve problems appropriately, adjust to changes, and handle big emotions.

Warm winter memories were made by kindergarteners at Northview and we are sure to keep making more!

During the month of December, kindergarteners studied different versions of The Gingerbread Man. To celebrate, they worked together to measure ingredients, roll out dough, and bake several batches of gingerbread men. Jingle bells also rang throughout their future hallways as the kindergarteners caroled at the middle school and high school. The older students in our district welcomed us and even sang along. The kindergarteners also got dressed up and took the stage at the high school to perform a winter concert.

These standout moments are not possible without many thanks to the helping hands that donated, volunteered, and organized various pieces. What a crazy, but beautiful time of year to educate some of the youngest in our district!

Email: sellinger@hgtigers.com
Website: https://www.hgtigers.org/
Location: 902 Tyler Road, Howards Grove, WI, USA
Phone: 920-565-4457

The School District of Howards Grove does not discriminate in the employment of staff on the basis of any characteristic protected under State or Federal law including, but not limited to, race, color, age, sex, creed or religion, handicap or disability, marital status, genetic information, citizenship status, veteran status, military service (as defined in 111.32, Wis. Stats.), sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, arrest record, conviction record, use or non-use of lawful products off the District’s premises during non-working hours, or any other characteristic protected by law in its employment practices. (Board Policy 4122)