We Are All in This Together. Please Continue to Practice Social Distancing.
Stay Home, Stay Safe and
STAY WARRIOR STRONG!
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World Class Schools for Our Students
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NCSD COVID-19 Communication Update for Families
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Dear Warrior Families,
We are navigating through some very unique and challenging times these days. Over the past several weeks, the reality of COVID-19 community spread has become an obstacle that has ultimately restricted some of our most cherished daily activities and paused us to look at the remainder of the school year in a different light. We know this is an unprecedented time in our country and the world. Together we will get through this challenge. We understand that at times, there is still a great amount of uncertainty and concern among our families, staff, and community. The Norwalk CSD is working hard on plans to prepare for an online learning platform that would allow us to continue the school year if Governor Reynolds decides or recommends to close school for the remainder of the year to prevent further community spread in the state of Iowa. This would be a very confronting statement for our District but a very valid decision in helping to keep our students, families and staff safe.
To help address this concern, the District hosted its first virtual town hall meeting for the community on Sunday, March 29. If you missed this meeting, you can view the video with closed captioning and the presentation
here
. T
he
Norwalk CSD has also created a comprehensive
updates and resource page
in response to COVID-19 to help supply information to our community. This page will be updated as information becomes available.
School Closure
The Norwalk CSD at this time is still closed for four weeks with an expected return date of Monday, April 13, 2020. Governor Reynolds signed legislation waiving the instructional time requirement for school days missed during the next four weeks (through Friday, April 10). This means students will not need to make up any of the days missed between now and April 10, pending board approval. She also requested the authority to extend the waiver, if additional days off are needed.
- All District Preschools will be closed including Cadence Academy.
- All athletic practices and competitions are canceled or postponed.
- All performing arts practices and events are canceled or postponed.
- Programs housed at any Norwalk Schools are canceled or postponed.
- The rental or use of Norwalk CSD space by outside organizations will not be allowed during the closure
Food Service
Additional Resources for Families
We don’t have all the answers yet and we appreciate your patience as we wait to receive more information and recommendations provided by the Governor’s office, the Iowa Department of Education, state and local health officials, and the federal government to make adjustments. We will work to keep everyone well informed and continue to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and community as information becomes available to us.
Yours in service,
D.T. Magee,
Superintendent of Schools
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Emergency Meal Service for Children
by DeeAnna Serres, NCSD Nutrition Director
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Emergency Meal Service for Children under 18 years of Age
The Next Weekly Meal Pick Up Day Will Be Monday, April 6
Meals can be picked up once a week at either Lakewood Elementary or Norwalk City Park from 11:30-12:30 While Supplies Last.
Families can pick up meals from either Lakewood parking lot (look for the school bus) or at Norwalk City Park (look for the white Nutrition truck). No identification or registration is required. A bag containing lunches and breakfast meals for 5 days (if possible) will be provided for each child in the vehicle/walking group. Children MUST be present in order for meals to be provided. You may not get meals from both sites in Norwalk due to USDA regulations.
There may be situations in which a child may not be present in the car due to safety concerns. This may include situations where students or family members are: not feeling well, have flu-like symptoms, or symptoms of COVID-19, or have compromised immune systems. In these situations, we ask that the individual picking up the pre-packaged breakfast and lunch identify this while picking up the meals.
(This is a new process for the Nutrition Department so please know the first distribution may be extended to another day of the week so that we can meet demand. Our mission is to be a resource to those children in need.) If you miss the opportunity in Norwalk, please know there are other opportunities at schools across the Metro Area who can provide assistance even if you live outside of that school district. West Des Moines is a good example of another participating district. You may check their website for service times and locations.
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Thank you to our NCSD Nutrition Team! Norwalk Schools served 200 students this past Monday at our meal pickup service which means a total of 1,000 breakfast and 1,000 lunches were given
out for the week!
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The District has provided and will continue to update educational resources as an option for PreK-12th students via our website on the
District Academic Resources
page. Many of the resources are focused on PreK-5th students, though there are a number of links that address secondary students and content.
