Ithaca North Elementary

Last week Mr. Smith walked into a surprise from his class as well as from a TV reporter from WZZM 13 On Your Side to honor him as Teacher of the Week. Check out the full story on WZZM13 website to watch the full article and interview. Congrats to Mr. Smith.

4th graders were fortunate to have community member Scott Johnson come in and sing The Edmund Fitzgerald song and read The Song of the Bell!

Thanks to Donors Choose, families, and community partners my third graders received additional math games to support their math goals! Learning math can be engaging and fun.

Little late but check out some of the third grade goblins!!

This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of GRATITUDE. Gratitude means you are aware of and thankful for good things that happen. Gratitude is the quality of feelings and expressing thankfulness and appreciation. It is an affirmation that there is goodness in other people and the world and that we have received that goodness.

Fourth graders learned about Giant Sequoias and Coastal Redwoods in STEAM and then collaborated to build models of them using cards and connectors.

The Ithaca 5th graders invite you to an engaging community event on Veterans Day at the All Wars Memorial in downtown Ithaca, this Saturday at 11 AM. You can read all about it in the Gratiot County Herald and Morning Sun! Scan the QR code in the picture for a video from 5th graders!

Students have learned that keeping track of our digital footprint is important, and the choices we make about our own digital footprint can impact others as well as themselves. It is important to pause and think before posting, sharing, or visiting websites and apps to ensure smart choices are being made for everyone's digital footprint. Our students have also been engaging in conversations about cyberbullying. These conversations have been impactful in the technology classroom because students are learning strategies to help them handle these kinds of situations by being upstanders in their friend groups and communities. Here are some links to resources about both of these topics: Digital Footprint 3-5: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jqE5CLfzAjXdLY-6c26Ri15XNeidRAFU1jt47TmJ6GQ/edit?usp=sharing Thinking Traps 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9aV4mgVya4 Cyberbullying 3-5: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QXn58bg3G4ptPeEpG2nuzF7CmOgXYq8HBbfUWGxRv98/edit?usp=sharing Cyberbullying 6: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14-6deXF8qN8e_ev2SORPDK4FXcMdno5t3cEH0l6cmzU/edit?usp=sharing

On behalf of the Board of Education, I thank the Ithaca Public Schools’ voters for their support of the renewal of the sinking fund. Approval of the sinking fund will allow the school district to continue to update facilities, improve school security, upgrade technology, and purchase new buses and vans. Again, I am grateful to the parents, staff, students, and other members of the community who helped us inform people about the sinking fund renewal. Thank you for your continued support! Steven Netzley Superintendent

This week in Tech, we are focusing on Digital Citizenship. Students have been engaging in activities at school to practice their DC skills. Monday's focus was media balance, and Tuesday's focus was staying safe online. Shared below are activities families can do together at home, or family resources to reinforce the learning students have done at school. Media Balance 3-5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhzaO0DVJM Media Balance 6: https://www.commonsense.org/education/family-tips/6-12-media-balance-and-well-being Staying Safe Online 3-5: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/family-tech-planners Staying Safe Online 6: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1moJRD4r9umukn7MwZ847tTMRRYYt7Uu2ym1lAw1zHoI/edit#slide=id.g3d07a721d2_1_0

After learning about irrigation systems in STEAM lab, fifth graders collaborated to move water (a marble) from one end of the table to another by creating paper canals.

Don't forget to vote! If you'd like more information on the 2023 Sinking Fund renewal, please visit www.ithacaschools.net/page/sinking-fund-renewal.

This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of Bravery. Bravery means you act with mental, moral, or physical strength even when you know things are difficult or scary. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”--ROSA PARKS

Hello North Families, I cannot believe we had our first snow before November! Our students were very well behaved for Halloween! Please make sure that you are sending your child to school with warm clothing! Have a great weekend! -- Go Jackets! Jessie Rayburn North Elementary Principal Ithaca Public Schools jmiller@ithacaschools.net 989-875-3047

Congratulations to Aidan J. He is our Patriots Pen Essay winner this year! Aidan valiantly promotes citizenship in our community! Way to go Aidan!

Here are some of the great bird and bat houses ready to go up in our school woods! We are so thankful for the support we have received for this project. If you are interested in helping renovate our woods (with labor or donations), please contact me at amhmarr@ithacaschools.net. Our goal is to have students heading out there for field trips in the spring!

Congratulations to our October Students of the Month! All of these students have been caught demonstrating positive character strengths during the month of October.

Congratulations to our October Students of the Month! All of these students have been caught demonstrating positive character strengths during the month of October.

4th grade Halloween games and activities! What a fun day!

We would like to thank everyone who came to parent/teacher conferences last week! We appreciate everyone who took time to be with us to discuss your child’s continued learning. At North we had a 92% turnout for those that attended their child's conferences. Parents who were unable to attend, please feel free to contact the school or your child's teacher for updates.