NES Student House Handbook

The North House System helps make our school a fun, safe, and welcoming place for everyone. We want every student to feel important, included, and excited to come to school each day. Our Houses help students build friendships with other students, teachers, families, and community members. We want every child to feel like they belong and are an important part of our school family.

Through House activities, celebrations, service projects, and team events, students learn to work together, help others, and build new friendships. They also learn leadership skills and grow as learners both in and out of the classroom.

At North, we follow our STAR values by being Safe, Trustworthy, Accountable, and Respectful. These values help us make good choices, show kindness, and treat others the way we want to be treated. Through the House System, students are encouraged to try new things, solve problems, support one another, and make a positive difference in our school and community.

The House System gives students chances to discover what they enjoy, build confidence, and become leaders. Students work with classmates from different grade levels, learn from one another, and practice teamwork. We want our students to become caring, responsible, and hardworking people who never give up.

Most importantly, the North House System gives every student a place to belong. It is a place where students are encouraged, celebrated, and supported. We believe every child can do amazing things, and our House System helps students grow the confidence, character, and skills they need to be successful now and in the future.

How the North House System Helps Our School

The North House System helps make our school a positive, caring, and fun place to learn. It helps students grow as learners, leaders, teammates, and friends. Through House activities and events, students build strong relationships, learn important life skills, and work together to make North a great place for everyone.

1. Connection

The House System helps students, teachers, and families get to know one another. Students make friends across different grade levels and build positive relationships with adults throughout the school. This helps everyone feel welcome, supported, and part of the North family.

2. Healthy Competition

The House System gives students chances to compete in fun and friendly ways. Students learn how to work as a team, encourage others, and keep trying even when things are difficult. They learn to win with kindness and lose with respect.

3. Character

The House System helps students practice our STAR values by being Safe, Trustworthy, Accountable, and Respectful. Students learn to make good choices, show kindness, be responsible, and help others. These skills help them become strong leaders and good citizens.

4. Communication

Students have opportunities to share ideas, speak in front of others, listen carefully, and work together during House activities and events. These experiences help students build confidence and become better communicators.

5. Collaboration

The House System encourages students to work together with classmates from different grades. Students solve problems, complete challenges, and support one another. By working as a team, students learn that they can achieve more together than alone.

Our Goal

The North House System helps every student feel connected, valued, and successful. Together, we learn, lead, grow, and shine as one North family. ⭐

Buddy Classrooms

Each classroom in kindergarten through 5th grade will be paired with a buddy classroom throughout the school year. Buddy classrooms will participate in activities together designed to build relationships, encourage collaboration, and strengthen our school community across grade levels. Students will engage in activities such as STEAM challenges, reading adventures, celebrations, and other interactive experiences that help foster mentorship, teamwork, and school pride.

House Chants

Each House has a unique chant that students perform during pep rallies, classroom meetings, celebrations, competitions, and special House events. These energetic chants reflect the STAR values and help build excitement, school spirit, and a sense of unity within each House. Throughout the year, students will learn all House chants and participate in activities that encourage positive school culture and engagement. We hope our families will join in the fun and excitement as we continue building a strong and connected North community.

Assigning Students to Houses

At North, every student is an important part of our House System community. Each student will be assigned to a House and will immediately become part of a larger school family made up of students and staff across all grade levels. The House System is designed to help every student feel connected, supported, and included while building relationships and school pride. Students who enroll during the school year will also be welcomed into a House and introduced to their new House family. Our goal is for every North Star to experience a strong sense of belonging from the moment they join our school community.

House Leaders & Heads of House

Our student Heads of House serve as leaders and role models within our school community. These student leaders help lead pep rallies, support House activities, promote school spirit, encourage positive behavior, and assist with special events throughout the school year. Heads of House help foster excitement, unity, and pride within their Houses while demonstrating leadership and strong character aligned to our STAR values.

Students in grades 3–5 are eligible to apply to become Heads of House. Interested students complete an application explaining why they would like to serve as a House leader and how they will positively contribute to the school community. In addition, students must receive a teacher recommendation that reflects positive behavior, leadership potential, responsibility, and school involvement.

Students selected as Heads of House are recognized as school leaders and participate in special leadership opportunities and House events throughout the school year. These students help create a positive and engaging school culture while encouraging teamwork, kindness, and school spirit among their peers.

House Points & Incentives

The North House System focuses on recognizing and celebrating positive student behavior, leadership, effort, and achievement each day. We believe it is important to acknowledge students who consistently demonstrate our North STAR values through their actions, attitude, academics, and interactions with others. Throughout the school year, students will have opportunities to earn House Points both individually and as a classroom or House team.

NEW for the 2026–2027 School Year: The House Point Store!

We are excited to introduce our new House Point Store! Students will have opportunities to use points they earn throughout the school year to purchase a variety of fun rewards and incentives, including school supplies, coins for the book vending machine, small prizes, and other special items. The House Point Store is designed to encourage positive behavior, goal-setting, responsibility, and school engagement while celebrating student success in meaningful ways.

