NCS Family Newsletter

8/24/25 Back to school Block Party -All VASD families are welcome! (Details below)

8/27/25 NCS Back to School Kickoff 5:00-6:30pm (Details below)

8/27/25 Return all summer library books to black bin by the office

9/2/2025 First day of school

Dear New Century School Families,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. It’s hard to believe we are just a few short weeks away from the start of the 2025–26 school year! While summer offers our staff time to rest and recharge, it’s also a season of preparation and learning. Much of this work happens quietly—often on teachers’ own time—but it’s all done with the goal of creating the best possible experience for your children.

I want to take a moment to highlight and celebrate some of the work happening behind the scenes this summer:

• Our custodial team— Ms. Mel, Mr. Fred, and Ms. Ming—has been hard at work deep-cleaning and maintaining our building to ensure a safe, welcoming environment for all.
  
  

• A team of staff, including Ms. Quinn-Roberts, Ms. Hemachandra, Ms. Froehlich, Ms. Merryfield, and I attended the VASD Social Emotional Learning Symposium. We’re using this learning to plan how we will support students’ social-emotional growth in the year ahead.
  
  

• Mr. Lohr, Ms. Xistris, and Ms. Konop have been preparing engaging Outdoor Learning experiences that connect nature, exploration, and academic learning for our 4/5 students.

• Ms. Xistris and I participated in a session on Standards-Based Grading with expert Tom Schimmer to continue our work on fair and effective assessment practices.
  
  

• Ms. Konop collaborated with instructional coaches from across VASD to support our ongoing professional learning in literacy and best teaching practices.
  
  

• In the front office, Ms. Amelia and Ms. Jenni have been hard at work with purchasing, school records, registration, and everything needed to wrap up last year and prepare for the new one.

• During the week of August 4, Ms. Bennett, Ms. Merryfield, Ms. Xistris, Ms. Konop, and I will participate in the weeklong VASD Leadership Institute, where we will engage in collaborative learning and planning focused on continuous improvement for the year ahead.
  
  

And of course, many of our incredible staff have spent time this summer reflecting, reading, and planning—true to their calling as educators. We are lucky to have such a committed team.

Personally, I’m looking forward to connecting with families and hearing about your summer adventures. My own family enjoyed many local summer favorites like farmers' markets, swimming pools, Concerts on the Square, and parks. We also took a road trip to Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, and were fortunate to travel to Europe—visiting Paris, Bruges (Belgium), and Cologne (Germany). It was a summer full of exploration and memories!

Ms. Amelia will be back in the school office on a regular schedule starting August 14. Please mark your calendars for our Back to School Night on Wednesday, August 27, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. You’ll have the chance to drop off school supplies, visit your child’s classroom, and hear from the teacher about the year ahead.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer, and we can’t wait to welcome you back soon!

Warmly,
Mrs. Parks

Principal, New Century School

The '25-26 VASD Elementary School Family Handbook is a good resource for families. Families are encouraged to review this information and refer to it throughout the school year. It is also available on our website.

August 27th, 5:00pm to 6:30pm

Meet your teachers, get familiar with the school, drop off school supplies and write a welcome note in chalk on the sidewalk. The talk-ins schedule is below, and NCS will be in the gym. This is also a great day to return all summer library books.

5:05pm K/1 - Bastien/Gleiter/Radder

5:30pm 2/3 Bennett/Ziegler

6pm 4/5 Lohr/Xistris

Please also join the NCS Social Committee for Popsicles at the NCS Playground from 5:30-6:30.

Kindergarten through fifth-grade student devices will remain at school throughout the year, and parents or guardians have the option to allow their child to take the device home daily by opting in within the first two weeks of school. The form to do that is located here. If you want your student’s device to stay at school, you do not have to do anything. After September 19th, opting in will no longer be available, and the device will remain at school for the rest of the year. Families opting in are responsible for any damages, and it's recommended to consider the Device Insurance Program for coverage.

Looking for Sunday Fun for the Whole Family? We’ve Got You Covered!

Join us at Verona Area High School on Sunday, August 24, 2025, from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM for an afternoon of FREE family-friendly fun and helpful resources to kick off the school year!

FREE Community Resources
Vaccinations provided by Walmart
(Parent/Guardian must be present & health insurance card required)
Free Vision Screenings by the Lions Club
School supplies, information, and more to help you gear up for a great year!

Bring the kids, tell your friends, and stop by for this one-stop community event you won’t want to miss!

NCS School Supplies for 2025-26.

The important items for all students are at the top, then helpful items are listed at each grade level. If you need help with supplies, please complete this form. As always, we'd happily take donations of Kleenex, bleach wipes, pre-sharpened pencils and gently worn gym shoes and comfy pants in all sizes.

All VASD families will need to go online to confirm registration information. You should have gotten an email from Online Student Registration or "reg" in July with a reminder to go in and submit your updates. You'll want to have things like allergy and medical information, updated phone and email contacts in front of you as you register for the fall.

Two important notes:

1. If you will need bussing in September, please "opt in" and hit yes on the transportation page. That begins the process to add you to a route, and the exact address of your intended stop will be important.

2. If you wish to have a paper report card come home in the 2025-26 school year, please check the box to hit yes, and "opt in" to paper report cards, otherwise report cards are digital by default.

If you need assistance with lunch costs please visit our Free and Reduced Lunch application for information on income levels and an application for assistance.

