GRAMMAR GAZETTE

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Dear Fabulous Nova Classical Families,

The second half of the school year is underway! You should have received your child's report card in the mail. If you haven't received your child's report card, please contact Nadia Hussain. If you have questions about your child's grades or progress, please contact your child's teacher. We will also be holding conferences on Friday, March 8. Look for more information about these conferences coming soon!

As a reminder, there is no school next Friday, February 16, for a Staff Development Day and Monday, February 19, for President's Day. Please note that there is no Scholar Zone on either of these days.

I also want to highlight some upcoming community events. More information about these events can be found below.

• Equity Family Education Night tonight, February 8
• Opera for the Young on Thursday, February 22
• Family Game Night on Friday, February 23

Please see below for more news and notes from the Lower School!

Warm Regards,

Ms. Tousignant

The Nova Classical Equity Team is hosting an equity-focused family education night tonight on Thursday, February 8, from 6:00-7:30 PM. The night will involve some background information about equity at Nova Classical, and then will move into a reading followed by group discussion.

Please email equitycoordinator@novaclassical.org with any questions that you have!

Come see 3 One-Act Plays on stage performed by our 6th-12th graders at the Wellstone Center (179 Robie St E, St Paul).

The Little Prince directed by Iris Hernandez '24
Sorry, Wrong Number directed by Amber Hayton '24
The Nose directed by Mr. Chase Adelsman

Purchase tickets below! Adults ($10), Seniors ($8), Students ($5)

February 9 @ 6:00 PM
February 10 @ 3:00 PM

Our wonderful Student Proxeny, with the help of Ms. Lozano, is organizing and running a supply drive to gather items to be donated to a homeless shelter. We are collecting new and unused personal hygiene items. The drive has started and will officially run through February 15. We will also be collecting items at Opera for the Young on February 22, and Family Game Night on February 23.

We are so excited to welcome Opera for the Young to Nova again this year. Please join us on Thursday, February 22 at 9am to see the show! A big thank you to NPTO for sponsoring this wonderful event! This year's performance will be Beauty and the Beast, and features the 4th Graders as the children's chorus.

Our Lower School Parent Advisory Council would like to invite you to our 2nd Annual "Family Game Night" on Friday, February 23! It will include a potluck taco bar dinner, board games, gym games, bingo, and plenty of fun! NPTO will also be selling spirit wear and giving families an opportunity to sign up for the family directory.

You can also meet an author! Mrs. Gleason, Kindergarten Teacher, has written a book! Come by, say hello, and check out her latest book, "Penguin's Journey Home"! We are looking forward to a wonderful time!

Read all about it here to RSVP, sign up to volunteer, or to bring an item for the potluck!

Separate links for your convenience:

For planning purposes, please RSVP here!

We need food! Sign up to bring an item or 2 for the taco bar here!

We need help! We are looking for supervision in the gym, food line helpers, general help, and more! Sign up to volunteer here!

Nova Classical is excited to announce upcoming virtue assemblies and non-uniform days:

Tuesday, March 5: Virtue Assembly - Spirit Wear Day

Tuesday, April 9: Virtue Assembly - Spirit Wear Day

Nova Classical Lower School students may wear bottoms of their choice (they do not need to be uniform bottoms) on these days. If students are not wearing spirit wear or school colors, they are required to be in their uniform.

Need spirit wear? Nova Classical works with the following vendors:

• Game One (password: novaknights)
• BSN

On January 25, we held our annual school spelling bee! 11 students in grades 3-7 (classroom and grade level winners) competed in an exciting competition!

In the end, after many rounds of back and forth between Seraphina and Anna, 4th grader Anna P. was crowned our Spelling Bee Champion! She will go on to compete in the State Spelling Bee later this spring. Congratulations to Anna, our runner-up Seraphina, and all of our other amazing contestants!

3rd Grade: Tyler P., Vera K., and Rogue T.

4th Grade: Calvin L., Jake H., and Anna P.

5th Grade: Seraphina E-B., Neel V., and Mary W.

6th Grade: James H.

7th Grade: Josh G.

Before winter break, Grades 4-8 students completed a preliminary written test to qualify for the History Bee. Of the over 150 students that took the written test, the top scoring students (students who scored 30/50 or better) completed the Online Qualifying Exam a couple weeks ago to determine who will represent Nova at the Regional History Bee. I am pleased to announce that ALL of our Nova Classical scholars who took the test qualified for the Regional Bee (to be held later this spring). These students will also be competing in our School Bee on Thursday, February 15 at 2:30pm.

Congratulations to these students that will be competing in both the School Bee and the Regional Bee:

4th: Harriet B.

5th Grade: Seraphina E-B., Eleanore C., Charlie G., Sal P., Lincoln B., Ben H., Ebenezer G., Natalie H., and Calvin C.

6th Grade: Sofian B., Theodore R., Niko F., and Emir A.

7th Grade: Josh G.

8th Grade: Winston Z., Henry P., James O., Ansel N., Reine G., Enzo P., and Jason W.

