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Greetings Northside Families,

The school year is certainly flying by and while Jimmy the Groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter, I suppose I’ll take it if the days between the big snowstorms continue to be in the 40s and above.

March is women’s history month and while I was reading up on some resources we will use to celebrate at Northside, I fell in love with this quote…

"History is only as complete as the stories we teach, share, and learn. Women’s history is exciting and inspiring and empowering, and by including women’s voices and women’s stories, we’re telling a more inclusive, representative, and accurate history,"

-Jennifer Herrera, vice president of external affairs at the National Women's History Museum

The word “women” could really be exchanged for any one of the marginalized populations in the U.S. This month just happens to be the one when we are looking to share the stories of how women have impacted the growth of this nation. If you’d like to dig into this yourself, here’s the article (with links to 5 free online resources) where you can grow your own knowledge.

The other thing I’d like to shine a light on is that the weeks leading up to spring break can sometimes get a little long for students. Kids start to rub each other the wrong way, attitudes can drop a bit. That’s all normal… or at least has been for the last 18 years I’ve been in education :-)

If you want some great questions to ask your children about their daily learning, try…

1. What was the best thing that happened to you today?
2. What is something kind that you did today for someone else?
3. What have you been noticing that you are getting better at?
4. What skill are you really working hard on?
5. What were you most proud of today?

Focusing on the positive is not just a strategy for students, but also adults. If we all asked ourselves these questions at the end of the day, would we look back on our days with a different perspective? Identifying the positive moments of our day is a small step in the right direction for our own mental health. After all, if we don’t care for ourselves first we won’t have anything left to give others.

Cheers to an empowering month ahead!

Mrs. Jillian Block - Principal

Mrs. Stacey Starke - Interim Associate Principal

Dear Sun Prairie Staff and Families,

The winter has not proved to be kind to our school schedules. We are developing a plan to make up for the lost minutes due to inclement weather beyond the three days built into our school calendar every year. Our planning process for the make-up of instructional minutes will consider the following factors.

• Avoiding the addition of minutes to the last day of school due to the Graduation Ceremony that evening
• Avoiding the addition of days post-graduation and into the week of June 12.

__________________

5 Year Old Kindergarten through Grade 5 Adjustments

Beginning Monday, March 6, we will start elementary school four minutes earlier. The new elementary school day will be as follows:

Elementary School - 7:36 am to 2:40 pm (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) and 7:36 am to 1:30 pm (Thursday)

Our buses currently arrive early enough at the elementary level, so your bus times will remain the same.

___________________

4 Year Old Kindergarten Adjustments

Beginning Monday, March 6, minutes will be added to the 4K school day to ensure compliance with the required hours of instruction.

For 4K AM classes, four minutes will be added to the beginning of class, and two minutes will be added at the end of class. The new 4K AM times will be as follows:

Elementary School Sites - 7:36 am to 10:25 am

Bus times to school will remain the same for students at Creekside,

Northside and Token Springs.

Community Partner Sites - 7:46 am to 10:35 am

Bus times to school will be 5 minutes earlier for all other 4K locations.

For 4K PM classes, four minutes will be added at the beginning of class. The new 4K PM times will be as follows:

Elementary School Sites - 11:35 am to 2:40 pm (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) and 11:35 am to 1:30 pm (Thursday)

Bus times to school will be 5 minutes earlier for all 4K locations.

Community Partner Sites - 11:25 am to 2:30 pm (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)

11:25 am to 1:20 pm (Thursday)

Bus times to school will be 5 minutes earlier for all 4K locations.

______________________

Other plans for making up the lost instructional time due to inclement weather will be developed with principals and staff over the next few weeks and communicated as soon as we have it solidified.

The decision to cancel school is never taken lightly. Many factors are weighed as a part of the decision-making process. Please watch this video from Superintendent Saron about the complexities of this decision. We will be in touch in the coming weeks with a plan.

