April 22, 2024 – Community Newsletter
Message from Admin Team
Dear NHE Community,
We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you for the unwavering support you provide to our amazing community. Your dedication and commitment, especially from our invaluable volunteers, are the bedrock of our school’s success. Whether lending a hand in classrooms, orchestrating special events, or generously sharing their time and talents in various capacities, our volunteers play an indispensable role in shaping our school’s vibrant culture.
Speaking of our remarkable volunteers, a dedicated cohort is currently spearheading the organization of our much-anticipated annual Multicultural Night. We express our deepest gratitude to them for envisioning and crafting such a momentous occasion for our community to revel in our rich diversity. We eagerly anticipate partaking in this extraordinary event and having the opportunity to try different foods.
To facilitate our preparations, we kindly request your assistance in gauging attendance. Your RSVP through the provided link below would greatly aid us in ensuring a seamless and memorable experience for all participants, so please use the link to RSVP at your earliest convenience.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DADA929ABF85-49266327-multicultural\
In Partnership,
NHE Admin Team
T&L
It was great to see inquiry in action in the 2nd grade science classrooms this week. Students were observing and recording information about their mealworms. They started their lesson with reviewing and learning scientific vocabulary (e.g., vial) and thinking of specific words that could describe their new mealworms (e.g., smooth, long, squiggly, etc.). There was high excitement as students were asked what they specifically noticed in their observations of the two mealworms each child received. It will be interesting to see students enhance their learning over the next month as the mealworms slowly transform into beetles. The inquiry skills, questions asked, specific observations, and predictions made about their mealworms illustrated what we know enhances scientific thinking. As mentioned by Jonathan Osborne, Professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, “the language of science is unique.” And, “…it is more important than ever for students to trace the steps of key processes, cite information to draw inferences, formulate hypotheses, and support or critique arguments.” It is exciting to see the foundations of this work happening across NHE in different science lessons so that our students are equipped for the scientific challenges of the future!
Counselor’s Corner
Summer camps
Are you looking for camps and activities for your student to do this summer? The special education department has compiled a list specifically for students with special needs, but many of the camps are inclusive so children with all abilities can join! You can view the list here: https://www.smore.com/bfhxg2
SEL Corner
Last week during our Wednesday professional development day, it was great to hear the level of conversations as we explored our use of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum resources. We appreciated the incredible dedication of teachers in their conversations as they determined specific skills and aptitudes they wanted to enhance with their students and the ways in which this could be reinforced through the BSD resources available to them. As we were in classrooms the following day we saw evidence of some new lessons being implemented in response to this PD session. We appreciate our NHE teachers’ dedication and commitment to continuing to broaden their professionalism and expertise!
Smarter Balance Assessment (SBA)
There are only 8 full weeks of school remaining and our students in 3rd-5th grade will be taking the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) in English Language Arts and math. Fifth grade students have an additional science assessment. State testing does not need to be stressful – it can be seen as an opportunity to show how much our students grow each year! And our students know so much! You can encourage your child and decrease their stress by talking together about how much they have learned and grown this year.
Planning for Next School Year
Each year in late April, our office staff sends a Form’s survey for families to provide us information regarding their plans for the upcoming school year to better help us assign students to classroom and align our staffing allocation. This is an internal school survey to help our team proactively plan. Students currently enrolled will automatically transition into their next year’s classroom. There is no additional paperwork or forms needed for that to happen. This survey lets us know that your plan is to return so we place your child in a classroom, not returning so we remove them prior to making classroom assignments, unsure of your plans (we will assign them to a classroom, until we hear back from you). We recognize that family plans can change over the summer but we try our best to get the most accurate information in June because so much planning takes places during July and August. In case you have not completed the survey, please find the link to it below:
OT/PT/SLP Corner
We are in the 4th week of Autism Acceptance month. Autism Acceptance means listening to autistics, learning from their stories, and creating spaces where they belong and are affirmed, accepted, accommodated, and celebrated. Inclusion is the celebration of diversity put into action. Acceptance is an action.
The infinity symbol is becoming the preferred visual to represent autism.
The infinity symbol stands for autism acceptance.
- Moving away from just autism awareness and away from the puzzle piece symbol. Autistic adults have been sharing that the puzzle piece symbol reflects a problem to solve instead of people who just want to be accepted and understood.
- Represents that the autism spectrum is not linear…that each autistic individual has endless possibilities and often untapped potential.
- Represents the fact that autism is not a disease, and thus it does not need to be cured. Autism is a disability; a different way of being human.
The yearbook committee is hard at work on this year’s yearbook but they need your help! Please share your photos from the school year using the links below. We want as many students included in the pictures as possible but can’t do that without your help. Take a moment to upload your photos as soon as possible! When you click on the specific links, you’ll see you can upload the photos by teacher and by event. Please make sure to use the correct folder to do so. Does your class use Photocircle? If so, please let Risa know at [email protected] !
Sort by Teacher:
https://forms.gle/RSyL7aymfxaZztXZ8
By Event:
https://forms.gle/ABexLMEKESLp4V8y8
MAKE SURE TO PURCHASE YOUR YEARBOOK BY 5/19! Use this link: Treering Yearbook