GRAMMAR GAZETTE

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Dear Fabulous Nova Lower School Families,

Welcome to September! I hope this newsletter finds you well and that your family has settled smoothly into the new school year. Our halls are once again filled with the sounds of learning, laughter, and excitement as students are busy learning and building new friendships. At this point in the school year, we’re focused on building strong routines and creating an environment where every student feels supported and excited to learn. Whether you’re new to our school or returning for another great year, we’re thrilled to have you as part of our community.

We hope you can join us this evening for our Lower School Back-to-School Information Night* from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM. Parents and guardians are invited to meet their scholars' teachers and learn about classroom routines, expectations, and ways to support their student(s). The evening will start with a welcome from Ms. Tousignant, and include opportunities to connect with Specialist Teachers and NPTO. Classroom presentations will be given twice to accommodate families with multiple Lower School students. Help us prepare for your visit by viewing the schedule here and completing the RSVP.

*Please note: This event is specifically designed for adults, childcare is unavailable.

Be sure to read this month's Gazette to learn more about upcoming events and school information, and as always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or ideas.

Warm Regards,

Ms. Tousignant

Parking and traffic around Nova Classical can be tricky, particularly at morning drop off and afternoon pick up. For the safety of our students and everyone in the Nova Classical community, please follow the rules of all posted street signs and directions from staff, including if you are asked to move. Please do not stop, park, or exit your vehicle in carpool lanes at drop-off, and move quickly and safely through carpool lines at dismissal.

Click here for Nova Classical Transportation and Silent Dismissal Information

Slow Road Photo is excited to capture this year's scholars at our annual student Picture Day this year on September 18, with retakes on October 24. Look for an email from Slow Road for instructions on ordering school photos. Students must wear their uniforms for their school pictures.

If you have any questions or concerns about images or ordering, please contact Slow Road directly at hello@slowroadphoto.com.

The Nova Classical Academy chapter of the National Honors Society is running a Dimes for Disaster drive this school year! The donations will go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief initiative. This volunteer-run project assesses where help and funds are needed most and aids those communities. The disaster relief program responds to an average of 65,000 disasters every year, the vast majority being house fires. The drive will run from Tuesday, September 17, through Tuesday, September 24. Students are invited to bring any donations of loose change or paper money to their homeroom teacher for collection during that time period to see how much support we can provide to those recovering from Natural Disasters across the United States. Thank you for your support!

Save the Date! Please join us for Parent Education Night on Tuesday, October 8, from 5:30-7:30 PM. We'll be having mini-learning sessions on subjects such as classical education; how to help your child at home with Latin, math, and reading; best practice for studying and organization; and more!

To RSVP for this event, please click here.

Nova Classical Academy is pleased to invite the special people in our students' lives so that they can experience the unique nature of our learning community. Grandparents and special persons will be greeted in the Great Room at a welcome table for check-in and refreshments and then escorted to classrooms.

All guests must RSVP at this link, so we can be well prepared to welcome all of our guests. The last day to RSVP is Saturday, October 5, 2024.

We are offering two homeroom visit times to reduce crowds. Please sign up for only one visit per scholar. Due to space issues in the classrooms and in the parking lot, we ask that only Grandparents and/or Special Persons (and not Parents) visit on this day. Parents, we also need help to run this event; please sign up here to volunteer.

Feel free to contact Ms. Gabor at vgabor@novaclassical.org with any questions.

Register here!

Fall activities and athletics are off to a flying start! Come out and support your classmates at any of the upcoming events. Events are found here.

Students in Grades K-8 must to be accompanied by a parent/guardian to attend all home athletic events. Students in Grades 9-12 may attend events without a parent/guardian present, but must purchase an annual student pass for $10. The student pass will get an individual student into any contest hosted on campus for either, volleyball, basketball, or soccer. Family passes are also available to purchase.

Passes and can be purchased online in advance, with a credit card at the door, or with Apple Pay on your mobile device. The ticketing site is located at the GoFan link in the tool bar of the extracurriculars calendar or by the Quick Links on the extracurricular page of Nova Classical's website.

Ms. J invites all families to follow along on all of the Lower School creative art adventures on our cool new art room website! Bookmark this link to find information about what each grade is working on, art grades, art show news, and more!

Spirit Wear

We’ll be selling Spirit Wear on Thursday, September 12, during the Lower School Info Night.