Timestamps:

00:54 - State law & the District’s calendar

02:34 - How does the District decide to cancel school for winter weather?

07:58 - Frequently asked questions

14:11 - Where do we go from here?

*Please note that a mailed publication was sent to all homes in the last few days. That newsletter lists dates that will change due to the weather plan.

Have a great week!

• March 6, Monday, New School Start time at Northside is 7:36am
• March 7 & 8, Tuesday/Wednesday, Cassoulet https://mealsbycassoulet.com/ Community Giveback Event (A portion of the cost of your order will be donated back to Northside.)
• March 9, Thursday, 6-7 PM at Sunshine Supper (1632 W. Main Street)A Conversation About Getting Connected to Mental Health Resources
  
• March 10, Friday, 6-8pm (Doors open at 5:30pm), Family Movie Night at Northside
• March 12, Sunday, Daylight Saving Time, Spring Ahead One Hour
• March 13 - 17, Northside Dress Up Days
• March 14, Tuesday, 6:30-7:30pm, SCONES Meeting
• March 20-24, Spring Break, No School
• April 3-28th, Northside Forward Testing
• April 6, Thursday, End of 3rd Quarter
• April 6, Thursday, 6-7:30pm, Snuggle up and Read
• April 7, Friday, No School, Staff Professional Development
• April 11, Tuesday, SCONES Meeting

Report cards for the previous semester were made available in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal on Monday, January 30th. Attached are English directions and Spanish Directions on how to access the report cards in case you haven't done that yet. Please contact your student's teacher if you would like to discuss their report card further.

If you need help accessing your Parent Portal, please contact either Kris Wendorf at kkwendo@sunprairieschools.org or 608-834-6546; or Caprise Waak at crwaak@sunprairieschools.org or 608-834-6571.

Mid-year is a good time to remind our parents/caregivers about some missteps we are noticing with drop-off and pick-up. Please read the following information carefully and thank you in advance for ensuring that drop-off and pick-up is a time when all students and families are as safe as possible!

1. Drop-off should happen between 7:30-7:40am. We have a really regular wave of late students every day. Arriving late means your student is missing important elements of their school day. Please get your children to school on time. Also, if your child is arriving at or after 7:45am, you need to bring them to the front office (Door 1). Our staff opening doors to let students inside each morning leave their duty positions at 7:45am.
2. There are families making U-turns on Klubertanz and that's cutting into the oncoming lane of traffic. EEK! This looks like a nightmare waiting to happen. Please take roads to Northside to ensure you can join the parent drop-off/pick-up lane going the correct way. After you have dropped-off or picked-up your child, please continue down the street and take roads back to your house that don't include you turning around on Klubertanz. Yes, it may increase your commute time, but it will also increase our ability to ensure a safe process for everyone.
3. In the main parking lot you are only allowed to drop-off or pick-up your child from the lane of traffic that is closest to the school. You should never be stopping your car in the left hand lane to let your child out. This is extremely unsafe. Yes, sometimes you will need to wait in a line for a few minutes until it is your turn to drop your child(ren) off, but safety needs to be everyone's priority. Northside actually has one of the shortest drop-off/pick-up lines I've seen in the district, which means caregivers here wait less time in lines than families at other schools. We should consider ourselves very fortunate to have two places where students can be dropped-off/picked-up.

The Forward Exam is administered online in the Spring of each school year at grades 3-8. Northside will be testing between Monday, April 3rd and Friday, April 28th. We will send a specific testing schedule out soon to just 3rd-5th grade families so they know when their children will assess (typically one test per day), but here are the tests that each grade will be completing...

