Welcome Autumn!

Have you noticed?  The leaves are turning red and orange and gold!   As the weather turns cooler, we begin thinking of school and community events like:

• NHS Applefest, Sat, Oct 3, 10am-2pm
• NCS Open House, Tues. Oct 6, 5:30-6:30pm
• School Picture Day, Thurs. morning Oct. 22

At NCS, the fall sports schedule is well underway too. We hope you'll have a chance to attend a soccer game this season.  A few NCS students also participate in cross country or field hockey with GSB students. Our school website has up-to-date information about games and times. (See the family calendar.)

Parents are reminded that we have a short week coming up and going into a long weekend. There is no school on Friday, October 9 (teacher's workshop day). Monday, October 12 is a holiday. 

Some Dates for October

Here are some other dates to make a note of for October:

• Saturday October 3, 10am-2pm.  APPLEFEST This is a community event sponsored by the Nobleboro Historical Society.    The 8th grade traditionally helps with set up on October 2 as well as refreshments on Saturday, October 3.
• Tuesday, October 6 @ 5:30 pm:   OPEN HOUSE (See above for details.)
• Friday, October 9:   TEACHERS' WORKSHOP/NO SCHOOL for students.
• Monday, October 12:   HOLIDAY/NO SCHOOL
• Friday, October 16:   OUTING CLUB TRIP  (8th grade)
• Thursday, October 22:   LIFETOUCH SCHOOL PICTURE DAY  Information will be sent home with students soon.
• Also,Thursday, October 22 @ noon:  EARLY RELEASE DAY for students

  

From the Cafeteria

Tuesday, September 22

HARVEST DAY:

On Tuesday, September 22 students will enjoy local produce for lunch.   Here are the day's offerings for students in the lunch room on Harvest Day:

• Shepherd's Pie with Spear's mashed potato
• Steamed Spear's green beans
• Bailey's Orchard Macintosh apples
• Spear's farm fresh carrot sticks
• Wild Maine blueberry muffins with cinnamon topping 

At this time of year we want to remind families about the Free and Reduced Lunch Program at NCS: If your income falls within certain guidelines, your child(ren) may be eligible for free and reduced meals.   Even if your student never eats lunch at school, qualifying for this program could help our school in other ways.   The number of applications that are returned and approved can affect how much funding the school gets to help students meet academic benchmarks, including materials like books and computers.

All applications are confidential.   The resulting lunch status is reflected in your student's electronic account and meals are charged accordingly.  If you have qualified for free or reduced meals in the past, please fill out this form again this year.   We must update the information yearly.

If a child qualifies for free and reduced priced lunches, he or she qualifies for free breakfasts as well. Because nutrition plays a very important role in the learning process and student success, we want to help your child eat healthy meals at school. 

Dismissal at noon on Sept. 24 and other bits of information

It's hard to believe that we have completed the third week of school!   It is a pleasure to have students back in the building and participating in all the activities associated with a new school year.   We hope you are settling in to your fall routines at home too!   

Thursday, September 24 will be an early release day for students in AOS93 schools.  This is the first of three scheduled early release days for NCS students.   The three early release dates are:   Thursday, September 24, Thursday, October 22, 2015 and Thursday, February 5, 2016.  Students will be dismissed at noon, so please plan your child(ren)'s arrival at home accordingly.  If your child has alternate plans for the afternoon, be sure to communicate that information with the school.   You may send a note, email ncourville@aos93.org, or call the office (before 9 am, please). 

That same morning, September 24, all 5-8th grade students will attend the Conservation Fair held in Union. Grade 5-8 students will be back at school in time for noon dismissal.   CAL students have been given instructions about their bus connections too.  NOTE to GR. 5-8 and CAL parents:  If you have not read the details/permission for this trip, please click here:   Gr 5-8 Field Trip

All students K-8 will be offered lunch on early release days.   Students attending the conservation fair Thursday morning will have a bag lunch (ordered ahead of time) or should bring a bag lunch.  

Why do we have early release days?   These days have been scheduled to provide extended time for teachers to engage in important professional development work without extending the student calendar year.  Although students are dismissed at noon, ed techs and support staff work a regular day, and teachers attend workshops on these three days from 1-5 pm.

Transportation news:   Parents are reminded that the bus circle should be kept clear of traffic between 7:30-8:30 am and 2:00-3:00 pm.  If you are dropping your child off within that time, you may use the lower lot.  Extra space has recently been set aside near the end of that lot. Hopefully this provides parents more room for turning vehicles than in previous years.   If you have a change in your child's dismissal plan on any given day, please call or email ncourville@aos93.org before 9am, if possible.   

