The K Cart students would like to offer hot cocoa as a K Cart option on Friday, December 9th, their last day of operation for this semester. Students would need to leave their tutorial or music class to come get the hot cocoa and there would be stations set up on both the north and south ends of the building. The cocoa would be served in cups with lids to help with spillage. If you teach a tutorial or music class, please complete this brief Google form by 12/5/22 with your thoughts on this proposal.

Thursday December 8th is an early release day. While the students are technically released at 11:45, we are asking teachers to keep bus riders in their classrooms until 11:55 unless their bus is called. Buses that are present at 11:35 will be announced over the loudspeaker. We will then announce additional buses as they arrive between 11:45 and 11:55. Students who need a lunch and ride a bus can be released when their bus is announced, go get their lunch, and then get to their bus. Students walking or being picked up will be released at 11:45.

Here is the tentative schedule for Thursday, December 8th:

1. Due to the uncertainty of bus arrival times, we are making sure that all staff get an hour long lunch by moving the SIP start time back to 1:00 pm.
2. We will only have 2 administrators on campus that day so putting students in the gym or cafeteria to await bus arrival is not an option.

Here is the Cycle 3 Data Day Guide. Don't forget that Recommendations for Cycle 3 Interventions are due on Monday, December 5th. I will have lists of students to discuss completed and shared with you on December 7th.

Hello, December! I don't know about you, but this time of year I struggle with fresh ideas to keep my students motivated before break - - especially if I am introducing new content. This 3-minute video shares four ways to get our writers thinking in a low-stakes way. I am going to try the "What Do I Know" strategy as we move into academic vocabulary with our Informative Unit. Happy Friday!

Janel

The NCHS Junior Class Board is doing Santa letters as a fundraiser for Prom. If you are interested in ordering a letter, please see the Santa letter flyer.

Team 8-1 is having a food drive! Click here to see how you can help!

Interested in volunteering? Click here to sign up!

Want to register a K-8 student? Click here to register!

The 8th grade orchestra will be traveling to Normal West high school on Friday, December 9th for our annual "step-up" day. Eighth grade students from KJHS and PJHS will get the chance to work and perform with West's top orchestra. We will leave at 9am and return between 1:30-2:00pm (hoping for closer to 1:30!). Students will be responsible for making up any work that they miss while on the field trip. Ms. Van de Loo sent out an email regarding this, including students involved, on November 16th.

Student Council is putting on a dance from 3:45 - 5:30 in the KJHS cafeteria. The theme is "Winter Glow" and tickets will go on sale following Thanksgiving break. Attendance is limited to 250 students and the dance committee is looking for 3 more chaperones (outside of administration for that event) to give a total of 10 chaperones. Students with a 2nd quarter ISS or OSS will not be allowed to attend the event.

General Information:

• The Computer Science Associate's Degree Program focuses on computer science and allows students to work towards an Associates Degree in Computer Science from Heartland Community College while in high school. Students take classes at West and at Heartland during the school day. This is a rigorous program (students take Honors Algebra II as freshman). It allows students to earn 60+ college credits.

• The program is open to all 8th grade students. However, math is a significant aspect of computer science so the vast majority of our students were in algebra or geometry in 8th grade.

• Students do not need to be experts or have any computer science knowledge to apply or be accepted. The content is taught as part of the program.

• Students that apply should have an interest and enthusiasm in learning more about computer science and how it can be used in various careers.

• The Computer Science Associate's Degree Program is only offered at Normal West - students that would attend NCHS will be granted attendance exceptions to come to West if admitted to the program.

• Applications are open until Dec 9th, 2022; students should know if they were accepted before winter break.

• There are two informational sessions that students/families can attend to get additional information and ask questions

  • Nov 30th @ 5:30 - 6:15pm - Normal West Auditorium

  • Dec 1st @ 6:00pm - Virtual Q&A (Meet Link)

Handouts & Links:

• Associate Degree Program Flier

• Associates Degree Program 4 Course of Study

• Unit 5 STEM Website

• STEM Program Student Application

• ADP Overview Video

• ADP Teacher Recommendation Form

We are still looking for tutors for the Gap Attack program. The program plan has evolved over the last week or so. We are now looking at offering sessions on Tuesdays & Thursdays after school from 3:45 - 4:45 pm from January 10th - April 27th. You do not need to be available for all sessions in order to be a tutor.

The latest security update to students' Chromebooks logs students out every time they close their Chromebooks. They will need to log back in each time.

There are going to be several books arriving that have been donated to give to students. If you are interested in perusing these books when they arrive, please let Elisa know.

The office is not open until 7:45 am and we use the time from 7:30-7:45 am to problem solve around sub shortages and other issues for the day. The number of students asking to be buzzed in is before 7:45 am is increasing and become an additional stressor for office staff. Over the next week, we will be looking at ways to address this issue. Any solutions you can share would be helpful. Thanks!