From the Principal S Office

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICEFebruary 2016

As your child can tell you, Northern’s playgrounds are in desperate need of new, safer equipment. Northern, not the school system, is responsible for replacing worn and torn playground equipment. The cost of even one piece of new playground equipment is very pricey. Not only have grants have been written to assist with funding new playground equipment, but our PTA has made funding new playgrounds for our students its main focus!

Recently I was notified about a yearly sweepstakes that provides the opportunity to win an extreme playground makeover. The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) and Discovery Education sponsor a sweepstakes as part of the Together Counts™ program, a joint initiative aimed at addressing the childhood obesity epidemic by encouraging educators, students and families to live active and healthy lives.

The link below is also on Northern’s website so spread the word! Anyone can enter on behalf of Northern Elementary. So please enter once a day, every day until March 25, 2016. The more entries Northern has, the greater chance we have to win.Our students and I both thank you and your family members for taking the time to do this daily!

Dates to Remember

Monday, February 1 – Site Based Decision Making Council Meeting at 3:00 p.m. in

the library

Tuesday, February 2 – PTA Meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the library

Wednesday, February 3 – WLEX Weatherman, Bill Meck, visits with our 4th grade

students inthelibrary

Thursday, February 4– Academic Team Match: Northern hostsLemons Mill

Elementary at 3:10 p.m.in the gym

Monday, February 8 – Club Picture Day

Thursday, February 11 – Academic Team Match: Northern host Eastern Elementary

at 3:10 p.m. in the gym

Friday, February 12– Valentine’s Day Parties for classrooms (see schedule below)

Thursday, February 18 – Second Grade Performance at 1:30 p.m. in the gym for the

school and at 7:00 p.m. in the gym for families

– Academic Team Match: Northern at Garth Elementary

at 3:10 p.m.

Friday, February 19– Northern Yearbook Orders due

Monday, February 22 thru Friday, February 26 – Jump Rope for Heart Week

Tuesday, February 23 –District Academic Team Governor’s Cup Future Problem

Solving and Written Composition Event

Wednesday, February 24 – Technology Committee Meeting at 3:00 p.m. in the

computer lab

– Curriculum Committee Meeting at 3:00 p.m. in Mrs.

Thomas’ room

– School Climate Committee Meeting at 3:00 p.m. in Mrs.

Werkheiser’s room

Thursday, February 25– Northern’s Science/Social Studies Fair Day! Project viewing

from 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. and from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the

gym for families

Friday, February 26 – February Birthday Bash for students at 2:15 p.m. in the

cafeteria

Saturday, February 27 – District Academic Team Governor’s Cup

Monday, February 29 thru Friday, March 4– Northern’s Spring Book Fair

– Read Across America Week

Updated 2015-2016School/PTACalendar Attached to this Newsletter is an updated School/PTA Calendar for this school year. The changes in our calendar are not only due to snow days but also an amended district calendar that was approved by the School Board on January 14th. The district change was needed due to a special election to fill State Representative Ryan Quarles’, the newly electedCommissioner of Agriculture, vacancy in the Kentucky Legislature.This Special Election day will be on March 8th. State law requires schools used for voting purposes must be closed.

To make-up for the closing on March 8th, Scott County Schools will now be open on February 15th. The attachedSchool/PTA calendar also shows a new closing date for the school year because of the five snow days recently taken. I will keep parents/guardians updated on the school calendar in case more snow/weather days need to be taken!

Seasonal Parties – Valentine’s Day Our Valentine celebrations will be held on Friday, February 12th! Thanks to our PTA, our Valentine’s parties will be celebrated duringyour child’s special area class time. During this special Valentine party hour, each class(K – 5th), will rotate to 3 fun stations – an obstacle course in the gym, a Valentine cartoon in the music room, plus Valentine card exchanges and snacks in the library! Each rotation will last 20 minutes and allow our students plenty of time to enjoy this special day. Listed below are the times of these special Valentine celebrations for each grade level. Parents/guardians are welcome to attend and if interested in volunteering that day, please contact our PTAat or Volunteer Coordinator, Jennifer Thibodeau, at r call our school office at (502) 868-5007.

Kindergarten 12:25–1:25 p.m.

1st Grade1:25–2:25 p.m. 2nd Grade 11:25–12:25 p.m.

3rd Grade10:00–11:00 a.m.

4th Grade9:00–10:00 a.m.

5th Grade8:00–9:00 a.m.

Northern 2015-2016 Yearbooks Yearbook order forms were sent home in Friday Folders mid-January. If you did not get a form and are interested in ordering a yearbook for your child, please contact our office. Yearbooks are $20 each and checks should be payable to Northern Elementary School. Orders are due no later than Friday, February 19th with our yearbooks arriving in May.

