Good afternoon,

Happy October! Feeling a little fall in the air now. I hope you had a wonderful week and enjoy this upcoming weekend. We have a full week of school next week, with an early release day on Tuesday.

Today we had another fire alarm. A teacher smelled what he believed to be the odor of natural gas in the wellness center. Custodial/maintenance personnel were notified, responded, and agreed that the odor smelled like natural gas but were unable to determine the source of the odor. At this time the building was evacuated so the fire department and CNG personnel could respond and investigate further. This investigation resulted in the discovery of a hydraulic door closer that broke and leaked fluid that had a smell similar to natural gas. The situation was rectified and first responders deemed the building safe to reenter, which we did after being outside for ~30 minutes. Staff and students followed all safety protocols and enjoyed some time in the sun.

Here is some of this week's learning: staff and students had fun participating in our Western themed Friday football day; students worked collaboratively to discover ways that characters and people form their cultural identity; student leaders engaged with 3rd and 4th grade emerging leaders from Ruth Chaffee Elementary School (see pics below); district administrators and staff attended a workshop on Advancing Practice Through Professional Learning, Evaluation & Support; and I enjoyed giving the Class of 1975 - first class to attend this school for 4 years - a tour of the building (see pic below).

All my previous newsletters are posted on the website.

We value your feedback, so please reach out at any time with any highlights, questions, or concerns.

BELL SCHEDULES: Click HERE to view all our bell schedules.

DAY CALENDAR:  Click HERE to view our NHS 2025-26 Day Calendar. Currently in DRAFT form.

REPORT CARD SCHEDULE: Click HERE to view the Report Card Schedule for our 2025-2026 school year. Please note that snow days will impact this schedule.  

ANNOUNCEMENT SLIDES: Click HERE to view our announcement slides. (updated daily)

CLUB DIRECTORY: Click HERE to view our club information. (get involved!!!)

ATHLETICS: Click HERE for the Fall Sports Schedule

Monday, October 6: A day

Tuesday, October 7: B day * Early release

Wednesday, October 8: O day

Thursday, October 9: E day

Friday, October 10: C day

***Bus Route information - The Vacant Seat program will open for students living in a "Walking District" sometime toward end of October. More informaiton regarding this program will be coming out as the date approaches. Any questions please contact our transportation department at 860-666-2441.***

10/7: College Fair and Early - Release HERE is the schedule for the day * see more info below

10/13: Indigenous Peoples' Day = No School/Offices Closed

10/16: THEMED THURSDAY = CHARACTER DAY

10/20: Diwali = No School/Offices Opened

10/28: Early Release Day

*** Linked here is the 12th Grade Parent Night Program presentations that was this past week. ***

1.    Application Support Days - 10/10, 10/17 and 10/24: School counselors will be available in the Library Classroom for “Application Support Days.” There will be two counselors available each period for students to come in and get support with their college applications.

2.    Connecticut Public Universities Application FREE day is November 1st: “This one day-only special allows Connecticut high school seniors to apply to Connecticut's public universities for free, with no required application payment. Students must submit their admission application on November 1, 2025 and select the Application Fee Free Day waiver for Connecticut residents.” Participating Universities are Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU), Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) and University of Connecticut UConn. 

Please note: The college applications and waiver need to be submitted by November 1st. Supplemental materials such as teacher and counselor recommendation, transcripts, etc. can be sent at a later date.

3.    Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - Is Now Open! Link to website

FAFSA Checklist: What You'll Need to Complete You Application: Link to website

a. On the SchooLinks home page, click on “To Do List” tab, on top of page, and then “Personal Reflection”

b. Students should answer the questions completely and honestly - this is a major source of information for the counselor’s letter of recommendation

c. Students add an updated resume to their personal reflection. If they do not have a resume, they can create one using this template (click here). 

3.Register with the Common Application (www.commonapp.org). 

We hope with the additional support and programs you and your student will get the help they need to help them navigate through the college application process. If you have any questions please reach out to Mr. Korn, Director of School Counseling & Student Testing K-12, (skorn@npsct.org) or your student’s school counselor.

Every year the main school counseling office hosts various college rep visits.

This is a great way for your child to make a connection with the college that they are thinking they may want to apply to in the future and ask those questions in a more informal visit.

Students should pay attention to announcement slides for information on who is coming and when.

This is open to any Junior or Senior. They can sign up to attend these visits in their SchooLinks accounts.

Purchasing Chromebook insurance is encouraged. This optional coverage costs $35 each year and offers the following benefits: 

Thank you for your partnership in supporting your child's education!

Now is a great time to plan on how to get engaged with the NHS community! Use the club directory to review the many club opportunities offered at NHS and choose what you would like to be a part of. Try something new! Click here for the directory!

