Newell Family Sunday Message 10/25

Newell Families,

Thanks to our Newell PTA for sponsoring our family night at Helgoth's Pumpkin Patch and thanks to everyone who attended!

As October comes to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and partnership. Our students have been thriving, and it's been wonderful to see their excitement and engagement as they embrace new challenges and celebrate their achievements.

From classroom activities to school-wide events, we are proud of the strong, caring community we’ve built together. As we move into November, we look forward to even more growth, learning, and joy.

Thank you for being an essential part of our Newell family.

Have a fantastic week!

- Mr. Balcom

Mrs. Goosic training our 5th Grade Safety Patrol members! They are on the job after school, starting this week!

"We are safe!" Our students and staff pledge these words every morning and we take them very seriously. Safety is a core component of The Knights' Way. After school pick-up can have challenging safety concerns and we address these in two ways. One way is our pick-up expectations and where parents should park (see map below).

Another way is through our 5th Grade Safety Patrol. Led by two staff members and trained by School Safety Officer Wes Tjaden this group of students will help ensure students are using the proper crosswalks to safely cross the street. You'll see these students outside starting tomorrow. They'll have safety vests and stop signs. If they see students or parents crossing in the middle of streets, they may politely ask them to use the crosswalks for safety. Please be respectful to these students and follow the procedures below. We would like anyone parking across the street to cross at marked crossings.

To clarify, to be as safe as possible:

• Students should be picked up in the green zones on the first graphic below.
• If they need to cross the street it should be done at the crosswalks marked below.

Red Ribbon Week will be the week of Monday October 26th through Friday October 30th. Red Ribbon Week is the United States' oldest and largest drug-prevention campaign, held annually each October to educate youth and mobilize communities to commit to healthy, drug-free lifestyles.

Here is a preview of dress-up theme days we are having during Red Ribbon Week:

• Monday October 26th - Put a Cap on Drugs - Hat Day
• Tuesday October 27th - Level Up Against Drugs - Superhero/Video Game Character Day (no maks or toys)
• Wednesday October 28th - Team up Against Drugs - Sports Jersy Theme
• Thursday October 29th - Follow Your Dreams, Not Drugs - Pajama Day
• Friday October 30th - I’m Red-y to be Drug Free - Red Day

Our annual Winter Vocal Music program will be held in the Walnut Middle School Auditorium the evening of Tuesday December 15th 2026. Younger students will perform around 5:30pm with older groups to follow. More information at a later date. It will be similar times and format to previous years.

Your child’s education and well-being is important to us. If your family or child is experiencing difficulties at home, we would love to be able to provide additional support at school. We understand that you are not always able to share details and that’s okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, send a message or note with the words, “Handle with Care.” Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let us know that your child may need extra space, time, patience, and help during the day.

Here is a copy of the GIPS Student Calendar for the school year.

Each week we'll let you behind the scenes on what students are learning at Newell.

This week we are looking at Positive Supports at Newell!

One of our Positive Support Practices that we are implementing this year is being more consistent with our reactions to students who are not following our Schoolwide Expectations. Our Positive Supports team created this graphic to explain the service package that is provided when students need our highest level of behavior intervention, a call to the office for support. Office calls happen after repeated Minor Behavior are not resolved or if a Major Behavior occurs.

This section includes updates and important information from our amazing Newell PTA! More information is always available on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/NewellElementaryPTA

Here are the minutes from our monthly meetings: https://sites.google.com/gips.org/newellptaminutes/home

Our next PTA Meeting will be Monday, October 19th from 7:00pm – 8:00pm! We will meet in the Commons area at Newell. We will have a meet and greet, plan fall events, and update on fundraising progress. And there will be popsicles!

Make sure to like our Newell PTA Facebook Page so you don't miss out on any information!

https://www.facebook.com/NewellElementaryPta/

Did you know our school is a Box Top for education school? It’s super easy to help our school raise extra funds!

