ENSC PARENT NOTES
September 23, 2013
Welcome to a new week!
The year is now into full swing. The first grading period for grades K-8 has quickly arrived and parent conferences are being scheduled. These first conferences of the school year are very important for our students. The early communication between a child's parents/guardians and teacher provides early intervention that can lead to improved school success.
Watch for additional information on date and times of Parent/Teacher conferences.
Board Meeting Week
Also on the agenda will be approval of reviewed and revised School Board polices from 0000-1623. The School Board has been working on reviewing all Board policies and making any needed revisions. Most of the revisions simply bring ENSC in compliance with the new laws. It has been 10-12 years since the last review was completed.
One last item on the agenda is the discussion and possible approval to discontinue offering drivers education through East Noble High School. Enrollment has declined, the laws have changed, licensing is different, and each year presents a new challenge when offering the program. Many of our students are involved in winter and summer activities and are not able to complete the classroom portion of the course. A driving school in Auburn, Drive Right, does offer drivers education to students in the area and are better able to meet the scheduling needs of our students. The course can be offered in our building; however, students are able to take the coursework online which better meets the demands of our students. The teachers are also willing to meet students in our area to provide the driving portion of the training. At this point the cost is just $25 over what we charged last year.
As always, you are invited to attend any of our Board meetings. They begin at 6 p.m.
Super Hero of the Week is from North Side Elementary!
North Side would like to recognize Andy Ogle as their Hero of the Week. Andy serves as the Dean of Students for both North Side and Avilla Elementary Schools. Andy is married to Michelle and is the father of three boys; Josh, Nathan and Nolan and is a die hard Indiana fan. Andy has been with East Noble for 18 years teaching at North Side prior to moving into the Dean’s position. Andy spends his day out among the students supporting their learning and interacting with them in order to create a positive school climate. He is always willing to go the extra mile to help students be successful.
Two-Hour Delays
A delay/cancellation message is put into Power Announcements to send telephone, email, and text messages. However, as we have learned, this is not as reliable as we would like. The quickest way to receive the information is to register with Nixle.com. They are able to get the message out far quicker than the ENSC announcements, radio, and TV.
We have five weather cancellation days built into the calendar. Hopefully, that is enough for the school year. From what I am hearing, the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a rough winter. Hopefully, that means cold and not a lot of snow.
We know that delays and cancellations can be difficult for families as they have to find day care for young children. For this reason, we work very hard to call delays and cancellations only when necessary. The Kendallville YMCA is always open during delays and cancellations and available for daycare during these times. Call the YMCA at 347-9622 for details.
Have a great week
Ann
Building News
Alternative Learning Center
The ALC has been a popular place this week. We welcomed three new high school students and one new middle schooler! We are happy to have these students with us and look forward to seeing them progress in their education. In addition to our new additions, we also issued 8 more credits this week, bringing our total for the year to 34. One of those credits was earned by our very first graduate of the 2013-2014 school year!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO CHARITY JONES ON THE COMPLETION OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR HER CORE 40 DIPLOMA. Charity is a bright young lady who joined us last spring and worked very hard in order to earn a number of credits in a short period of time. CONGRATULATIONS CHARITY AND BEST WISHES ON A BRIGHT FUTURE!!!
Avilla Elementary
OUR 5th graders spent a soggy day and a half at Camp Potawatomi this week! The students had an outstanding time learning skills that they will carry on with them for a lifetime. The students challenged themselves as individuals and within a group setting. They all did an outstanding job representing East Noble Schools. OUR 5th grade teachers, Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Neilson, did an excellent job preparing the students and arranging this opportunity for them. We are blessed to have such outstanding teachers. We would like to thank ALL of the parents that were there as chaperones. Without them this experience would not have been possible. We would also like to thank all the parents that could not attend the trip for making sure the students came to school with all the bags packed and sleeping materials ready to go. Again, without this preparation the trip would not have been as enjoyable for the kids.
On Friday, we were able to entertain several guests in OUR building. The day started off with members of the EN Academy meeting with Mr. Pine and two of OUR College Bound Committee Members. The students were able to explain to the Academy what OUR “No Excuses University” program is all about. Academy members were then able to take a look at some classrooms to see some of the wonderful things OUR EN students are learning, experimenting with, and accomplishing. We ended the day with over 450 grandparents and friends of OUR community spending time with OUR kids. Grandparents were able to see firsthand what education looks like today at Avilla. Seeing the smiles on OUR students when their grandparents arrived at the classroom door was priceless. Listening to all the wonderful things about OUR students and staff the grandparents had to say as they were leaving was almost as priceless.
East Noble High School
East Noble High School is fortunate to have one of the best turf surfaces in the state of Indiana. The turf serves as a focal point for the East Noble Community. Whether its track, baseball/softball, soccer, football, or PE classes our Knights take great pride in their facility. Several times throughout the year the stadium is host to a variety of community events. However, crowded events at East Noble Stadium stretch the facilities to the limit. Large congested areas restrict paths to and from the bleachers, and make going to the concession stand a chore. As guests enter they are often confused by the ticket booth being at a separate location than the gate. The new layout will provide better access to the bleachers, concession stand, and other facilities. Upgrades will allow for safer interaction for adults and younger fans. Now is the time to make the plaza into something Knight Fans can be proud of.
The plans call for: landscaping along the north end zone, a plaza filled with individualized bricks, a new ticketing center and main gate, relocation and upgrade of the concession stand, a new fan tailgating area, flagpole tribute to veterans, and other upgrades to the area. It is an exciting time to be a Knight fan. The improvements will not only be aesthetically pleasing, but the overall functionality of the stadium will be enhanced for everyone’s benefit.
