Dear Friends and Families of Nichols Elementary,

Texas Public Schools Week is March 6-10. According

to the Niche Report, Nichols Elementary was ranked #42

out of the top 100 Elementary Schools in San Antonio. The 2017 Best Public Elementary Schools ranking is

based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions

of reviews from students and parents using data from

the U.S. Department of Education. Also, we were ranked #28 for the best teachers in the San Antonio area. I couldn’t agree more. Our teachers work tirelessly to provide the best education possible for

your children. I am very proud of them and the work we do here at Nichols everyday.

We hope you will be able to join us for our Science Gone Wild Family Night on Thursday, March 9 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Our Science Committee, under the leadership of Mrs. Tracy Shaw,

along with our teachers, has planned some very exciting events including “Digging for Dinosaurs.”

Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 29 are important days for our fourth and fifth grade students. Fourth grade students will be taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic

Readiness (STAAR) for writing and fifth grade students will be taking the State of Texas Assessments

of Academic Readiness for math and reading. Please help your child by getting him/her to bed early on Monday and Tuesday and providing him/her with a nutritious breakfast on Tuesday and Wednes-

day. Parents, please refrain from coming for or bringing lunch on those days since we must maintain

a secure testing environment. Also, no items will be delivered to classrooms on testing days.

As always, thank you for your support of our wonderful school.

Yours in education,

Mrs. Sonya D. Kirkham, Principal

Principal’s News

March 1, 2017

Nichols News Anna Mae “Mas” Nichols Elementary—Home of the Mighty Mustangs

Dr. Seuss Week February 27-March 3, 2017

Monday: Fox and Socks Day (Wear your craziest socks.)

Tuesday: Hop on Pop Day (Hop out of bed and wear your pajamas.)

Wednesday: Cat and the Hat Day (Wear your favorite hat.)

Thursday: Oh The Places You Will Go! Day (Wear a college shirt.)

Friday: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Day (Wear red and blue or your Nichols spirit shirt.)

Page 2 Nichols News

Campus News

It’s a bird…it’s a

plane…it’s a Northside Education Foundation

(NEF) Superhero 5K! Attention Northside

community, it’s time to

unite for a special operation benefiting NISD staff and students on Saturday, May 6 at SeaWorld. On this day,

NISD staff, students, hundreds of families, sponsors and vendors will come together to support NEF’s mis-

sion of generating more resources for NISD faculty and staff to provide innovative educational programs for

more than 106,000 students. Additionally, participants

will enjoy a free health & wellness fair before and after the race. The fun continues with a SeaWorld upgrade

which includes (1) one-day ticket to the park (Aquatica not included) and a private lunch for just $35 per regis-

trant. A regular one-day ticket to SeaWorld costs $68 at

the gate, which does not include a private lunch or race entry.

What: NEF Superhero 5K Run/Walk & Family Wellness Fair presented by CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System When: Saturday, May 6 Where: SeaWorld San Antonio Deadline: April 14 (early registration deadline)

Prices for the event include the following options:

$25 – Super Hero Individual

Discounted to $20 when a $35 SeaWorld lunch and

park ticket is purchased

$70 – Super Group Family & Friends (3-6 members)

$70/6 = ~$12 per person

$12 + $35 (SeaWorld lunch & park ticket) = $47

(SUPER deal - includes race entry, park ticket and private lunch!)

$25 – Super Sleepwalker (sleep in, skip race, but

still support NEF)

$35 – SeaWorld lunch and park ticket per registrant

(Aquatica not included)

In addition, children under 10 can participate in the FREE Kids Fun Run by registering on site.

Assemble your fellow superheroes and sidekicks for a fun-filled day with NISD supporters. Don’t forget to wear

your superhero gear, as prizes will be awarded to the most spirited NISD school/site. For more information

and to sign up, please visit www.nisd.net/nef/superhero-

5k and click on Apple Eddie. Contact the NISD Partner-ships Office at 397-8599 for additional information.

