Normandy Park School

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Food Drive last week. We truly appreciate your support! This week, we will have picture day on Tuesday (see below for additional details).

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. I would like to take the time to thank our teachers for their continued hard work, support, and effort this year. We are truly lucky to have such a strong team of caring and supportive educators. Thank you for all that you do! Feel free to send a message to your child's teacher this week to show your appreciation.

Parent Teacher Conferences will continue this week. All conferences will be held virtually.

This week, NPS will host a virtual author visit with author, Daniel Jude Miller. To learn more about him you can visit his website by clicking here!

MSD will continue to share important information on the Coronavirus Update Center and on our MSD Forward pages. Please know that I am here to help and support in any way that I can. Feel free to reach out to me directly at christopher.miller@msdk12.net.

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held virtually over a three week period.

All parent/teacher conferences will be held between April 19th and May 7th.

Your child's teacher will be reaching out to schedule a conference time with you. All conferences will be 20 minutes in length and be conducted virtually. Teachers will provide each family with a completed conference sheet either prior to the meeting or immediately after that will reflect an academic snapshot in the areas of strengths, goals for growth, and ways can provide support at home.

Picture day is this Tuesady, May 4th, 2021. Students attending in-person will have pictures taken during the school day. Students attending virtually will have the opportunity to come in during an assigned time slot between 1:10pm and 3:30pm.

Cleaning and social distancing protocols will be in place. Students will take individual pictures only. Individual pictures will be made into a composite class picture. All-virtual students will have assigned time slots in the afternoon to come in if they choose to.

If you already placed an order for February (original date), you do not need to resubmit. If you have not ordered and wish to do so, please visit https://my.lifetouch.com/

Schedule for Virtual Classrooms:

1:10pm to 1:40pm: Tulli/Escobedo

1:30 to 2pm: Murphy

1:50 to 2:20pm: Smith

2:10pm to 2:40pm" Diana/Parks

2:30 to 3:00pm: Cardona/Giuliano

2:50 to 3:20pm: Toye/Mitevski

This part of the newsletter will have a question or a topic for you to discuss with your child(ren). This can be done on the way to school, on the way to sports practice, before dinner, at bedtime, etc.

Week Twenty Nine:

Parent Reflection: As you know, there are many different family configurations. Some families have a mother/father, some have two moms, some have two dads, some are headed by one parent or by grandparents, and some are formed through adoption. How do you define family? Why do you think you define it the way you do?

Child Question: Do you know anyone with a family that doesn’t look like ours? Can you think of children’s stories or movies that have different types of families? (Some movies: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Finding Nemo. Some books: Madeline, Harry Potter, and Anne of Green Gables)

The 4th Annual NPS Reading Challenge ended last week. We had 85 students submit 1,176 book submissions! Congratulations to all the students who completed the challenge. We will be selecting raffle prize winners and distributing certificates for completion of the challenge in the next week.

The NPS HSA is looking for Board members for the upcoming school year!

Do you want to help shape the events and programs the HSA contributes to the Normandy Park community? Join the HSA Board!

• CO-PRESIDENT
• TREASURER
• VP of COMMUNICATIONS
• CO-CHAIR FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
• COMMUNITY EVENTS & OUTREACH COORDINATOR (NEW FOR ’21- ’22 SCHOOL YEAR!)
• ENLACE HISPANOHABLANTE
• RECORDING SECRETARY

If you are interested in any of these positions, please send an email to NPSHSAPRESIDENT@GMAIL.COM!

We asked and you came through in a BIG way! Thank you NORMANDY PARK families for your amazing food donations. In just 4 days we brought in 452 pounds of food for our community! A big thank you to the many students who made posters, helped bring the food from outside the building to my office, and helped load up my car, which was completely packed. Normandy Park is definitely a community of givers.

Didn’t have a chance to donate but still want to? You can always bring food donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry at 2 Executive Drive, Morris Plains, where they have collection bins outside for non-perishable items (call them if you want to donate anything perishable).

Having your child participate in any community service active is great for building all kinds of skills including compassion and empathy. There are all kinds of ways your child can volunteer, from donating food, clothes or toys, to writing letters to children in the hospital, or veterans.

Here is a site that has some ideas of ways you and your children can volunteer:

https://www.njfamily.com/nj-places-you-can-volunteer-with-kids/

Stay awesome!

Ms. Cohen

973-889-7960 x6115

My child has to quarantine. Can they stream into class?

For students attending in person classes, access to virtual instruction is for absences over an extended period of time due to quarantining or an extenuating circumstance. In this case, access to virtual instruction will consist of a combination of streaming, completion of Google Classroom activities, and teacher check-in(s).

My child is sick. Can they stream into the class?

No, if your child is home sick for a few days they will be considered to have an excused absence due to illness. Students are encouraged to rest.

*Please note, access to virtual instruction for in-person students needs to be approved by the principal and/or nurse. Please reach out to me with any additional questions at christopher.miller@msdk12.net

Please continue to follow the precise stipulations of the Daily Student Screening or COVID/Attendance Screener for staff. Above all, individuals should not report to school if they exhibit symptoms (which include fever of 100 degrees F or higher WITHOUT fever-reducing medicine), or if any member of the household is awaiting test results or has been instructed to get a COVID-19 test. Thank you for your ongoing vigilance and partnership.

Anyone who returns to NJ from travel outside our immediate region (CT, DE, NY, PA) must quarantine. Families are reminded to contact the school nurse (marybeth.supple@msdk12.net) upon return from travel for instructions and quarantine dates. We appreciate your cooperation and open communication regarding travel and quarantine so that we can ensure a safe environment for our students and staff.

New Parameters for Quarantine in Grades 3-5. We have made the following adjustments to our COVID response protocols for students and staff in grades 3-5, consistent with current practice at FMS and MHS:

• Beginning April 19, we will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a positive case in the classroom has resulted in true close contacts that meet the CDC definition of exposure (within 6 feet of the positive case for at least 15 minutes' cumulative time over a 24-hour period).
• These true close contacts, as well as the positive individual, will continue to follow the 14-day quarantine at home.
• Anyone else in the class who does not meet the definition of close contact may remain in school.
• At this time, this adjustment applies only to students and staff in grades 3-12.
• Determining true close contacts on buses with certainty is a greater challenge, but whenever we are able to do so, we will follow the above protocols on buses as well.

Grab & Go meals will be available for all students, who wish to receive them. The Federal Department of Agriculture has extended waivers that will allow MSD to serve ALL students meals for FREE through June 2021.

REMINDER: Students who are not attending school in person can pick up free breakfast and lunch at Morristown High School (at the rear circle by the flagpole off of Atno Avenue) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There will be two service times, from 8:00 am to 9:00 am and again from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.

More information about School Breakfast & Lunch is available on the MSD Forward homepage under "Back to School Resources for Families."

• If there are changes in your child's dismissal plans (e.g. you are going to pick them up that day, instead of taking the bus), please use the attached form or call the main office.
• For written communication between you and your child's teacher, please utilize Class Dojo and/or e-mail, rather than hand-written letters (when possible).

• May 4th: Picture Day
• May 14th: Number Drummer Virtual Assembly
• June 8th and June 9th: Field Day (K-2) and (3-5)
• June 10th and June 11th: Moving Up Ceremony for 5th Grade