Second Grade Performance Our talented second graders will perform "Life Cycles: How Plants and Animals Change", a presentation about the many stages of plant and animal growth, on Thursday, February 18th, at 7:00 p.m. in our gym.All parents/guardians are invited to attend our evening performance! However, if you are unable to attend in the evening, you are welcome to attend the 1:30 p.m. school performance.

Science/Social Studies Fair Thursday,February 25this the date for Northern’s Science/Social Studies Fair! Our 4th grade students will present their science projects and our 5th grade students will present their social studies projects to the judges in the morning. After the judging, all projects may be viewed by families and students from 11:00 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. Projects will again be displayed for families and friends the evening of the 25thfrom 6:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. Working on these projects, conducting experiments, and learning about historical figures is an exciting opportunity for our students! Please note that in the case of a snow day, the fair will be held the next school day!

Book FairMark your calendars now for Northern Elementary's Spring Book Fair! Our Groovy Book Fair, starting February 29th and concluding March 4th, will have lots of far out books just waiting to be read. Our library will be blasting back to the 60s with our cool spring theme: Peace, Love, Books! Our Family Book Fair Night will be on March 3rd from 5:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. in the library, and we'll have a Breakfast with Books on March 2nd. More information about this awesome event will be in the March Principal’s Newsletter. Until then, you can access more information at our book fair webpage which will be available starting February 22nd:

Academic Team and Governor’s Cup On February 27th, four local schools, Western Elementary, Stamping Ground Elementary, Anne Mason Elementary, and Northern Elementary, will gather to take part in the District 69 Governor's Cup competition, an academic event administered by the Kentucky Association for Academic Competition and sponsored by the Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust. The Governor's Cup features eight competitions - six written assessments in Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Arts & Humanities. The other two competitions are Future Problem Solving (held on the evening of February 23rd) plus Quick Recall Matches which are open to the public on February 27th at Western Elementary.A start time for Quick Recall is yet to be determined. District winners advance to the Governor's Cup Regional Competition on March 12th. Good Luck Team!

Most Improved Students During our Character Counts Assemblies in January, we recognized one student from each classroom as Most Improved for the second 9 weeks of school. Students are chosen for this award because of their growth over the last 9 weeks. This growth could be due to academics, behaviors, effort, or all of these areas. Congratulations to the students listed below who received this well-deserved recognition!

MaKaila Hartman– Mrs. Ward, Kindergarten

Zoe Slusher– Mrs. Broering, Kindergarten

Izayah Williams– Ms. Parker, Kindergarten

Aubryn Lyons– Mrs. Foley, First Grade

Kameron Colwell– Mrs. Martinez, First Grade

Elizabeth Little– Mrs. Thomas, First Grade

Samantha Lee– Mrs. Bush, Second Grade

Brayden Kenwright– Mrs. Perkins, Second Grade

Jason Anderson – Mrs. Brock-Wagner, Second Grade

Conor McNamara– Mrs. Vance, Third Grade

Taryn Carter– Ms. Hunley, Third Grade

William Rashleigh– Mrs. Krebs, Third Grade

Kaelin Davis– Mrs. Mullins, Fourth Grade

Andra Toomey – Mrs. Cook, Fourth Grade

Olivia Meredith– Mrs. Young, Fourth Grade

Austun Smallwood– Mrs. Riggs, Fifth Grade

Wendy Wilson– Mrs. Rumer, Fifth Grade

Keeana Christian – Mrs. Werkheiser, Fifth Grade

Jump Rope for HeartJump Rope for Heart is a community service learning program sponsored by the American Heart Association. It teaches children the importance of physical activity, nutrition and developing heart-healthy habits. Students also have the opportunity to help others in their community and across the country by raising money to support cardiovascular research and education. Northern is celebrating Jump Rope for Heart during the week of February 22-26. Please look for your child's donation envelope in their Friday folder on February 12.

PTA and SBDMC Elections The elections for our PTA Board and our Site Based Decision Making Council Parent Representatives may be a few months away, however, we need our parents/guardians to consider serving on one of these important boards. What better way can you demonstrate to your child that his/her school is important than by performing one of these duties as SBDMC Parent Representative or as PTA Board Member? If interested, please contact our current PTA Chair, Barbara or r by calling the school office, (502) 868-5007.

SBDM Council Your SBDM Council will meet on February 1stat 3:00 p.m. in the library. Items to be discussed will be ourSBDMC Standing Committees, budget, and student achievement. Our SBDM Council invites parents/guardians to attend our SBDMC Meetings and all other school events.

Positive parent involvement certainly helps students meet with success. When youhave questions, please do not hesitate to write a note or call your child’s teacher.All of our teachers are anxious to maintain consistent communication. I am alsoavailable to answer any questions or address any concerns that you may have. You may contact me directly at 868-5007, Ext. 2111or at

Have a wonderful February! Mrs. Judi Hunter

Please remember that school is open on February 15th!