With the new school year comes exciting updates to the Storm Supply, our school store located in the cafeteria. You can also shop online using our catalog and follow the link to place orders online- bit.ly/NHSstorecatalog. The store is open on Mondays and all week before a spirit day, where you can pick up the latest school spirit merchandise and will be open other periods for snacks for students in cafe study. Alternatively, you can place your order online and can pick it up in the main office or Mrs. Miller's room, 201. Be sure to follow us on Instagram for the latest updates: @newingtondeca. Fuel your storm spirit, gear up at the Storm Supply!

Attendance - Join us in emphasizing the importance of being in school. Attendance is critical to the success of our students. It not only contributes to academic success, but fosters relationships between students and teachers and students and their peers. NHS course work is rigorous and moves at a fast pace, so every lesson is vital to a student’s learning. When students miss school, they miss opportunities to ask questions, deepen their learning, participate in class discussions, and build connections.  

We hope that families vacation during school vacation time and do their best to schedule appointments outside of school hours, or at the very least, have their student attend school prior to or immediately after an appointment. When students are pulled from school, it puts them at a disadvantage. If the choice is made to vacation during a time when school is in session, students will only be given one day per absence to submit their work. 

If a student is going to be absent a Parent/Guardian must either call Magee House Office on extension 1525 or submit a note through ParentSquare directly to Corina Muir. If a note is submitted through ParentSquare a phone call is not necessary. If a call is made, a note will need to be entered in ParentSquare or brought to the Magee Office to be considered excused (for the first 9 absences for state reporting purposes. These absences, unless extenuating and cleared by administration, will count toward the loss of credit). For any absence beyond 9, a medical note, court documentation, etc. must be presented in order to be excused (for state reporting purposes only. These absences, unless extenuating and cleared by administration, will also count toward the loss of credit).

If a student is absent for medical purposes, medical documentation needs to be brought to the Magee Office office when the student returns to school. Once processed by the Magee Office, the documentation will be given to the nurses. 

If a student is tardy, they must enter through the main entrance, sign in on the tardy kiosk and bring their pass to class. For delays or special schedules, they must report to the Magee Office to receive a tardy pass to get into class.

If a student is being dismissed early, a note must come from a Parent/Guardian either through ParentSquare or with a physical note brought to the Magee House Office.

NHS sends an automated message every morning at 9:45 am alerting families of any attendance change. This includes absences, late arrivals, early dismissals, and any message sent via ParentSquare. Therefore, we ask that you do not call if you receive this alert from ParentSquare if you have sent a message to Mrs. Muir via ParentSquare, only if you have not sent a message.  

Electronics - Given the distraction electronics can cause and the potential for inappropriat use, here is our policy:

Parent Square - click HERE to obtain all the information about our new School Messenger.

Academic Integrity - Academic integrity is an integral aspect of any institution of education. Students are responsible for demonstrating their understanding of content standards and skills in an ethical manner. Academic dishonesty occurs when a student cheats, plagiarizes, shares assignments, or otherwise misrepresents someone else’s work or ideas as their own. 

Cheating includes but is not limited to providing another student with information regarding assessments, copying another’s work, having prior knowledge of assessment materials not provided by the teacher, having unauthorized assistance in answering questions, and/or submitting work that another has completed on a student’s behalf. Plagiarism is a form of cheating that results from misrepresenting words or ideas that are not one's own. This includes the use of technology including artificial intelligence (AI). Students are subject to disciplinary and academic consequences that may impact acceptance into various national honor societies. 

Dear Parents/Guardians & Students:

 

The purpose of this letter is to outline and hopefully answer questions concerning breakfast and lunch, meal charging, the cafeteria’s computerized point of sale, automated prepayment systems and cafeteria mandates. Please read the following information carefully, and if you have any questions that remain unanswered, feel free to email foodservices@npsct.org or call the Foods and Nutrition Services Office at 860-665-8635. 

Students may purchase breakfast on a daily basis for $2.00 at ALL schools. Eligible students who are approved for free or reduced-price meals for SY 2025-26 are entitled to one FREE breakfast per school day. 

Full pay students may purchase lunch on a daily basis for $3.75 at the middle and high schools and $3.25 at the elementary schools. The cost is $0.40 for eligible students who are approved for reduced-price meals and there is no cost for eligible students who are approved for free meals for SY 2025-26. 

School menus may be found here:

During meal service, your child will need to enter his or her five digit student identification number into a keypad (see picture at the end of the letter) located at the end of the serving line near the cashier in order to access his or her meal account. You can find your child’s student identification number on the PowerSchool website (not the App) on the "Grades and Attendance" page.  Please ask your child to memorize this number. Staff will still be able to access your child’s account if they forget his or her number. Your child’s student identification number will not change while enrolled in the Newington Public Schools.  Pre-K & Kindergarten students will receive a laminated card with their student ID number on it. Please work with your child to help them with memorizing their number. 

