North Windy News

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• Monday, August 25th - First Day of School! *School starts promptly at 8:00 am. Doors open at 7:20 am.
  
• Tuesday, August 26th - Willy Wonka, Jr. Rehearsals begin
• Wednesday, August 27th - Willy Wonka, Jr. Parent Meeting, 5:30 pm in NWR Cafeteria
• Monday, September 1st - Labor Day (No School)
• Wednesday, September 3rd - Coffee (& Donuts!) with the NWR Principal & Assistant Principal - 8 am in the NWR Media Center
• Tuesday, September 16th - Fall Picture Day
• Thursday, September 18th - Open House & Annual Title 1 Meeting, 5:30 - 7:00 pm
• Thursday, October 2nd - Early Dismissal (12:55 pm)
• Monday, October 13th & 14th - Optional Teacher Work Days
• Friday, October 17th - Ninja Run (More info coming soon!)
• Friday, October 31st - Early Dismissal (12:55 pm)
  

Buncombe County Schools District Calendars

We had a great time seeing you at Meet the Teacher, and we are so excited about the first day of school! Thank you for all you've done to get your child prepared for a fresh start in a new grade level, and for some of you, a new school. The first day of school is a feeling like no other. Students are nervous and excited, and as parents, we want nothing more than to hear that their day went well. We know how important the first day is! It can set the tone for the months to come. Help your child by making sure they arrive on time, that they get a good night's rest the night before, and that they know they have a free breakfast and lunch waiting for them at NWR!

Safety is a top priority, and our school will do multiple safety drills in the coming weeks. We'll also be talking about personal safety with students.

• Say Something - Students will receive information about the Say Something App. This app allows students to report safety concerns anonymously.

• Personal Safety Videos (6th grade only) - read more below
  
• Fire Drill - Our student will practice a fire drill this week. This week will be announced, but future fire drills will be unannounced. We have one fire drill a month.
  
• We will also be practicing a lockdown in the first 10 days. Though we always dread the thought of having to actually be in a real lockdown, we know that being prepared is important. I will always communicate with you if we have a lockdown drill or a real lockdown.
  

Spanish Teacher Update:

Mr. Contreras will be joining us soon! However, he is still working his way through the visa process. We stay in touch regularly, and we are super excited to welcome him to NWR. We have an excellent sub, Mr. James Creech, who is fluent in Spanish. He will be leading all Spanish Exploratory classes until Mr. Contreras arrives

****For 6th grade students in "Connexiones," your students will go to Ms. Ulloa for Connexiones until Mr. Contreras arrives. We are certain they will be excited for this opportunity to be with their teacher from last year! *6th grade teachers know this plan and will communicate it to your student if this applies.

Before tomorrow...

• Pleases review our cell phone policy (below) with your child. Help them be successful. BCS principals and teachers are working hard to be consistent across our entire district, so we will not make exceptions, except for medical needs.
• Make sure your child knows how they are getting home. Sometimes it's different on the first day or the first week.

Communication from your child's team:

This year your child's team will share a website with you that has weekly updates about their class. I will also link these websites in my newsletter so you an easily find them. I will always have them in the North Windy News! They are listed below.

Thank you for all the ways you support your child and our school. We are all excited to welcome your children back to North Windy Ridge for a great school year!

Mrs. Nichols

Principal

North Windy Ridge Intermediate School

Please remember the following requests:

• If you need to check your child out early, please check them out BEFORE 2:15. We will not be checking students out the last 30 minutes of the day as this interrupts instruction.
• If you need to make a dismissal change for your student, please contact the front office before 1:15 pm. each day. All dismissal changes must be in writing.
• We have an email address for all attendance and transportation-related inquiries. You can reach us at: nwr.attendance@bcsemail.org This email address is monitored throughout the day!
  
• If you have a last-minute emergency transportation change at the last minute, please email & call the school to confirm the update.

Click on the link to see the news for your child's team for the coming week!

Please be reminded that our school, in accordance with the new state law, has an updated cell phone policy this year. We have talked as a school staff about this policy and it will be enforced consistently school wide. Please refer to this video on the BCS Parent University website.