Individual House Points

North staff members may award House Points to students who demonstrate positive behavior, leadership, responsibility, kindness, academic effort, or other actions that reflect our STAR values. Students may earn points for things such as:

Demonstrating kindness and respect toward others
Showing responsibility and accountability
Meeting academic or reading goals
Demonstrating strong work habits or effort
Helping classmates or staff members
Following expectations throughout the school day
Displaying leadership and positive citizenship

House Points will be tracked and updated regularly throughout the school year.

Attendance Recognition

Students with perfect attendance and no tardies for the week may earn House Points for their House. Consistent attendance helps support student success and contributes positively to our school community.

Character Kid of the Month

Students selected by their classroom teacher as Character Kid of the Month will earn House Points in recognition of their positive character, leadership, and demonstration of our STAR values.

Kiwanis Terrific Kid

Students selected as Kiwanis Terrific Kids will earn House Points in recognition of their outstanding behavior, effort, citizenship, and leadership.

Academic Achievement Recognition

Students may also earn House Points for academic achievement and growth throughout the school year. Recognition opportunities may include honor roll, academic growth, meeting personal goals, and demonstrating consistent effort and perseverance in the classroom.

Through the House Point System, we aim to create a positive, encouraging school culture where students feel motivated, celebrated, and connected while learning the importance of responsibility, leadership, and positive decision-making.

Positive Behavior and School Expectations

North Elementary is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and supportive learning environment for all students. To support this goal, schoolwide behavior expectations are explicitly taught, modeled, reinforced, and revisited throughout the year. These expectations help students develop positive habits, make responsible choices, and contribute to a productive learning environment.

Teachers may use a variety of age-appropriate classroom management systems to support student behavior and communicate expectations. While specific classroom systems may vary by teacher or grade level, all classrooms are expected to align with North Elementary's schoolwide expectations and commitment to fostering responsibility, respect, leadership, and positive citizenship.

Students who consistently demonstrate positive behavior may receive praise, recognition, classroom incentives, leadership opportunities, or House points. These acknowledgments reinforce behaviors that contribute to a positive school culture and reflect the values of our school community.

When behavioral concerns arise, staff members focus on teaching, reteaching, and supporting appropriate behaviors. Responses to misbehavior are intended to be corrective and instructional, helping students understand expectations, reflect on their choices, and develop strategies for future success.

Depending on the nature and severity of the behavior, interventions may include reminders, redirection, reflection activities, loss of privileges, parent communication, behavior conferences, or administrative involvement.

House Points and Positive Behavior

A key component of the House System is recognizing and rewarding positive behavior, character, leadership, and citizenship. Students may earn House points for:

Demonstrating schoolwide expectations.
Showing kindness, respect, and responsibility.
Exhibiting leadership and positive character traits.
Maintaining positive behavior in classrooms and throughout the school.
Participating in school activities and House events.
Demonstrating academic effort and perseverance.
Contributing to a safe and supportive school environment.
Serving and helping others.

House points are awarded by staff members and may be earned through a variety of positive behaviors and accomplishments. Because classroom behavior systems may differ, House points are not tied exclusively to any specific classroom behavior chart or management system.

Points earned contribute to friendly competition among Houses while promoting school spirit, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment. More importantly, they reinforce the values and behaviors that help create a positive and supportive school community.

Unity Day Celebrations

Unity Days are special celebrations that recognize the collective achievements, spirit, and positive contributions of each House. These events provide opportunities for students to come together through activities that promote teamwork, character development, school pride, and community building.

Criteria for Unity Day Participation

Participation in Unity Day celebrations is a privilege earned through consistent demonstration of positive behavior and adherence to school expectations. Eligibility may be affected by serious or repeated behavioral concerns.

Behavior Standards

To participate in Unity Day celebrations, students are expected to:

Have fewer than three (3) office referrals during the designated celebration period.
Avoid behaviors that result in significant disciplinary consequences as determined by school administration.
Demonstrate a consistent effort to follow schoolwide expectations and contribute positively to the school community.

The administration reserves the right to review individual circumstances when determining eligibility for participation.

Building a Culture of Belonging

The House System is more than a reward program—it is a framework for building relationships, developing character, encouraging leadership, and creating a culture where every student feels seen, supported, and valued.

Together, our Houses help make North Elementary a place where students learn, lead, belong, and grow. Through positive behavior, meaningful connections, and shared experiences, students develop a strong sense of community and pride that extends throughout their elementary school years and beyond.

Team ALTRUISMO

ALTRUISMO – the House of the Givers

Altruismo traces its origins to the rainforest of the Amazon, where a group of powerful Brazilians was given the name because of the Portuguese meaning behind it: “the Givers.”

This special group is known for striking a balance between bold strength and altruistic giving – a team that knows that real power comes from not looking out for yourself but from empowering others. They care deeply about lifting others up, but they also maintain a fiercely competitive spirit and pride. Historically, the house has been known for its smart and driven students. Altruismo takes great pride in being the cultivator of real leadership and instills a strong spirit within new members to grow into and live up to this legacy.

