New Groningen News

A special thank you to Countryside Greenhouse and Distinctive Group Inc. for generously supporting New Groningen students for the 2024/2025 school year!

If you know a business owner or are a business owner and would like to support our school this year, please see the flyer below on how you can do that!

Girls On the Run Registration Opens: Dec. 1

School Resumes: December 2

Zeeland High School Dance Performance Trip (3rd-5th graders): December 5

Donation for a Popsicle Day: December 6 (suggested donation $.25 turned into teacher)

Pizza Hut Fundraiser: Dec. 10, 4p-7p

5th Grade Chicago Trip: December 12

Early Release/Staff PD: December 13

Urban Air School Spirit Night: December 13, 4p-7p (more info to come soon)

Read Read As Much As You Can Night: December 19, 6pm-7:30pm

Holiday Break: December 21-January 5

School Resumes: January 6

We are bringing back our NG Christmas Reading Night, but we NEED our families help to get us ready! Please consider donating items or coming in to help decorate using the Sign Up Genius Link below!

Girls On the Run is just around the corner! Practices will begin in a few months under the coaching of Miss Weighmink and Miss Shipps soon! Registration begins on Sunday, December 1. More details to come in the near future!

Grab up some friends and head to URBAN AIR on Friday, Dec. 13 (4-7pm) for an awesome SPIRIT NIGHT! Urban Air will give back 20% of the proceeds for the evening and your kids get their wiggles out!

November 27th-December 4

CONGRATULATIONS!

Kindergarten & Young 5's

Mack

Karsen W

Ethan

Lucy

1st Grade

Ellery

Faye

Savannah

2nd Grade

Beau

Amelia

Ella

Ella

CONGRATULATIONS!

3rd Grade

Mya

Stella

Calvyn

Mateo

4th Grade

Asher

Hudson

Walker

5th Grade

Angel

Tate

Braelynn

Ann

Congratulations to Mrs. Zimmer for being our super star staff ticket winner!

Our Zeeland Girls Swim and Dive Team competed at STATE at the Holland Aquatic Center on Friday and Saturday and finished 5th overall! Additionally, junior Madison Ensing won TWO individual events! RESULTS.

The following student-athletes were named all-STATE:

• 200 yard relay - Natalie Lauritzen, Ariyah Gettings, Madison Ensing and Mallory Ensing - 4th

• 50 yard freestyle - Madison Ensing -champion!

• 100 yard freestyle - Madison Ensing - champion!

• 100 yard backstroke - Ariyah Gettings - 4th

• 400 yard freestyle relay - Madison Ensing, Molly Meyering, Anna VanDyken and Natalie Lauritzen - 4th

Football State Finals at Ford Field Info:

Let's Go DUX!!!

With their win over Dewitt on Saturday, the Zeeland West football team advances to the MHSAA State Finals at Ford Field in Detroit! On Saturday, November 30 at 12:30 pm, Zeeland West will take on Detroit Martin Luther King in the Division 3 final. Below are details surrounding the game.

Tickets:

Tickets for the game are $20.00 and can be purchased online at the following link: Purchase Tickets. They can also be purchased on-site with cash or a card. Tickets are good for the entire day and are general admission. No re-entry is allowed. If you leave, you will have to purchase new tickets. Ages two and under are free. https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/08006165D18B2A20

Game Schedule:

The full schedule of games for Saturday is as follows:

9:30 a.m. - Division 7 - Monroe St. Mary CC (13-0) vs Millington (12-0)

12:30 p.m - Division 3 - Zeeland West (12-1) vs Detroit Martin Luther King (10-3)

4:00 p.m. - Division 5 - Frankenmuth (13-0) vs Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (11-1)

7:00 p.m. - Division 1 - Hudsonville (12-1) vs Detroit Cass Tech (11-2)

Seating:

Zeeland West will be the home team on the Detroit Lions sideline. Our spectators will be able to sit in sections 104-108 during our game. Tickets are general admission. The closest entrances are through Gate A and Gate G. Spectators who arrive prior to our game are asked to sit in the end zones to allow for ease of crowd transition between games.

The Swamp will sit in section 103, with the band next to them in section 102.

Parking: Parking is available in Ford Field lots for $8.00.

Cashless Venue: Ford Field is a cashless venue. There are cash-to-card machines located inside Gate A and Gate G. There is a $5.00 minimum per transaction.

Prohibited Items:

Food, drink, and noisemakers are not allowed to be brought into Ford Field. A complete list of prohibited items is available here: https://www.fordfield.com/.../2024-Football-Fianls... Bags must meet the requirements listed at the following link: https://www.fordfield.com/plan-your-visit/bag-policy... Diaper bags ARE allowed, as long as you have a child with you who obviously needs a diaper bag.

ZPS is committed to providing a safe environment for our children to learn. This year, we are also introducing a new visitor/volunteer sign-in program called Raptor. This new system will help us accurately and efficiently screen all visitors and volunteers in our schools, providing us with a safer environment for our students and staff.

