Parents & Guardians

We are off and running in the 2021 school year! It has been a great first few weeks at 1R for students and staff. Labor Day is already upon us this Monday, September 6th – reminder there is NO school that day. Everyone is settling into the daily routines and procedures. All grade levels are wrapping up the first round of NWEA MAP testing. Teachers will have data available at Parent Teacher Conferences which are only about two and half weeks away.  Again, thank you for your support as we kick off the new school year.

Here are our 2021-22 enrollment numbers:

• Kdg- 21
• 1st- 20
• 2nd- 20
• 3rd- 20
• 4th- 21
• 5th- 21
• 6th- 20
• 7th- 23
• 8th- 25
• Total= 191 

Parent Teacher Conferences are Wednesday, September 22 and Thursday, September 23 from 2:00 PM-8:00 PM. Students will be dismissed at noon on both days with no lunch being served. K-5 teachers have scheduled times. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have not set up a time. Middle School conferences are not scheduled – just come when you are available. On Thursday, September 23rd, Mrs. Pagel (ELA MS teacher) will not be available until 3:00 PM. There is NO school on Friday, September 24th. I would like to remind parents and legal guardians of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We cannot share academic information with anyone other than biological parents or documented legal guardians. While we value and recognize it takes a community to raise a child, we cannot share academic information outside these parameters——meaning stepparents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, boyfriends or girlfriends etc. We thank you for your cooperation with meeting these requirements of the law.

Mrs. McGowan will have the Book Fair in conjunction with Parent Teacher Conference days. PTO will be hosting Breakfast Buddies on Thursday, Sept. 23rd at 7:15 AM in conjunction with the Book Fair. Please come enjoy a donut and coffee/juice and check out the Book Fair. Mrs. McGowan has also kicked off the Rebel Reader of the week. Each week students enter book titles they have read to become eligible. Two students will be drawn randomly for prizes each week. The best way to become a better ready is by reading. We encourage you to set aside time each day for your child to read – read to you. a sibling or a grandparent. They can read to their pets or favorite stuffed animals. The more practice the more fluent the reader. If you can ask them questions about what they are reading you help build comprehension skills. Most importantly, help your child create a love and passion for reading!

We are in our fifth year of the Eureka Math curriculum in our K-5 classrooms. Parents in K-5 you may access a tip sheet and follow along with lessons in your child’s classroom on the Northwest District website. Look under the parents tab Eureka Math Tips. K-5 Eureka Math Parent Tip Sheets

Reminder – PTO meets on the first Monday of the month at 6:00 PM. Due to Labor Day, PTO will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 7th at 6:00 PM this month. Thank you to everyone who came to the Open House. We had a great turnout. It was wonderful to have everyone back in the building. Thank you to everyone who donated or helped collect raffle prizes. We had some awesome prizes for the kids.

Events in September/October:

• September 21st – DQ Dining Night out from 5-8 PM
• September 23 – Breakfast Buddies in conjunction with Book Fair  at 7:15 AM
• October 7th – 1R Night at Helgoth’s Pumpkin Patch from 5-7:30 PM

Mrs. Callihan our district technology coordinator, shared this resource through Common Sense Media about Technology Balance for 3-8 year olds. Check out this link for tips to healthy media habits at home with the family. Tech Tip

Your child’s attendance at school is very important to us and their success as a student. On days when they will not make it due to an illness or absence, please call the office before 8:00 AM and let us know. Mrs. Bachle will be following up if she has not heard from you by 9:00 and alerts may be sent notifying you. Please contact us at 385-6352. Thank you for your support with this. 

Lunch Menu may be found on Northwest district website under the parents tab. Here is the link also for daily lunches.  K-8 Lunch Menu This is the most up to date calendar but things can change from time to time. 

Middle school sports are kicking off over the next week or so. We wish all our teams good luck this fall. Our student athletes and coaches are working hard and improving each practice. There are schedules posted on the 1R Google calendar you can also follow the Central Conference link here for both Middle School and NW High School events: Central Conference Link

Northwest uses the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) system. (SRP) provides consistent, clear, shared language and actions among all students, staff and first responders. We have and will continue to practice fire, tornado, lockdown and evacuation drills. I am proud to say our students and staff have been doing a great job. Our district and staff have trained with law enforcement in many of these protocols. We practice to be prepared and pray we will never use them. The law enforcement and fire department are invited to participate so they can monitor and provide feedback.. Our Rural Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department have been great support and we thank them for all their service.

As a district and building we continue to ROW together! The ROW acronym stands for being:          R-Respectful, O-taking Ownership, and W-Working as a team. These expectations are part of the 1R School Improvement Climate & Culture Goal. Teachers shared lessons with students the first week of school on how and what it looks like to ROW in our building, the classroom, hallway, lunchroom, recess etc…. I encourage you to ask your child about ROW Expectations. The next time you’re in the building checkout the ROW posters in our hallways, classrooms and gym. Each week teachers are looking for students who exhibited these expectations. Students are given ROW rewards and their names are placed in a weekly drawing. If you check out the 1R Facebook page you will see our weekly winners who are ROWING the BOAT! We have a lot of awesome students doing great things everyday!

Again thank you for your continued educational partnership. We greatly appreciate your support. The best and most updated way to stay connected is with the 1R Calendar and Northwest District calendar. You may also follow us on the 1R Facebook page, 1R Website and Northwest Website. Please do not hesitate to contact the office or myself if you have any questions 308-385-6352. 

Sincerely,

Mr. Retzlaff, Principal