It is hard to believe that we are in the last week of October! As I reflect on the past few weeks, I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of family support at our events and resource nights! One of our focus areas this year is to increase our positive school environment and culture through our family connections and involvement. We continue to see this happen! We want to share our gratitude and appreciation for your continued support. See some of the events and activities our Bear Cubs have been engaged in this past week. |
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Thank you to our Osceola County Fire Rescue for visiting our 1st grade students! Our Bear Cubs loved the visit! |
We are amazed at the overwhelming number of supporters for the Reindeer Run coming up in December!! Our leader board is on fire!! We have to mention these top earners and participants that have managed to already raise a total of $6,202.25 in the first 4 days (started on Wednesday)!! Please see the leader board for the top earners thus far, with the Leonardo Ramlochan and Miranda C. Santos Rodriguez in the lead with over $500.00 raised already!!! I cannot wait to give another update at the end of this week! |
Oct 29- SAC Mini-Conference at Gateway High
Oct 30- Leadership Parade
November At-A-Glance
Nov 2- National School Psychologist Week
Nov 3- Fall Picture Retakes
Nov 11- No School- Veteran's Day
Nov 12- Young Peoples Concert- Dr. Philips- 5th Grade field trip 10:00-1:30
Nov 13- Quarter 2 Progress Reports
Nov 17- SAC/PTO Meeting @ 7am in Media Center
Nov 18- DEAL Buddies
Nov 18- 3rd Grade Thanksgiving Day Parade
Nov 19- Dress Down Day
Nov 19- Educational Choice Fair
Nov 19-20- Turkey Trot during block
20- District Schedule Adjustments- Early Release Day
Nov 23-27- Thanksgiving Break
Nov 30- PM2 Testing Window Opens
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We are excited for our upcoming Leadership Day Parade! A ParentSquare message was shared with families last week, and our teachers will continue to spread the word to about this event as well.
A few important reminders:
- Students should come dressed as a favorite book character or leader.
- Students will NOT be permitted to wear face masks, wear inflatable costumes, or bring props.
We are currently exploring options to livestream the event as we have done in previous years. If a livestream is available, students who do not have photo consent will not be permitted to walk through the livestream area. If you are new to our school and have questions about the event, please check with your child's teacher. We look forward to seeing our students and staff participate in this exciting celebration of literacy and leadership!
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We give a special thanks to all that were able to make it to our last Parent Resource Night for parents of students in 3rd thru 5th grades last Thursday evening at 6:00pm. Families came to hear about what children were learning, examine their child's data (received their state data reports), and receive information about what resources are available to assist them. Please see some pictures of the event below. Thank you! |
Let's give a HUGE round of applause to our school Literacy and MTSS coach, Mrs. Leslie Lebron, for being recognized as our Osceola County Top 10 Finalist for 2027 Teacher of the Year! We cannot begin to relay the positive impact Ms. Lebron has on our school and beyond. Many of you have met Mrs. Lebron in our resource nights, or in meetings dedicated to support and guide your children. She works closely with our teachers and conducts small group interventions with students who need extra support! She even helps to translate meetings and phone calls into Spanish when needed. She consistently goes above and beyond to work alongside teachers, support students, and contribute to the overall success and achievement of our school. Her dedication, leadership, and commitment to excellence help move our school forward each and every day. We are incredibly proud of all that she has accomplished and grateful for the positive difference she makes for our students, staff, and families. As she continues this exciting journey, we will be cheering her on every step of the way as she represents us in the district's Teacher of the Year awards this February!
Congratulations, Ms. Lebron! NCES is proud to have you on our team!
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The countdown is on for our PM2 testing! We have 19 instructional days remaining before the PM2 window opens. The next three weeks are an incredible opportunity to deepen student understanding, strengthen mastery of priority standards, and ensure students are prepared to demonstrate what they know and can do. It is crucial that students be in school and on time daily. To help you plan ahead (and plan around any vacations), please see the tentative schedule for PM2 testing below. Please talk to students and use all resources to support them as we move toward our second round of state testing. We have also placed some reminders about the testing and our expected proficiency by the end of the year. |
To help encourage and motivate our students, we continue to reward their efforts. We held a PM1 party for students who have already met proficiency for the school year. We want to encourage these students to continue this progress for the next assessment. We have also planned activities and rewards for our students who will grow in their test score one or more "buckets" or who meet proficiency on the second FAST progress monitoring test. The celebrations will be for both primary and intermediate grade levels. We believe that like adults that get recognition for their work on their "jobs" in the form of a paycheck, our students deserve recognition for their focus and growth on their assessments, which is ultimately a culmination of the work they have put in throughout the school quarters. See some pictures of the PM1 celebrations below. |
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We are so proud of our NCES Cross Country running team! Coach Stenberg held a celebration for our athletes last week. Thank you to all families that attended the celebration. Congratulations Bear Cub runners! |
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We have recently seen an increase in students using inappropriate language at school. While some students may believe they are joking or do not fully understand the seriousness of their words, certain comments can have significant consequences and must be addressed.
Please take a few moments to remind your child that any statements about killing, hurting others, violence, negative statements regarding race and/or religion, or weapons are not appropriate at school and will be taken seriously. Encourage students to think carefully before they speak and to use respectful, responsible language at all times. It is important for students to understand that being proactive and choosing appropriate words from the start is far better than facing the potential consequences that can result from making threatening or inappropriate statements. Even comments made as jokes can lead to investigations, parent contact, disciplinary action, and disruption to the learning environment. Thank you parents for helping us maintain a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students and staff.
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I am asking for representation of our school SAC and/or PTO (or those that would like to participate in our School Advisory Council and/or PTO) to meet me at this SAC mini-conference on Thursday, October, 29th. This will be a time to meet with district leadership and other SAC members from around the school district. See the flyer for sign-up below. |
A Student Lighthouse Team is a group of student leaders in schools that use the Leader in Me process. They act as the voice of the student body and help guide school culture. At NCES these team members will be students in grades 3, 4 and 5, who were nominated by teachers to serve in this capacity. The core purpose of this team is to:
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Model the Habits: Practice and promote the 7 Habits (or 8 Habits) of "Leader in Me" every day.
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Represent Peers: Bring student ideas and feedback to school staff and decision makers.
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Build Culture: Help create a welcoming, positive, and inclusive environment on campus.
These student representatives will help organize school assemblies, spirit days, community socials, and annual Leadership Days. They may also lead service projects, serve as ambassadors where they may welcome visitors, new students, and special guests to the school. Finally, these leaders will work with staff and peers to find solutions for school challenges. An example of student leadership is our very own Huck Dominy who presented an idea to the superintendent and will be taking his kindness and service project district wide (and I believe eventually worldwide). I am so proud of our NCES Bear Cubs!
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Did you know that monitoring for learning can take place in other areas like Physical Education (P.E.)? As a reminder, Monitoring for learning (often referred to as progress monitoring or formative monitoring) is the ongoing, systematic process by which educators observe, assess, and track a student's academic and behavioral growth relative to specific learning targets. In the pictures below, Coach Jason takes students through a lesson in proper throwing to gain trajectory and proper catching (the benchmark for the unit P.E. is teaching at this time). He went through some student questioning, some modeling, and guided students through an activity or task that required them to implement the skill and practice. He watched the students, checked their progress, and stopped at frequent points to give feedback on what he saw. He even had a few students demonstrate the skill if he saw that they mastered it. Ms. Jankowski (1st Grade) is seen monitoring her students during a math lesson on counting by 2s and 5s. See some pictures of this process in action below. |
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us. You can reach out via the following links:
Interested in joining our team? Explore career opportunities by clicking here.
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