Thank you for a wonderful first week of school. It has been amazing to have students fill the halls and classrooms with laughter and a joy for learning. They seem eager to be back and excited to be with friends. This first week, our staff spent a lot of time working with students on team-building activities to get to know each other and build a culture conducive for students working together. We also focused on the Normal Park Way - Be safe, be responsible, and be respectful. We are all working together to make our school even better. We will continue to have morning meetings daily with students over the next week to foster this collaboration.
We appreciate everyone following our arrival and dismissal procedures as the car lines have gone fairly smoothly for a first week of school. Please continue to be patient as we work out all the kinks. At the lower school, please know we will welcome all 100 kindergartners on Friday for the first time and so we will anticipate a slowdown happening again as our youngest learners get in and out of their car seats. At the upper school, be sure not to jump into the afternoon carline in the middle of W. Mississippi. We have already collected names and your student will not be outside and ready for you. Please join at the end. As a reminder, all cars must have a car tag with the student name listed and showing. If you need one, contact the office and we will send it home with your child. We will not be outside making them in the carline anymore. Thank you for your patience with the buses. We have some new drivers who are still learning their routes. If you are looking for a bus, please contact transportation 423-498-5555 after school hours. They can help you locate the bus if needed.
A few reminders:
- All students will need a Normal Park shirt to wear as they venture out of the school on learning expeditions. If you still need a shirt we have them available in the front office of both campuses for $10
- School meals cost the folowing: breakfast $2 and lunch $3. Please take time to load money on your child's account in our new system, Linq, send lunch money, or fill in the free/reduced lunch form. We will not allow students to go hungry, but they are already accruing debt in many cases. If you do not know the lunch number to set up the online account, please ask your student or call the school. You will need to add a 9 in front of the student number that is in their email address. When selecting a school for the payment account, choose Normal Park (not a specific campus). When looking at a menu for lunch, choose the specific campus.
We will have Open House for the Lower School on Monday, August 28th and for the Upper School on Tuesday, August 29th at 6:00pm. We prefer this event to be child free so you can focus on the information teachers share with you. This will give parents and staff time to interact and focus on needs for this school year. We will have several other events available for children to attend.
This week, students in grades 4-8 will bring home the TCAP parent reports. These reports will let parents know how their student did on last spring’s state assessment. Students in grades 3-5 took ELA, math, and science. Students in grades 6-8 took ELA, math, science, and social studies. The TCAP assessment scores students based on their ability to answer multiple choice questions aligned with the state standards in each content area. Students will take another TCAP test in April 2024. If you have questions about your student’s reports, please talk with the teacher or an administrator.
We are all in this together!
Jamelie Johns