3rd

• Math - Session 1 (45 min), Session 2 (45 min)
  
• ELA - Session 1: Writing Prompt (40-60 min), Session 2: Writing/Language (20 min), Session 3: Listening (20 min), Session 4: Reading (50 min)
  

4th

• Math - Session 1 (45 min), Session 2 (45 min)
  
• ELA - Session 1: Writing Prompt (40-60 min), Session 2: Writing/Language (20 min), Session 3: Listening (20 min), Session 4: Reading (50 min)
  
• Science - Session 1 (35 min), Session 2 (35 min), Session 3 (35 min)
  
• Social Studies - Session 1 (35 min), Session 2 (35 min)
  

5th

• Math - Session 1 (45 min), Session 2 (45 min)
  
• ELA - Session 1: Writing Prompt (40-60 min), Session 2: Writing/Language (20 min), Session 3: Listening (20 min), Session 4: Reading (50 min)
  

As you can see from the test sessions above, the assessment is pretty intense. Please help your child be well rested on the days they will test and encourage them to take the test seriously and do the best they can!

The Wisconsin Forward Exam is intended to show how well students are doing in relation to Core Academic Standards for their grade level and compare their achievement to other schools in the state. Please note that your scholar’s performance on this assessment will not affect any of their current grades or academic standing. Results from the Forward Exam will be available in the Fall.

If you have any questions about the Forward Exam, please reach out to Mrs. Block at 608-834-7101 or jeblock@sunprairieschools.org.

Hello Northside Families! Please read on for a few updates from Ms. Nieft in the Library and Makerspace:

• Makerspace/Lab Lessons: During the month of March, Northside Makers will experience this year's award-winners during our March Book Madness Bracket! We will read and enjoy several of the books on the following list - 2023 ALA Book Award Winners - and vote on our favorites. Third through Fifth graders will also learn about the tech tools needed to take the Wisconsin Forward Exam.
• Nellie's Network: Don't forget to check out Nellie's Network on the Northside Facebook page. In March, we will welcome our Kindergarten anchors! Keep a lookout for new commercials by our 5th grade Nellie's Network Club.

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

3rd-5th graders will participate in our rollerblading unit starting on March 6 and go until spring break. We may do a couple of days after spring break. Students are encouraged to bring in helmets and safety gear, but no rollerblades/skates. Look for an email/letter to come home with some more information.

We just finished our jump roping unit and the students worked so hard and did an amazing job! Here is our jump rope ninja game in case students want to play at home.

This summer Mr. LaFleur will be teaching Rise and Shine Yoga for 1st and 2nd grades at NS for summer school! Sign up if you want to have fun. We will do Yoga and other fun activities like speed stacking and fun activities we do in PE.

Follow on Twitter @PeNorthside to see what other cool things our NS students are doing!

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) News

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 taught by their classroom teacher and Guidance lessons taught by Ms. Feltz, School Counselor.

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

Ms. Feltz is Teaching Size of the Problem/Size of the Reaction in Guidance!

Students are learning that no matter what the size, problems are a normal part of life. We are digging in to figure out the size of our problem (small, medium, or big) and then finding a solution that matches the size of the problem. Can you solve it yourself (small problem) or do you need help/support from an adult(s) (medium or big problem)?

Small - someone budged us in line, losing a game, or you can’t find your pencil.

Medium - feeling sick, you didn’t hear the directions for the assignment, or you forgot your lunch at home.

Big - Your house is on fire, a family member is in the hospital, or you are being bullied.

Hello Families / Caregivers,

Northside events to look forward to:

• Family Movie Night: Friday, March 10th from 6:00-8:00 PM. Doors will open at 5:30 so you can get your popcorn and do an SCO activity. We will be watching Puss In Boots and enjoying popcorn in the LGI/Cafeteria (depending on number of responses). Come join us for the fun! Sign up is open and flyers will go home this week.

• Snuggle Up and Read: Thursday, April 6th from 6:00-7:30 PM. We are excited to have this fun event back this year! We are planning a super fun night of literacy and family time. Stay tuned for more details!

Community Events to check out:

• A Conversation About Getting Connected to Mental Health Resources: March 9th from 6:00-7:00 PM at Sunshine Supper (1632 W. Main Street). You will hear from the Behavioral Health Resource Center and Journey Mental Health. You will learn how to get connected to mental health resources in our community and beyond.

