'l
Norwalk Warriors
I Official Publication for the Norwalk Community School District [
Page Eight
N/Warren Town and County News
Thursday, December 11, 2014
LAKEWOOD ELEMENTARY ]
Staff Development: One of my tasks as a building principal is that "learning"
occurs for not only our students, but our teachers. Working collaboratively in recur-
ring cycles of collective inquiry and action research should yield better results for
the students they serve. I feel strongly that "two heads are better than one" and
teachers should be expected to collaborate with their peers. It is a building expecta-
tion that they share strategies and tools at least once per week within their team. The
teams learn from each other, much like the students do within the classroom.
I wanted to share what the Lakewood staff did during the building portion of the
early out from the beginning of the year. The teachers have been diligent at looking
at the Iowa Core standards and taking time understanding how that would relate to
their teaching. The teachers are in professional learning communities and during
Early Outs, they concentrate on priority standards, common assessments and data
interpretation.
The teachers are able to design interventions directly related to the weakness of
the student. Each teacher will be able to give a prescription of instruction, based on
each student's needs. The other part of the professional development time together
will be spent on analyzing rigor and how instruction can change within the class-
room in order to produce better thinkers. These early outs and Tuesday early bird
sessions are invaluable to the work that we do to better educate your child.
Bullying at Lakewood: Bullying prevention has been a priority at Lakewood this
year. We want to be proactive in preventing bullying. One of the topics that the dean
and counseling staff have been working with the students on understanding is how
to be an upstander instead of bystander. An "upstander" is a person who stands up
for what they believe and who stands up for others.
We will be working with our students on developing those skills in order for them
not to stand for bullying! I'm looking forward to this challenge in creating a safer
learning environment for the students at Lakewood. We emphasize a positive cul-
ture and climate within Lakewood and will continue to work with students on the
respect, responsibility and safety practices our PBIS teaches.
The counseling staff has worked each month with the students at Lakewood
through classroom lessons on bullying. The DARE curriculum has changed in order
to work with the students on the effects of bullying. Later in the year, Officer Shelly,
a state trooper, will be talking to all 4th graders on Internet safety.
Student Class Placement: According to Norwalk School Board Policy 501.4, all
regular students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 5th grade are placed hetero-
generously and by random assignment with gender/cultural equity. In grades one
through five if a parent feels that a child immediately following another sibling
shouldn't have the same teacher, they may request a change. This request must be IN
WRITING and made by the end of April. (Preferably by the end of March confer-
ences in preceding year in order that the child is not placed with the same teacher.)
Parents are not allowed to request a certain teacher for their child. If a parent
has any concerns, you should contact the building principal by the end of March.
Absences: If your child will be absent or late to school, we ask that you call the
office by 8:30 a.m. at 981-1850. If no contact has been made, the secretary will call and
verify their attendance. If there is no answer, we will do a "well child" check at your
home.
Lost and Found: Mark your child's belongings. We have many items in the Lost
and Found at school and also at the bus barn with no names. We ask that you mark
everything that your child may not have with them 100% of their day (lunch boxes,
book bags, books, coats, hats, boots, snow pants, folders, toys, etc.). Feel free to come
into the school and retrieve your lost items.
Winter Weather: Winter weather is upon us. We want to remind all parents of our
recess policies. The Norwalk School District will follow the guidelines recommended
by the Child Care Weather Watch and the Iowa Department of Public Safety
(www.idph.state.ia.us./hcci/common/pdf/weatherwatch.pdf). Make sure children are
dressed adequately to spend 20-30 minutes outside. Make sure your child has a hat,
mittens or gloves and winter coat. If we have snow, students MUST have snow boots
or they will need to stay on the blacktop and not be able to play in the snow. If your
child needs to stay inside from recess for more than three days, you will need to send
a doctor's note. Be sure you're school dressed for the cold weather. If you are not able
to provide your child with winter items, contact Janet Jensen or Brett Collins any-
time for confidential assistance.
Attention Lakewood Parents: The online conferences were very successful and
we will be doing that again for the spring. We will designate the time for signing up
in January. With conferences in the past, some parents were not able to make it dur-
ing those times and would contact the teacher to set up a conference before or after
school sometime. A week before conferences, you will receive a reminder note with
your conference day and time.
Lakewood's Twitter Account: @LakewoodElem
Lakewood's Facebook Account: www.facebook.com/norwalklw
GOLDEN ATTITUDE AWARD AT EASTVIEW
The staff at Eastview recognized 8th and 9th grade students exhibiting Golden
Attitudes. The Golden Attitude Award is presented to students who contribute to
the school in a positive manner through the attitude they display and their interac-
tions with others. Help us congratulate our students!
8th graders: Allison Kelly, Morgan Keen, Carson Raper, Tanner Dunn and Zach
Dye.
9th graders: Dean Appleget, Destiny Yeager, Shelby Barten, Tyra Collins and Luke
Vaske. Photos submitted.
NHS Activities Director
/
By A1 Lammers
Bowling
The boys and girls bowling team opened their sea-
son Monda Dec. 1, hosting Dowling Catholic.
Boys Basketball
The Warriors traveled to Ballard-Huxley Tuesday,
Dec. 2, to take on the Bombers to open the 2014-15 regu-
lar season.
Girls Basketball
The Warriors traveled to ADM and dropped a closely
played non-conference game to the Tigers 55-51. The
Warriors were within striking distance for the victory
down to the end as they trailed by two with the ball and
12 seconds left in the game, but couldn't come up with
the late game heroics as they dropped to 0-2 on the year.
Freshman Miranda Hughes led all scorers with a career
Lady Warriors
Basketball
The Lady Warriors took
on another rated team,
traveling to #6 Ballard and
suffering a loss. The Bomb-
ers handed Norwalk a 50-
17 defeat. Norwalk jumped
out to a 3-0 lead, but fell
behind after four minutes
and was not able to over-
come the Bombers. Miran-
da Hughes led with seven
points. Gabby Grove had
six. Shae Campbell finished
with two points, as did Tori
VanVelzen.
high 21 points while junior Tori VanVelzen finished with
16. Freshman Shae Campbell ended the game with a [
career high 14 points. The girls traveled to Ballard Tues-
day, Dec. 2, as part of a girl/boy doubleheader and then
opened conference play Friday, Dec. 5, at Grinnell.
ADDITIONAL ATHLETIC/ACTIVITY NEWS
The Norwalk Dance Team performed at the state ......
dance competition Friday, Dec. 5, at Wells Fargo. A tree planted in the mid-
The Norwalk Jazz Band performed their holiday con- die of a flowerbed will add
cert Monday, Dec. 1, in the Norwalk Performing Arts height and interest to the
Center. Their performance was preceded by the Middle plantings below it.
School Jazz Band.
Best of luck to Norwalk junior Christian Belden and I
sophomore Tyler Whitehead who are competing for the .................. I
Des Moines Lincoln swim team this winter season. ~ ~ ~ ..~ ....
~,~, ~'--~'~--~ ~.:~ .... , ....
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