EAGLE NATION NEWS

Newsletters will be sent via e-mail attachment monthly to all households with students enrolled at Norwich School. If you wish to be added to the e-mail list and you do not have a student enrolled, please contact Megan Dheming at the school 620-478-2235, mdheming@knusd331.com, and we will add you to our e-mail newsletter list.

Hello Eagle Families!

I want to express my gratitude for your ongoing support as we focus on high levels of student engagement and learning. Making sure students are at school and on time each day is imperative to their learning. Of course with the illnesses that have been going around we know that is not always possible but the efforts made to achieve this when students are well do not go unnoticed.

If you haven't already, please make sure you sign up and mark your calendars for parent teacher conferences on February 5th and 6th. During this time we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the school year and your student's progress. Teachers will be sharing student's progress towards grade level standards and discussing and planning their schedules for next year.

February is an exciting month for students as we celebrate the 100th day of school, Valentine's Day and Homecoming! We also start Battle of the Books tournaments for some 6th graders and continue the basketball, wrestling and powerlifting seasons. 3rd, 4th and 5th graders have had a great time with the start of Arts Partners and are looking forward to their performance in March.

2025 is certainly in full swing in the school and although winter has made things somewhat difficult with school cancelations, rescheduling activities and just plain COLD, we are proud of everyone's accomplishments and enthusiasm for the start of the new year!

Conferences will be held Wednesday February 7th from 1:00-8:00pm & Thursday February 8th from8:00am-8:00pm. Please make sure you sign up for your preferred date and time by logging into Skyward Family Access>Conferences. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress. If you have trouble signing up, please contact Megan at the office at 620-478-2235 or by email at mdheming@knusd331.com.

• High School Boys Basketball

• The young men recently competed at the 54 Classic and took 3rd overall. Jayden Benge made the All-Tournament team as well as recently being named, with his teammate, Brayden Pauly, two of the top 100 KS high school boys basketball players in the Wichita Metro Area. This team is a fun bunch to watch that play with fire and tenacity.

• High School Girls Basketball

• This week the ladies have their turn at the 54 Classic being held in Skyline. Last night they won their opening round vs. the Cunningham Wildcats and will play the Medicine Lodge Indians on Friday night. They’ve been competing each and every week and continue to get better with every outing.

• Junior High Basketball:

• Both boys and girls teams have had exciting seasons and have played hard and improved each week. The HOPL tournament (to be held in Burrton) is just around the corner and both teams should be very competitive.

• Scholar’s Bowl

• Led under the excellent tutelage of Coach Lohrman, the Eagles Scholar’s Bowl team has been gaining momentum and are looking strong as the League meet draws near.

• Powerlifting

• On February 1, 2025, NHS powerlifters will head to Wellington to compete in the 7th Annual Wellington Powerlifting Invitational. The NPL Team has competed in two meets thus far and have been making consistent gains.

Finally, thank you to all those who support and back our Eagle student/athletes. There is nothing that builds pride, culture, and success like that of a supportive community.

GO BIG RED!!!

Coach Foley

Is your child sick or plans have changed during the day? If you need to contact the school office for any reason by email, please use our new email address norwichoffice@knusd331.com. This will help us get messages to your child when there are substitutes in the office for the day.

Congratulations to all spellers! Pictured below are the students who will represent Norwich at the County Bee on February 5th at KMHS.

Please remember to send coats, hats, gloves and long pants to school during these winter months.

Students in grades Pk-6 will go outside for recess if the windchill is above 32 degrees.

With the winter months ahead, it would be wise to review where you should listen to find out if school will be dismissed in case of bad weather. We make every effort to make this decision prior to the start of bus routes, but sometimes this is not possible. If we do not have school because of the weather, the following T.V. stations will be notified:

TV: KSN – 3, KAKE – 10, KWCH – 12

Parents should receive an e-mail notice and/or phone call through our messaging system. It will also be posted on the school website. If you have not already, make sure to download the USD 331 app to your mobile device and sign up for notifications so you can stay informed! If you do not receive this message, please contact the district office.

We ask that parents who work please contact their child’s teacher and/or office with instructions as to where the child should go if we close school during the day and nobody is home. This is extremely important for the younger students.

The district has established a mud route procedure again this year. As you are aware, there are several roads in the district that become impassable under certain weather conditions. When the mud route procedure is in place, the parents will be contacted, and pick-up points will be established that can be reached by our buses. This procedure was established with the safety of children in mind. Your understanding and cooperation is greatly appreciated.

This month’s focus is Honesty. One way to think about Honesty is “being truthful in what you say and do.” Practicing Honesty helps strengthen our relationships and reduce stress. Honesty is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Well. Throughout the school, students will be developing skills like emotion regulation, positive self-talk, and stress-management.

On January 15th, all 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders got the opportunity to participate in Reality U. This is a simulation of what our responsibilities could be when we are around 26 years old. The students filled out a questionnaire about where they think they might be at this age including what their career might be, would they be married and would they have children? They were then presented a monthly paycheck based on those answers and then had to visit various businesses. Some of the stops were buying a car, daycare, food, investments, health care, etc. Please ask your student about their experience! We had over 30 volunteers from the Kingman and Norwich area and we thank them so much for their time and expertise. One thing I heard over and over after the simulation was over..."WOW I am expensive!!"

Please plan on attending Parent/Teacher/Student conferences the first week of February. This is a great time to see how your student is progressing and our high school students will be filling out information about the courses of study they will take next school year.

JUNIORS will be taking the ACT exam on March 5th! More information will be coming home including instructions on how they need to set up their MyACT account. This is where they will receive their scores, select colleges they want their scores reported to, etc.

