Nashua News

The Nashua Community fosters inspiring relationships, sets the foundation for life-long learning, and guides independent thinkers to achieve excellence.

Home of the STARS!

School Hours: 9:15am - 4:10pm

Website: https://www.nkcschools.org/na
Location: 221 NE 114th St, Kansas City, MO 64155
Phone: (816) 321-5160

Attendance Line: (816) 321-5162

Dear Nashua Families,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! As we embark on this journey together of entering a new school year, the Nashua staff and I extend a warm welcome to you and your family. We thank you for trusting our dedicated team to partner with you for a successful school year.

At Nashua, we strive to “Be a Star wherever you are.” At Nashua, being a star represents five important attributes, each of which reflect our core beliefs, and each of which we believe will help make every child successful as a student as well as in their life beyond school. These five attributes are reflected in our Nashua Pledge: "As a Nashua Star, today I will show kindness, empathy, honesty, be responsible, and be an independent learner. Stars show 5 wherever they are!"

We recognize the importance of relationships in everything that we do each day, and we work to nurture relationships between our students, staff, families, and neighborhoods. Nashua has an impressive record of achievement, and we intend to continue this legacy of excellence. Our dedicated educators have a common goal - to do what is best for students - and we are always looking for ways to achieve that goal.

We personally believe communication between home and school is essential in ensuring the best possible education for students. To be successful, communication must be two-way, where families and staff work together collaboratively, and it should occur openly and frequently.We encourage you to communicate with us or the staff by telephone, e-mail or in person. We value your involvement, including your suggestions, concerns and celebrations.

It is with great pleasure and honor that we serve as the leaders of Nashua Elementary for the 2024-2025 school year. Thank you for embracing the Nashua team in your child’s educational journey. We look forward to working with you this school year to ensure an enriching and rewarding experience for your child!

Sincerely,

Ms. Courtney Minnich (Principal) and Mrs. Ashley Doll (Assistant Principal)

Click below to access the 2024-2025 Student and Family Handbook.

On Thursday, August 15, we will hold Back to School Night from 4:30 - 6:00pm.

Our PreK and self-contained autism room students may arrive early between 3:30 - 4:30.

Below are some details about what to expect:

First, plan to receive an email from your child’s teacher around noon on August 15, introducing themselves to you and your child so that you’re aware of which classroom to visit as soon as you enter the building. If your PowerSchool registration is incomplete or if your are missing any of the other info (birth certificate, immunizations, etc.), you will not receive an email or learn your child’s teacher until the process has been complete so please take time to do this before August 15th. More information on how to enroll your child is below.

I encourage you to begin your evening on the 15th by going to your child’s classroom to meet their teacher. Then, make sure you stop in the gym to receive dismissal tags. Next, stop by the cafeteria to see a few different booths set up, especially the PTA booth.

After that, make sure you take a moment to snap a picture of your child in front of the huge sign that will be placed in the grassy area at the front of the school. Sign Gypsies is bringing a huge sign for picture opportunities for families! We will also have another photo opportunity location in the commons in front of our new Nashua backdrop!

Also, All The Good Stuff food truck will be at Nashua for families to purchase treats. They will be serving foods like funnel cakes, fried Twinkies, Oreo balls, and more!

As a reminder - back to school night is a good opportunity to bring in your child’s school supplies, and we would like to especially encourage you to bring their backpack as we will be attaching dismissal tags to backpacks this evening.

Again, we are greatly looking forward to this exciting event and on behalf of all of our Nashua staff, we are so excited to meet your children as we prepare for a wonderful new school year.

• All returning students must complete enrollment and registration each year.
• We ask that all parents complete the online enrollment process prior to August 9th.
• You can access online enrollment and registration through our PowerSchool Parent Portal. Once in the Portal, you will see a link on the left side entitled “Returning Student Registration 2024-2025”.
• For detailed directions, you can visit this link to access the Parent Portal Online Registration document.
• Any necessary fees can be paid within MyPaymentsPlus, which is separate from the Parent Portal. There will also be a link at the end of online registration to access MyPaymentsPlus.

