NIS Golden Knights

Notes from Mr. O...
Can spring be just around the corner? Everyone at NIS is excited to see the sunshine! We are quickly approaching a very busy time of year here at NIS. Preparations are underway for orientation sessions for next year's fifth graders. Be sure to watch for upcoming dates and bulletins about our 4th to 5th grade orientation nights.

Good attendance greatly affects student performance in the classroom and on standardized testing. Congratulations to the NIS family for demonstrating significant improvement in attendance for the Indiana School Incentive Awards Program. We should all take pride in this recognition.

Some NIS parents spoke with me at Parent Conferences recently and asked how they could help their children be more organized. Organization is one of the key skills our students need to develop as they progress through their school years. Building good study habits is very important. Deciding when and where to study is a beginning. In addition, continued use of the assignment notebook helps students get themselves organized for the week ahead.

In a study by Timmer, Eccles, and O'Brien, "How Children Use Time," it was found that young adolescents spend 3.5% of their time studying and 20.7% of their time watching television. Setting a limit onTV time would greatly benefit most students.

Forgetting items at home is another problem students seem to have. How many calls have you received from your child asking you to bring something to school? One way to get them organized is to put bookbags, lunches, etc. in the same place at night ready for the next day. My children used to pack everything for the day and leave it by the front door, so they would just pick it up on the way out to the bus the next morning. Organization is not easy for some, and it takes practice. If you help your child build this skill now, it will last him/her a lifetime.


Remaining Waiver Days
Students will be dismissed at 12:00 Noon on the following Waiver Days. Please mark your calendars and make necessary after school arrangements for your child. Only emergency messages will be delivered to students.
Tuesday, February 27
Thursday, March 22


MMR for 5th Graders
Indiana State Law requires that all children entering sixth grade in the Fall of 2000 must have received at least two (2) doses of a measles vaccine. These two doses must both occur after the child's first birthday and be separated by at least thirty (30) days. This mandate is enforced by the provision that students who do not comply with the regulation will be expelled from school twenty days into the Fall Semester of their sixth grade year. If your child has received a second dose, please submit proof of this second dose to the School Nurse. You may receive this immunization from your family doctor or the Hamilton County Health Department at 776-8500. Please contact Mrs. Huff if you have any questions or need more information.


Attendance policy about Daughter to Work Day
The NIS attendance policy includes no special provisions for Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Absences for the purpose of accompanying a parent to work will be unexcused unless the parent follows procedures for pre-arranging the absence. The final date for prearranging is 10 days prior to the absence. NIS encourages parents to send their daughters to school whenever school is in session and take their daughters to work during the summer months.


Flex Day, March 19
In accordance with corporation policy, the Flex Day on March 19 will NOT be approved for a pre-arranged absence. This make-up day provides for a snow day granted in December. If a request for a pre-arranged absence is made, it will be denied and the student will not be allowed to make up work missed due to the absence. The absence will be marked unexcused.


Moved?
New phone number?
If you have moved or have new emergency contact information, have your student drop by the office and give us the update so we can keep your records current. This is especially important for us to have before mailing summer registration!


Science Fair
Science Fair was a huge success this year!
All the participants did a wonderful job this year. Winners for this year's Science Fair are:
5th grade: Danielle
Paige
Sarah
Nicole
6th grade: Paige
Phil
Tyler
Thanks again for all the young scientists and judges who help make this year's Science Fair a great one!!


Math Bowl Competition
Math Bowl State Wide Competition is March 13th at Sand Creek Intermediate School. NIS students have been working hard at practices. They should do pretty well this year. So please come cheer them on to victory! The competition begins at 5:00 p.m. We hope to see you there.


Spelling Bee
The 5th Annual NIS Spelling Bee was held Tuesday January 23rd. The top 10 spellers were: 10th Ethan, 9th Bryan, 8th Ryan, 7th Tommi, 6th Ben, 5th Andy, 4th Dominic, 3rd Nicole, 2nd Chaz, and 1st place.....Brittney! She will compete in the Hamilton County Spelling Bee on March 6th at 7pm at Hazel Dell Elementary School. Good Luck Brittney!


Dates to Remember
Feb. 27 Waiver Day, 12:00 dismissal
March 8 String Info. Meeting for 5th gr.
7 pm at NHS
March 13 Band Info. Meeting for 5th gr.
7:30 pm in NIS cafeteria
March 16 End of grading period
March 19 School in session/snow day make- up
March 22 Waiver Day, 12:00 dismissal
March 26 PTO meeting, 7 pm in library
April 2-6 Spring Break


Music Recitals
Attention all parents with students in Mr. Wilkening, Miss Brisco, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Sewell, and Miss Fogg's classes: Your child will be participating in an end of the nine weeks music recital on March 15, 2001. The recital will take place during your child's music time. Please refer to the letters, that were sent home, for specific times. Hope to see you there!


Band and Strings Sign-up
Sign up for 6th grade Strings and Band is this month! The information meeting for Strings is March 8, 7:00 pm at NHS. The information meeting for Band is March 13, 7:00 pm at NIS. The deadline to sign up for these classes is March 29. Beginning instruction will take place in June. If you have questions about the string and band program, please come to the informational meetings!


DANGER
Parents are reminded that there are absolutely NO student pick-ups or drop-offs on the west side of NIS (16th Street) during bus loading or unloading times. Students MUST be dropped off and picked up on the north side of the building at the flagpole. This is to insure that children are not running between buses where they cannot be seen. Thank you for your cooperation.


Parent Meeting
Tri-County Special Services Cooperative Parent Awareness Committee is sponsoring a meeting at Tri-County Opportunity School onThursday, March 22nd at 7:00 pm. The topic for the evening will be "Positive Behavior Supports." Positive Behavior Supports are a way to address a student's behavioral and emotional issues and help him/her achieve educational success.
For more information and reservations, please call 278-3752.


About e-mail
Please be advised that at the present time, all outside e-mail to Noblesville Schools is delayed by several hours. We hope to have this problem resolved soon. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you need to contact a teacher, please do so by telephoning the front office at 776-7792.