Summer Scholar Zone 2024 is available for all current K-5th grade Nova scholars. Registration will open in March! A notification will be shared in the next couple of weeks with important dates and deadlines!

If you have any questions in the meantime, please reach out to Nadia Hussain at scholarzone@novaclassical.org.

An exciting new Art Summer Camp is coming to the twin cities! Outside the Lines is all about kids following their creative bliss out in the fresh air, and Nova Classical's own Ms. J is leading the way. Campers will have 3 sessions every day to make art in the open-air studio of their choice, or join the theater crew and rehearse the weekly play!

Summer 2024 dates:

• June 24-28
• July 8-12
• July 15-19

More information about the camp can be found here.

School Day

Please remember to bring your State or Federal Photo ID when checking your students in and out. We ask that you wait in the Main Office for your student, rather than in the Great Room.

Traffic

Please remember to follow all road and parking signs around the school including no parking areas, as well as any instructions from Nova Classical staff. Please also be sure to follow the one-way traffic areas during drop off and pick up each day. Please do not U-turn in front of out building's entrance. This is a safety hazard for pedestrians and other drivers.

Registration for Spring Clubs opened Monday, January 29, 2024, and closes February 16, 2024.

Spring Clubs run Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Check out the Extracurriculars page of our website for more information!

Thank you for sending your scholars to school with the necessary items (sweaters/jackets, cold weather gear, and water bottles/food containers) to stay warm, fed, and hydrated! Unfortunately, some of these things don't make it back home to you. We’re here to help!

Lost an item?

1. Encourage your scholars to look in the Lost & Found area by the recess door. There is a purple bin with recently lost items as well as organized, categorized shelves with older lost items. Upper School scholars may also find lost items on a table outside of the district office on the second floor. Valuable and/or little items (such as AirPods, jewelry, and glasses) are kept in the front office. Please have your scholars see Ms. Anna for these items.
2. Please contact Ms. Ann Anderson at aanderson@novaclassical.org if your scholar is having difficulty finding an item.
3. Please help us by labeling all of your students items. If it is a pair (e.g. shoes or gloves), label both. Please label items with a permanent marker and use both a first name (or initial) & full last name. Personalized clothing labels through namebubbles.com or www.mabelslabels.com work great! The cost for a set of labels is usually less than replacing one lost item.

We 💛 your labeled items! When items are labeled, we will try our very best to get them back to your scholar at school. Unlabeled uniform items, because they look and are often the same brand & size as a classmates, are difficult for scholars to find. Thank you!

Sign up for the Nova Classical Family Directory at novapto.membershiptoolkit.com. There are lots of exciting incentives in store, including a prize for a lucky Nova Classical community member who signs up for the directory between now and February 19. Gift cards and prizes such as tickets to the MN Orchestra will be given away! Opt-in and win today!

There are still lots of Great Gathering spots available! Connect with community by joining us at these fun events, just to name a few: 2nd Grade City of Ember Party on 2/15, Pickleball Doubles Mixer on 3/2, Oula with Ms. Tousignant on 3/13, and more! You can view and purchase remaining gatherings here.

Check out all of NPTO's dates and information here!

Follow NPTO on Facebook, Instagram, or visit their website for more information.

Parents/guardians and community members are invited to volunteer to help in the classroom, as a room parent, or at school and NPTO events such February's Lower School Family Game Night, or other upcoming events! Please click here to browse and sign up for opportunities.

All volunteers must have an up-to-date background check on file. Apply to volunteer with us, today!

Have you ever wondered if it is an A, B, or C Day? Can't remember when picture day is? Subscribe to our calendar to always be in the know!

Click the link here for instructions to add our calendar to your personal calendar.

February:

8: Equity Team: Family Education Night @ 6:00 - 7:30 PM

9-10: US One Act Play Festival

16: No School (Staff Professional Development Day)

19: No School (Building Closed)

22: Opera for the Young @ 9:00 AM

23: Family Game Night @ 5:30 - 8:00 PM

26: Board of Directors Meeting @ 6:00 PM

March:

5: Virtue Assembly @ 9:15 AM

5: NPTO Meeting @ 4:15 PM

8: No School (K-12 Conferences)

11: No School (Staff Work Day)

25: Board of Directors Meeting @ 6:00 PM

28: End of Quarter 3 (LS)/Semester 2 Midterm (US)

29: No School (Staff Work Day)

April:

1-5: Building Closed (Spring Break, No School)

8: Start of Quarter 4

9: Virtue Assembly @ 3:00 PM

10: No School (Staff Work Day)

11: Multicultural Night @ 5:30 - 7:30 PM

26: No School (Staff Work Day)

29: Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

See Full Calendar

Our 2nd graders taught us all about prudence at this week's virtue assembly! A big thank you to the scholars, teachers, and Ms. Lund, on behalf of Ms. Kristine, for sharing many different ways we could show prudence in the lunch room! They cooked up a pot of prudence by adding ingredients like integrity, honesty, humility, wisdom, and care! They also taught us how to eat prudence - you vir-CHEW-it! Thanks, 2nd graders!