NEW GRONINGEN NEWS

5th Grade Student Visit to Creekside: Feb. 28, 9:15a-11a

Early Release (ECC, Y5-5th only): Feb. 29 & Mar. 1

National School Social Worker Week: Mar. 4-8

5th grade Student Visit to Cityside: Mar. 6, 12:30p-2p

NGFA General Meeting, 1pm: Mar. 7

Donuts With Dudes: Mar. 13, 14, 15 (info coming soon)

Popcorn Friday: Mar. 15

Applebees Restaurant Night: Mar. 19, 4pm-9pm

Early Release (all levels)/Staff PLC: Mar. 22

4th Grade trip to Lansing: Mar. 27

Spring Break: Mar. 29-April 5

Please see the email that went to Bus #42 families in regards to a change to their drop off time at the end of the day!

Dear families,

Due to our continued driver shortage, we need to adjust bus routes in order to safely transport all students to and from school. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility. This latest change will have an impact on your student’s bus ride. Until we are able to find a regular driver for bus #42, we will need to consolidate this route. Here is how this change will impact the elementary students on bus #42:

MORNING ROUTE: The only change to your morning bus route will be that you will now be picked up by bus #47. Mr. Keith is the driver and he currently drives the MS/HS route in your neighborhood. Bus times will remain the same.

AFTERNOON ROUTE: Bus #47 will drop off his existing elementary students and will then head to NGR to pick up your students. Students will be held at the school and supervised by NGR staff until this “late” bus arrives at approximately 4:00 p.m. The PM route will stay the same, just drop off times will be approximately 20-25 minutes later than normal.

This change will go into effect Monday, March 4, 2024. It is our strong desire to hire new drivers this spring so they are trained and ready to drive by Fall, 2024. At this time, we anticipate that this change will stay in effect until the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

Thank you for your partnership and understanding in this matter. We certainly apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and please know we continue to be on the lookout for great individuals to join our team - if you or someone you know is looking for a career change, have them call our office to inquire about our open bus driving positions. If you have any other questions do not hesitate to call or email our office. Have a great day!

• Reminder - please be waiting at your assigned bus stop time 5 minutes before your new scheduled bus stop time.

• School staff and drivers will assist students in finding the correct shuttle bus for students who need to catch a ride to a different school.

Aaron Nienhuis

Director of Transportation

ZKids Summer Camp Registration will take place Feb 1 online

ZKids 24/25 B & A School Registration will take place March 14 online

Families can contact me via email ckraker@zps.org or phone 616 748-4711. Information will be on the ZKids website as well. This will contain the registration link too.

Each week our learners are earning tickets for showing excellent understanding of our expectations at New Groningen. They show us by following expectation in the hallway, bathrooms, classrooms, specials classes, on the playground, etc.. They earn individual tickets from ANY adult in the building, place them in a "ticket" tub in their classroom and each week those tickets are turned into the office. We draw a ticket from each class to come down to pick out a prize and have their picture taken! Students can be drawn multiple times in a year, we had three students this week who have been AiE STARS in past weeks! The more tickets you earn, weekly (students are not to keep them week to week), the better chances of having your name drawn!

Congratulations to the following AiE STARS!

Young 5's and Kindergarten

Jerome

Rowen

Claire

Hendrik

1st Grade

Amelia

Harrison

Salene

Haylee

2nd Grade

Scarlet

Dewey

Korey

Edwin

3rd Grade

Livia

Ava

Ryan

Hannah

4th Grade

Lelyn

Madi

Kase

Reese

5th Grade

Mialy

Lilli

Carlie

Louis

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 many 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.

General Meetings

March 7 @ 1:00pm

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

If you have questions throughout the year you can contact us at ngfainfo@gmail.com.

