Minding Your Mind

The NLS mental health team has once again coordinated with Duck Cup Memorial Fund to bring a speaker to the NLS community. This year, we are happy to have Kristen Harootunian from Minding Your Mind speak on various mental health topics. Mental health is such an important topic for all ages, and we are very excited to be able to bring this opportunity to the NLS community. There will be a free community presentation at 6:30pm, Monday, February 12th in the NLS Performing Arts Center.

Join Kristen as she shares her message of hope and recovery. Kristen of Moving Your Mind is a mental health advocate. After experiencing significant trauma as a young child, Kristen shares the path she took to replace negative coping skills with positive ones. Kristen, being a young person in recovery, proves it's never too late or too early to get the help you need. To read Kristen's full bio, please click here.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Thursday, February 8 - Dine Out for PreK Fundraiser
Thursday, February 8 - 8th Grade Field Trip - Great Theatre
Friday, February 9 - 6th Grade Field Trip - Powder Ridge
Friday, February 9 - 5th Grade D.A.R.E Graduation
Monday, February 12 - Mental Health Awareness Presentation for Grades 5-8
Monday, February 12 - Mental Health Awareness Free Community Presentation
Tuesday, February 13 - Mental Health Awareness Presentation for Grades 9-12
Friday, February 16 - No School: Teacher Workshop
Monday, February 19 - No School: Presidents Day
Tuesday, February 20 - No School: Staff Development Day
Wednesday, February 21 - 8th Grade Field Trip - Powder Ridge
Friday, February 23 - Grades 7-12 Grade Check

The NLS Community Fitness Center has undergone a huge facelift! With the completion of a recent remodel, brand new treadmills and elliptical machines, the space is even more welcoming and useful than before. In addition, we've hired a new fitness center manager, Toni Braness. Any questions regarding fitness center membership or class offerings can be directed to Toni at [email protected].

FITNESS CENTER

Our music team, has made some schedule changes for the March band and choir concerts. Please make note on any printed calendars the March date changes.

Middle School Concert Schedule Changes: Our plan is to cancel the middle school band and choir concerts in March to allow the middle school ensembles more time to focus on fundamentals and learning music for the May concert. With the start to 2024 being a difficult time for some of our students and the February break approaching, we feel that focusing on music for a May concert will provide a more rewarding performance and stronger educational experience. Also, by removing the March 11 date it will allow more time for the Spring play to have their set up ready to go. No March middle school band or choir concerts.
High School Concert Schedule Changes: We have decided to combine our High School Band and Choir Concert and it will be held on Friday, March 1.
No changes to the May concerts.

High School - Principal Bonnie Spohn

Students in grades 8-11 will be receiving registration materials for the 2024-25 academic year during the week of February 19. Students will have the following week to talk to counselors and parents about course choices and complete their registration sheets. During the week of March 4, students will officially sign up for their 2024-25 classes online and turn in their completed worksheets. The high school will be hosting the following meetings on Thursday, February 29, in the PAC regarding registration and course options for the upcoming school year:

6:15- 7:00 pm - 8th Grade Registration Meeting for Parents (Class of 2028)
7:15- 7:45 pm- How to Earn College Credit in High School (CIS, AP, PSEO)
7:45-8:15 pm - 9th-11th Grade Registration Meeting for Parents

Please review those registration materials with your student, and sign their registration sheet. We encourage you to attend the parent meetings to gather more information.

If you have any questions, please call or email a member of our Counseling Department:

Jenny Marxhausen at [email protected] ext. 2605 Kristy Maher at [email protected] ext. 2604 Emily Thein at [email protected] ext. 2606

Wildcat Activities

Every week, the activities department recognizes a student(s) as our Wildcat of the Week. These students are recognized not only based on their accomplishments, but also how they display the R.O.A.R principles - Respect, Ownership, Attitude, and Responsibility. Our most recent Wildcats of the Week for 2024 were Dakota Rich (Girls Basketball), Adelie Greeley (Girls Hockey) and our WCC Honor Band and Choir Participants.

Middle School - Principal Dr. Jenn Fuchs

We are seeing great success with our newish initiative, Drafting. Students in grades 5-12 that are in need of additional support for a class can be drafted by a teacher using our student information system, called Infinite Campus. When the teacher drafts the student, it appears on the student's schedule for the appropriate day and class period. The most common reasons students are drafted is because of absences, missing work, test retakes, or assistance understanding a concept. Students can also request that a teacher draft them. Our students and teachers have appreciated having the ability to work with small groups.

We are working on registration for the next school year. Parents of current 5th-7th grade students please complete this form to sign your child(ren) up for middle school activities including, band and/or choir. Registration will close on Feb. 23, 2024.

Prairie Woods - Principal Randy Juhl

On Wednesday, February 7th, Prairie Woods is going to participate in Global Play Day. Classrooms will set aside one hour during the day to allow students to play. Play might consist of board games, outside activities, etc. Our goal is to have students interact with peers, so we will not use any computer games.

Prairie Woods Elementary and New London-Spicer Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) plan to “kick-off” our annual Club Choice fundraiser Thursday, February 15th. This fundraiser will go from February 15th through February 26th. More information about the fundraiser will come home in a packet with your child on Thursday, February 15th. The pick-up date for the fundraiser is March 27, 2024.

Mark Your Calendars: The Prairie Woods Family Book Bingo Night will be on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in the High School Cafeteria.

Community Education - Director Tricia Lilleberg

We are very excited to announce that on February 1, we transitioned to Arux to manage all registration and billing for our PALS, Lil' PALS, and Cub Kids Preschool. Be sure to make your registration profile and get registered today!

2024 Summer Lil' PALS: click here to register. Your child must be currently enrolled in the 2023-24 Cub Kids Preschool at NLS in order to register for Summer Lil' PALS.
2024-25 Cub Kids Preschool: click here to register.
2024 Summer PALS: click here to register. Summer PALS is for NLS students completing K-4th grade. All PALS kids must be registered for all of their Community Education Summer Recreation activities by May 15th. There are NO exceptions to this date if you would like PALS to transport your child to/from their activities this summer. Summer registration will be open no later than April 1, 2024.

Prairie Meadows - Coordinator Jennifer Hellickson

Last week Dr. Olness and Dr. Johnson visited Cub Kids to talk about dental health! We learned about healthy and unhealthy food for our teeth, the importance of brushing, and how often to brush! Every student went home with a new toothbrush and toothpaste.

Thank you West Central Dental and Green Lake Dental!

Registration is NOW open for our 2024-2025 preschool year! Cub Kids Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis with priority given to full time applicants. Limited spots are available for part time and half-time options. Your spot is not secured until you receive a confirmation email with your next steps in the registration process. We will be notifying families after March 1, 2024, on the application status. Register for Cub Kids here.

Dine Out for PreK

Beat the Valentine's rush with a delicious meal at O‛Neil‛s in Spicer on February 8 from 4:30-7:30 PM. A portion of the meal proceeds go to Early Childhood Scholarships helping NLS students attend preschool!