1. Download the Box Top for Education app!
2. Choose our school— A B Newell Elementary School
3. Go grocery shopping!
4. Scan every receipt just to make sure you’re not missing anything!
5. Repeat steps 3&4 as often as you need to!

Monday October 26th -Friday October 30th - Red Ribbon Week

• Monday October 26th - Put a Cap on Drugs - Hat Day
• Tuesday October 27th - Level Up Against Drugs - Superhero/Video Game Character Day (no masks or toys)
• Wednesday October 28th - Team up Against Drugs - Sports Jersey Theme
• Thursday October 29th - Follow Your Dreams, Not Drugs - Pajama Day
• Friday October 30th - I’m Red-y to be Drug Free - Red Day
• Vaping Presentation for 5th Graders (Officer Gildersleeve)

Friday October 30th

• Knight of the Month Presentation

Monday November 2nd

• Bonus Recesses (No Office Referrals)

Thursday November 5th

• 2nd Grade to Stuhr Museum

Friday November 6th

• No School for Students

Keep up with our FULL Calendar of EVERYTHING going on here: http://bit.ly/newellcal

Enjoy these recent photos!

Click to zoom in.

Messages that are important all year long!

Parents, there is a lot of illness going around. Please monitor your child for symptoms.

Description of Fever:

1. A fever is a temporary increase in body temperature, usually caused by an illness.
2. In most mild, two to five day, childhood illnesses, fever is lowest in the morning, rises in the afternoon, and will be the highest in evening and night. As the child begins to recover, morning temperatures will be normal with fever still present later in the day.

Management:

1. Students with a temperature of 100 F or more may be sent home from school.
2. Students may return to school when their temperature has remained below 100.0 for 24 hours without fever reducing medication.

Social media posts as well as a phone call, email or text message will inform you of urgent announcements and weather emergencies. Please be sure our office has your most current telephone and email information.

A regular school day begins at 8:00am and dismisses at 3:05pm, Monday through Friday. Students may be dropped after 7:30am. Students must be picked up by 3:15pm.

Please make your child aware of his/her after school plan. If transportation or daycare plans change, please call the office so we can let your child’s teacher know. Thank you.

We start our school day right at 8:00am. It is VERY important that your child is in class ready to learn at 8:00. Breakfast is served from 7:30am to 7:50am. We are unable to serve students breakfast after 7:50am. If your child needs to eat breakfast at Newell, plan to have them on campus with enough time to get to our breakfast line by 7:50. Students arriving after 7:50 should go to their class lines. Breakfast is FREE for ALL students!

ALL visitors need to check in at the office and wear given identification while in the school. All visitors must ring the buzzer at door #1. Our staff is busily working with students during the school day. If visiting Newell to speak with a staff member, you may be asked to make an appointment at a later time.

Birthdays may be celebrated in each child’s classroom. Families are NOT required or expected to provide treats or gifts. However, if you want to offer treats, please provide healthy snacks that are individually packaged. Cupcakes, cookies, donuts, etc. will not be allowed.

As cited on page 34 of the GIPS Student Handbook:

"Students in grades Pre-K-5 are discouraged from bringing ECDs (Electronic Communication Devices) to school."

If you need to send an Electronic Communication Device with your student, the handbook states:

"Phones should be kept either turned off, or on silent following the rules specified by the classroom teacher."

At Newell students either keep their phones off or silent in their backpacks or they bring their phones to our secretaries in the office at the beginning of the day to keep them safe, also off or on silent. Note: your child will not be able to send or read messages or calls during the school day.

If you have questions please reach out to Mr. Balcom.

The full handbook is online here: https://www.gips.org/Page/105

Have a wonderful week!

Nate Balcom- Principal

Heather Glause - Secretary

Jami White - Social Worker

Tiffanie Oswald - Nurse

Patricia Gonzalez - Spanish Interpreter