NCS Family Newsletter

12/21/2023 Sparkle Day! Last day of in person school

12/22/2023 Asynchronous, learning from home day

1/2/2024 Return to school after Winter Break

1/4/2024 Outdoor Learning - Camrock County Park

1/9/2024 Governance Council Meeting 6-8pm, NCS Library

1/11/2024 Outdoor Learning: State Capitol

1/11/2024 Kindergarten Information Session 6-7pm

1/15/2024 No school, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

1/18/2024 Incoming K School Tour 7:45-8:45am

1/25/2024 Outdoor Learning

2/1/2024 Outdoor Learning

2/7/2024 Fundraiser: Pasqual's Night

2/13/2024 Battle of the Books - District Level Competition

See your art on the street! This year's theme is What I Do For Fun in the Verona Area. Submissions are due Friday, January 12 in the New Century School office. Both digital art as well as paper drawings on 8.5x11" paper are welcome.

Original art must come with an artist's release. This, and more info about the banner contest in general, can be found on the district website: https://www.verona.k12.wi.us/community/vaef/banner

Join us at the Verona Aquatic Center on January 12th at 6pm for a Dive-In Movie! Please register at the Aquatic Center's RecDesk.

Public Health Madison & Dane County is partnering with Madison Metropolitan School District and SSM Health this spring to offer two more school vaccine clinics to get students up to date on their school vaccines ahead of the 2024-25 school year. These clinics will take place on Saturday, February 10th and Saturday, May 11th 2024. Both clinics will be from 10am to 2pm at the Holtzman Learning Center in Madison. It is highly encouraged that appointments are scheduled through the website listed on the flier attached. Vaccine Clinic

Bucky Books are on sale currently: $35/each

Please reach out to Jen to purchase your book today. we are happy to send home in a your child's backpack or Jen can drop it off within the Verona area.

Bucky Books can also be purchased online and shipped directly to the you here. (There is a slightly lower return rate to the school for online sales.)

Our students experience having two different classroom teachers throughout the day. It can be confusing for families to know which teacher to communicate with at times. If you are reaching out to your child’s teacher, please include both teachers on any communication.

Here is the link to a Google Public Calendar with this year’s updated NCS events:

NCS Google Public Calendar

This calendar will be updated continually throughout the year with school events, such as swim and gym days, library days, Picture Day, Back to School Night, field trips, parent/teacher conferences, days off of school, Governance Council meetings, and so much more! We hope that this will make things easier for you!

Have you joined the New Century School Parent Community Facebook Groups?

Current and incoming families are welcome to join “New Century School Parent Community” on Facebook. This is a great place to post summer events and pop-up playdates. This is also a great resource for new parents/guardians to ask any questions they may have.

Additionally, please like and follow our New Century School Facebook page here.

The Bridging Brighter Smiles program is a safe, affordable, accessible way to meet a dental hygienist... right here in Verona Area School District!

Learn more at https://bridgingbrightersmiles.org/

If you need assistance with lunch costs please visit our Free and Reduced Lunch application for information on income levels and an application for assistance.

If your student is ill, has an early morning appointment, or will be late arriving to

school for another reason, in addition to notifying their classroom teacher please make sure that you one of the following PRIOR

TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY:

1) EMAIL NCS Attendance: ncs-attendance@verona.k12.wi.us

2) CALL the office at (608) 845-4500

Please do not email the school secretaries directly if possible.

Our health room helpers have reminded us how an extra set of clothes are appreciated here at school. All students, not just our kinders, run into needing a change from time to time. Milk spills, wet slides at recess, unexpected puddles all lead to a need for new clothes.

If you can send a Ziploc bag with a pair of pants, socks and underwear it will come in handy over these next wet months.

And, always, we will happily take your donations of gently used sweatpants and bottoms that have stretchy waists. All colors, sizes, patterns are appreciated.

Our last in person school day before the New Year is Thursday, December 21. Then, we will be asynchronous and learning from home on Friday, December 22. Our school will be closed through January 1, including the school office. All staff and students will return on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.

We wish you, your family, your friends and loved ones a relaxing Winter Break, and tons of new energy in the coming year.

The swim unit is on its way! We will be swimming this year next door to NCS and VAIS - this will give us more time to swim!

We will send out the specific schedule before January 8th.

One of our best outreach efforts is our current families. We encourage you to share with other VASD families about NCS. We want families to know their options.

The charter school lottery for the ‘24-’25 school year will be open from January 11 - February 14. In addition to our incoming K class, we usually have some openings in grades 1-5. If you know any VASD families with incoming K students, or students in grades 1-5 who are interested in attending NCS, please have them enter the VASD Charter School lottery. In order to be eligible for openings in grades 1-5, families still need to join the Charter School Lottery now.

Families can find more information about enrollment and the lottery from our registrar’s office.

Interested in getting to know our kiddos and helping to build community within our schools? Do you have a couple of hours to spare occasionally or is your time flexible enough that you can come once a week? We would love to have you assist in our lunchroom. All volunteers will need to be background checked through the district here.

Please complete this short survey with your availability.

Volunteers keep the library running smoothly and our 9,583 books organized.

They are so appreciated! Please consider signing up for a one-hour shift on our updated Sign Up Genius link.

The Sunshine Committee is made up of many amazing family members of students from our schools whose mission is to spread kindness and support for families and school staff. They do this by providing support in the form of cards, meals, gift cards, and other resources to families and staff in need of a little pick-me-up. They also have provided support to our school through stocking those awesome bathroom supply baskets in our staff bathrooms and by helping organize our winter clothes.

For more information and to assist in brining sunshine to our community please contact Shannon Ratchman.