NASELLE K-12 NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2006

AIDS EDUCATION

Washington State law requires the district to provide AIDS education to students in grades 5-12. Lori, our school health nurse, will hold a one-hour session for each grade sometime after spring break in April. Enclosed with in this newsletter is an invitation for parents of all students in these grades to preview the curriculum and ask questions.

If you are unable to attend the meeting scheduled for March 8^th at 6:00 p.m., the curriculum is available for you to examine at the school. Please feel free to drop by at your convenience

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LUNCH CHARGES

Please read the letter enclosed regarding lunch charges. We have developed a new lunch charge policy, which will become effective March 15^th. If you have any questions, please call Dan, Food Services Supervisor at (503) 325-4177.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

The elementary students celebrated the 100^th day of school on February 15^th. The activities included making collections of 100 items, doing 100 exercises, counting students (100^th child was JakeJ), hearing poems about 100 days of schools, and being silent for 100 seconds. The students thoroughly enjoyed these activities.

NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST

Congratulations to senior Doug. Doug has qualified as a National Merit Scholarship finalist. Students qualify as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist by scoring in the 99th percentile nationally on the Preliminary Scholastic Achievement Test, which measures reading, writing, and mathematic skills.

Students take this test during the spring of their junior year of high school. To advance to finalist standing, students must submit SAT/ACT scores, an official transcript, a personal essay, a list of activities and achievements, a letter of recommendation, and an endorsement from the principal. College admissions test scores, academic achievement, and extracurricular involvement are the primary criteria in selecting National Merit Scholarship Finalists. Finalists are eligible for scholarships from corporate sponsors as well as colleges and universities. Selected finalists may receive an additional $2,500 scholarship

STUDENT RECOGNITION

There was an assembly on February 24^th to recognize high school students of the quarter. The students were selected by staff for consistently displaying in the areas of academic excellence or outstanding citizenship. Those students receiving the awards are as follows:

Academic Excellence

9^th Rebecca; 10^th Kevin;

11^th Jenny; 12^th Doug

Outstanding Citizenship

9^th Conor; 10^th Whitney;

11^th Kelsi; 12^th Megan

In addition, the following middle and high school students were recognized for receiving a 4.0 for the 1^st semester:

8^{th Cody}, Alan, Karli

9^th Conor, Shelby, Toni,

11^th Cheryl

CONGRATULATIONS

ACADEMICS		CITIZENSHIP
	4.0 ACHIEVERS

The following elementary students were recognized at an assembly in February for consistently displaying the character trait cooperation:

Kdgn: Taylor, Macey

1^st: Kyryn, Brian

2^nd: Ryder, Taylor

3^rd: Monica

4^th: Ben, Keith

5^th: JP, Alexa

Keep up the good work!

KNOWLEDGE BOWL ON TO STATE

On Friday, February 10^th, Naselle Team A participated in the ESD 113 regional knowledge bowl tournament in Olympia and placed 2^nd overall.  Naselle Team A consisted of Doug, Sarah, Brad, Stephanie, Josh, and Colby.  The Naselle team participated against the top teams from 12 different B schools and 6 A schools. 

At the end of a written round and 4 oral rounds, Naselle placed first in their division and 2^nd overall.  Naselle next participated in a semi-final round against teams from Ocosta and Wishkah Valley.  Naselle outscored these teams by a score of 13-6-6 to qualify for the final round against teams from PeEll and Northwest Christian. 

This was the third consecutive year that teams from Naselle, PeEll, and Northwest Christian has squared off against each other in the final round of the ESD 113 regional tournament.  At the end of the day, PeEll possessed the highest overall score and earned a first place finish while Naselle placed 2^nd and NW Christian 3^rd. 

Naselle Team A will participate in the state knowledge bowl tournament on March 25^th in Camas, Washington.  Naselle Team A has placed 2^nd among all B school in the state of Washington for the past 2 years.

WASL/ITBS/ITED TESTING

The first round of standardized testing will begin during the week of March 13^th.  The students in the 10^th grade will be taking the first half of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).  These students will complete the reading and writing sections from March 13^th-March 16^th.  Students in the 9^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade who pre-registered to take or retake the WASL may also test during this time frame.  

