NOTE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT |
|
World Class Schools for Our Students:
A Thank You to NCSD Teachers and Staff
|
|
The Norwalk Community School District Board of Directors passed a Teacher Appreciation Week resolution at last week's April 25 Board meeting. This resolution reaffirms the respect and love that our school community has for our teachers. Teachers spend countless hours preparing lessons, evaluating progress and coaching and counseling students. Their leadership and commitment in the classroom supports our mission of growing learners and leaders. NCSD teachers are all truly amazing!
This week is also a time to celebrate our school staff! Our Norwalk staff are indispensable and without them, our schools wouldn't exist to function the way they do. The level of support that they provide for our students and teachers is a daily reminder of how fortunate we are to have them!
Please consider reaching out and thanking a Norwalk teacher or staff member for their dedication to serving Norwalk schools and students, especially during Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week (May 1-7).
Thank you NCSD teachers and staff for everything you do!
Yours in service,
D.T. Magee
|
|
Norwalk Summer Activity Camps are now LIVE! Summer camps directly support our athletic and activity programs and have a tendency to fill up fast so don't wait!
|
|
Poster & Image Credits: Andy Kreider, Kreider Photography |
|
2022-2023 NCSD Student Registration is Now Available Online
By: Kate Baldwin, Executive Director of Admin Services
|
|
An annual registration must be completed for ALL students (returning and new). The deadline for Early Bird registration is 06-15-22 with payment to be made by 06-30-22. Parents can register students www.norwalkschools.org by clicking under “Enrollment”. Parents of students who are new to the district, click on the “New Families” page under “Enrollment”. Parents should register all students that will be returning in 22-23 by logging into their Parent Portal account. Maintaining current and accurate student records is essential to student safety and service.
|
|
May is School Board Recognition Month |
|
May is School Board Recognition Month, sponsored by the Iowa Association of School Boards, to celebrate the contributions of board members to Iowa public education. The Norwalk Community School District (NCSD) is celebrating the work of school board members, who are Launching Iowa’s Next Generation of Leaders through their commitment to students, schools, and communities.
While school board members are elected by the community, they serve as unpaid innovators who help students take flight by devoting their time to monthly meetings, reviewing board materials, communicating with citizens, exploring learning opportunities, and attending school functions and activities.
The NCSD School Board of Directors is charged with being the navigator for our school district. They oversee the budget, develop policies, set the atmosphere for the district, and make decisions that impact the entire community. Most importantly, they are committed to student achievement and the NCSD mission “Growing Learners and Leaders”.
“Our school board keeps the district on course. They serve 3,501 students and 487 employees and are responsible for a general fund estimate of $38,980,000 for the Fiscal Year of 2022. It’s a big job for no pay, but our board members say they serve to meet the needs of our students and our community,” said D.T. Magee, Norwalk Superintendent.
Please join our community in saying ‘thank you’ to our Norwalk CSD Board of Directors: President, Maribeth Wright, Vice President, David Albrecht, Director, Justin Fletcher, Director, Michelle Kelly, and Director, Brian Rausch for helping to Launch Iowa’s Next Generation of Leaders!
|
|
Norwalk PTO Spring Clothing Sale! |
|
Support the Norwalk PTO and our Warrior students and staff by purchasing some new spring gear! Order deadline is May 10th! Apparel provided by Bowen Design & Print in Norwalk. (some apparel options picture below) |
|
Norwalk PTO Online Auction May 1-8, 2022 |
|
The Norwalk PTO Online Auction is now LIVE! Auction runs Sunday, May 1st through Sunday May 8th at 5PM. To view and bid on the auction items, visit the Norwalk PTO Online Auction.
The annual Norwalk PTO Online Auction is an important fundraiser that helps support Norwalk schools, teachers, and students. Funds are used for items such as playground equipment, field trips, assembly guest speakers, teacher grants for classroom items outside of the school budget, sensory equipment, basketball hoops and much more.
Thank you for supporting the Norwalk Elementary PTO Online Auction!
|
|
Robo Norwalk Robotics Team Competes in Iowa State Championship
by Nicci Lamb
|
|
The Norwalk Robotics program is proud to announce for the 5th straight year, they advanced to the FTC (First Tech Challenge) Iowa Championships, which was held in Coralville on February 18th & 19th. This year’s robot game was called “Freight Frenzy” and Norwalk competed in one of seven Iowa leagues, with 162 other teams in Iowa, and more than 4,200 teams in the US. At State, the team competed alongside 48 of the top teams in Iowa, which is one of the most competitive regions in the US for FTC. State competition consists of two divisions of 24 teams and each division completes 36 qualification matches where all teams play in 6 matches. Each match consists of 4 robots, 2 per alliance, where they compete for points according to the Freight Frenzy game rules. The top 4 ranked teams become captains, which allows them to select 2 additional teams to form a 3-team “alliances” to compete in best-of-three elimination matches. After qualification rounds, the Norwalk RoboWarriors sat in 8th place and was a first-round alliance pick. The Alliance played hard but was eliminated by the eventual Iowa Champions, the EngiNerds out of Waukee. The team ended the season ranked 14th in Iowa and 497th in the World.
