Nichols News

Dear 8th Grade Families,

Welcome Back and I hope that you enjoyed a wonderful, potentially restful holiday break with family and friends! As we welcome our students back tomorrow, there's an exciting energy in the air – we're entering a very fun stretch of their middle school journey.

Our 8th graders have shown tremendous growth so far this school year, and as we begin 2025, we'll be taking time to reset and reinforce our expectations. The road to high school is indeed getting shorter, and we want to ensure every student is fully prepared for this important transition. In the coming weeks, we'll have some exciting and important events on the calendar so stay tuned!

I am genuinely looking forward to seeing your scholar's bright faces tomorrow as they return to their classrooms! Their energy, curiosity, and enthusiasm make our school community special, and the building is definitely missing an integral part of its days.

To our students: We've missed you and can't wait to hear all your holiday stories! Remember to come ready to learn and reconnect with your classmates and teachers.

Here's to a fantastic start to 2025 and an unforgettable spring!

Warmly,

Ms. Ernvall

📅 Graduation Picture Day: Graduation pictures will take place at Nichols on January 17th, 2025. Pictures will take place first thing in the morning. There is no guarantee that these will have retakes so please plan accordingly.

📅 Course Request Night: Mandatory course request nights are held Jan. 22nd and 23rd based on the students last name. Students must be registered in order to attend and once registered, ETHS will send a NEW student ID number via email that will be used at course request night.

📅 Campus Tours: There are a handful of campus tours coming up if you missed Freshman Orientation:

- Jan. 25th - Spanish language campus tour

- Feb. 22nd - Campus Tour

- March 1st - Campus Tour

- April 12th - Campus Tour

Daily outdoor activity is essential for students' physical and mental wellbeing. Our students will have outdoor recess whenever the real feel temperature is above 20°F, giving them valuable time to move, play, and energize their minds.

Indoor recess will only be held when temperatures drop to 20°F or below for safety. Please send your child with:

• Warm winter coat
• Gloves/mittens
• Appropriate winter footwear

Since outdoor recess will be the norm rather than the exception, proper winter attire is required. Students will participate in outdoor recess regardless of their clothing choices, so ensuring they're dressed appropriately is crucial for their comfort and participation.

We appreciate your support in keeping our students active and thriving throughout the winter months!

Dear Parents/Guardians,

More than two decades of research have demonstrated the important role that social and emotional skills play in each child's success in school and in the community. Skills such as demonstrating self-control, persisting on challenging tasks, and making good decisions are all necessary to be successful students and adults. The process by which students learn these and similar skills is called social emotional learning (SEL). As part of our efforts to better support our students in developing positive social and emotional skills, we are using the SAEBRS SEL assessment for all students in grades K-8.

The SAEBRS assessment is a brief 19-question survey answered by your child's teacher for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. If your child is in 2nd-8th grade they have the opportunity to complete the mySAEBRS survey, which asks them to self-assess using the same 19 questions their educator is answering. The purpose of SAEBRS and mySAEBRS is to identify which SEL skills your child has already learned and which skills they would still need to develop. Once our teachers identify the skills their students still need to learn, they will teach those SEL skills. Our goal is to ensure that your child continually develops the SEL skills they need for lifelong success. We believe that the information gathered with the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS assessment will be beneficial to your child's overall success both inside and outside of the classroom.

We are excited to implement SAEBRS this school year and continue to focus on whole children! If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher. This will be administer within the new few weeks!

Volunteer to help at the event:

There are still some openings to fill! Please check this SignUpGenius form to sign up for a slot.

Donate drinks or snacks:

Sign up here if you are able to donate drinks or snacks! All items should be dropped off in the main office the week we return to school after winter break - no later than end of school on 1/8/2025.

Check it out by clicking on the photo above!