• Students ARE NOT allowed to use their cell phone while in the building. The only exceptions are for students who use it for medical purposes, such as a student with diabetes who use it for blood glucose monitoring.
• The cell phone should NOT be visible while in the building, meaning it needs to be in their backpack, turned off. It should not be seen in a student's pocket or hoodie.
• If a phone is caught, or seen, in violation of this policy the phone will be taken and returned to the student at the end of the school day.
• If a student violates this policy for a second time, the phone will be taken and given to the office. The parent or guardian may pick it up there at the end of the day.
• If a student violates this policy for a third time, the student will be asked to leave the phone at home or leave it in the school office each morning before school starts.
• Refusal to turn over a cell phone can result in additional consequences. Help us out by talking with your student ahead of time about these expectations and consequences.

As for smart watches, we will not be policing each student's watch. Our thoughts are that most student's watches don't have a data plan and are connected to the data plan on their cell phone. Therefore, if a student's phone is turned off as it should be, the smart watch is just a watch. But, if we see a student texting or accessing social media on their smart watch, it will be treated as a cellular device as described above.

This is a fairly big change for our school. Please talk with your child about this before the first day of school. A phone is always available in the school office if your child has an emergency and needs to contact you. I also know this will require families and students to make plans and discuss plans before the child leaves for school since adults should not be texting students during the school day.

We are grateful for your support this year!

Policy 4318: Therefore, students are permitted to possess such devices on school property so long as the devices are not turned on, used, displayed, visible, or otherwise creating a distraction during the instructional day. Wireless communication devices include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, smartwatches, earbuds, headphones, gaming devices, paging devices, two-way radios, tablet computers, laptop computers, electronic devices with internet capability, and other similar personal electronic devices.

• Students cannot have wireless earbuds/airpods/headphones on campus.
  
• Students should have WIRED headphones/earbuds to use for classroom instruction and classroom videos.

North Windy Ridge School encourages students to dress in comfortable clothing that complements a positive school climate.

• No hats, hoods, bandanas or other head coverings are to be worn in the building. This includes headbands with ears or other costume-related head coverings.
• No "costume" attire, such as tails or paws.
• Students will refrain from wearing baggy pants that fall below the waist and shirts that expose the midriff.
• Attire should not include pajama wear.
  
• Shorts and skirts should be at least mid-thigh.
• Dresses, tank tops and any straps must be at least 3 fingers wide.
• Clothing must not advertise alcohol, drugs, or tobacco products or display inappropriate language or gestures. (This includes items that suggest inappropriate things as well).
• No bedroom slippers. Shoes should be of a type suitable for daily physical education and/or recess. Students must wear tennis shoes on days scheduled in the gym for physical education.
  

State law now requires all students in grades 6–12 to view safety videos from the NC Center for Safer Schools during the first 10 days of school. You may review the videos and learn more on the BCS website, and may choose for your child not to participate. Should you wish for your child to opt out of viewing these videos, please email 6th grade counselor Ms. Nicole Olenick (Nicole.olenick@bcsemail.org) or write a note to your child's homeroom teacher.

In August 2025, Buncombe County Schools launched Parent University. This series of short videos is intended to enhance communication with families of things happening in classrooms across Buncombe County. Watch for additions to the Parent University library throughout the school year. Click here to access the BCS Parent University.

Ms. Tara Conley, NWR Assistant Principal, will be your contact for all things Bus-related! Her email is tara.conley@bcsemail.org.

Please sign up for the EDULOG bus app below!

The Buncombe County Schools Transportation Department is excited to bring our families the Edulog Parent Portal App. This smartphone app allows parents to receive specific information about their child’s school bus ride. Parents will be able to:

• Access designated bus stop times and locations for their child.

• Monitor real-time information about the location of their child’s school bus.

• Receive notifications when the bus is getting close to the assigned bus stop.

To Download the app search for Edulog Parent Portal in the app store for Apple or Google or Scan the QR code below.