After your child enters his or her student ID #, the cashier simply presses the meal key and any snack purchases your child is selecting and off he or she goes! The price of the meal and snacks is deducted from your child’s account. The point of sale system knows how to charge student meals accordingly; free, reduced or paid. A parent/guardian will need to

After your child enters his or her student ID #, the cashier simply presses the meal key and any snack purchases your child is selecting and off he or she goes! The price of the meal and snacks is deducted from your child’s account. The point of sale system knows how to charge student meals accordingly; free, reduced or paid. A parent/guardian will need to deposit money into their child’s account for meal and/or snack purchases.

Insufficient Funds - Students whose accounts have insufficient funds, and who do not bring a meal or other funds to school to pay for meals, may charge meals (excludes a la carte items) to their meal accounts. If a student’s meal account becomes depleted, Nutrition Services will provide a meal of the student’s choice. 

Collection of Unpaid Meal Charges - The parent/guardian of students with negative account balances will receive a daily email with repayment information as well as information on free and reduced meals, local food pantries and SNAP benefits. The student will continue to be served a full meal and the account will be charged accordingly. Negative balances will remain with the student through their school career. 

 

EZSchoolPay Information (Online payment system for school meals) - Our department offers an automated prepayment system called EZSchoolPay that allows you to view your child’s meal account balance and purchases, receive low balance e-mails, as well as, make deposits into your child’s school meal account via the internet. There is a convenience fee to make on-line payments. Simply log on and use a credit card or debit card to fund your child’s account. You may find an EZSchoolPay Parent-User-How-To Guide at: https://www.npsct.org/pricing-meal-prepayment

 

 There are two ways to put money onto your child’s meal account:

 

 

 2. You may send in a check or cash to the school cafeteria. The food service staff will enter your check amount or cash amount into your child’s meal account. For safety purposes, we recommend that advanced payments be sent in the form of a check. Checks should be made payable to Newington School Cafeteria. (There is no fee for this method of payment.) Please put your child’s full name and student ID # (same # as your child’s PowerSchool number) on the check. Your child’s teacher will collect prepayments in the morning and forward to the cafeteria. All monies sent into the cafeteria can only be used for meal and a snack purchases and cannot be used for any other school event(s).  

Funds are deposited and available to your child for the purchase of a meal and snack purchases in the cafeteria. There are no limitations as to what may be purchased or how many purchases can be made. The account balance simply decreases as purchases take place.  

Please note that you can set up spending limits for your child in order to limit what can and cannot be purchased in the cafeteria through www.EZSchoolPay.com . There is no cost to do this.

 

You can check your child’s account balance by registering your child on www.EZSchoolPay.com . There is no cost to do this. (You will need your child’s student identification number to do this which is their PowerSchool #). Registering your child on EZSchoolPaydoes not mean that you have to pay through EZSchoolPay, however, it allows you to view the account balance at any time on-line, as well as, receive e-mail reminders when the account balance gets below a dollar amount you select. It is strongly recommended that you sign up for e-mail account balance reminders as this is the best and most efficient method for parent notification when balances get low.  

 

Yes. You can log onto www.EZSchoolPay.com  and view what your child purchased. (You must register your child on www.EZSchoolPay.com before using the purchase history feature.) 

No. Any money left in your child’s account at the end of this school year will carry over to the next school year. Requests for refunds, account transfers or donations must be made in writing to foodservices@npsct.org 

 

Our school cafeterias are meeting tough federal nutrition standards for school meals, ensuring that meals are healthy and well-balanced and provide students with all the nutrition they need to succeed at school. Now is a great time to encourage your child to choose school meals! 

 

The federal requirements include strict limits on the calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium in school meals. We are meeting these nutrition standards by offering students a selection of low-fat and fat-free milk, larger portions of colorful fruits and vegetables, and a variety of whole grains and lean protein choices.

All breakfasts include three meal components:

At breakfast, each student must select at least three of the offered four items to make a meal, including at least one fruit. Students that do not take a fruit will be charged a la carte pricing.

 All lunches include five meal components:

At lunch, each student must select at least three of these five components on their tray to make a meal, including a fruit or vegetable. Students that do not take a fruit or vegetable will be charged a la carte pricing. 

 

Our district will be encouraging students to try the new foods offered this school year. We are also asking for your help. Please explain that every student needs to be prepared to select at least one fruit or vegetable with their lunch every day. We are planning our menus to include selections we know students like, as well as many different foods they may not have tried before. Please encourage your child to try these new foods. FREE SAMPLES are available upon request. They might just find a new favorite!

We are excited to continue our partnership with Integrated Health Servies. Please click THIS LINK (English) or THIS LINK (Spanish) to see what they have to offer and how to enroll.

School nurse information:

Names: Callie Lawrence and Audra Rappoccio

email: hsnurses@npsct.org

phone number: 860-666-5611 x 1163 or 1164

Medication drop off:

Wednesday August 27th from 9am-12pm. Please email hsnurses@npsct.org if you have any questions.