DARE has come to Norwich! Police Captain George Ontiveros is coming to Norwich weekly and leading our fifth graders through the DARE Program. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Captain Ontiverso is an amazing instructor that the students will learn so much from.

Another group we are welcoming this year are the Arts Partners. We are so fortunate to have been picked for this fully funded literacy program that teaches core reading goals through the use of Art, Music and Social Emotional Learning Integration. Currently our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are getting to go through their unit with the partners, and then after Spring Break our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders will get their turn.

Looking forward to a FABULOUS FEBRUARY!!

Beginning February 3rd for two weeks ONLY the 2025 yearbook will be on sale again through the Jostens website ONLY for a discounted price of $31.00 plus tax or more with personalization. Sale ends February 14th! It makes a lovely Valentine’s Day gift! Get your yearbook bought NOW before the price goes up! ONLY prepaid yearbooks will be ordered! Thank you for supporting the yearbook staff. If you purchased a senior salute, be sure you have purchased a 2025 yearbook for your senior! Email Mrs. Brewster with order questions or status inquiries.

Jostens is providing and easy way for students and patrons to upload photos for the yearbook staff to possibly use in the 2025 yearbook. Photos you take of school activities can be shared easily. By using this site, your photos will go directly into the yearbook image library. Start by photo sharing website. Enter your information and you are all set. Photographers will be credited for any photos used in the book. You DO NOT need to tag or enter caption information! Thanks in advance for your support and helping us capture all aspects of the 2024-25 story.

KEEP the student-led class/club combination going! The yearbook staff is the decision-making board that takes the yearbook course to receive an elective credit, attends yearbook camp (dates TBD usually late July or early Aug. and pending new adviser), and the possibility of lettering. A core group of upperclassmen (10-12) is NEEDED to replace the leadership that has begun this student-led club. Other 9-12 high school students have the opportunity to sign up as yearbook club members. They participate and help in a variety of ways, but are not in the course. If they are in the club several years and help a great deal they may possibly letter. Students interested in being on staff need to apply and pre-enroll in Digital Media and Design (aka Yearbook) through Xello. Please encourage students to apply for yearbook staff or join the club. To apply, email Mrs. Brewster at tbrewster@knusd331.com and ask for an application form. Let Mrs. Brewster know if you have questions.

Mark your calendars as it’s IMPORTANT for all students, teachers, and staff to be present on picture days!

3/27/25: Spring sports and final round of clubs/organizations.

Still need to order follow steps below:

Having Strawbridge issues? Contact customer service at the number or email above.

Please be reminded that yearbook staff gets a commission from Strawbridge for the photos you purchase. It is one of their fundraisers. Your support is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your support in purchasing pictures.

Board policy allows students and staff to charge up to $15.00. Once they have charged $15.00, the policy dictates that we provide an alternative meal (in our case, this is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich).

Each Monday parents will receive a text and email when any payor account balance is $10.00 or less.

Once your account is negative you will receive daily texts, emails and/or phone calls to make arrangements for bringing your account current, as well as a reminder to send lunches from home.

All students enrolled in the Kingman-Norwich School District between the ages of 7-17 are required to attend school on a regular basis in accordance with Kansas statutes and district attendance guidelines. Daily attendance records shall be maintained for each student and building Principals are responsible for enforcing the attendance policy. The Kingman Norwich Board of Education has approved seven (7) reasons for students to be excused from school. The reasons are as follows:

1. Personal illness – Up to 7 absences for personal illness will be considered excused when parents make appropriate notification to the school office. Any absences due to illness in excess of 7 days will require documentation from a doctor or other qualified medical professional;

2. Health-related treatment, examination, or recuperation;

3. Serious illness or death of a member of the family;

4. Obligatory religious observances;

5. Participation in a district-approved or school sponsored activity or course;

6. Absences pre-arranged by parents and approved by the principal; and

7. Students of active-duty military personnel may have additional excused absences at the discretion of the principal for visitations relative to leave or deployment.

An unexcused absence is one which has been classified as such by the building administration. An absence will be classified unexcused if it does not fit one of the board’s seven stated reasons for excusable absence or if the building attendance procedure is not followed by the student and the parent or legal guardian.The long-term truant student may be dropped from school enrollment once the student has not attended for 10 consecutive school days.

When a student is absent, in order for the absence to be classified excused, the following procedure is to be used:

1. Parents or guardians are asked to phone the school by 8:30 a.m. the day of the absence informing the school’s

representative of the student’s reason for being absent.

2. If the school does not receive a call by 8:30 a.m. on the day of the absence, the school makes every attempt to contact

the parents or guardians during that school day.

3. In the event that phone contact is not made during school hours that day of the absence, on the day the student returns

to school, the student should bring a written note from the parent or guardian that explains the absence.

4. When the student returns to school from being absent, other than from a school activity, the student must report to the main office for an admit slip.

5. The student will have 24 hours from the time the unexcused absence is issued to provide either written or verbal communication from the parent excusing the absence. If no communication is received within this time, the absence will remain unexcused.

If you haven’t already, make sure and download our district app to stay connected. When you sign up for notifications you will receive the most up to date information as it becomes available

As proud Eagle alumni of Norwich High School, we want to help get the word out to all alumni of important events that will interest you so you can remain involved and support your high school alma mater. Please help us in making sure that we have your most current up to date information by either sending us an email at norwichalumni2015@gmail.com or sending us a note to Norwich Schools 209 S. Parkway Norwich, KS 67118. We have recently started an Alumni Facebook page as well. We would love for any alumni to register and follow us!

All events and times are subject to change. Please check the school website for the most up to date information.