Notes from the North Park Hive

Welcome, parents! At North Park, I share a weekly newsletter with families every Sunday evening. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed and up-to-date about all the exciting things happening at our school. We appreciate you reading the newsletter so that you are able to support your student!

Each week, I share something about our school, a tip, advice, etc. that is important. This week, I wanted to share our mission/vision for the school. As you may have noticed, we refer to our students as Tiny Trojans, but we also use a BEE motif/theme throughout the school. Each day, we recite with our students, "Be Nice, Be Safe, Be Ready to Learn." We have bee decorations, bee prizes, we give out bee tickets for successful behavior and have a bee-themed assembly each month complete with our favorite visitor, Buzzy the Bee (lifesize bee costume). So, we often refer to our school as our "HIVE." Our goal each day is to focus on our FIVE IN THE HIVE. This mission statement keeps our staff and students centered on our five core beliefs. We believe that our parents and North Park school community play an integral role in sustaining these beliefs and ensuring student success. Click the image to read our FIVE IN THE HIVE!

I look forward to seeing you at Open House on Wednesday (kindergarten only)!

If we can support your family or your child in any way, please do not hesitate to contact our office (or me directly at laurabeth.hayes@hardin.kyschools.us).

- Mrs. Hayes, principal

We are utilizing a digital system to streamline our transportation information and help ensure that students get to their intended destination consistently and safely. In the past, we have relied on handwritten notes, a google form and a system that was effective, but could be much more efficient. Transportation is one of the greatest challenges at the beginning of the year at North Park due to the ages of our students. Our #1 goal the first day is to get everyone home safely and efficiently. In order to make that happen, we MUST have your child's transportation information entered into the system. This is not optional; we do need information entered for every student. In the past, we would have to reach out to each of you individually. It will take you under 5 minutes to complete this process and it will help our office staff save hours of work AND, most importantly, we will know that our transportation plans for your child are accurate. When you want to make changes, you will use this same link to login and make a change. It will send you a confirmation and will notify our office and teachers. We will make sure this link is pinned on our facebook page, Dojo page and school website. Please see Mrs. Morgan's instructions and a great video created by a Woodland teacher and NPES parent for us. If you have issues connecting with your child while completing the steps, simply email sabrina.morgan@hardin.kyschools.us or call tomorrow between 7:00-3:00. We are happy to help.

Parents, we have a new program for transportation changes. It is called PickUp Patrol. We are very excited because you will have more control to make plan changes, and it will speed up our dismissal process.

One of our kindergarten parents made a video showing how to complete the process. A link to that video is located here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16IBWwFRmFRIh4JlT8YfGFpVvjK_2hDUa/view?usp=sharing

You will be receiving an email from PickUp Patrol soon, so make sure to check your spam folder. This invite will only be sent out to Guardians who registered their child with an accurate email.

I am also including a link to a file that can help you locate what bus your child will ride. There is a file for the streets in the Meadow View, Radcliff, Vine Grove, and Woodland districts. We will have the transportation department at North Park on Open House night to assist with any questions or concerns. If your child is going to be a car rider, we will assign you a number that night as well.

This is the link to the bus numbers and street names: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GgLpKJMtZkKAqZtFCMwva-Y7lV2jS1Cg?usp=sharing

Please be patient as this is a new system for all of us. There will be kinks, but we feel it will smooth out soon, and you will like the efficiency of the program.

As the beginning of school approaches, we would like to expedite the paperwork process for you.

One of the documents that we ask all families to fill out is the CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) form. This is a federal program that allows schools and districts to provide free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students. As you may have heard, there were some schools within our district that no longer qualify for free meals for all. It is all due to the completion of this form. North Park can provide free breakfast and lunch to our students because we were successful in obtaining parent participation last school year in completing this form. To continue providing free meals to our students, this form must be filled out each year - even if you do not qualify!

We are including images of what the start page looks like in case you have already completed this form when you did your annual Infinite Campus update. If you are brand new to school and registered your child for kindergarten, you may or may not have completed it that day.

For those of you who have not completed this form, please complete it now. We will be asking families to do this on Open House night if you have not done it before. It can be time-consuming depending on your qualification for the program.

If you are unable to scan the QR code to access the form, I am including a link below.
https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application

Please park in the front of the school or in the soccer field accessible in our front parking lot. The area past our school dumpsters (on the left hand side toward the back of the school) will be reserved for staff and the buses that permanently park there. You will actually enter the school from the LEFT SIDE OF THE BUILDING if you are facing our school. The front doors will be exit only. If you or a guardian has mobility challenges, please plan to drop off your family member on that left-hand side and then go park your vehicle. The purpose of this plan is to help control the flow of the crowd and ensure that the experience is efficient and pleasant! Thank you for understanding.

Be sure to follow class Dojo for all of our important North Park announcements and weekly snapshot. We use our facebook page to showcase learning, events and activities and celebrate our student achievements. If you are not receiving Dojo notifications, please check your phone settings. Be sure you have downloaded the app and connected to your child's classroom. We send out multiple reminders and announcements each week. You can also directly message your child's teacher or administration staff. We also utilize the HCS app for announcements as well.

Be sure to follow the HCS facebook page and website for important district announcements and reminders.

Click the image (it will expand) for our week at-a-glance!

The first day of school for kindergarten is August 6th. School begins promptly at 7:30 AM. On a normal day, all kindergarten car riders utilize the car rider road that wraps around our school property. The entrance for the car rider road is off of Logsdon Parkway just toward the edge of our property as you are traveling toward the Rogersville Road intersection (just across from the edge of the cemetery). On the first day of school, we allow parents to walk students into the cafeteria where you will find several fun photo opportunities AND a large amount of staff ready to assist you and escort your child to class. You will say your goodbyes in the cafeteria, which helps make the separation process easier for your child. We will open our front doors around 7:10. Of course, your child is also able to ride the bus or utilize the car rider line. We are very excited to welcome our Tiny Trojans!

We will share lunch menus each month in the newsletter.

Kindergarten students may bring a home lunch or eat school lunch. Students are welcome to have both.

Preschool students are served "family style" as part of their preschool program curriculum/regulation. Preschool students are expected to eat school lunch unless there is a medical situation and an alternative plan has been arranged with the school administrators. This is a state regulation, not a North Park-specific rule.

Our theme for this school year is THE ADVENTURE BEGINS! Check out a video Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Morgan made for the students and staff to launch our theme!