The NCS K-8 Open House will be on Tuesday, October 6, 5:30-6:45 pm.   We look forward to seeing you on October 6!

THREE CHEERS FOR THE NPTO! JOIN US AT THE FIRST MEETING WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9

Welcome (or welcome back) to school!    Tonight, Wednesday, September 9, the NPTO (aka Nobleboro Parent Teacher Organization) will have its first meeting of the 2015-2016 school year in the NCS library at 6pm. All parents/staff are welcome to attend. 
At NCS we are very thankful for the folks at NPTO.   NPTO supports students and staff at our school by planning and providing enrichment activities/equipment, over and above the regular school budget.  

A recent NPTO gift was playground equipment for individual classrooms.   (See picture.)   NPTO's biggest fundraising effort in the recent past has been NOBLEBORO NONSENSE.  It is a community event, and we are truly thankful for all the adults and students that help with that dinner/prize family event. NPTO has also been instrumental in seeing that our playground area is updated.  Other NPTO "gifts" have supported special programs--the popular FARMS kitchen visits last year, the visiting planetarium, to name a few.

It is not a requirement to attend every NPTO meeting, but we certainly would be happy to see interested parents tonight or at a future meeting.   Meetings are held once a month; they last about an hour.   You'll be welcomed tonight at 6pm in the library!

Still Lovin' Summer (but thinking about Autumn)

What you should know about BEFORE September 1st:

• All famililies should be completing student information online through the Infosnap application located in Powerschool now, during August.  You can access Infosnap by signing in to your Powerschool parent account.   If you have never made an account, you'll need the access information that was sent to you by mail earlier this month.
  
• A free and reduced meal application is included in the Infosnap business.   If you cannot print the form, contact the office and we'll provide one on paper. If you think your child may be eligible at any level, please apply. Your application helps the school too, so we encourage families to consider completing the confidential form.
  
• The price for a student meal has increased to $2.60 lunch/$1.25 breakfast. Reduced lunch prices remain at $ .40/breakfast free. All lunches should be paid in advance. You may send a check or cash (clearly marked, please) to school or pay online (mySchoolbucks aka Nutrikids).  More information about lunch is in the Student Handbook.  See the Parent Resources tab.  https://sites.google.com/a/aos93.org/ncs/
  
  This is probably an excellent opportunity to mention that our school lunches are REALLY good, thanks to a wonderful kitchen staff. We appreciate them!
  
• Bus Routes are now available and will appear in this week's Lincoln County News, or you can get the information right now.   Again, see our Parent Resources tab.  https://sites.google.com/a/aos93.org/ncs/
  
• Do you have any other questions about school? Whether it's about online registration or the 2015-2016 year in general, we'll be happy to answer your questions. Parents have reported that the online registration is going smoothly. We are happy to hear that, but it is a change so questions are expected. Also, if you do not have access to a computer at home you may stop by school to use a laptop.  Please call first to be sure we are available at a time that is convenient for you.

Back to School--Soon!

Here we are in mid-August. While there's still plenty of opportunity to enjoy your summer vacation, it's also time to think about the coming school year.  At NCS, we're busy preparing for the return of students and staff.  Even before the first student day on September 1st, the school will see bursts of activity.  Junior high soccer begins on August 19th at 5 pm.   The following week --Thursday, August 27-- is the Kindergarten-Grade 4 ice cream social (6pm). 

PARENTS: It is time update student information online.  This week "Infosnap" emails are being sent to NCS families.  The first step: Be sure you have set up your Powerschool parent account.  If you already have a parent account set up, you're all set to login and complete your summer pack information.  If you still need to set up your parent account, you will want to have the letter that was recently mailed from school handy.  That letter contains access information to help create your account. 

Once you have a parent account, you can follow the instructions in this week's Infosnap email.  The email basically tells you to login to your Powerschool account and look for the icon with a box/arrow in the top right hand side of the screen.  Clicking on that icon will get you to the summer package information.  All students are 'returning students' because we have set up the initial information for you.   

Students participating in fall sports should have this information completed by Wednesday, August 19th.  All other families should complete Infosnap by August 30th. Extra laptops will be set up and available in the office for you if you do not have access to one.  

We think you'll be surprised to see that this online version takes much less time to complete than the bulky paperwork families used to receive in the mail, especially families with more than one child at school. We want this to be an easy process for parents. Be sure to call the school if you have questions.