Customizable brick pavers will be sold to cover the costs of the project. Knight Fans from near and far are invited to provide a sponsorship, show their support, and leave a legacy for future Knight Fans. Each brick (depending on size) will have three/six lines of engraved text. Help bring this project one step closer to reality. Over the next several months fundraising efforts will be underway with the goal of breaking ground in June 2014. Show off your Knight Pride!!!
To learn more, or to purchase your own brick sponsorship checkout the website at www.ENHSCampusBeautification.comEast Noble Middle School
It has been a busy week at ENMS as the first progress reports of the year were sent home with students on Wednesday. The first round of Acuity testing for math and LA will begin next week.
ENMS 8th graders were visited by Mayor Handshoe on Tuesday, September 17th in celebration of Constitution Day. The mayor discussed what the Constitution is, broke down its seven Articles and explained how the Constitution “drives” the American people, including those in Kendallville, IN. It was an honor to have the mayor with us today; we are thankful for her visit. A big THANK YOU goes to the ENMS students and staff who took the time to celebrate the US Constitution as well as ask great, thought-provoking questions!
Students in 7th grade social studies classes began their unit on economics this week. Students learned about different economic systems around the world through a simulation activity where they used mass produced newspaper products. Students then voted on the finished product that best represented goods that would be produced from each type of economy. Next week, students will begin a mini cross-curriculum unit as they compare/contrast real world economies and governments against those of the Hunger Games.
7th grade LA students have compared/contrasted Gladiator games of Rome with reality TV and are beginning to study characterization as we kick off “The Hunger Games” novel study. They will begin writing personal narratives shortly. In 8th grade, students have begun to read “All of the Above” while also studying character.
North Side Elementary
On Thursday, North Side celebrated Grandparent’s Day with a morning of donuts, milk, juice, and togetherness. This year we exceeded our previous year’s number of attendees resulting in 35 dozen donuts, over 10 gallons of milk, and 6 jugs of orange juice. Grandparents also had the opportunity to get their picture taken with their grandchildren to commemorate the event. After enjoying their breakfast, the attendees were invited to tour the building and see their grandchildren’s classrooms and other sites of the school. The book fair was also open during this time allowing grandparents to spoil their grandchildren with a book, poster, and/or trinket. Both the grandparents and their grandchildren were smiling from ear to ear at the conclusion of the festivities. A big thanks to all of the staff members who came in early to help with this event as well as the PTO for organizing such a memorable event. One grandparent was quoted as saying “I look forward to this every year, now.”
Since the beginning of the school year the North Side fourth graders have been busy learning and practicing all of the components of Daily 5. We’ve launched the first three components of Daily Five, which are Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Word Work. We’ve already reached 45 minutes of reading stamina! We have begun reading our first class novel of the year, Percy Jackson, The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. All of our students are really loving the book and can’t wait to find out what happens to Percy.
In addition to learning all about The Daily Five, we’ve been busy diving into Indiana History. We’ve been learning about Indiana’s government, geography, history, and the people who have made Indiana the great state that it is. In science, we’ve have been studying the changes of the Earth through weathering, erosion, and deposition. The students have been discovering what causes earthquakes, volcanoes, avalanches and landslides. We’ve also been learning how glaciers have made our state flat in some places and hilly in others.
Rome City Elementary
Professional Development! That’s the word of the week at Rome City Elementary School. We were very lucky to be offered the opportunity,through a grant, for Kari Ruse and Renee Rogers to go to Denver, Colorado last Saturday and Sunday for Daily 5 and CAFÉ training with The Sisters.
Heather Green, Toni Doyle, Kim McKibben, and Erin Opper spent Thursday and Friday at a Smekens Conference learning more about the 6 Traits. The staff is looking forward to hearing about these inspirational trips that are sure to encourage our staff.
The National Honor students are Rome City have been out and about in the community. They have been working at the concession stand at Kelly Park in Rome City as a community service opportunity. This project will also bring in some funds to our school that may be used for events and projects to improve learning at Rome City.
South Side Elementary
Constitution Day was Tuesday this week, and our students were engaged in a number of activities learning about our founding documents including discussions of the founders and the process of writing the constitution, reading poetry about the freedoms outlined within it, and learning songs that celebrate our liberty and the democratic process in the United States.
College Go Week activities also started last week and will continue next week. Our counselor, Mrs. Armstrong, visited all K-6 classes to talk about careers and colleges. Students received their Learn More magazines and information on how to register to win a 529 savings plan or a prize from the Indianapolis Colts.
Our grade level update comes from the fourth grade this week: Our fourth graders have been working with line plots and bar graphs to determine data landmarks. To celebrate their knowledge, Mrs. Spencer’s class and Ms. Roberts’s class came together on Friday to create a human line plot representing their household sizes. After the line plot was created and photographed, students stood in order from minimum household size to maximum household size in order to determine their median. Our fourth grade household data was as follows: a maximum of 10, a minimum of 2, a range of 8, and a mode of 6. A special thank you to Mr. Holbrook who so willingly climbed up on the roof to take the picture!
Wayne Center Elementary
The kindergarten classes enjoyed their morning at Orchard Hills Apple Orchard learning about how apples grow and the process in which they are picked and processed for wholesale. We learned how the trees are pruned in the winter and how new trees are taken care of. We also learned about how the bees have to pollenate the flowers and how the apple maggots are tracked. We learned about the good and bad things for the orchard and what helps the apples grow. We saw how apples are picked carefully and tested to see if they are ripe and where they are stored in the cooler to keep fresh. The classes also enjoyed watching how they click off the line in to the bags to be packaged, and of course, we enjoyed an apple at the end of our tour.