Directory/Nova PTO Website

NEW Feature—opt in to carpooling! Stay in touch with Nova families. Sign up for the Family Directory to get connected!

The Nova PTO website is getting a makeover! Stay tuned to novapto.org

Nova PTO Pledge Partners Give Back

Nova PTO will receive a percentage from the sales at these events.

• Tuesday, September 17: Dine to Donate 15% at A-Side Public House in St. Paul. Reservations recommended. https://asidepublichouse.com
• Saturday, September 28: Barnes & Noble Bookfair at B&N in HarMar Mall, Roseville, throughout the day. More info to come via social media/ flyers from your student.

More Fall 2024 Events:

10/1: NPTO Meeting 7:30 PM-8:30 PM on Zoom (Meeting ID: 842 4045 9837 Passcode: enrich)

Follow NPTO on Facebook, Instagram, or visit novapto.org for more information!

Nova Classical’s annual Great Gatherings Gala is becoming a family-friendly carnival event. This whirlwind of fun is your chance to mingle with school families, enjoy family-friendly games, and sign up for future Gatherings held through the rest of the school year, and all for a good cause!

Great Gatherings Family Carnival Team Planning Calls

Bring your questions and ideas to the next Carnival Team Planning Calls!

• Sunday, Sept 15, 2024 7pm ID 710 7908 9128 password: letsgo Topic: Let’s Talk Gatherings
• Wednesday, Sept 25, 2024 7pm ID 772 7927 3112 password: letsgo Topic: Let’s Talk Silent Auctions and Prize Drawings
  

T-Shirt Design Contest!

All students are encouraged to submit a design for the Nova Family Carnival Student T-Shirt Design Contest. Designs must be submitted by Wednesday, September 18 (see flyers for details). Students will vote during homecoming week. The winner will work with a professional designer to prepare their design for printing. For more information, please email novagreatgatherings@gmail.com

Parents and Community Members:

Apply to become an active volunteer to help support our staff and scholars! We still need Lower School Room Reps so that we have 2 from each homeroom and we'll need a lot of help to run Grandparent and Special Person Day in October and the November Great Gatherings Famliy Carnival! Click here to view the always-current list of opportunities and links to sign up.

SoR Volunteering Network:

Nova Classical Families, do you know of a non-profit that needs help in our community? Do you need help in your research lab or hospital this summer? Do you have a connection with an animal shelter, museum, or park cleanup group? SoR Students are required to log 80 hours of community service to graduate. Please help us connect our students with opportunities in the community. Please contact Ms. Voelker, School Counselor, Grades 8-12, with questions or ideas.

Personalized labels through namebubbles.com or www.mabelslabels.com work great! The cost for a set of labels is usually less than replacing one lost item. If not using personalized labels, please write your scholar’s first name (or initial) & complete last name clearly on all items. There is often a designated “This Item Belongs To:” spot inside items for this purpose. When items are clearly labeled, we can get them back to your scholar quickly. If not, your scholar will need to look through the many items that end up in the Lost & Found. Unlabeled uniform items, because they look alike and are often the same brand & size as one’s classmates, may be difficult to find. Thank you for helping us keep unlabeled, unclaimed Lost & Found items out of landfills!

September:

12: Lower School Info Night

18: Picture Day

28: Book Fair (NPTO)

27: Homecoming Parade @ 2pm (Parents Welcome!)

27: All-School Spirit Wear Day (Homecoming)

30: Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

October:

1: NPTO Zoom-only Meeting at 7:30 PM

1: Virtue Assembly at 3:00 PM

3: No School (Staff Work Day)

4: No School (Staff Professional Development Day)

8: Parent Education Night

11: Grandparents/Special Persons Day

16: Unity Day

17: No School (Staff Work Day)

18: No School (Building Closed)

21: No School (Building Closed)

24: Picture Retakes

28: Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

31: End of Q1 (LS) / Midterms (US)

November:

1: No School (Staff Work Day)

5: Virtue Assembly at 9:00 AM

7: Enrollment Open House from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

7: NPTO Meeting from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Zoom)

9: Great Gatherings (NPTO)

21: Give to the Max Day

21: Evening K-12 Conferences from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM

25: K-12 Conferences from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

26: No School (Staff Professional Development Day)

27-29: No School (Building Closed)

See Full Calendar

Athletics Calendar