New England Public Schools

The FB game tonight, Sept 4th versus Grant County starts at 6:00 PM MST. Seniors and their parents will be introduced prior to the beginning of the game.

Almost all of the devices in Grades 3-12 were deployed today. Students should be bringing them back and forth to school EVERY DAY. Please charge them at home BUT also bring the chargers back to school. Although these devices belong to the school, they will be yours to take care of indefinitely so please treat them well.

The school will open to students at 8:00 AM. Breakfast can be picked up and taken to classrooms at that time. There is NO morning recess at this time. Bus route drivers are doing their best to drop students off at school around 8:00 AM as well. Have a great day!

We have been diligently reviewing curriculum for the online platform NEPS will be utilizing for those families who have opted to keep their children at home this school year for DISTANCE LEARNING. This has been a complicated process. We hope to make the curriculum available to those students on September 8. We appreciate your continued patience, and hope to have the relevant information out to interested parties by mid-week. For those of you who opted to HOME-SCHOOL (not the same as distance learning), please be sure to have filed the necessary paperwork with the school office by September 4. Please note that the school is not responsible for your chosen curriculum if you have opted in for home-schooling for your children.

If your child is missing either proper immunization records or birth certificate, PLEASE get them turned in to Julie by THURSDAY, AUGUST 27. Students without proper documentation will NOT be allowed to attend school after September 7. Thank you for you attention to this matter.

Due to COVID-19, congregating in the vestibule area is no longer allowed. Please wait for your child in your vehicle or socially-distance outside. Kindly remain at least 6 feet from the entrance of the school to allow others to pass by in a safe manner. Thank you for your understanding. We apologize for the inconvenience. The thermal scanning station is now in place at the front door. Students will check their temperatures before entering school or going to practices. Visitors are required to do the same. At this time, we are asking parents to refrain from watching practices. Further guidance will be available at a later date.

August 15, 2020 Dear New England Public School Community, For the last six months, we have all navigated the ever-changing landscape that the coronavirus pandemic continues to create. Throughout, the health and safety of our students and staff have been our top priority. During the past couple of weeks, school districts were sent additional guidance from the ND Department of Health. After closely reviewing the details regarding the safe reopening of schools, we are still in the Green (low risk) zone for the spread of the Coronavirus disease. With this low level of Covid-19 in our communities, we are confident that our schools can open safely. However, we have some concerns starting on August 20th. As we face the start of a new school year, we have encountered several issues that we have resolved to ensure we are creating the safest possible environment we can for our students. However, we have encountered a couple of issues, beyond our control, that we are struggling to resolve. Most of our technology devices are in and will be ready to implement shortly. Unfortunately, some of our devices have been back-ordered due to the demand placed on vendors trying to meet the needs created by this pandemic. Every school in the nation needs to provide distance learning opportunities to their students creating a shortage of devices. As a result of this shortage, our district would like to make sure we have all our resources in place before we start the school year in the event, we must move into our distance learning model. The Spring of 2020 taught us many lessons about at home learning. This decision will allow us to put all our energy into creating the best pedagogical model for delivering online instruction for the start of school. With that in mind, we will be delaying the start of the school year for students until August 27th. This will give our administration, technology department, and staff members (5) days to get our technology devices ready, provide additional professional development, and help us to ensure that all students are equitably equipped with the technology they need to participate in the enhanced model of virtual instruction that we will provide. Our distance learning plan will include engaging, stimulating, and rigorous lessons in a variety of formats for increased student engagement. This delayed start will not change our 2020-2021 school calendar. All of our scheduled breaks and holidays will remain the same. The last day of school and graduation will also remain the same. The only change will be the start date of August 27th. All classes will be in-person and on campus. Our schedule will remain the same as before. All of our students will be in attendance every day. We will also be working with our local religious organizations to provide release time for those students who have signed up. This is a deeply emotional time for everyone, and we realize that this might create some unforeseen problems for families. We understand that there will be childcare and work challenges for families. However, we feel starting school one week later will ensure we have the necessary resources in place to start the school year in a position to move into our distance learning environment more effectively. I am confident that together, we will continue to successfully educate our children in the months ahead. We must protect the future by standing united as a community of parents, students, teachers, administrators and Board of Education members. This pandemic will eventually end and what will matter most, is that we move forward through this time united in protecting our community. As ever, our teachers, staff and Board of Education are committed to working on behalf of you and your families to create a bright future for all our children. We will be holding a virtual information session on August 25th to listen to your questions and concerns. Details will follow. In the interim you may submit questions to: kelly.koppinger@k12.nd.us. Sincerely, Kelly Koppinger Superintendent, New England Public School

Please be sure to send a WATER BOTTLE to school with each of your students. The drinking fountains have been disabled; however, sensors for the fillers for the water bottles remain active on the fountains. Please LABEL the water bottles with student names.

The New England Public School building project is officially underway. Please do not go onto the playground or onto any equipment. It is part of the construction area and is unstable. Thank you!

State Land Judging 2020 in Dickinson. Congratulations to our students on a job well done!

There is a cross country meeting tonight, August 3rd at 7:00 PM for anyone in grades 7-12 interested in cross country.

We will be postponing the movie night until next summer. We appreciate Consolidated's efforts in this endeavor and look forward to working with them next year. While we realize this is disappointing, we'd rather not risk an outbreak of Covid-19 right before school starts. We look forward to seeing you at registration next week!

Registration will be August 3 and August 4 from 7:30 AM until 4 PM. On August 5, registration will run from 7:30 AM until 8 PM. The K-12 all-school open house and move in day will run from 6 PM to 8 PM. Open House times for elementary may vary slightly. Please refer to the notification you received from your child’s teacher. Due to ND health guidelines, your visit must be less than 15 minutes and please stay within your family groups. The MEAL that was planned has been CANCELLED. The movie will continue to be held on the football field beginning at 8 PM. Bring your own chairs, blankets, snacks, and beverages. Remember to social distance!

Hey, Tiger Family!!! Ms. Greenwood's son, Carter, is excited to announce that he is a big brother! Briella Anne was born Sunday, July 12. She is 7 lbs. 14 oz.. and is 20" long. Congratulations, Greenwoods!

Our Tiger family welcomes two new members to our staff—Mr. Brent Bautz as the 4th grade home room teacher and Mr. Andrew Burch as the middle school and high school science teacher. We are very excited for these gentlemen to join us in the fall.

Grad parade and diplomas If the previous link didn't work for you, try this: https://www.facebook.com/NEPSTigers/videos/4197555463588755/

Graduation parade and diplomas https://m.facebook.com/watchparty/1402171416659474/ Graduation parade

Graduation Powerpoints https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVNYOks0YA0

Physical Examinations The Board of Directors approved a NFHS recommendation to allow Preparticipation Physical Examinations completed for the 2019-20 school year to be accepted during the 2020-21 school year upon submission of a parent and athlete signed waiver (previously known as Form B).

Congratulations to today's winner for Camo/Hunter Day Bradley Krebs of 6th Grade!