NHES Newsletter

• THANK YOU to all our teachers for their hard work & dedication in preparing for and holding parent-teacher conferences last week!

• Thank you to our PTA for hosting the Book Fair and Bagels & Books.

• Congratulations to all our award winners at last week's Awards Assembly!

• Thank you to our Student Council & Shark Squad for helping raise $1,000 for the CA Fire Foundation...and shout-out to an anonymous shark family for matching the donation, making our total donation = $2,000!!

Students participated in American Heart Association's assemblies to learn about heart health and were given 2 challenges:

1. Sign up at http://www2.heart.org/goto/newportheights or by downloading the free AHA Schools App for Apple or Android
2. Start Finn’s Mission to learn Hands-Only CPR & raise lifesaving donations to help special hearts ❤

Visit Our School’s KHC Website to see the Classroom Leaderboard. So far, 156 students have joined our Kids Heart Challenge team, and together, we have raised $2,835.13 to help people with special hearts. WOW! Thank you! Donations raised support vital research and education to help people of all ages who have been impacted by heart disease and stroke.

If we reach our goal of 253 students (1/2 our enrollment) signing up & joining the KHC team, NHES will receive $500 towards playground equipment AND an extra whole-school recess from the American Heart Association!! Let's do this.

Sign up HERE

Spread the word! Our next TK & Kinder Information Meeting is Wednesday, March 19th @ 5:00 pm.

See details below.

For more information about NMUSD's Early Learning Programs, visit: NMUSD Early Learning webpage

For more information and to buy tickets, please visit: Newport Heights Foundation

NHES is a summer site! Register now: https://web.nmusd.us/departments/education-services/summer-programs

We are all here for the same one reason...our kids! Please read through these reminders and partner with us in the service of our students and their safety.

TOGETHER FOR SUCCESS AT NHES!

• Follow all parking lot rules & street regulations:
• don't ignore all the signs!
• drop-off in the mornings should be a quick pull up at the curb in the parking lot with your student exiting the car on the passenger side, parents/adults do not & should not exit the car
• be kind - don't cut cars off in the drop-off line!
• parents who would prefer to walk their students to the gate, need to park their car in a designated parking spot in the parking lot or on the street
• DO NOT park in any of the loading/unloading zones, including those designated for the buses
• enter the parking lot through the entrance on 15th Street & exit on Santa Ana Avenue, using these in the opposite way is VERY dangerous
• parking lot is closed during afternoon dismissal
• DO NOT park in front of or block driveways in our neighborhood
• DO NOT double park on the street to drop your student off & do not encourage students to cross the street through traffic outside of crosswalks
• Flag Decks & Awards Assemblies: We truly love having parents/families join us each week, the purpose of our weekly flag decks is to come together as a community to celebrate our students & school! We NEED our parents/families to follow our procedures so we can keep our students safe, engaged & adhere to our schedules focusing on student learning.
• we continue to ask parents/families/guests to observe flag deck from BEHIND the student area, when parents stand to the side and especially towards the front of flag deck it is extremely distracting to our students
• please do not interrupt teachers or staff while they are participating in & monitoring students during flag deck
• the playground & play structure is not open for younger siblings
• if you need to take a phone call or have a conversation with someone, we ask that you step away from the flag deck area
• once flag deck has come to a close, we ask that you head towards the exits at the gates within 2-3 minutes
• Adult attire while on campus:
• our students & staff have a dress code; we encourage parents to be mindful of their attire while on campus, including during drop-off & pick-up
• attire with vulgar language or visuals, drugs or alcohol, or violence can be very harmful & scary for our students
• Dogs & pets are NOT permitted on campus at any time, including in the parking lot & at the gates during drop-off and pick-up

Spring A.C.E. starts this week!! Register for spring A.C.E. now.

Tuesday

T-shirt Tuesday

Wednesday

Spirit Wear Wednesday

Talent Show Assemblies (students only)

TK/Kinder Information Meeting - Wednesday, 3/19 @ 5:00 pm

Thursday

NHES Talent Show - Thursday, 3/20 @ 6:00 pm

Friday

Shark House Friday

Flag Deck @ 8:00 am

College & Career Day Assemblies (students only)

UPCOMING

March Madness Tournament for 4th-6th grades - week of 3/24-3/28

Spring Break - week of 4/7-4/11

Check out our monthly calendar for all the happenings at NHES!

Heights Happenings: March 2025

Enrollment is open for all NEW student TK-6th grade for the 2025-2026 school year!

*not for currently enrolled students - registration for returning students is in August

We are just over half way through the school year! We want to stress the importance of positive attendance habits when your student is healthy. You can help ensure that students have positive attendance habits by encouraging their on-time daily attendance, providing consistent transportation to school, and helping them maintain positive daily routines, such as finishing homework and getting a good night’s sleep.

Thank you for partnering with us to help students succeed and make the most out of their educational experience. All absences have an impact on students, their class, and their learning.

For more information about chronic absenteeism, benefits vs. negative affects of student absenteeism (even excused absences), and more visit www.attendanceworks.org

Did you know?

• Chronic absenteeism (even excused absences) equates to 10% or more absences at any given time during the school year. Ex. 6+ absences within first 60 days of enrollment.

• Students with positive attendance are 25% more likely to read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade than students who are chronically absent.
• 67% of our NHES students have satisfactory school attendance at this time.

Important notes:

• The school office may request a note from a medical office for prolonged absences due to illness and/or after multiple absences due to illness; this is part of our student absence verification in NMUSD.
• Attendance Notifications are automatically sent to students through NMUSD, the purpose of the notifications is to keep parents/guardians informed about school attendance. Absences include excused (ie. illness & doctor's appts.), unexcused (ie. family vacations) and truancy.
• Please review the attendance & tardy sections of our school handbook (beginning on page 12) located on our website.

Here at NHES, we love celebrating our community, school spirit & positivity!

T-Shirt Tuesday

Wear positive apparel like a t-shirt with a message of kindness, gratitude, encouragement, or positivity every Tuesday

Spirit Wear Wednesday

Show your Shark PRIDE by wearing NHES spirit wear, school colors (red, blue and/or white), or shark gear

Shark House Friday

Wear your Shark House colored t-shirt on Fridays

Keep an eye out for our Spirit Wear + Shark House gear being sold by PTA!

For all your general school information needs, take a look at our NHES Handbook on our school website. You can find daily schedules, policies about absences & tardies, information about school lunches & breakfast, dress code expectations, and more!

Newport Heights Elementary remains committed to being a student-centered, academically challenging, safe and healthy, and positive place for our Sharks to live and learn each and every day by achieving great heights.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, we will be happy to assist you as best as we can!

School Office - 949-515-6970

Terri Clarke, Principal - tclarke@nmusd.us

Angie Miner, Office Manager - aminer@nmusd.us

Jackie Droste, Office Assistant - jdroste@nmusd.us

Elizabeth Aranda, School Community Facilitator - earanda@nmusd.us

#sharkpride

Go SHARKS,

Terri Clarke

Principal

Email: tclarke@nmusd.us
Website: http://newportheights.nmusd.us/
Location: 300 East 15th Street, Newport Beach, CA, USA
Phone: (949) 515-6970