Nichols by the Numbers Students: 496 At-Risk: 26% Attendance: 97.23% Econ. Disadvantaged: 36.5% Limited English Proficient: 1.41% Special Education: 14.92% Stability: 80.7%

Spirit Day T-Shirts

At Nichols, we celebrate Spirit Days every Friday and wear our Nichols t-shirts to show our Mustang Pride.

School t-shirts may be purchased in the front office for $12 (cash only).

Lost and Found Our Lost and Found is begin-ning to overflow. Parents, please take a few minutes to check for your child’s missing items. Our Lost and Found is located outside the ECT Computer Lab.

Spring Parties—March 10 8:30 a.m. 5th Grade (cafeteria)

9:00 a.m. ECC/PPCD (classroom)

9:30 a.m. 2nd grade (classrooms)

9:30 a.m. 4th grade (classrooms)

12:45 p.m. 1st Grade (bus loop)

1:00 p.m. Kindergarten (outside)

1:30 p.m. 3rd grade (classrooms)

“Tank” You Notes

Happy Birthday to the following faculty/staff: 2 Jessica Curbow, 2nd Grade 13 Maria Demers, Instructional Assistant 14 LaShanda Robinson, 5th Grade 17 Nancy Perez, Instructional Assistant 17 La Tanya Staley, Instructional Assistant 18 Ruby Stein, Special Education 22 Stacey Graham, Inst. Assistant 30 Angie Karl, Child Nutrition

Faculty/Staff Birthdays

in March

*Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Jack C. Jordan Penny Drive. We raised

$635.86 for Northside seniors!

**Thank you to everyone who came out for

our Dad’s Breakfast. We had a great turnout!

Page 3 Nichols News

Campus News

Six Flags Fiesta Texas It's that time of the year...time to get your one

day pass to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, where you can experience three new family attractions this year! Tickets are being sold for $37 in the Nichols Elementary front office from now un-til Thursday, June 1. (Tickets are $71.99 at the door.) For every ticket sold, the school will re-ceive $3.00, which will go back to our Nichols’ students! Please help us raise money for the school by purchasing your tickets now! Get YOUR tickets TODAY!

Kindergarten Roundup Will Soon Be Here!

When: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 Time: 8:00-11:00 a.m. Where: Nichols Library Please bring a certified birth certificate, your child’s Social Security card, proof of residence, immunization records, and parent identification to register your child for kindergarten. You will also be able to purchase a school t-shirt, tour the building, join P.T.A., and meet the kindergarten teachers. We look forward to seeing you!

Art Camp Kinder and 1st graders, be on the lookout for an Art Camp interest form. Our theme will be Fairies and Gnomes, and we will meet on Wednesday after-noons from 3:05-4:15 beginning March 29. There are 16 slots for this free camp. If more than 16 students show an interest, a random drawing will be held to determine participants, and students whose names are drawn will be noti-fied by Mrs. Kaarlsen by Friday, March 10.

P.T.A. News

Elected PTA Board President: Rosemary Ragland 1st VP—Programs: Laura Kaarlsen 2nd VP—Membership: Open 3rd VP—Fall Fundraiser: Cathy Flores Secretary: Emmy Holt Treasurer: Angie Lucio

PTA Membership Awards Earned Thank you to all of the parents, grandparents, and community members who support Nichols PTA by paying their membership dues. As a result, our school has won the following PTA Membership awards this school year: *Head Start Award- 75% of the previous year's membership dues in by Aug 30 *Early Bird Award-90% of the previous year's membership dues in by Sep. 30 *Golden Apple Award-100% teacher partic-ipation *Fall Membership Award-Increase from the previous year *250+ Club Award-Having more than 250 paid members *President's List Silver Award-Voice for every child (more than 50% of the student body is represented by a paid member) We appreciate your continued support in help-ing Nichols’ PTA make every child’s potential a reality. It’s not too late to join PTA for this school year. You can join online at www.joinpta.org or stop by and pick up an en-velope in the front office.

All Pro Dad Our first All Pro Dad meeting was held on Friday, February 24, led by 3rd grade teacher Miguel Maldonado.