Another source of optional resources for 6th-12th grade students is through Google Apps, and includes Classroom, Hangouts, Gmail and other tools available to us through the Google Suite for Educators. Through our extended closure, students are able to access a range of materials already made available to them through those platforms. Teachers may also be adding additional optional materials to help support all students to review, to continue learning, and to stay connected and productive.
Iowa Department of Education Pages:
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Technology Needs Survey (K-5 Grades Only)
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K-5 Families:
To gain accurate insight on the technology needs of our students, the District is releasing a second technology survey asking for more information specifically from our K-5 families.
The survey link below is to indicate that your K-5 student(s) has NO ACCESS to a Chromebook, computer or other device at home.
Reminder that all students 6-12 have a Chromebook for home use, we are trying to find families that have no older students at home that might need a device for home use during this time.
Please fill this out one time for each K-5 student in your household if they would need a Chromebook for home use. If you have multiple students, but only need one device at home to provide access, just fill it out for one student.
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Chromebook Support for Parents
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Chromebook Troubleshooting for Parents
The below link is being sent out to help support parents with any Chromebook issues they may be experiencing at home. The following link contains helpful troubleshooting steps for common Chromebook problems. If these steps do not help solve the issue, please submit a help ticket using the form linked at the bottom of this document:
– Norwalk CSD IT Department
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Norwalk Local Community Support
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The City of Norwalk has launched a new
website
to connect residents with local resources to help combat the COVID-19 virus. On Norwalk Local, you can find local resources such as takeout and delivery restaurants, online worship, grocery hours, food pantry information, pharmacy options, doctors, workouts from local gyms, creative ideas for kids and much more.
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Employee & Family Resources’ Student
Assistance Program
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Employee & Family Resources’ (EFR) Student Assistance Program (SAP) remains open and accessible to students and families through these unprecedented times.
Phone support is available 24/7/365 at
515-244-6090
. Assessment, referral and brief counseling sessions are also still available, but will be available by Zoom or telephone only as of March 18, 2020.
The uncertainty of COVID-19 pandemic can increase feelings of anxiety and stress, which is a normal response under such circumstances. Please don’t forget to look to EFR to help you navigate these feelings in the coming days and weeks. EFR is prepared to continue serving our clients. Do not hesitate to reach out.
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Norwalk Teachers, Staff and Students Sharing Messages of Encouragement and Joy
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During these challenging times of self-isolation, Norwalk teachers, staff and students are finding creative ways to connect and support each other virtually. We'd like to share some of the fun things happening online!
- Elementary and Middle School Spirit Week Activities
- Social Media Push-Up Challenges
- Toilet Paper Roll Challenge
- Eastview - Eye of the Tiger Video
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Norwalk teachers and staff from Oviatt, Orchard Hills, and Lakewood Elementary paraded around the community today bringing cheer and smiles to all of their students to show how much they missed them while schools are still closed. Students lined the parade route in their yards at a safe distance holding signs with special messages for their teachers!
Thank you to the Norwalk teachers and specifically Jackie Niemeyer, Lexie Wright, Stacey Egli and Julie Brincks for planning the parade today! The students loved seeing you!
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Norwalk Warriors Win 3A State
Boys
Basketball Championship!
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Congratulations to the Norwalk boys basketball team on winning the 3A State Championship title!
The Norwalk Warriors for a third consecutive year qualified for the Class 3A boys state basketball tournament and for the second year in a row were the #1 seed in the 3A field. Warriors defeated #8 seed Harlan in the first round and took down the #5 seed Ballard in game two 79-61. For the 3A title, the Warriors faced off against the #6 seed Sergeant Bluff-Luton winning 70-68.
Another excellent year of basketball for these players and coaches! Way to go Norwalk Warriors and Head Coach Chris Larson for winning their first state championship!
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NHS Dance Marathon Raises Over $25,000!
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NHS Dance Marathon has officially raised over $25,000 for the University of Iowa Children's Hospital! Funds will be used to help support families whose children are battling cancer.
Passion and drive are just some of the amazing qualities that these kids possess. It takes great a group of students with huge compassion to achieve a goal like this! Congrats Dance Marathon on this outstanding accomplishment!
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NCSD Career Opportunities
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Upcoming Events & Activities
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