Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back to the 2024-25 school year. We are super excited for the upcoming year. I hope you were able to enjoy some summer fun vacationing, playing ball, swimming or just hanging out with friends and family. With the start of school in mind, I want to share some important information with you before the first day of school.

The first day of school for students will be Thursday, August 15th. This will be a FULL day of school with lunch provided. Thursday, the 15th will be a Music day and Friday, the 16th a PE day.

The best and most updated way to stay connected with what is going on is through the 1R calendar and Northwest district calendar. You may also follow us on the 1R Facebook page, 1R Website and Northwest Website. Important Links below:

– 1R Calendar

– Northwest District 2024-25 Calendar

– 1R Website

– 2024-25 Supply List

Mrs. Bachle has been busy over the summer uploading and updating PowerSchool information. It is vital that your contact information is up-to-date with your most current phone numbers, addresses and email information. We will use this information to contact you in case of emergencies, events, inclement weather and many other important details. You may have seen some previous communication noting that the district has updated our email and communication system. We will be utilizing Bright Arrow this year for our alerts. All notifications are set to be sent to specific contacts documented for your child.  Please contact the office when any changes or additions need to be made regarding these contacts and notifications. If you have questions please contact Mrs. Bachle.  

Please welcome these new staff members at 1R and St. Libory. Mrs. Tiffany Gapp is returning as our 6-8 Music teacher. Mrs. Amber Wissing as middle school Science teacher. Ms. Emily Broadwell as middle school Art/Trimester and Mrs. Kay Carpenter middle school Careers/Trimester. We are excited to have Ashlin Johnson join us in 4th grade at 1R. We have two new para’s joining the 1R family Mrs. Mackenzie Eynetich and Ms. Ashleigh Klahn. We did some shuffling of staff members in the K-3 grades Mrs. Cacy will be our second grade teacher and Mr. Hope is the third grade teacher. Mrs. Cadwalader will continue 

   to be a para but also taking over the Librarian role. Please welcome these new staff members to 1R and the Northwest district.  

PTO has been busy planning for the upcoming year. They hosted the Welcome Back Pool Party last Sunday. It was a wonderful evening for some swimming and fellowship.  The next event will be the 1R Open House on Monday, August 19th from 5:30-7:00 PM. There will be food trucks this year for you to pick from.  There will be a variety of fun raffle prizes available set up in the gym. PTO  volunteer sign up sheets will also be available. Teachers will be in their classroom for tours and will be passing out raffle tickets to families who visit their classrooms. Raffle drawing will begin at 7:00 PM – more information to come. The 1R apparel will be the same as last year. Shop here for  1R Apparel 2024-25 the store closes August 24th. PTO and the district will use PeachJar as a tool to share flyers, fundraisers and upcoming events this year. PeachJar updates come in emails on Sunday evenings.  This year’s board members are Lisa Allan-President, Angela Rodenbaugh-Secretary and Nicole Dramse VP/Treasurer. 

Parents and guardians you will need to set up and/or fund your lunch accounts. Students will need to have current daily balances for a hot lunch.  If not, you will receive alert notifications, paper notes and/or your child may be asked to call home if balances are negative. If you would like to eat lunch with your child for a special occasion please contact the office the day before or the day of by 8:30 AM so we may include you in the lunch count. The hot lunch prices are  K-5- $3.20, 6th-12th-$3.35 and adult -$4.35. You may set up/add funds to your accounts via e-Funds. Here is a link to the English Free & Reduced Form, Spanish version Free & Reduced Form Spanish.   

Middle School Tech Fees – As noted in our device user agreement during the registration process, each year students in grades 6-8 are required to pay a technology use fee. This $25 fee allows students to take the Chromebook home on the first day of school.  Payments can be made with cash/check in the office or credit card via e-Funds. It is important to remember that this fee does not include damage fees. Students will be charged a $25 incident fee for any damage or repairs needed on their device.  This is a per incident fee and is a flat $25 fee per incident. The technology use fee may be waived if you have qualified for Free & Reduced English Form or Free & Reduced Spanish form  AND you  have completed the English version of Sharing Form or Spanish Version of Sharing Form prior to paying the user fee. We ask that these 6th-8th grade fees be paid by Friday, August 23rd.  If the fee is not paid the student will not be allowed to take their chromebook home.

Middle School Sports – Please see the Northwest District & 1R Website under Middle School Athletic Information. Fall sports will be 7th & 8th grade football at NW, 8th grade girls volleyball at Cedar Hollow, and 7th grade volleyball at 1R. Transportation will be provided for the athletes to their practice facilities. Parents will be responsible for picking up their athlete at the designated practice site. All athletes must have a current physical on record before they may practice. Practice for fall sports will begin the first full week of school Monday, August 19th-23rd. Coaches will send home parent notes on the first two days of school with parent meeting information and schedules. Please be checking with your 7th & 8th graders for updates. 

Here is a link to the. K-8 Student Handbook 2024-25. Reminder please review the handbook for attendance, grading, cell phone, apple watches, illness, artificial intelligence (AI) and other policy updates. 

As we begin the new school year please review protocol for morning drop off and after school pick up. We ask that students not arrive before 7:45 AM if at all possible. The last bell on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday is at 3:15 PM and Wednesdays at 2:00 PM. We ask that no children are at school 30 minutes after the last bell. Please share this information with other guardians, siblings, grandparents or others who may be transporting your child. Our first priority is the safety of students, staff, and parents. It typically takes less than 15 minutes for pick up on any given day from start to finish. This is not too much time to assure everyone’s safety. If you need to pick up your child early for an appointment please call ahead and park in the east parking lot. If you need to enter the building please park in the east parking lot NOT in the driveway or on the south side grass.

Traffic flow map: 1R Entry-Exit

Third City Connect will partner with us again  as an after school day care  provider. You may contact Third City Christian Church for details. Clayton Loghry is the contact (308) 384-5038.

We look forward to serving you and your child with a high quality education in a safe and family oriented environment. The Northwest Public Schools Mission is: “A Culture of Excellence” An exceptional community of learners committed to continuous growth. We strive to meet each child where they are at, and provide them with multiple opportunities to grow both academically and socially. Please do not hesitate to contact myself, our office or staff if you have questions at 308-385-6352.

Sincerely,

Mr. Retzlaff, Principal