Martha Menerick, President

Nicole Orazem, VP

Amy Nash, Treasurer

Kristin Hunderman, Secretary

Leslie Rindfliesch, NG Principal

Ever wondering how to treat your child's teacher for going above & beyond, for being awesome, for working hard or just because? No worries! Please check out our All the Little Things I LOVE document! (while we all love a little surprise, treats and gifts are not mandatory)

Come on out to hear more about Creekside on March 7! There will be two identical sessions offered for parents (5:30pm & 6:30pm, both in the gymnasium)! This meeting will be for our english and spanish immersion 5th grade families!

For those NG 5th grade families interested in Cityside for middle school, please join us for our information night on April 15 at 6pm.

MARCH into ‘Music in the Schools Month’ with the ZPS Orchestra’s 13th annual Jukebox Jingles on March 1. This year’s theme is “World on a String”; orchestra students are performing music that reflect cultures or environments from around the world from 6:30 - 8:15pm. The Cityside Middle School doors open at 6:15pm for pizza, a hotdog meal or a ‘walk about’. Purchase baked goods & raffle tickets. Win a gift basket? Display your artistic talent in the Coloring Contest. ALL AGES are WELCOME! Visit zpsarts.ludus.com or use the QR code to pre-order your preferences and join the community at this family-friendly event!

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!

Please let Mrs. Boeve know what questions you might have at lboeve@zps.org

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, 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.

Safety: The safety of all of the kids is our number one priority. If you need to come for any reason, you MUST at all times have a sticker from the volunteer computer that permits you into the building. You may NOT just come in (this includes just dropping your child off to their classroom). We really enjoy our parents being so involved and want to schedule those needs, but we also have to follow the safety procedures that are put in place district wide. All volunteer opportunities will be set up with the classroom teacher or NG staff. If you are hoping to observe your student or be with them at any point of their day, teachers need 24 hours notice. PLEASE be sure to enter the office, sign in using the volunteer computer system, put your name identification on your shirt (clearly visible) and then you can head down to fulfill your volunteer duties. If you do not have your identification clearly visible you will be stopped and asked to return to the office. Remember, this is not to make it hard for you, as the parent, to help in the classroom or visit/drop your child off, but to keep all of the kids in the building safe!

Volunteering: Be prepared to re-submit or submit your information for a background check in August by going to the following website: https://v2ms.zps.org/Login.aspx or stopping in the office and resubmitting your fingerprints and information through our volunteer computer in the main office.

At any time in the building, you do not have a visible green name tag on your clothes, you will be stopped and asked to return to the office. If your name tag is yellow, it indicates that your background check has not been fulfilled yet and you will be asked to return to the office. If your name tag is red, you are NOT permitted into the building past the main office (but please know that if you receive a letter in the mail from our Volunteer and Background Coordinator, you may appeal your denial through a letter format, and that is good for the remainder of your children’s schooling in Zeeland). This is for the safety of all of our kids. We are not trying to make entrance difficult, however it is our number one priority to make sure that all of our students are safe from the time they enter our building until they leave our building. We do everything in our power to make sure their education is the best!

Personal Devices: Many kids, especially our upper elementary students are carrying cell phones and we can appreciate the convenience of having a phone. While in school, all phones are kept turned off and in backpacks during the school day. Our classrooms and main office have a phone that can be used for students in case of an emergency or illness. It becomes extremely hard to keep track of kids’ needs when they are making calls at their lockers or in the bathroom when they don't feel well. Teachers often don’t know that a student may have called not feeling well and our secretaries aren’t sure when parents call back wondering why their child called them; leaving our staff in situations that are tricky to figure out. If students are using their personal device during school, it will be taken and parents can pick them up in the main office at their convenience. There may be instances that a teacher allows students to use their own device, however this is very rare.

Media Center & Classroom Library

In ZPS, we believe that reading is foundational to the success of our students. Throughout each week, students are 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.

Medical Forms

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 contact Mrs. Boeve (lboeve@zps.org) or Mrs. Keeler(ckeeler@zps.org) in the main office a week or so prior to the start of school for the forms.