Nashua's administrative assistant, Colin McClatchey, is available to assist families if you have questions or need assistance. Contact our office at (816) 321-5160. You can also email him at colin.mcclatchey@nkcschools.org.

Thursday, August 15 - Back to School Night 4:30 - 6:00pm

Tuesday, August 20 - First day of school

Thursday, August 29 - Parent Orientation Night - 5:30 - 7:00pm

Monday, September 2 - No School - Labor Day

September 9-23 - PTA Fundraiser Week

Tuesday, September 10 - PTA Meeting - 6pm

Wednesday, September 11 - Patriot Day Celebration

Thursday, September 19 - Back to School PTA BINGO - 6-7pm

Friday, September 20 - No School - Staff Professional Development

September 30 - October 3 - Book Fair Week

Monday, September 30 - Parent Teacher Conferences Night 1

Wednesday, October 2 - Parent Teacher Conferences Night 2

Wednesday October 2 - School Picture Day

We have openings in our preschool program at Nashua. Find out more information at https://eec.nkcschools.org/families/developmental-screenings.

We are excited to host our Parent Orientation Night on Thursday, August 29 This is a great opportunity for you (as parents) to gain a better understanding of what your child's classroom experience will look like this year. Your child's teacher will briefly share what the students will learn this year, how to best support your child at home, and what the classroom procedures and expectations will look like.

Additionally, we are excited to share that a representative from Synergy Services will be at Nashua this evening to talk to parents about student screen safety and technology (phones, iPads, video games) awareness. This session will be filled with research and tips and tricks for how to keep your child safe while they are online.

Also, the principals will be leading sessions this evening about Standards Based Learning, Standards Based Grading, and Proficiency Scales. As the district transitions away from the traditional A-F grading system, we want to keep parents informed about what learning and grading will look like at Nashua for the 2024-2025 school year. We will explain how scales are used in the classroom to clearly define where students are in the learning process and what the Nashua student data binder will look like.

Here is how the timing of this night will look. Please note that the Synergy presentation and the Standards Based Learning presentation will be given at 5:30pm, 6pm, and 6:30pm, but classroom teachers will only be presenting to parents in their classrooms at 5:30pm and 6pm.

5:30 - 5:55 session 1 - You may visit the classroom teacher, the Synergy session, or the Standards Based Learning session

6:00 - 6:25 session 2 -You may visit the classroom teacher, the Synergy session, or the Standards Based Learning session

6:30 - 6:55 session 3 - You may visit the Synergy session or the Standards Based Learning session (no classroom teacher sessions)

This year school breakfast and lunch prices are as follows:

• Elementary Student Lunch $3.10

• Elementary Student Breakfast $1.85

• Adult Lunch $4.40

• Adult Breakfast $2.40

• Milk $0.70

How can I pay my student's lunch account?

Use the My Payments Plus website to make your payments online. You will need your student’s lunch number (student's school ID) to access their account. For instructions on how to set up a MyPaymentsPlus account, please click here. You can also contact MyPaymentsPlus for support at 1-877-237-0946. Restrictions can be made on a student's account through MyPaymentsPlus. Examples of restrictions include: no juice, only 1 extra snack a week, alert me when my child's account is below $____, etc.

If you would prefer sending a check, please send it with your student in a sealed envelope with your students name, teacher name and student ID number to the café or you can drop off your payment at our front office with the requested information listed above.

This is a good time to complete Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) Applications.

A new application must be submitted every year.

You’ll notice a question in your enrollment process about FRL, but this is NOT an application, and you’ll need to complete this process online. We encourage every family to complete the FRL application process as quickly as possible.

Click here for more information. Here is the online Free and Reduced Application.

If you have any questions, please call Suzie Parker in the Food and Nutrition Services Office at 816-321-5868.

Make sure you opt in to NKC text alerts to know about all important events quickly (like snow days). To opt in, text YES to 67587.

As we begin a new school year, attendance information from the school handbook serves as a good reminder for how important this is to your child's success!

Regular attendance and punctuality help students develop and maintain a good attitude toward school and relate positively toward school achievement. Tardiness and absences can be upsetting for students, disrupting their schedules, requiring readjustment to the class routine, and interfering with learning. It is important that your child attends school on time, every day. School attendance for school­ age children is compulsory by Missouri law. State guidelines deem attendance rates of 95% or better as necessary for optimal learning. If attendance is below 93%, our school attendance team will work with your family to develop a plan for increased attendance.