Links to Parent Portal Information

Edulog Parent Portal Video

Edulog Parent Portal Step by Step Directions

Edulog Parent Portal Step by Step Directions (Spanish)

Please take a few minutes and read this letter that describes our state testing requirements for this school year. If you have any questions, please email our assistant principal, Ms. Conley

• Students have their classes on teams. In 5th grade, we have three 2-person teams (one teacher teaches math/science, and the other teaches ELA/social studies). One team in 5th grade is a 3-person team (Math, Science/Social Studies, and ELA). There's also a 5th grade Dual Language class for students who have been in that program since Kindergarten.
• In 6th grade, we'll have three 3-person teams this year.
• We have four WINGS, or hallways that branch off the main hallway. These are labeled North, South, East, and West. Knowing your child's wing is important as this is how we'll communicate different events to families (for example, South Wing might have a special event on a different day than West Wing.
• Below, I have a list of grade level teams that are on each wing, and I'll keep this in my newsletter so you can always reference it when you need to.
• In 5th grade, on a 2-person team, the other class is called a "switch class."
• In 5th grade only, it's important to know that students will go to recess with other classes that have the same content homeroom. For example, all the kids in "math/science" homerooms will go out to recess together. All the students who have ELA/SS homerooms will go to recess together. There are many reasons we have to do this - scheduling is complicated!
• The right side of the school (when walking in the front doors) houses our 5th grade wings.
• The left side of the school (when walking in the front doors) houses our 6th grade wings.
• Students do go into different wings for exploratories (in elementary, called specials) and other classes like AIG, EC classes, etc.

Exploratories:

• In 5th grade, students have one exploratory for 6 weeks at a time. We have art, music, PE, STEM, and Spanish. exploratories are similar to what students called "Specials" in elementary. One difference is that they don't have a different exploratory every day.
• In 6th grade, students choose their exploratories, and Band, Strings, Chorus, and Lego Robotics are added to the mix.
• Exploratories in 6th grade can determine a child's schedule because we only have our Band and Strings teacher here for the first period of the day (they also teach at the middle school).

The Transition to 6th:

• When students move to 6th grade, they are given a bit more freedom AND responsibility. This is to prepare them for middle school. Some things will be different, and some things will be the same. This is the joy of being in an intermediate school! There's a balance to preparing students for what's next, but also giving them what they need developmentally.

Here are some more general notes to have a successful start to the year!

• Teachers will communicate weekly with information about the coming week. I'll also have their newsletters linked in the North Windy News for easy reference.
• Many teachers use Class Dojo for quick communication. They'll have that sign-up process ready for you at Meet the Teacher.
• Keeping up with assignments can be tough for students, especially when they transition to a "team" and have multiple teachers. Help your student keep up by checking our parent portal regularly (more information below) and talking with them regularly about school.
• If your child is a 5th grader, and they rode a bus in elementary, they'll need to find out which bus they'll ride to and from NWR. We'll have that info at Meet the Teacher. Their bus number will be different this year.

Reminder:

Each week I'll send this newsletter via email and text, and I'll also send a phone call with important dates and reminders. My goal is for you to feel confident about finding information about North Windy Ridge!

Join Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Conley in our media center for Coffee (& Donuts!) with the Principals on Wednesday, September 3rd at 8:00 am (after drop-off and morning news). We'll schedule a few of these this year, depending on participation. This is an informal gathering to meet other parents and get to know Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Conley!

All parents are automatically members of the PTO! Our first meeting will be after Coffee with the Principals, so we'll start a little later than normal. Meet Ms. Nichols and Ms. Conley, and stay for our first PTO Meeting of the year!

Our PTO will vote on a School Improvement Team Rep at the first meeting. If you'd like to nominate someone or yourself, please let the office know. The School Improvement Team meets monthly after school and focuses on continuous improvement by reviewing school data and writing and monitoring goals for the year.

PTO meetings will be held the 1st Wednesday of each month in NWR Media Center at 8 am and will be as follows:

North Windy Ridge is lucky to have such an amazing office staff to support our staff, students, and families! Meet the ladies that make things happen at The Ridge!