The topic was "Teachability," and dads and kids enjoyed some games, good discussion, break-fast, and just plain "team building." We hope you'll join All Pro Dads. It is open to all positive male role models and their children, and each meeting will be held on the stage from 7:15-7:35 a.m. Upcoming dates for All Pro Dads meetings are March 31, April 21, and May 26. Come huddle up with your kids!

Nominations Being Accepted You're invited to join Nichols PTA Board for the 2017-2018 school year! The following elected positions are available: President, 1st VP - Pro-grams, 2nd VP - Membership, 3rd VP - Fund-raiser, Secretary, Treasurer, and Parliamentari-an. Please email elizabeth.chau@nisd.net if you are interested. Thank you!

PTA Facebook Page Like our Nichols Elementary School PTA Face-book page to get news and updates on fund-raising, membership and upcoming events. Don't do social media? Join Nichols PTA Remind for text updates.

Please Join P.T.A. Memberships are $8.00.

Page 4 Nichols News

The Bibliophile’s File

Book Fair is Coming! Our Scholastic Book Fair is a reading event that brings the books kids want to read right into

our school. It’s a wonderful selection of en-gaging and affordable books for every reading level. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits.

Book Fair dates: March 6-10, 2017

Shopping hours:

Monday-Thursday 7:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday 7:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Science Gone Wild Book Fair Hours:

4:30-6:45 p.m. If you are unable to attend the Book Fair in person, we invite you to visit our online Book Fair at scholastic.com/fair. Our Online Fair is available from March 8 to March 28, 2017.

Genius Hour News! We are completing our school research and

will soon be moving on to presentation meth-ods. Your child will be brainstorming ideas at school, so be sure to ask about what he or she plans to do to cre-ate a fun, lively, or in-teresting demonstration for peers. Start now to enjoy the process. Presentations will begin in May!

Please join us for

on

Thursday, March 9, 2017

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Cloud in a Jar

Kindergarten (D115)

Stack the Cat’s Hat

First Grade (D106)

I Wanna Be a Rock Star

Second Grade (D120)

Volcano Eruption!

Third Grade (D122)

Trees, Please!

Third Grade MANE Timers (B112)

Observe and Explore

Fourth Grade (Cafeteria)

“Hands On” Earth

Fifth Grade (D116)

Creative & Crafty Arcade (Gym)

Page 5 Nichols News

Student Council News

“Soup”er Bowl Food Drive Student Council says , "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The “Soup”er Bowl Food Drive was a huge success, as there were enough donations to fill all six barrels. The grade level with the fullest barrel (and box) was 2nd grade! They earned extra recess for their fabulous efforts. All of the grade levels were very generous, which shows what a caring community Nich-ols is! Thank you for helping Student Council help others!

Mustang Walk of Fame Student Council is offering you the chance to add your name to the Mustang Walk of Fame! Located in the sidewalk between the crosswalk and the front parking lot, the Mustang Walk of Fame is the perfect way to commemorate your child's time at Nichols, a special teacher, a special accomplishment, or anything else! Pavers are $30 or $35 for two or three lines of message respectfully, and are cash only please. Order forms are due to Mrs. Kaarlsen by Friday, March 3.

STAAR Testing Information

*Please refrain from bringing your child lunch on STAAR testing days. Their lunch schedules are different, and they eat in the classrooms and will be monitored on those days. *When packing your child a snack for the STAAR testing days, please remember these tips. Try to have your child pick out something healthy to bring to school. Also, make sure that the snacks they will be eating do not leave a sticky or messy residue behind on their fingers. Their test booklets need to be kept clean, away from food and water. Here are some healthy snack ideas: Bananas Apple slices Grapes Carrots Granola bars/breakfast bars Chex mix Goldfish Crackers *Please refrain from scheduling doctor’s appointments during testing days.

March 28 & 29 May 8, 9 & 10 are set aside for

The campus will be closed to visitors on those days.

