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Family Engagement Guide

Dear Northside Community,

Below are the details that outline the Northside Family Engagement Plan for 2025-26. 

The goal of sharing this guide is to help you find the pathways to partnership that your school has set up for families. You are essential to student success and that you belong as a part of your student’s school community. All parents and caregivers are essential partners in every child's educational journey. The collaboration of our staff and families is fundamental to supporting students in achieving their highest potential.

The SPASD district webpage is a great resource. It is very likely that you can find what you are looking for on the webpage. We highly recommend it as a go-to resource for our families.

Northside Digital School Calendar is available on our webpage. You can also link it to your own personal electronic calendar.  You can access it here.

Please visit our Northside Elementary School Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NorthsideElementary/ 

We look forward to a great year with you at Northside Elementary School!

Sincerely,

Jillian Block, Principal (she/her)

(608) 834-7101

jeblock@sunprairieschools.org

 

Brooke Coy-Tchouani, Associate Principal (she/her)

(608) 834-7156

blcoytc@sunprairieshools.org

Family Engagement Belief Statement

As Northside Community School, we believe we are stronger when families and school staff partner together to ensure the success of ALL Northside scholars.This is evidenced by open communication, participation in school and community activities, asset-based relationships, increased academics, consistent attendance and an authentic sense of belonging. 

We commit to:

  • Recognizing parents and caregivers as essential partners in a child's educational journey
  • Fostering open communication between families and school staff
  • Valuing all voices and ensuring every perspective is heard and respected
  • Embracing and celebrating the unique differences within our school community
  • Promoting meaningful engagement opportunities to strengthen connections and collaboration
  • Teaching and modeling our core community builder habits of kindness, integrity, and problem-solving

Stronger Together: Northside School & Community United for Every Scholar's Success
 

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Volunteer Opportunities
  • Caregivers can come in to help with K/1 lunch the first two weeks of the school year 
  • Classroom teachers will reach out to families in their classroom offering times when they could use an extra set of hands in their classroom.  
  • Picture Day on 9/24 - we always need a couple parents to help throughout the day 
  • We frequently ask for caregivers to join us at school during our heritage months to teach their child’s classroom about their childhood in another country, their culture, their language, etc. 
  • Families are asked to volunteer for the Northside Stride (Fun Run), Fall Fest and End of Year Celebration. 
  • Caregivers are encouraged by personal invitation to join our Community Schools Site Leadership Team 
  • Caregivers can volunteer to chaperone a field trip 
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Family Engagement Events

 Aug. 13 - Kindergarten Orientation
Aug. 26 - Ready/Set/Go from 4-6pm 
Sept. 26 - Stride Fun Run Fundraiser 
Oct 2 - SPASD Hispanic Heritage Celebration @ Meadow View from 5-7pm
Oct. 20-24 - Fall Family/School Conferences 
Oct. 17 - SCONES Fall Fest from 5-7pm
Nov. 11-14 - Bring Your Grown-Up to Art Week (traveling art museum) 
Nov. 17-21 - Bring Your Grown-Up to PE Week (gymnastics) 
Dec. 11 - Game Night 
Dec. 9-15 - Bring Your Grown-Up to Lab Week (robotics) 
Feb. 7 - Read Your Heart Out 
Feb. 23-27 - Winter Family/School Conferences 
March 3/13 - 2nd Grade Music Concert @ 2pm
April 20-24 - Bring Your Grown-Up to Music Week 
April 30th - Academic Showcase (during school day & 4:30-6:00pm) 
June 2 - Pride Reading Day 
June 5 - End of Year Celebration from 5-7pm 
June 11 - 5th Grade Promotion Celebration @ 9:15am
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How parents & caregivers can help us meet our school goals

#1 - ATTENDANCE
We can’t teach kids that aren’t present! Research tells us that when students miss more than 10 school days, it can greatly impact their overall learning for the year.  Illnesses come up, but we would LOVE to see all of our Nighthawks at school from 7:40am to 2:40pm every day possible! 

#2 - COMMUNICATION
One of our goals is to truly know your children deeply so that we can help them feel successful at school. We really do rely on families to give us initial information about who their children are starting at Ready/Set/Go through family inventories and conversation! 

Then throughout the year we will ask you to give us feedback on how things are going through conferences, emails and conversations. We appreciate in advance you taking the time to engage in these conversations/activities with us! 

#3 - ACADEMIC PRACTICE 
If you want to do some at home academic practice, we recommend…  

We encourage families to reach out at any time to ask questions or give us feedback about how we are meeting their child’s needs and ensuring they are advancing their SEL and academic skills.
 
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How do families know how their student is doing?
  1. Read the weekly newsletters your teacher will email you every Friday 
  2. Check your child’s backpack to see completed work 
  3. Attend school/family conferences in October and February 
  4. Attend our Academic Showcase Event on April 30th
  5. Reach out to your child’s teacher(s) whenever questions come up about your child’s progress
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How can families get involved with our SCO?

SCONES Meetings

  • 9/09
  • 10/07
  • 11/11
  • 12/09
  • 01/13
  • 02/10
  • 03/10
  • 04/07
  • 05/12

*Free babysitting is available!

*All meetings are in the Northside LGI from 6:30-7:30pm

You’ll get a text reminder of the meeting the week prior.

You can also follow Northside Elementary SCO on Facebook for lots of updates about events happening!
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 How will teachers communicate with families?

Welcome letters from each teacher are shared with families in August. They include the teacher’s email so parents have that right away. 

Weekly newsletters will be emailed to families every Friday to share learning targets, important events, tips for home, etc.

Periodic emails/texts/phone calls to share updates on your individual student 
We will have two rounds of conferences…

  • October 20-24
  • February 23-27

Report Cards 

  • End of semester 1 (January) 
  • End of semester 2 (June) 

You can access the report card when it is posted on your Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
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 How will the principal communicate with families?

Whole School Communication

  • Welcome emails in July & August giving families back to school information 
  • Monthly Newsletters (starting in Oct.) 
  • Reminders of important events are sent periodically via text/email 

PeachJar (shared Wednesdays via email) 

  • Flyers about community events/activities 

Meetings (in-person or virtual) 

  • Mrs. Block is happy to sit down with caregivers to problem-solve a concern or troubleshoot a new idea.  Those appointments can be best made by appointment directly with Mrs. Block (608-834-7101, jeblock@sunprairieschools.org) or with Mrs. Sercye (Lead Administrative Assistant - 608-834-7103, dksercy@sunprairieschools.org). 
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 How can families contact the school?

We typically say that classroom teachers can be a family’s first go to for any and all needs that may come up.  

There are definitely times though when contacting someone else first would be expected.  This document, Who to Contact at Northside, can help you identify who the right person is to contact based on your question/concern.  It also lists our certified staff and bilingual assistants that speak Spanish and Hmong so you know who you can communicate with in your native language.