Notes from the North Park Hive

Dear Families,

Welcome to the second semester of preschool and kindergarten! We are so excited to welcome your students back this week. We have missed them so much, but we hope that everyone has had a wonderful break to rest, recover from all the holiday fun and rejuvenate. The second semester of school in preschool and kindergarten brings TREMENDOUS growth. We can't wait to see how our students grow as they dive deeper into learning and mastery of skills! I have challenged our staff to set goals for themselves as well as their students as they look ahead to this semester. I challenge you, as parents, to set a goal or two for your child or your family to work toward as you support your student. Report cards will come out later this week, so it is a great time to look at what skill or standard your child may need some extra practice or support. We will be providing different challenges and resources throughout the semester as well! This is a critical time to help ensure that your child is working toward or mastering foundational preschool and kindergarten skills.

Our first challenge will be coming up soon - it will be a handwriting challenge! We will send home a packet with students to practice forming letters appropriately, practice their individual name, etc. Students who return the packet will receive a cool prize from the office. More info to come soon!

We have different theme days from time to time to celebrate our students and promote great attendance. We will have a "rock star" dance on January 14th. All students present that day will receive a surprise from the school. Kids can dress like a rock star in any way - be as creative as you'd like! The staff always loves this day!

PLEASE HANG ON TO THE NTI PACKETS AND CHOICE BOARDS WE SENT HOME BEFORE WINTER BREAK. We hope to not need those packets, but we want you to be prepared in the event that we have more inclement winter weather.

Tomorrow is a great day to call the office if you need assistance with anything as we will have most of our staff working. Please call the NPES office at 270-351-4464 or email laurabeth.hayes@hardin.kyschools.us

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hayes (principal)

Kinder Families -

Students are finishing up our mid-year iReady testing this week and next. We will send home score reports with you soon. This is just ONE measure of progress and success for your student. We utilize many forms of assessment to monitor your child's progress. It is a great way for you to see how your child is progressing - especially compared to other students across the nation. We are always happy to help you interpret these scores and help you make a plan to assist your child toward mastery of all kindergarten skills.

Please note that our lunch menu will sometimes differ from what is listed due to availability of items and delivery dates to our school sometimes being different. All students may eat breakfast and lunch for FREE.

We LOVE seeing students reading at home with their families!!!! The January reading tree leaves should be coming home ASAP, and you can print out from the link below as well! If you need more, just let your teacher know. READ TOGETHER AS A FAMILY! Your student earns a cool winter-themed sticker. Reading at home is one of the BEST things you can do to support your child's literacy growth!