Below is the information regarding our new security system, including what is needed from you to complete a background check and what to look forward to when coming to volunteer in a classroom or chaperone a field trip! We are excited about the new system and the updated level of security. Please note that if you do not complete the background check form (linked below) at least 3 days before an event at New Groningen, you will be turned away. In addition, if you do not have your state issued ID upon arrival for the event, you will be turned away. We do not have the capacity to run emergency background checks like we did in the past and the only way to sign into the system is with your state issued ID. We do not want any sad kids because mom, dad, grandma, uncle, etc. could not attend the event they were hoping to, so PLEASE fill the form out IMMEDIATELY, do not wait! Please read ALL of the information below before clicking on the background check link!

Complete the form from the link below (this will be a ONE TIME A YEAR form to fill out; no username and no password needed!). The information you enter on the application must match your government-issued identification card including your full legal name.

https://docs.google.com/forms/ d/1pA5N5xzvUL7QweO1C_ kceWP2kCrsEZaC4-jrW_PWE3s/ edit?ts=66c75165

On the day of your volunteer opportunity, you will need to bring a government-issued ID and scan it into the Raptor Visitor system prior to entry (this is EVERY TIME YOU come to volunteer).

If you'd like more information or have any questions, please check out the FAQ document:

Here is a link to our visitor/volunteer policy and a FAQ document

Thank you for your willingness to support the students in our schools and help maintain a safe learning environment.

Zeeland Rec has a handful of upcoming programs that you don't want to miss! Below are some highlights. Visit THEIR WEBSITE to view more details and to register!

The state approved their budget and that also included free breakfast and lunch to all students regarding their families' economic status again for the 24/25 year! Beginning July 1, 2024, it will be important that ALL families apply for free breakfast and lunch, regardless of your household economic status and regardless of the state approval already. The information that is gained from this application is crucial in the many grants that directly help ZPS outside of the food service area.

To fill out the food service application (please fill this out regardless of economic status and/or the new budget approval):

SCAN the QR code in the image to the right, OR

Click on the FOOD SERVICE link HERE!

CLICK REGISTER to go to the food portal (if you did not register for the 23/24 year) OR sign in!

Once you are registered in the new system, you can click on the BENEFITS button and will be walked through what to do to determine if you qualify for free or reduced meals!

Please feel free to email Food Service with any questions you might have; they are more than happy to help!

The NGFA is excited for another school year. Here's a little about the NGFA and the amazing things they help put together in order to support NG!

The NGFA is proud to help support our school, many fun activities, field trips and events for New Groningen Elementary free of charge for our families. We hold meetings throughout the year that will be announced in the upcoming weeks, have many fun events and activities planned, fundraisers and there will be many volunteer opportunities as well.

You can join our Facebook group “New Groningen Family Association - NGFA” to stay up to date with NG happenings.

We hope you all had a fun, safe long weekend and look forward to working with you all this year! If you have questions throughout the year you can contact us at ngfainfo@gmail.com.

Kristin Hunderman, President

Nicole Orazem, VP

Meghan Trowbridge, Treasurer

Randi Alferink, Secretary

School-wide: Mrs. Rindfliesch will send New Groningen News to all families via email on Fridays (sometimes earlier depending on holiday breaks)!

Classroom: Each classroom has their own classroom communication site or newsletter and that will be communicated to each family by your child's teacher!

District-wide: ZPS sends emails in the form of Z For Me (click HERE to sign up to receive these emails), uses Facebook (ZPS: Learning for Life), Instagram and Twitter. In addition, you can opt into our district-wide School Messenger, which delivers a text message to your phone to notify you of school closings, safety alerts and more! All you need to do is TEXT "Y" to 67587 to opt in (see flyer below for more information).

Other NG Resources:

• NG Page on ZPS Website

• Facebook: You can also find information from the NG Family Association on our NGFA Facebook page located at New Groningen Family Association - NFGA if you search for us on Facebook. This is ONLY a place parent engagement and sharing. This is NOT where we store information or publish information that must get to parents.

In ZPS, we believe that reading is foundational to the success of our students. Throughout each week, students are regularly provided with opportunities to read independently. Classroom teachers and library staff work hard to provide high-quality, engaging, and relevant texts for students. We respect each parent’s right to provide input on what books would be appropriate for their own child. For more information on this topic, please read this letter to the community.

Please use this PDF in order to get instructions and a code to set up your Parent Portal (access to grades, bussing information, etc.)! Parent Portal, while not used to it's fullest for elementary students, it will become a regular resource to you as your learner moves into middle and high school. As for elementary students, Parent Portal is a great resource to look up bus information and track attendance, too.

If you do not have portal set up, please feel free to set one up!

If your child will need ANY medications given to them during the school year, the correct MEDICAL FORM must be FILLED OUT AND SIGNED by your child's doctor BEFORE we can begin to give meds. Please see Mrs. Boeve or Mrs. Keeler in the main office prior to school starting in order to have medication ready for August. 28!