The NWR Spirit Rock is ready to rent! Read below to learn more about this opportunity.

Click here to sign up: NWR Sign Up Genius

The NWR Spirit Rock is a great way to send a message for all to see! Congratulate your favorite student on an accomplishment, wish a student a Happy Birthday, show appreciation to your favorite teacher or staff member, celebrate a team win or let everyone know how much you love your school. The rock is available to reserve for the day or multiple days.

Reservations will be made only to a custodial parent or guardian of a current student, and NWR staff for their use and enjoyment.

Please read below for more information:

• The cost to rent the rock is $10.00 per day. The day is a 24 hour period and runs from 3:30 PM on the day before your rental day (time to get it painted) until 3:30 PM on your rental day.

• Reservations for Mondays include painting time on Friday afternoons after 3:30 PM. The campus gate will not be unlocked for weekend painting.

• Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Your reservation is not confirmed until payment has been received.

• Cash or Checks only. Checks should be made out to NWR. Payment should be turned in to the main office.

• No refunds will be given, even in the event of inclement weather.

All items must be bagged - No loose clothing

No household items like books, toys, decor, dishes, etc..

No stuffed animals or pillows

You will need your student's ID # (their lunch #), and if they don't know it, please wait until Thursday to get it.

Good morning, BCS families!

As you may have heard, beginning with the 2025-26 school year the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is transitioning all school systems, including Buncombe County Schools, to a new student information system, NCSIS powered by Infinite Campus.

The new NCSIS provides additional features to help you monitor your student's educational progress, along with a mobile-friendly experience that makes it easier to see everything on the go. Campus Parent, the Infinite Campus web portal and mobile app, gives parents and guardians real-time access to grades, attendance, assignments, and schedules. The portal and app connect parent to teacher, teacher to student, and student to parent.

You can sign up for your parent portal using your student’s UID number (your student may know it as their “lunch number”) from this link on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website. Choose “Buncombe County Schools” from the drop down menu and follow the instructions to set up your portal. After you’ve created your account, it may take a few days for your student’s schedule to populate, as schools finalize classes in the week ahead.

We have also posted a resource page on the BCS website with videos and quick start guides to help you learn more about the features of Infinite Campus. Click here to view it now.

Please reach out to your student’s school with any questions. We’re looking forward to a great start to the year and having our students back in school. Have a great weekend!

#BCS #LeadTheClimb

NWR staff will offer after school clubs. More information will be sent after the start of the school year, so stay tuned!

Students in Buncombe County Schools have the opportunity to check out books from their school library. As an additional service, we offer parents the opportunity to OPT IN for a NC Digital Public Library card for their student. Our Media Coordinators often work with students to help them learn how to use the public library system to find, reserve, and check out materials. Students are then allowed to check out up to 10 books or 10 audiobooks at a time (or a combination of both that adds up to a total of 10) from anywhere in the collections of the NC public library system.

While our school library collections are designed to fit the appropriate ages for the school, the books in the public library system are not leveled. Students will have access to all titles within the public library system. If you would like for your student to have a public library card, please fill out the linked form by September 30, 2025.

Link to request card: https://forms.gle/8WLZLzdPbU2WdA197

OR https://bit.ly/studentoptin

Breakfast and lunch will be provided at no cost to all students this school year!

*You can add money to your child's account for extra purchases like snacks, ice cream, or additional items from the lunch menu. Use this link to add money.

We are pleased to inform you that Buncombe County Schools will be implementing a program available to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Programs called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).

What does this mean for you and your child(ren)?

Great news! All enrolled students at Buncombe County Schools are eligible to receive a healthy breakfast and lunch at school at no cost to your household each day of the school year. NWR Parents, there are no action steps for you to take at this time to participate in this program.

K-12 Prepayment will remain active allowing parents and guardians to place money on their students accounts to purchase a la carte items if they would like too. We look forward to serving your students during the 25-26 school year. If you have any questions about this letter, please contact us at Buncombe Schools Nutrition Office, 828 255-5932.