Counselor’s Corner

Page 6 Nichols News

Storybook Garden Nichols' newest classroom, the Storybook Garden and Outdoor Classroom, is coming along beautifully! It will continue to be a work in progress, but it is almost ready for use by classes. A wonderful arched bridge was added by Caleb Pierce, son of

Mrs. Pierce and a former Nichols student and Eagle Scout candidate. In addition, several posts are in place and will soon become a variety of stations for measurement, scientific ob-servation, and more. A HUGE THANKS goes out to the fami-lies of Alex Mata and Jessalyn, Matthew, and Jaelynn Gutierrez for their help in digging and setting the posts, along with Mrs. Bosquez, Mrs. Marquez, Mrs. Shaw, and Mrs. Simp-son. This exciting addition is located in the bus loop area, so when you're at Nichols, go visit it! There is still more work to be done, so if you'd like to be notified of opportunities to help, send an email to laura.kaarlsen@nisd.net.

Mustang Calendar

MARCH 2017

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Nichols Strong—Be All You Can Be!

1 Day 1 Dr. Seuss Week 7:15 a.m. Choir 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings 3:00-4:15 p.m. Cardboard Ar-cade

2 Day 2 College Spirit Day Texas Independence Day Spring Book Fair Preview Day 7:15 a.m. Choir 3rd Grade Reading CDB #2 2:15 p.m. Heroes for Health 3:05-4:15 p.m. Student Council Meeting 7:00 p.m. NISD PTA Council Meeting (NAC)

3 Day 0 Spirit Day 7:30 a.m. Military Pride Group 11:50 a.m. Early Release

4

5

6 Day 3

Spring Book Fair Texas Public Schools Week

National School Break-fast Week 5th Grade Field Trip

3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings 5:30 p.m. School Advisory Team Meeting

7 Day 4 Spring Book Fair 3rd Grade Math CDB #2 3:00-4:15 p.m. Solar Cars Club

8 Day 5 Spring Book Fair 7:15 a.m. Choir 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings 3:00-4:15 p.m. Cardboard Ar-cade

9 Day 6 Spring Book Fair 7:15 a.m. Choir 5:30-7:00 p.m. Science Gone Wild Family Night

10 Day 1 Spirit Day Spring Book Fair (closes at 12:00 p.m.) Spring Party Day

11

12 Daylight Saving Time starts

13 Spring Break

14 Spring Break

15 Spring Break

16 Spring Break

17 Spring Break

18

19

20 Day 2 3:00-4:00 p.m. Kindness Club 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings

21 Day 3 3:00-4:15 p.m. Solar Cars Club

22 Day 4 7:15 a.m. Choir 8:45 a.m. First Grade Field Trip 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings 3:00-4:30 p.m. Talent Showcase Auditions

23 Day 5 7:15 a.m. Choir 8:45 a.m. Kinder-garten Field Trip

24 Day 6 Spirit Day End of 3rd Nine Weeks 8:00 a.m. STAAR Pep Rally

25

26

27 Day 1 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings

28 Day 2 4th Grade STAAR Writing 5th Grade STAAR Math 3:00-4:15 p.m. Solar Cars Club

29 Day 3 5th Grade STAAR Reading 3:00-4:00 p.m. Strings 3:05-4:15 p.m. Art Camp K-1

30 Day 4 7:15 a.m. Choir

31 Day 5 7:15 a.m. All Pro Dads Reading MUS-TANGS Program Celebration Report Cards go home

Announcing the

Storybook Garden and Outdoor Classroom

Sign Contest Enter your idea for a sign that will welcome everyone to Nichols’ newest classroom! The making of the sign will be a school-wide collaborative project, but we need your help designing it.

This contest is open to ALL Nichols students. Work must be done by the student but discus-sion with family members and friends is encouraged. Entries should be original designs, and should be done neatly so ideas are clear. There should be NO words included in the design, but designs should reflect learning and the outdoors. Key features of the garden include a bridge, a mushroom, and a butterfly way station.

Entries should be on white paper, any size, and may be drawn, painted, or collaged (but should not be 3-dimensional). Be sure to include the student’s name and classroom teacher on the back in pencil.

Entries are due to Mrs. Kaarlsen by Friday, March 10, and will be judged by a panel of Nich-ols faculty members.

The final sign design may consist of one entry or a combination of several entries. The winner(s) will be recog-nized on the morning announcements and will receive a certificate.

Good luck!