Northwood News

We recognize students who follow the Northwood Code (Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Ready to Learn), maintain positive attendance, and demonstrate academic achievement. At the end of the month, teachers nominate three students from each classroom. The selected students parade through the building to be recognized.

At Northwood Elementary, we continue to focus on regular school attendance and promoting positive attendance each month. We hold a random drawing to win a gift card for perfect attendance each month. Two lucky winners take home a certificate and gift card! All students with perfect attendance are displayed on our bulletin board in the hallway for all to see.

On December 2nd, the Northwood Cafetorium was filled with family and friends for the annual Winter Concert. The show highlighted the musical skills of our fabulous Fifth Graders! The evening's performances featured the Band, directed by Mr. Rundell; the Orchestra, directed by Mr. Reiser; Tone Chimes; and the Chorus, directed by Mrs. Gerardi.

Staff and students joined a PBIS assembly to review our Northwood Code (Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Ready to Learn) and learn a new shining star chant. Fourth-grade students performed skits to review our Northwood Code. Assembly all-stars were nominated, and fun was had by all who joined.

We had another great event at Northwood! A special thank you goes to the PTO and all the volunteers who helped make this event successful. Also, thank you to the teachers, parents, and students for attending the event and supporting our school. There was a lot of shopping and gift wrapping at our Merry Moose Shop. The Grinch made an appearance and was quite fun! Story time with Mrs. LaFever, Ms. Vlahoff, Ms. Gingrich, and Miss Tzetzo was a great addition. Snacks, hot cocoa, and a visit from Santa made this a joyful event!

On December 18th, the Fifth Graders had another enriching musical experience. East Middle Vocal Jazz, led by Ms. Palmer, visited Northwood. The Vocal Jazz performed songs for our students, followed by a festive sing-along with all students. In addition, the middle school students answered questions about the music and drama programs. All had a great time!

At Northwood, we love seeing students engage in the arts and discover their musical abilities. We are looking forward to the Spring Concert on May 20th!

Our Student Ambassadors spent time this week putting the final touches on cards made by several classes for elderly community members. They added kind messages to the cards to help bring smiles to seniors in local care centers.

We are proud of our students for spreading kindness and showing how small actions can make a big difference!

We are excited to announce that every classroom will participate in community-building meetings this school year! Community building meetings are an engaging way to start each day, help build a strong sense of community, and help set children up for social and academic success. Each day, students and teachers will gather together for five to ten minutes and interact with one another to focus on a specific social skill. Each week, we will focus on a new social skill and reinforce the skill throughout the week.

Goals of Community Building Meetings:

• Set the tone for respectful and engaged learning in a climate of trust.
• Build a positive community by fulfilling students’ need to belong, feel significant, and have fun.
• Model and practice social-emotional skills.
• Learn and practice critical social skills in real-time.

Skills:

Sept. 15th - Sept.19th: Introducing Yourself

Sept. 22nd - Sept. 26th: Listening

Sept. 29th - Oct. 3rd: Following Directions

Oct. 6th - Oct. 10th: Asking for Help

Oct. 13th - Oct. 17th: Kindness and Appropriate Ways of Speaking to Each Other

Oct. 20th - Oct. 24th: Setting a Goal

Oct. 27th - Oct. 31st: How to Make Friends and be a Good Friend

Nov. 3rd - Nov. 7th - Having Conversations

Nov. 10th - Nov. 14th - Understanding and Knowing Our Emotions and Feelings

Nov. 17th - Nov. 21st - Zones of Regulation

Nov. 24th -Nov. 28th - Saying Thank You

Dec. 1st - Dec. 5th - Recognizing and Understanding Another’s Feelings

Dec. 8th - 12th - Coping with Uncomfortable Feelings & Disappointments

Dec. 15th - 19th - Gratitude

Jan. 5th - 9th - Completing Assignments

Jan. 12th - 16th - Time Management

Jan. 19th - 23rd - Accepting Differences

Jan. 26th - 30th - Diversity

Feb. 2nd - 6th - Problem Solving

Consider joining the Northwood PTO! Please check out all the events on the calendar for the year. The next PTO meeting will be on January 13th at 5:00 PM. We hope to see you there!