Here is the link to a Google Public Calendar with this year’s updated NCS events: NCS Google Public Calendar

This calendar will be updated continually throughout the year with school events, such as swim, Picture Day, Back to School Night, field trips, parent/teacher conferences, days off of school, Governance Council meetings, and so much more! We hope that this will make things easier for you!

Sora Provides Free Access to 1000s of e-Books and Audio Books from Home All Summer Long

Your school library is happy to provide Sora, a reading app for students that offers age-appropriate e-books and audio books, for all NCS/VAIS students and staff! K-5 students are able to access their Sora accounts all summer long on any home device (phone, iPad, laptop, etc.).

Here are the instructions for downloading Sora to a home device. Students will use their school email addresses and three-letter passwords (they should know these - if not, Ms. Roltgen can help) to log in.

In library classes, 2-5 students have learned how to borrow e-books and audio books, place holds, browse the collections, search for titles of interest, check their bookshelf, and personalize their profile. K-1 learners have been enjoying the "Read Along With Me" collection which allows them to see the pictures and watch the highlighted words as a narrator reads the book to them.

Going on a road trip? Sora titles can be checked out and downloaded ahead of time so no internet access is required while using the app. If you have any questions or trouble accessing Sora, please contact our Library Director, Ms. Roltgen, at roltgent@verona.k12.wi.us. Happy e-reading and listening this summer!

To ensure student safety, all chaperones for off-site events and trips must have an approved VASD Volunteer Background Check. It's never too early to complete one of these forms for trips next year, even if you might only be able to help out once or twice!

If you are considering chaperoning field trips or any off-site events, please ensure your background check is approved in advance. This process is completed online using this link, and approval typically takes 7–10 days. However, there have been instances where processing takes longer, so we encourage you to complete it as soon as possible if needed.

It is not always easy to decide if your child is sick enough to stay home or well enough to be in school. Children who come to school are expected to participate fully in school activities including recess and physical education. A doctor’s note is required for any activity restriction.

Our most current guidelines are found here.

If your student is ill, has an early morning appointment, or will be late arriving to school for another reason, in addition to notifying their classroom teacher please make sure that you one of the following PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY:

1) EMAIL NCS Attendance: ncs-attendance@verona.k12.wi.us

2) CALL the office at (608) 845-4500

Please do not email the school secretaries directly, we appreciate it! The attendance line/email is the best way to communicate with school.

We also heard that you wanted a one-stop shop for accessing information from GC. While our solution is not very high tech, it gets the job done! Please use the following QR code or this link to gain access to the GC agendas/minutes any time you want to review them.

We have a way to find all volunteer information, including descriptions and more. This link here or the QR code below leads to the volunteer folder which will house descriptions of volunteer roles and a master list of all the sign up geniuses so you don’t have to worry about searching all your past emails for them!

Please join the New Century School Community, Inc. Social Committee for Popsicles at the NCS Playground during Back-to-School Kickoff! Wednesday, August 27th from 5:30-6:30pm.

Finally, as we plan ahead for the upcoming school year, please take a few minutes to fill out this matchmaker survey. This helps us understand your strengths and interests to align them with some of the larger volunteer needs we have during the school year. Want a QR code for that too? We got ya covered.

Did you know that New Century Community Inc’s annual fundraising efforts help to fund our Outdoor Learning Days? A $20 donation enables our teachers ability to plan and execute field trips.

We have an annual goal of $30,000. Thank you to all those who have donated in the past to our ongoing campaign. Any amount moves the needle, and we appreciate every contribution to support the school. To make a contribution, kindly choose to:

Use our PayPal donation page:

@New Century School Community Inc, Paypal Email: newcenturycommunity@gmail.com

or

Send a check made out to:

New Century School Community Inc.

PO Box 930454

Verona, WI 53593

or checks may also be dropped off in the school office.

Have you joined the New Century School Parent Community Facebook Group? Current and incoming families are welcome to join “New Century School Parent Community” on Facebook. This is a great place to post events and pop-up playdates. This is also a great resource for new parents/guardians to ask any questions they may have. Additionally, please like and follow our New Century School Facebook page here.

The Sunshine Committee is made up of amazing NCS and VAIS families whose mission is to spread kindness and support for families and school staff. They do this by providing assistance in the form of cards, meals, gift cards, and other resources to families and staff in need of a little pick-me-up. Interested in signing up to help or nominating a family or individual? Please contact School Psychologist Hannah Merryfield at merryfih@verona.k12.wi.us.

Welcome to the 25-26 School year.

Are you looking for ways to help out? Is your time flexible enough that you can come once a week? We would love to have you volunteer in our lunchroom. This is a stellar way to get to know the students of both schools and help in building on our awesome community.

Please complete this short survey with your availability. Please feel free to reach out to Miss Jenni at: gumienyj@verona.k12.wi.us with interest or questions.

Remember all volunteers will need to be background checked through the district here.

We wanted to call out an important and really cool volunteer activity for the summer that will keep STEM top of mind over the break for your kiddos. We are lucky enough to have a community garden that NCS can call its own; however, to maintain it over the summer we are asking every family to sign up to help water the plants and weed at least once. We can still use some help from families in August. You can find the sign up genius link here, or in the master list via the QR code above, or with this specific QR code below. These are some helpful instructors for the garden, too.

Registration for the 2025–2026 school year is now open – with all-new materials and lessons. In the air, on land, and in the sea – travel and explore the world in Spanish. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity for your student to build Spanish skills in a fun, interactive bilingual classroom! Enroll today!