Participation matters! The more students who eat lunch and breakfast at our school increases the likelihood that this program will continue.

Don't forget that our students, staff, and visitors have access to masks all day long. We have regular 3-ply masks and KN95 masks available. Masks are available in the front office, and we have reminders at hand-sanitizing stations that you can get a mask in the front office.

If a student requests a KN95 mask, we must have parent permission since it is considered a respirator. Parents must complete the Voluntary Respirator Use Form and sign and return. Here is a link to the form. If a student requests a KN95 mask, and we do not already have the form on file, we will email it to parent/guardians for you to sign.

Ingles:

As we start another school year, remember it's time to link your Ingles Advantage Card to North Windy Ridge Intermediate School. This must be done each year to ensure the benefits from your card will support our school! Ingles Tools for Schools makes a huge difference in our school. Thanks for your support.

https://www.ingles-markets.com/tools-for-schools-link

The NWR campus will open at 7:20 for morning arrival. No students may be dropped off prior to 7:20 AM. Students will wait in the cafeteria until they are dismissed to their homerooms at 7:30 AM. All students should be in their classrooms and ready to learn by 8:00 AM. Students who arrive after 8:00 AM will be marked tardy.

Car Riders:

Please follow the car rider line map in this newsletter. Never pass cards in the car line. Remind your child to be ready to exit the car when it's your turn. Always drive slowly on a school campus.

Please be respectful and patient. The first weeks of school are always a little bit confusing for everyone, and wait time can be longer. I promise it will improve as we move into the school year.

Students will be dismissed from class at 2:55 pm. Buses will load in the bus lot.

All parents of car riders must use the car rider line to pick up their child(ren) in the afternoon.

Please view the illustration above to see how the car line works.

Dismissal Car Line Pro Tips:

• Pull all the way forward to the empty space, and a staff member will call for your child to come out.
  
• Please use your car tag each afternoon if you plan to use the car line. This will help the line move swiftly and efficiently.
• If you have someone picking your child up that is not YOU, make sure this person is listed in Infinite Campus, our new Student Information System, as someone who can pick up your child. We will ask for their ID to make sure they are who they say they are. We appreciate your patience and kindness in these circumstances; we definitely want to make sure we're sending kids home with adults who have permission to pick them up!
  
• If you do not have your car tag with your child's name, we will ask you to come into the office and get one, and we'll ask you to show and ID. We can't do this in the car line because only our office staff have access to that information in powerschool. Please remember that this is a commitment to keeping each child safe. We only want students going home with grownups who are approved for pick-up.
• Please be patient during the first few weeks of school. The car line always take a bit longer in the beginning, but we'll get the hang of it! After a week or so, it's usually about 15 minutes.
  

Visitors will only be allowed to visit a classroom if the visitor has scheduled the visit with the teacher beforehand or if the visitor is a scheduled volunteer.

ALL parents and visitors to campus must sign in at the office and obtain a visitor sticker (or a volunteer pass if applicable). Please note that you must sign in even if your visit will be brief. Your cooperation in helping us to follow district policy and ensuring the safety of all children is expected and appreciated.

If you have an appointment or scheduled time to be at school in the morning, and wish to walk in with your child, please still plan to follow the established procedure of coming to the office, signing the visitor registry, and obtaining a visitor tag.

We have a new front office configuration. Visitors must sign in before they can be allowed to enter our building from the waiting area.

Here's the excerpt from our NWR Student & Families Handbook:

All visitors must enter the building through the visitor’s entrance at the front of the school. You will be allowed to enter a small space, where you then must sign in and get a visitor’s pass from the Raptor Visitor Management system before being buzzed into our waiting room. Raptor requires a driver’s license/passport to sign into the system.

• Anyone visiting or volunteering should have their driver’s license/passport with them.

• For the safety of ALL students, having lunch with your child in the school cafeteria is not recommended unless there is a school wide invitation to families.

• Also, please remember to sign out in the office before leaving the building.

• Volunteers with a scheduled volunteer responsibility will be allowed to enter the main part of the building to complete their task/s.