• If your child is going to be absent from school, please call the school’s attendance line at 816-321­-5162 by 9:30 a.m. on the day of your child’s absence. If no contact is made by 9:30 a.m., every attempt will be made to reach a parent or emergency contact to verify the reason for the absence to ensure the child’s safety and parent awareness of their child’s whereabouts.

• Parents will need to check students in through the school office if he/she is late to school.

• Keep your child home if he/she complains of severe sore throat or headache, vomiting, or has a temperature of 100 degrees or higher. Be sure that your child’s temperature is less than 100 degrees for 24 hours before returning to school.

• Report absences due to a contagious disease to the school health office so that precautionary measures may be taken for those who may have been exposed. When students are too ill to remain in school, parents will be notified.

• Perfect attendance means a child is present every minute of every day (on time),

regardless of the nature of an absence (i.e. Take your child to work day, verified illnesses, verified family emergencies, out of town). There will be monthly perfect attendance recognition from the office. Students with perfect attendance for the entire year will be recognized in May.

A welcome from the PTA:

The PTA is so excited to welcome families back to Nashua! We will have a table set up in the cafe where families can learn more about how to become a PTA member, volunteer for a PTA position, and order yearbooks and spirit wear. Also, don’t forget that if you ordered a school supply box through the School Tool Box website, those will be available for pick-up in your child's classroom during Back to School Night as well!

PTA Meeting: Join us for the first Nashua PTA meeting of the school year at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10.

We look forward to another amazing school year! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Website: www.nashuapta.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NashuaElementaryPTA

Twitter: twitter.com/nashuapta

PRESIDENT: Danelle Bohan, pta.nashua@gmail.com

VICE PRESIDENT: Rachelle Walker, vp.nashua@gmail.com

SECRETARY: Sarah Anislag, secretary.nashua@gmail.com

TREASURER: Lindsay Bradshaw, treasurer.nashua@gmail.com

View your child’s bus stop information, pick-up and drop-off times in the Parent Portal. Simply log in and click the Transportation tab on the left.

Please note, students should be at their bus stop 10-15 minutes early during the first week of school. It is typical for buses to run late the first week as staff ensure students board the correct bus. Please be at your child's bus stop on time, but understand buses may be running behind. You can track where your child's bus is at all times by downloading the Versa Trans MyStop Bus Tracking App.

After the first week of school, transportation will adjust bus times and locations, if necessary, to help make arrival and dismissal as smooth as possible.

You can download the VersaTrans MyStop bus tracking app from an app store to see information about your student's bus location and arrival time, updated automatically. You can also receive notifications about bus delays and inclement weather changes.

The app is free from your favorite app store. Click here to access the directions to download the app on your apple or android device from the district website.

There is no student supervision before 9am in the morning. Please do not drop your child off by car in front of the building. If your child will arrive at school by car, please follow our drop-off procedure for car riders. If your child is a walker, please ensure that the time they leave home does not have them arriving at school before our doors open. This is critical for student safety, to ensure that they are not waiting unsupervised, and is also important when the weather becomes colder so that students aren’t waiting outside for extended periods of time.

Car Rider Reminders

• Please ensure that your students are prepared to get out of the vehicle before you pull up to stop (ready to get out with backpacks, water bottles, etc.)
• If your child is reluctant to exit the vehicle, or if they are unprepared to exit the vehicle for any reason, please pull forward and to the left side while you resolve the issue, so that the line can continue to progress
• For safety reasons, students should exit the car on the passenger side.
• To avoid your child receiving a tardy and impacting their attendance, please attempt to complete drop-off before 9:12am

Car Rider Procedures

To ensure safety and fair, quick car rider procedures during arrival and dismissal, we ask that all families adhere to the car rider procedure on the map below.

Car riders will access their line from the westbound lane of 114th street by way of McGee street. The NKC buses will access the bus loop by driving eastbound on 114th street.

Thank you so much for your cooperation, as this helps for a smoother dismissal for everyone.