This is the 5th year of the robotics program in Norwalk, which is comprised of one HS competition team and one MS development team totaling nearly 40 student participants. The FTC program focuses on much more than just robots; teams are rewarded for being active participants in their community and school to promote STEM in their area. The Norwalk team has able to claim top awards this season, not only for robot performance, but for the community outreach they have been able to do during the last year. The team finished League Championships as 4th place Alliance Captain and won the Think Award, which advanced them to the Iowa Central Super Qualifier. At the Norwalk-hosted Super Qualifier, they were 1st round selected team for the 2nd place Alliance and went on to compete in the event semi-finals. The team also received 2nd place Connect Award at Super Qualifier, which advanced them on to State Championships. While the team did not advance to Worlds, we are proud to have made it through to semi-final elimination play in all 5 years of attending State competitions.
The Norwalk teams were able to successfully host 5 events this season at Lakewood Elementary and serve as League Administrator for 29 metro area teams. All the matches were livestreamed on the FTC Iowa YouTube channel and can be found by searching FTC Iowa Green League. The team and coaches want to thank all their local sponsors for their continued support of the robotics program, as the season would not have been possible without their funding! Special thanks to: TMC Transportation, Ted Lare Design Build, Fareway, Sam Sorensen State Farm, RAMCO Innovations, The Norwalk Shop, The Norwalk Student Education Foundation, Collins Aerospace, John Deere, MidAmerican Energy and RBS Safety Training for their continued support, and to Zach Lipovac, Jill Anderson, Roger Huff and the entire Lakewood custodial staff for helping to coordinate and set up our events this year.
Seniors/Captains: Tyler Lamb, Eli Newland, Sydney Fisher, Hannah Groos, Trevor Fisher
Juniors: Olivia Lamb, Jaden Smith, Wiatt Larson
Sophomores: Will Clarke, Jamison Bice, Jackson Warren, Logan Plourde, Lex Marshall, Alex Kruger, Noah Buhrow
Freshman: Jacob Wegner, Ryne Coppe, James Lofflin, Lincoln Wipperman
Coaches/Mentors: Tom Lamb, Sam Kruger, Nicci Lamb, Melissa Clarke, Kelly Marshall, Sarah Cook
|
|
(Pictured) The Last of the Founding RoboWarriors Members Who Will Graduate This May: Sydney Fisher, Tyler Lamb, Trevor Fisher, Eli Newland and Hannah Groos
|
|
Norwalk High School Hosts Career Day 2022
by Jodie Irlmeier, Work-Based Learning Coordinator
|
|
The Norwalk High School Pathway to Success Action Team hosted a career day on April 20, 2022. The goal was to “PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST” and start to help students prioritize future goals to achieve success. It was a tremendous success with over 100+ guest speakers in attendance representing many, many career pathways. The students were greeted by a keynote speaker, Erick Danielson, from the Iowa College Access Network (ICAN). He shared some insights about career planning and discussed “Finding the Right Fit for You”.
All 9-12th graders selected 5 career sessions of their choice and had an opportunity to learn from experts in the field and network with those professionals. Each session was 35 minutes long and many provided hand-ons learning activities. After surveying students, 85% of the students felt career day was helpful to them to learn more about career/job options available to them.
The day concluded with a launch video from Alex Dorr, Norwalk High School Alumni (class of 2009). Alex works side-by-side with NY Times bestselling author Cy Wakeman and is a keynote speaker on leadership that works with companies across the world. He spoke to Norwalk students about the “Three Reminders for More Success”.
Thanks to all of our guest speakers for participating in this event and to the staff for making this event run smoothly. This event will be held every other school year and we look forward to hosting during the 23-24 school year. We welcome opportunities for students to take the next steps to participate in other career exploration events, job shadows and/or internships. If you’d be interested in hosting a student in a job shadow or internship capacity, please email jirlmeier@norwalk.k12.ia.us.
|
|
|
|
It's a great time to be a part of our growing community at Norwalk Schools! If you enjoy working with children and like the idea of a flexible schedule, we invite you to check our open career opportunities at norwalkschools.org!
|
|
Norwalk CSD Announces 2022 Wall of Fame Inductees |
|
The Norwalk Community School District is proud to announce the 2022 Norwalk Alumni/Staff Wall of Fame. The purpose is to recognize the accomplishments of Norwalk graduates and staff. Anyone can nominate a candidate for induction. Nomination forms and criteria can be found on the Norwalk website on the drop down under District.
Congratulations to this year’s 2022 Norwalk Wall of Fame Inductees who will be recognized at Norwalk’s 2022 Commencement Ceremony at Warrior Stadium on Sunday, May 22.
|
|
Junior Lane
1948 Graduate
|
|
Linda Bussanmas
Employee 1985-2022
|
|
Louis Hanzlik
1994 Graduate
|
|
ABOVE: NHS Students perform "Once Upon A Mattress" on April 29th and 30th at the Norwalk Performing Arts Center. photo credits: Sarah Raymond and Joie Fox
BELOW: The Norwalk School Board of Directors celebrated the accomplishments of the NHS Blackshirts and MS Tech Warriors at this week's special board meeting. These students have worked incredibly hard to enrich the Norwalk community with their support of Norwalk broadcasting and their behind the scenes work!
|
|
Upcoming Dates to Remember
April 27: Staff Work Day (No School K-12)
May 1: 2022-2023 School Registration Opens!
May 18: Staff Work Day (No School K-12)
May 19: Senior Scholarship Night
May 22: Commencement
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