• If you are picking up your student, you must wait in the waiting area, which is connected to the new visitor entrance.

• We do not allow parents to walk to classrooms for unscheduled visits or conversations with teachers. If you have a conference scheduled with a teacher, we will confirm with the teacher before allowing the parent/guardian to exit the waiting room.

We love having families in our building, and we promise to have many opportunities for our community to be in our school this year. We also want our first day for students to start with high expectations for safety and routines. Because of this, we ask that you make sure your student is prepared to walk to class on their own. We will have many staff ready and waiting to help them along their way. Thank you for respecting this request.

Students must be in attendance for more than half a day (11:30 a.m.) to be counted present for the day. On a two hour delay, the half day mark is considered 12:15. On a three hour delay, the half day mark is considered 12:45. Students arriving at school after 8:00 AM must report to the office and to sign in. Tardies will only be excused if accompanied by a medical (doctor or dentist) statement or if excused by the principal. These notes/statements should be presented to the office staff when signing in. Upon returning to school from an absence, students must bring their teacher a parent note or medical statement (doctor or dentist) giving the reason for the absence.

Our day starts promptly at 8:00 am. Please work together as a family to have your child arrive on time, with time to get settled in their classroom, and ready to learn at 8:00 am. If your child plans to eat breakfast at school, please do your best to have them arrive with time to eat before lessons begin at 8:00 am.

If your student will be taking an extended trip during the school year, please communicate with our data manager at least 2 weeks before the trip is to take place. This will allow us to properly document the student's absences and complete any necessary paperwork.

Email Alisha.Young@bcsemail.org, NWR Data Manager, to check your information system settings and contact information.

Safety is one of my top priorities, and I want to be very clear with all of our families about the ways we will keep our students safe on our campus. The following procedures and expectations are in place with safety in mind. Please support our staff and students in keeping our campus safe by following these expectations at all times.

• All visitors must check in each time with no exceptions. You'll get a badge or sticker to wear, and you must wear the badge/sticker at all times. If you do not have the badge/sticker on, our staff will politely ask if we can help you, so please be kind to staff in response.
• Visitors are only allowed to visit a classroom ONLY if they have a scheduled appointment with the teacher. We want to protect the instructional time of all students.
• All doors will remain locked at all times. We do not prop doors for any reason.
• Visitors will not use the front doors any longer. Visitors will have a special door to the left of the front door.
• If you are already inside the school, please do not open the front door for others. Please allow our office staff to safely screen each person entering the building.

Please follow this "Multi-visitor Entrance Procedure:"

1. If you have buzzed in and are being screened and you notice another visitor is arriving, please don't hold the door and allow anyone in without being screened first.
2. If the other visitor is 15 feet or less from the door, please buzz in and be screened together.
3. If the visitor is more than 15 feet from the door, please buzz in and ensure the door is closed completely after you enter.

We certainly want to encourage politeness, and we also want our visitors to understand that it is unsafe to hold doors and allow visitors in without being verified by front office staff first. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

School safety is the most important component of our day. We know we must balance safety with having a welcoming school building so that parents and community members can be part of our school. Please help us do this by honoring these safety protocols about entering our building.

Phone: 828-658-1892

Address: 20 Doan Road, Weaverville, NC 28787

Email:

Mary Nichols - Principal (Mary.Nichols@bcsemail.org)

Tara.Conley - Assistant Principal (Tara.Conley@bcsemail.org)

Leah Erwin - Receptionist (Leah.Erwin@bcsemail.org)

• Buses
• Dismissal changes
• Absence notification

Alisha Young - Data Manager & Student Information Specialist (Alisha.Young@bcsemail.org)

• attendance
• student information/records
• immunizations
• enrollment

Mandy Brewer - Head Secretary (Amanda.Brewer@bcsemail.org)

• general inquiries
• money questions related to school

Lillian Woods - Nurse at Weaverville Elementary & North Windy Ridge (Lillian.Woods@bcsemail.org).

• Medications
• Health History
• Safety Plans