Winterfest has been canceled indefinitely due to our crazy, winter weather. Stay tuned for more information about spring and summer events that we will host for Northside families in partnership with the Park and Rec Department!

We launched a huge caregiver volunteer program in February. There are opportunities to volunteer in classrooms, the library and on the playground. We are so excited to have caregivers in the school in an impactful way! Sign up here if you are interested!

REMINDER: the community room at Northside, Room 109 has laptop computers for anyone to access at any time. If you need to work on summer school registration, explore infinite campus, do some job searching or for any reason at all, those and the space are available to all caregivers at any time.

Please contact Stacey Christenson for access or more information.

Hi all, Albert Chen here for SCONES

Big things coming in the next few months.

First off, the group made up of people representing all of the district's elementary schools (Parent Leadership Council) will begin presenting plans for how the SCO (school community organization) created experience can become more consistent across all of our nine elementary schools. Starting in March, we'll hear proposals first on educator appreciation and shared student experiences (activities, field trips, clubs, things like that) and in April we'll hear proposals on sharing resources among the schools and assessing community needs. We'll be able to submit feedback in between on everything, and the goal is to have some decisions made in May so that we can start putting some ideas into practice in the coming school year.

Next up we have SCONES board elections coming up in April. My two year term as president will be coming to an end and I'll be moving into the past president advisory position on the new board. In addition, the one year terms for vice president and secretary will be up as well, so if you're interested in any of these, just get your name in by our April meeting. (April 11th).

Finally some upcoming events for you to get on the calendar as well

March 7th and 8th

Cassoulet https://mealsbycassoulet.com/ Community Giveback Event

No mess, no work and no dishes: if that sounds good to you, you will find homemade, all in one freezer meals to help you through your busiest of days at Cassoulet.

Order on March 7th or 8th and they'll donate a portion back to Northside.

March 10th 6:00pm-8:00pm (Doors open at 5:30pm)

Northside Movie Night

Free popcorn and a movie with your community? Yes, am I right?

March 14th 6:30pm-7:30pm

SCONES Meeting

Getting ready for year end party and fifth grade recognition. The end nears... in a fun way!

April 6th

Reading Night

April 11th

SCONES Meeting

Stay tuned for more details. Till next month!

• Enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year will be open on February 1st! New students to SPASD are able to enroll online HERE after February 1. The 2023-24 Academic Calendar can be viewed HERE.
• Please note that as a SPASD 4K student, your child is already enrolled in kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year. Your kindergarten enrollment is based on the address we currently have on file for 4K. If you have moved during the 2022-2023 school year please make sure that the 4K office has your new address! If you have any questions or need to share a new address call the 4K office 834-6672
• 4K Registration Follow the two-step enrollment process HERE to register your child for 4K. Northside does have a 4K program so we’d love to have your child join us as a Nighthawk, but all of the sites are great so register today! Please contact the SP4K office at (608)834-6672 with any questions.

Attendance:

Research indicates that regular attendance at school greatly impacts academic success starting as early as preschool and continuing through the high school years. At times, the number of days that a student is absent accumulates without caregivers realizing how many days have been missed. We appreciate your support as we strive toward the common goal of maintaining a strong and positive attendance record for your student.

There will be times that a student does need to stay home or has an appointment. Please call us at 608-834-7100 and press 1, to report a student absence. You may also call Mrs. Rusch directly at 608-834-7102. If you email your student's teacher, please include ckrusch@sunprairieschools.org.

Safe Arrival Calls:

If we don’t hear from you by 8:15am, we will contact you at home or work. We want to make certain of every child’s safe arrival. Please be sure your contact numbers stay up to date.

Please leave a short message with the following information:

· Child’s name

· Teacher’s Name or Grade

· Reason for Absence

· Who is calling