Language: Portuguese

Heritage: Brazilian

Symbolic Animal: Snake

First North Staff Leader: Katie Ackerman

Team AMISTAD

AMISTAD: The House of Friendship

Amistad is the House that originates from Mexico. A group of kind but powerful individuals that are known most for their unconquered spirit. This is why, in the language of their ancestry, their name means “friendship.”

Incoming members are often a mix of extremes – our students can be extremely intelligent, creative, friendly, and competitive; Amistad is a very diverse group! The house takes great inspiration from its symbolic animal, the immortal peacock, and the leaders always remind the members that the fighting spirit of an Amistadian never dies. Members of our House are consistently challenged to self-reflect because we believe that “once a peacock finds its feathers, it discovers who it really is.” As a knight, they are fierce warriors, protectors of the realm, and guardians of the kingdom’s most valuable treasure, friendship.

Language: Spanish

Heritage: Mexico

Symbolic Animal: The Immortal Peacock

First North Staff Leader: MacKenzie Hargrave

Team ISIBINDI

ISIBINDI – the House of Courage

Isibindi is a tight-knit group of individuals, like a pride of African lions, where family means everything. The House’s symbolic animals, the mute swan, and the lion, serve to empower incoming members. While new students might be quiet or shy at first, the longer that they are in the House, the more they begin to display the characteristics of strength and bravery. In Zulu, Isibindi means “courage.”

The dichotomy of sharing symbolic animals between the gentle and beautiful swan and the proud and courageous lion is what makes Isibindi so unique. It is a House that inherits the legend and influence of both Shaka Zulu as well as Nelson Mandela. It is a House that knows when to be strategic and creative, or when to pull back and be reserved, but also when to go full force with power and strength. This is why Isibindi welcomes creative and quiet kids and turns them into leaders over time. They learn that, like the mute swan, their quiet creativity can be harnessed to speak volumes in its own way.

Language: Zulu

Heritage: South Africa

Symbolic Animal: The Mute Swan and the Lion

First North Staff Leader: John Bonner

Team NUKUMORI

NUKUMORI – the House of Kindness

Nukumori is the House that originates from Japan. A group of individuals that understand that kindness is the true strength that will build their character, the members of the House of Nukumori are known for their friendship that they extend to everyone around them. They treat others with respect, and in doing so they earn the respect of all others.

Incoming members have a heart of kindness – even if they do not even see it within themselves in the beginning! That is because they learn that the great level of kindness that they must extend to all others grows over time to become a more full and beautiful character trait. This is why they take great inspiration from the symbol of the cherry blossom: it reminds the members of the House that kindness must be grown and cared for like a delicate flower, until it blossoms into the most beautiful flower in the entire garden.

But kindness does not necessarily mean meekness or timidity. Kindness means stepping in and defending others, taking care of them and seeking what is best for others as well as ourselves. This is why the dragon is Nukumori’s symbolic animal. Filled with ancient power and wisdom, it is fierce when the time calls.

Language: Japanese

Heritage: Japan

Symbolic Animal: The Dragon

First North Staff Leader: Addie Minns

Team REVEUR

RẾVEUR: Reveur is a royal house whose name in French means “dreamers” or “idealists” – because the members who fill this group are students filled with freedom and wild abandon who recognize their dreams and will let nothing stand in the way of achieving them. This can be seen in the unicorn, which is in the center of the House’s crest, a powerful creature who is almost impossible to tame. Similarly, the house of Reveur is a house of passion.

Reveur is the natural rival of Altruismo because in the early days of the House Championships this house did not have as many members and was the smallest House. But the Staff Leader rallied the students together and this was the year that the Reveur, despite being the smallest house, went on to win the first championship. The size of the House is not as important as the size of the hearts and efforts of its members.

Language: French

Heritage: France

Symbolic Animal: The Wolf

First North Staff Leaders: Ashley Watkins & Sherri DiNoia

Team SOLLEVARE

SOLLEVARE: House of Uplifting

Sollevare is a House that comes from Italy. The members of Sollevare believe that true strength means getting back up when life gets hard. They know that everyone faces challenges, but they never give up. They keep trying and help others do the same.

The name Sollevare comes from Latin and means "to lift up." Members of this House are known for encouraging others, helping friends, and finding ways to rise above problems.

Students in Sollevare are creative thinkers. They use their imagination to solve problems and find new ways to help others. As they grow, their creativity grows too. They learn to look past challenges and focus on what they can do next.

The symbol of Sollevare is the Phoenix. The Phoenix is a special bird that rises from the ashes and starts again, stronger than before. It reminds House members that mistakes and challenges can help us learn and grow.

The Phoenix teaches us to never give up and to always help others rise with us. When we lift up the people around us, we make our school and our world a better place.

Language: Latin
Heritage: Italy
Symbolic Animal: Phoenix

First North Staff Leaders: Candy Llewellyn & Denise Kersten

NES Student House Handbook