Notes from the North Park Hive

Dear Families,

I hope your students had a great long weekend and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Our thoughts are centered on peace and harmony for our community and school as we remember his legacy today!

Our handwriting challenge (kindergarten) went home last week! We hope your child will accept the challenge and practice CORRECT handwriting skills using the packets as extra practice. Return the packet (completed correctly - or as close as your child is capable of doing) for a cool stuffed ocean animal bracelet! We have already given some out.

There is NO SCHOOL for PRESCHOOL tomorrow, January 20th.

Thank you for GREAT attendance last week on ROCK STAR DAY! Our attendance ended up being 95.7 - which is fantastic. We are in a bracket challenge against other schools. We are down to the next to last round and we are competing against RADCLIFF ELEMENTARY the next couple of weeks. WE WANT TO BEAT THEM!!!!!! You can help us by ensuring that your child is present and on time unless sick. If we win, we will be in the final round against CHHS or NHHS. We have had better attendance than Radcliff MOST months of the year, so we can do this!!

Save the date - our early REGISTRATION DAY is March 6th. More details to come! Please tell EVERYONE you know to come register for kindergarten! Preschool screeners will take place that day, too! If your child is a CURRENT preschooler heading to kindergarten, make plans to come that day (there is no preschool that day) as we will have a fun themed event with free prizes for your kids, a screener with kinder staff and more! It's a very important day and we want a huge crowd to show up!

Please call the NPES office at 270-351-4464 or email laurabeth.hayes@hardin.kyschools.us if I can help you with anything!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hayes (principal)

If your student earned the limo ride to Freddy's (fundraiser from November/December), those rides will take place on January 23rd. Permission slips will be coming home from the office.

The 100th Day of School is January 26th. We are celebrating in both grade levels (even though many of our preschoolers do not come 5 days a week). Each teacher will communicate their 100th day plans. MANY students wear a special shirt, dress like a 100-year old person, etc. Some teachers do activities and may send out a wishlist for grocery supplies. Be sure to check Rooms to stay updated on each teacher's plans!

This week we will send home a HANDWRITING CHALLENGE packet to all kindergarten students (it is not developmentally appropriate for our preschoolers just yet). This packet will include practice pages for writing uppercase/lowercase letters, numbers, your child's name AND some of our frequently used red words (sight words). Handwriting is a VERY important skill that we do focus on each day in kindergarten. However, it takes muscle memory and PRACTICE to become better at fine motor activities, like handwriting. Many of our students simply do not get enough practice at school and need the extra practice at home. Handwriting is a core foundational skill that students use throughout all of school, so it is important to learn to form the letters correctly and not develop bad habits. Once your student completes the packet, he or she will earn a plush ocean animal bracelet!! Thank you for helping us give our students some extra support on this skill.

Help NPES receive money to help our students at no extra expense to you. You are already purchasing the items. Just scan your receipt and if there are any Box Top items NPES will receive $0.10 per qualifying item. Download the app and help us help your children!

In the month of December we earned $20.90 with your help. Let's see how much we can earn in January!

As you may have seen in the news now a few times, our new school to replace North Park Elementary will begin construction very soon (ground breaking in February).

The school will replace North Park, but will no longer be a PreK/Kindergarten school. If you aren't aware, we have nearly 700 students by the end of the school year at NPES. These students then go to Radcliff, Vine Grove, Meadowview and Woodland Elementary Schools. Most of the north end schools are very full at or near capacity.

The HCS School Board made the decision to replace NPES with a PreK-5th grade school to help alleviate crowding and allow for continued future growth on the the north end of the county. So, all of the north end schools will have preschool/kindergarten again once the new school opens. There will be redistricting done to allow for space for preschool/kindergarten at all schools. So, we do not yet know who will attend the new elementary school. We do know that many of our current NPES students WILL attend there. There is also no name for the school yet. It is being called Trojan Way as a placeholder (the name of the road it will be on that leads to North Middle).

While it is very exciting, it can also cause some uneasiness for you, as parents, and for our staff, as there are many unknowns ahead. We do know that we are excited and grateful to have a new building. As much as we LOVE our school, the building itself presents many logistical, safety and maintenance challenges and we want the very best for our students!!!

If you ever have questions regarding the new building, I am happy to answer what I am able. You can see renderings of the building on display in our lobby.

In the meantime, we are MOST focused and excited about our CURRENT students. They are our priority and we look forward to remaining as North Park Elementary for at least two more school years.

Please note that our lunch menu will sometimes differ from what is listed due to availability of items and delivery dates to our school sometimes being different. All students may eat breakfast and lunch for FREE.

We LOVE seeing students reading at home with their families!!!! The January reading tree leaves should be coming home ASAP, and you can print out from the link below as well! If you need more, just let your teacher know. READ TOGETHER AS A FAMILY! Your student earns a cool winter-themed sticker. Reading at home is one of the BEST things you can do to support your child's literacy growth!