Northwood Hills News
May 22, 2025

Northwood Hills News is the school newsletter written by campus leadership. You'll find important dates and information about upcoming activities including evening events, school-wide assessments, and RISD area events. The newsletter will go out via email on Thursdays of each week. Please ensure your email addresses and phone numbers are up-to-date in Focus so that you receive each week's updates in a timely manner.
A Note From Mrs. Smith
NHE Families,
I can’t believe this is our last newsletter for the 24-25 school year. It's been such a great school year, and our students' academic growth has been amazing. Thank you for all of your ongoing support this year. Report cards will be shared through Focus at the end of this week.
A special shoutout to our graduating 6th graders! We cannot wait to celebrate with you this evening. You are an outstanding group, and we wish you the best in junior high!
Don’t forget to order your school supplies for next year online. (info included below)
I hope you and your family make some fun memories this summer. Please encourage your kiddos to keep up their daily reading and read lots of great books over the break!
The first day of school for the 25-26 school year is Tuesday, August 12th. Our Welcome Back event will be on Thursday, August 7th. Look for more details to be shared at the end of the summer.
Just a reminder that Friday is an early release day! All students will be dismissed at 1:10!
Have a wonderful and safe summer! We'll see you in August!
Gratefully,
Jenni Smith
Proud Principal
Northwood Hills Elementary
Coming up @ NHE
Please be aware of the upcoming events at NHE!
May 23 - 6th grade Clap-out 12:00
May 23 - Last Day of School & Early Release @ 1:10
Parent Survey
As we wrap up the school year, we’d love to hear your thoughts on how our use of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts processes has impacted your child’s experience. Please take a moment to complete this short survey using the link below. If you’re unsure about any of the questions, feel free to ask your student—they’ll likely have some great insights! 😊
Parent Survey Link:
Library News
Summer Reading at NHE
Many studies show that students who do not read over the summer lose reading skills, causing them to fall farther behind every summer. Parents can help their children avoid this occurrence, or "summer slide", by encouraging students to read throughout the summer. If your student reads over the summer, they can make a summer leap!
Capturing Kids Hearts May Focus: Integrity
Upcoming Sixth Grade Events
Junior High Physicals
All students who are participating in Athletics in 7th grade will need to have a physical completed before the 1st day of the fall semester. Check out the attached flyers to find out about an opportunity to get this completed on May 17th.
Summer Opportunities
6th to 7th Grade Summer Acceleration Courses
6th Grade Families-Our 6th graders have an option to take PE or Health in the summer for a fee. Just a reminder that all students must take 1 year of PE or Athletics in 7th or 8th grade. Health is a required course in high school for graduation. The window to register for summer acceleration classes begins April 1st and ends May 2nd. Check out the Junior High Programs Acceleration section on the following site:
2025 Summer School
Parents, please check your email to see if you received an invitation to RISD summer school. This is a valuable opportunity to reinforce key concepts, improve academic skills, and ensure continued progress for the upcoming school year.
We strongly encourage you to sign your students up for summer school, as it will provide them with the support they need to succeed. Please take a moment to complete the registration process at your earliest convenience.
If you have any questions or need assistance with registration, feel free to reach out to your child's teacher or our assistant principal Mr. Bell.
PTA Needs YOU!
School Supplies On Sale Now
Partners Programs
Helpful Parent Resources
- Create a Focus account – RISD provides electronic access to a student’s attendance, grades, and other information via the Focus school software system. . https://web.risd.org/focus/
- Please go to RISD Voly to fill out an application. Please make sure you select NHE as your school. This process needs to be completed every year!
All of RISD will be utilizing Talking Points for classroom communication. Please download the free app to get started communicating with your child's teacher!
You can find more information online at this link
Download SchoolCafe app – RISD’s school cafeteria payment system is called SchoolCafe. https://www.schoolcafe.com/
Download RISD Mobile Parent app – Access student information, view the latest news, receive important alerts, review archive of parent messages sent by RISD, view school menus and lunch account balances, find your bus stop, access student schedules, assignment grades, attendance and more via the RISD Mobile Parent app.
District Links
Focus Parent Portal
Library Opt-Out Program - Elementary
SEL Opt Out 2024-2025
Lunch Visitors
Beginning next week, visitors are welcome to join their students for lunch. Here are a few reminders when planning to visit for lunch.
- Due to space in our cafeteria we are asking that parents who wish to have lunch with their child do so only once per week.
- Arrive before your child's scheduled lunchtime.
- Bring your ID to be screened at check-in. You will be given a visitor badge to wear at all times while on campus.
- Visitors should sit at the designated visitor table with their child and are not permitted to sit at the class cafeteria tables.
- Lunch visitors may eat lunch with only their child. Friends will not be permitted to join another parent for lunch.
- We request that visitors follow a no-cell phone policy to ensure student privacy and quality time with their child. Taking pictures or videos in the cafeteria that include any other students or staff is not permitted.
- When your child’s lunch period is over, visitors should exit the building from the front or office doors. Lunch visitors should NOT walk their child back to class.
- If a visitor who is not a parent or guardian comes to eat lunch with a student, we must have permission ahead of time from the parent or guardian or they will not be permitted to eat with the student.
These guidelines may need to be adjusted from time to time. Updates will be communicated as needed.
NHE Recurring Links and Information
NHE Volunteers & Visitors
Safety and security is a top priority for us. You must complete a background check yearly if you will be volunteering for ANY school activities. Please go to RISD Voly to fill out an application. Please make sure you select Northwood Hills Elementary as your school. Again, this process needs to be completed every year!
All visitors must show a government-issued ID every time you are either visiting school or volunteering and will need to have a Verkada Badge. The great thing about our new system is that you can use the QR Code from home in the morning, and your badge will be waiting for you when you arrive. Please wait to access the code until 7 am the day that it is needed so that the badge doesn't time out. This is a requirement for any activity we will have during the school day.
Before entering the building, you will need to push the doorbell. Our office staff will ask how they can help you before letting you in. This is a requirement for everyone even if our office staff knows who you are. We appreciate your support and patience with this process.
Parents and Families On Campus
With the increased need for security on all campuses, NHE will continue to use Verkada to sign in all visitors on campus. If you plan on visiting campus, please make sure to bring your driver's license to the front office to be scanned by our RAPTOR system.
During occasions when we have a big event, we will send out a QR code ahead of time for you to complete to help speed up the check-in process.
If you plan to volunteer on campus, please complete the additional background check with VOLY. It is best to complete the VOLY application as soon as possible. VOLY requests can take up to 72 hours to complete. Please call the Northwood Hills office for any help needed with completing VOLY. Sign up to volunteer at risd.voly.org
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