For students who did not pre-register, testing will be allowed on a space and materials available basis and first come-first served. There are 2 days of testing for each subject area.  10^th grade students will complete the math and science sections of the WASL during the April 18-21^st time frame. 

All 10^th grade students in Washington must take the same sections of the WASL on the same day. There will be no make up tests.  If a student misses either day of testing for a given section, he/she must retake the entire section during August or next spring. The state has initiated earlier testing in an effort to get results back to students, parents, and teachers before the end of the school year. Since students in the class of 2008 must pass the reading, writing, and math sections of the WASL in order to graduate, early feedback will allow schools to develop plans to help student achieve success on the WASL.

Beginning this year, students in grades 3-8 will also take various sections of the WASL.  Students in grades 3 and 6 will take the reading and math sections of the WASL. Students in grades 4 and 7 will take the reading, writing, and math sections of the WASL, while students in grades 5 and 8 will take the reading, math, and science sections. Students in grades 1^st and 2^nd will continue to take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and students in grade 9 will take the Iowa Test of Educational Development (ITED). Students in grades 1-9 will test during the April 17-May 5^th time frame. Make up tests are allowed in these grades. 

Students in all grades—especially  those in the high school—are urged to be present during testing times and to schedule appointments around testing windows. Good attendance minimizes disruption to the testing schedule and loss of valuable class time for students. Your continued help and support will allow testing to go smoothly. If you have any questions about testing, please contact Justin Laine or Karen Wirkkala.

LETTER FROM IRAQ

Mrs. Macy’s second grade class recently received an e-mail letter from Army Specialist Ryan Nielsen, uncle of classmate Haley, who is stationed in Iraq. The students wrote letters to Nielsen for the holiday season. Nielsen found time to personalize his letter by responding to each child. For example: “Kateland, I really appreciate your question. I am in the military to provide honorable service to a great nation. It is very fulfilling to provide protection to the citizens of the United States” and “Ramzi, I do indeed ride in Army jeeps, known as Humvees” and “Travis, it is difficult to be away from family and friends back in the United States and my friends back in Germany where I am stationed.”

Nielsen was very appreciative of each letter and thanked each child by name for taking the time to write to him. He indicated that he was reenlisting in the Army on February 17^th for an additional 6 years.

The students were very excited to receive a response back from Nielsen.

SCIENCE FAIR NIGHT

The family night science fair will be held on Tuesday, March 28^th from 7-8:30 p.m. Additional information about the projects is being sent home with the students. If you have any questions, please call your child’s teacher.

PHONE CALLS

We have been experiencing an unusually high volume of phone calls requesting students call home immediately. While we understand unusual circumstances can arise and warrant a phone call, we would like to ask that non-emergency return calls be designated as such at the time of the call, so we may have the student call during their lunch time. We refrain from putting any calls through to a classroom unless emergencies exist as ringing phones in a classroom are disruptive to the educational process.

For elementary students, we would like to also request that after school arrangements be taken care of prior to coming to school (parties/going to friend’s home). When students come to school and attempt to make these arrangements, it requires several different phone calls during valuable instructional time.

A reminder that when alternate arrangements must be made for after school transportation, please call before 2:00. We want to ensure for the delivery of notes documenting these arrangements, so your child is delivered to the proper location. The preferred method of notification would be by note or phone call when the school day begins.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

EARLY RELEASE

This month early release day will be on Wednesday, March 22^nd. All students will be dismissed at 12:30. The staff will be trained in the use of the Digital Learning Commons (DLC). This is a great online educational resource which parents and students will also be able to access from home. Following the training for staff, we hope to share information on using the site.

BOOSTER CLUB CARNIVAL

The annual Booster Club Family Carnival will be held on Thursday, March 30 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Come join this evening of fun and games with the family.

SPRING BREAK

Mark your calendars for April 3^rd-7th. This is the week we will be taking our spring break.

ENCLOSURES

Remember we welcome you to come in and help out in your child’s classroom or volunteer to help out others.

Sincerely,

Karen Wirkkala, Principal

The 100^th student

More 100 collections