Bullpup Bulletin

Dear NHE,

As the leaves begin to change and the first quarter comes to a close, we want to thank our students, families, staff, and community for helping make this school year off to a fantastic start. We are proud of the hard work, growth, and positive spirit shown by our Bullpups each day.

Celebrating Excellence: John Hancock Award & National BETA School of Excellence

We are excited to share that North Harlem Elementary has been recognized with the John Hancock Award, an achievement that honors public schools for excellence in cursive handwriting instruction, supporting student literacy, fine motor skills, and historical engagement.

NHE also received the National Beta School of Merit award. It is a prestigious honor given by the National Beta Club to recognize a school club's dedication to academic excellence.

Enhancing Our Outdoor Learning Spaces

Thanks to the support of our PTO, we recently added new picnic tables to both our courtyard and playground areas. These additions provide students with comfortable spaces to gather, collaborate, read, eat lunch, and enjoy outdoor learning opportunities. We are excited to continue creating welcoming environments that support both learning and connection. A playground shade will also be installed.

Academic Highlights

Our students have been engaged in meaningful learning experiences across all grade levels. Teachers continue to focus on:

Strong literacy and mathematics instruction
Small-group learning opportunities
Student engagement and collaboration
Goal setting and academic growth

We are proud of the progress students are making and appreciate the partnership of families in supporting learning at home.

Family Engagement

We appreciate the tremendous support shown during our fall events and activities. Whether attending conferences, school programs, PTO events, or volunteering your time, your involvement makes a difference in the success of our students and school community.

Looking Ahead

As we move into the next quarter, we look forward to many exciting opportunities for learning, growth, and celebration. Together, we will continue building a school where every student feels valued, supported, and inspired to achieve their best.

Thank you for being an important part of the North Harlem Elementary family. We are proud to partner with you as we live out our vision: One community. One goal. Success for all.

Melissa Culpepper
Principal, North Harlem Elementary School

🍃🏵 🍃🏵 🍃🏵 🍃🏵

Thank You to Our Partners in Education

Hardee's
Java House
Main Street Sweets
Dunkin' Donuts
Blush Salon
Subway

If you have a business that is interested in supporting our students and staff, please reach out to tabitha.sharpless@ccboe.net.

Extra Curricular Activities

We are proud to offer the following clubs at NHE:

Greenpower Team; Sponsors-Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Lazenby and Mrs. Thigpen
Chorus; Sponsor-Mrs. Stitcher
Robotics-This is our first year with a Robotics Club! Sponsor-Ms. Spicer
Run Club; Sponsors-Mrs. Hines, Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Ketelaar, and Mrs. Coleman
Beta Club; Sponsors- Mrs. Swartz and Ms. Nance

Beanstack Reading Update

Our Bullpups are off to a great start with Beanstack! This school year, North Harlem Elementary has already logged 159,851 minutes of reading toward our schoolwide goal, and we are at 89% student participation in Beanstack! We are excited to see our students building strong reading habits, discovering new books, and growing as readers both at school and at home.

Our October reading challenge was another wonderful opportunity to encourage students to make reading part of their everyday routines. During the October challenge, our Bullpups logged an impressive 69,704 minutes of reading! Every minute counts, and we are proud of the effort our students are putting into reaching our schoolwide goal.

Families, thank you for helping us foster a love of reading! You can support your Bullpup by setting aside time to read together, encouraging independent reading, and reminding your child to log their reading minutes in Beanstack. Every page, every book, and every minute brings us closer to our goal!

Every month we have a new Beanstack challenge. Our next challenge will be Gobble Up a Good Book, and it will start on November 9, 2026. Keep an eye out for more information on it!

Let's keep those pages turning, Bullpups! We can't wait to see how many minutes we can read together by May 17!

Student Attendance

We know families cherish opportunities to travel and make memories together. As you plan trips throughout the year, please use our Vacation Planner to schedule extended absences during school breaks whenever possible. We have noticed that many of our student absences occur on Fridays and are unexcused. By making attendance a priority, we can ensure students stay connected, engaged, and on track for success.

Students who have Perfect Attendance for the Month, are recognized as part of our NBA (Never Been Absent). Students who have Perfect Attendance for the semester will be entered into a drawing for a bike.

Thank you for partnering with us to make every day count!