All school breakfasts and lunches are free for the 2025-2026 school year!

Sign up to add money your child's My School Bucks account for snacks or additional lunch items through Parent Portal or here -- https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home

• December 22nd - January 2nd - NO SCHOOL, Winter Recess/New Year's Holiday
• January 19th - NO SCHOOL, M.L. King Jr. Day

• Safety is a top priority. ID is always required when entering the building.
  
• Please note that pets are not permitted on the property during school hours.
  
• A note is required if you allow your child to walk home from school. All notes are kept in the main office.
  
• Please keep an eye on the weather. If it's thunder or lightning, and you do not see staff outside, please use discretion when releasing your child/children from your vehicle.
  

Just a few reminders:

• When you enter the “drop off zone,” no matter how many cars are ahead of you, please have your child ready to exit when you stop.
• If you have an assigned bus number, please consider using district transportation. Things should be running closer to on time this week. This will alleviate car traffic on campus.
• Please stay in your car for arrival and dismissal to keep the line moving. An adult will walk your child into school. Please consider buckling up quickly to keep the line moving.
• Parent pick-up will begin at 2:55 PM. Please refrain from coming early.
• If you plan on picking up your child, please send in a note to the teacher. If you have a set pick-up plan or schedule, please also communicate this by submitting a green form.
• If you walk to school or are dropped off in the morning, please use the front door entrance and avoid the bus loop.

Thank you for being so cooperative.

One of the best ways to keep track of school work, schedules, assignments, grades, attendance, lunch money, etc., is the Parent Portal. Each parent may have one account, attaching multiple children/students. You must know your child's PowerSchool Access ID and Password to create an account. Please call your child's school to retrieve this information. For more information on how to access this account for your children, please visit this link -- https://www.wscschools.org/parentportal

The parent portal is a "one-stop shop" for student information. We are sharing that all report card information, transportation, and food service information will be provided through the Parent Portal.

The West Seneca Central School District PowerSchool Parent Portal can be found at https://powerschool.wscschools.org/guardian. You must know your child's PowerSchool Access ID and Password to create an account. Please get in touch with the Northwood Elementary Main Office at 677-3640 if you need this information. To create a new Parent Portal account, please follow our Parent Portal Page instructions.

The district code is GPNR.

**School contact information can be found here - https://www.wscschools.org/domain/1291

Other helpful Links:

District Website

Download the Apple IOS PowerSchool Mobile App

Download the Android PowerSchool Mobile App

How to Use the PowerSchool Mobile App

PowerSchool Mobile App provides on-the-go visibility to assignments, grades, comments, and student progress from any iOS or Android device. District Code: GPNR

Regular school attendance is crucial for academic success and overall development. Attending school helps students stay engaged in learning, develop good habits, and build a strong foundation for future educational and career opportunities. Please use the "Note to School" notepad if your child misses school.

To safely promote family engagement, we ask any parent/guardian interested in volunteering in our buildings to complete the "Parent Volunteer Orientation." Volunteers include, but are not limited to, classroom helpers, classroom readers, PTA volunteers, etc.

Any adult entering the building during the school day must view the entire slideshow and complete the Annual Acknowledgement Form. Upon completing the slideshow, you will find the Acknowledgment Form by clicking the icon specific to your building.

To get started, please follow this link to the webpage: https://www.wscschools.org/Page/23819.

If you have any other health-related concerns, please contact the school nurse, Mrs. Pisto at 716-677-3644 or via email at mpisto@wscschools.org.

NYS mandates that we have physical exams on file for all children in UPK/Kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade. New York State also requires all students new to the district to have a physical on file. The physicals must be less than a year old. They can be mailed, dropped off, or faxed to our office (716-674-3505).

The West Seneca Central School District has Apps that allow parents to track their child's bus.

**Bus 1-23 will use the First Student App-Firstview

Bus 60 and higher will use the district App Here Comes The Bus (HCTB)

**Firstview parents will need their student's ID found on the parent portal. HCTB parents will need their student ID from the parent portal and our district code, 86979.

West Seneca Central Schools Mission

"We are an educational community that encourages kindness, inspires confidence, and instills the belief that together we can achieve anything."