December Wrant

Do you know why Zebras stay so often in herds?  When together, the stripes blend making it difficult for a predator to know which Zebra should be attacked and eaten.  When researching Zebras some time ago, scientists painted red blots on the bottom of certain Zebra's rumps.  Almost instantly, these Zebras were sought out and killed by predators.  The lesson from this is simple, together we are strong, individually we are weak.  In school terms, this also holds true.  Each day we attack challenges together.  And if, along the way, someone develops a red rump, they too will be isolated from the group setting up the potential for personal or professional failure.  Together We Win!!

Playground update

Although I am sure you will hear about it, our playground should be ready for use by tomorrow, Wednesday, November 16th.  It was very hard for our students to stay off the playground today as workers finished up a few extra touches and poured one last concrete footing.  I am confident these upgrades will be a hit.  I am attaching a few pictures so you can see the new items.  Again, we all thank you parents and our awesome PTO for providing the funds for this project.  Of course, we want to also thank the great Parks and Rec crew for providing the installation on our project!  This saved us a ton of time and money!  You guys rock!

November is here!

November is here and we have taken a collective sigh after a busy October!  Whew........November is not equally as busy but we do have a few things going on to note.  Please support our United Way campaign this week as we bring in Change to Make a Change.  This will culminate with a gum chew day for a buck on Friday( tommorow ). 

We have a great assembly coming up later this month as we welcome Tim Hanning and his Pro Kids Show back to Northpoint.  He has been a kid favorite many times over at Northpoint as we are welcoming him for the 3rd time.  He will be here on November 22 and we can't wait!

Digital Conversion continues to roll on at Northpoint as we will be anxiously awaiting our Droids for our K ,1 and 2 grade students.  Though not 1 to 1, the carts at each level will provide the district with some baseline data on moving towards that type of initiative. 

Until next time!

Mr. Wrant

Halloween Activities

On Friday, October 28th, we will be having our traditional Halloween Activities.  Beginning at 1:30 PM, students will begin dressing in costume.  As per our tradition, we ask that no bloody or inappropriate costumes be worn and contain no weapons.  Our parade will begin at approximately 2:00 PM and will leave from the gym doors that are in between the two gyms.  Students will then file out and along the outside south gym wall towards the shelter on the east side of our property.  We will parade on the sidewalk along College Ave until we reach the sidewalk on the far side of the bus lane.  From there will head back into the building for classroom parties.  K, 1,2, 3, 4 students will parade.  The 5th grade has chosen not to parade but to watch the students in K-4.  It looks like a chilly but sunny day!  If parents come, please make room for the kids to parade through.  Thanks!

Mr. W

Northpoint Technology News

Very soon we will have a new technology program at Northpoint.  Northpoint will be a pilot site for Unit 5 that will focus on getting more technology in the hands of students.  Each grade level will now have a full cart of one of three technologies.  The K, 1 and 2 students will have a cart of Droid Asus EEE tablets( these are not yet in).  3rd grade students will have Asus EEE netbooks( just arrived this week).  Our 4th and 5th grade students will have a cart of laptops per commons area( all ready here).  We plan to review and try out curriculum alternatives that are web based and aligned with the common core standards.  This will be at least a year long pilot and we hope students will be excited about the possibilities they provide. Future blogs will contain some enews as it relates to this sort of techology in classrooms. 

Picture Retakes

Picture retakes will be on November 3rd.  Please pass this date on !

Parent Teacher Conferences

This coming Friday we will have no school due to Parent Teacher conferences.  Please review your times as our time together is always brief.  It is very helpful when all show up on time and respect the 15 mintute time frame.  We hope you get great information on this day!  Please plan to take some extra time on this day and go to Room 60 - our annex- to complete a parent survey.  This survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. 

Student / Staff Surveys!

We will continue to move forward on initiatives... See some initial work with surveys is listed below.  I am trying to match similar questions with similar themes between both staff and students.  Check it out below!


Northpoint Student Surveys

October Activities

Please make note that Northpoint will have many activities between now and the end of October.  We will have a late start on October 12th.  This will mean students will begin school at 9:30 instead of 8:30.  Students should not arrive any earlier than 9:10 AM. 
Review your Parent -Teacher conference time and plan to join us on the 21st for these important meetings. 
Our annual Halloween activities will take place on October 28th this year.  Our costume parade will take place around 2:00 PM with classroom parties to follow. 
We will be sharing a very important technology initiative in the coming days.