The Colt Communicator

Dear NBS Families,

Happy December! As we embrace this wonderful time of year, we are filled with excitement and gratitude for the joy and growth your children bring to our school community.

Please read below about what’s happening at North Barrington in the coming weeks.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Lisa West, Mrs. Kalin Lomas, and Mrs. Lisa Neyfeldt

REMINDERS:

Parent Drop off After 8:00 am: As you are aware, we are making strides in improving our attendance at NBS. A vital part of this is punctuality. Our second bell rings promptly at 8:00 am, and your child must be in their classroom to be considered on time. If you arrive at or after 8:00 am, please park your car, escort your child or children into the office, and sign them in. They will then receive a welcome pass and be directed to their class. Please remember, it is not safe to drop your child off at the curb or front door at or after 8:00 am and leave them unsupervised. Rest assured, we have measures in place to ensure their safety. We appreciate your understanding and support in this matter!

MEDICAL/DENTAL EXCUSAL:

If your child leaves school for a medical/dental appointment an excuse note from the healthcare provider is required for the absence to be excused. Please return the note to the building office staff following the appointment. Thank you!

ATTENTION TO ATTENDANCE:

Please click here for D220's Attendance Procedures.

LOST & FOUND:

The lost & found racks are over-flowing!! Please encourage your child(ren) to check for missing belongings. Parents are also welcome to come in a check the racks.

***ALL UNCLAIMED ITEMS WILL BE DONATED DURING WINTER BREAK***

Please note that you can reach Dr. West, Principal, at lwest@barrington220.org, Mrs. Jirasek, Assistant Principal/TOSA, at sjirasek@barrington220.org, Mrs. Kalin Lomas, co-PTO president, at kalin413@gmail.com, and Lisa Neyfeldt, co-PTO president, at lneyfeldt03@gmail.com. We would love to connect with you! Our joint newsletter will be distributed through Infinite Campus on Fridays at 3:00 pm.

Social Media:

Instagram: northbarringtonpto

Facebook: North Barrington School PTO (run by the PTO) & North Barrington Elementary School (run by the school)

Twitter: @NBSPTO (run by the PTO), @NBES220 (run by the school) & @law281 (Dr. Wests’ account)

Come to our annual holiday PTO brunch! Join school administration and PTO board members for a fun and casual meetup at Brunch Cafe in Fox River Grove. We’ll see you at 9am on Wednesday, December 18. All NBS parents are invited! Please use the link to RSVP so we can make the appropriate reservation. https://www.evite.com/event/036BSVDXQDOTDMBQKEPPWEMZBOQJBY

And if you’d like to take part in an ornament exchange, bring one to share.

We’re so excited for the 2024 NBS Holiday Boutique! We’ll have a preview day on 12/9 during lunch, then colts will get to shop with their classes on 12/10 and 12/11. On 12/12 we’ll have one last chance to shop during lunch time. Please see our price list full of our wonderfully curated holiday gifting items that are sure to please everyone on your colts’ lists! To volunteer to help shop and celebrate the season see the SUG link and QR code.

We will have outdoor recess unless the "feels like" temperature is below 0 degrees. To keep students as warm and dry as possible, children should have snow pants, a warm coat, hat, gloves/mittens, and snow boots. When there is snow on the ground, students without snow pants and boots must remain on the blacktop. Ensuring students wear proper winter clothing items will support the fun they have at recess on amazing playground and sled hill when there's snow.

As we head into winter, we would like to remind families of Barrington 220’s inclement weather protocol. In the event of inclement weather, the Superintendent of Schools will implement one of the following three scenarios:

School Canceled

All school buildings will be closed and students will make up the inclement weather day at the end of the school year.

Early Dismissal

There may be some rare occasions where it will be necessary to dismiss school early. On these days, middle and high schools will dismiss first. Elementary school students will be released at their regular dismissal time.

eLearning

All school buildings will be closed, however students and staff will complete the school day from home. This would eliminate the need to make up days at the end of the school year. Teachers will check their usual electronic communication methods throughout the day during regular school hours, to support students.

Barrington Children's Charities hosts Packs of Plenty (POP) every Thursday at Sunny Hill Elementary School, and we’re looking for NBS parents to help!

What do you do? Show up at Sunny Hill from 9:00-9:45am on a Thursday and join several other Barrington community members to pack food bags for students from under-resourced homes in Barrington. After packing food, one NBS volunteer drives the food to the front office at NBS so food can be passed out to students for the weekend.

It’s a great way to meet others and help kids in our community! Grab a friend and choose a day or to show up!

If you would like to sign-up to be a NBS volunteer, sign up HERE. If you have any questions or would like to be a permanent NBS volunteer for this program, please contact Ashley Samz at AshleySamzPTO@gmail.com or (847) 644-9163 (call/text).

The lost & found racks are overflowing! Please encourage your student to peruse the racks for possible missing items. We highly recommend writing your student's name on their items whenever possible. Parents are also welcome to come in and check the racks.

*** UNCLAIMED ITEMS WILL BE DONATED DURING WINTER BREAK ****

ALLERGIES:

At North Barrington, we continually focus on safety. Part of those safety procedures is allergy awareness. We want to begin the year by reminding all our families that sending group snacks or lunches to the classroom is not allowed. This includes birthday treats, trinkets, balloons, and candy.

Children can bring individual snacks to eat during their snack time and their classroom teacher will share information with you about snack. Sharing any extra foods is not part of our approved procedures and is a safety risk to our friends who have an allergy. If there is a Colt Pride celebration, teachers will work with administration and the school nurse and access the approved food list as well as notify families of students with allergies. Please do not bring or send snacks for the entire class.

PARTIES:

Our parties will have food from the approved list, and the room coordinators will work with the administration, classroom teachers, and the PTO to ensure safety.

NBS will have two parties and end-of-year events.

Our first party is on October 31, 2024, from 1:30 - 2:30, with dismissal at 2:40.

We will also have a Kindness (Valentine) Party this year. Based on input from our families and staff, we are switching to February from December. This change will give students more opportunity to celebrate with their classmates due to any possible travel during December.

Our February Kindness party will be on Thursday, February 13th from 1:30 to 2:30.

More information about our parties will be shared with Room Coordinators.