Telescope The

2010

Welcome…

5801 N. 33rd

Street

Lincoln, NE 68504-4665

http://lns.lps.org

North Star High School

LNS BAND CAMP 2010: July 29 – Marching Band Meeting Night 7:00PM @ Band Room July 30 – 9

th Grade Band Camp

1:00PM – 4:00PM August 2-6 – All members report 8:30AM-12:30PM & 5:00PM-9:00PM Parent help is always needed, please contact Rob Salistean (rsalist@lps.org) if you can help in the following areas: Band Camp Assistance, Uniforms, Pit Crew, or as Parent Chaperones.

in this issue >>>

Important information >>>

… for incoming 9th Graders: to the 2010- 2011 School Year!

Locker Check-Out Info

Star Tran Bus Schedule

Cell Phone Policy

Important Dates

Dress Code

Lincoln North Star High School is committed to developing academic excellence, positive relationships, and productive citizens. -LNS Mission Statement

We welcome our 9th grade students as they begin their high school career at North Star. Lincoln Public Schools, in an effort to insure a smooth transition for new high school students, has designated the first day of school, August 18th, 2010, as a required day for 9th graders only. All 9th grade students should plan to report to school on the first day by 7:30 a.m. Many activities are being planned to aid students in “charting their course” for a successful high school experience. All 10th, 11th, & 12th graders should report to school on August 19, 2010. Please give us a call at 436-1305 if you have questions!

A special WELCOME to the Lincoln North Star family. I'm excited about the New Year and look forward to our first day. Students, parents and staff do make up a family for me. Whether you say family, familia, aile, or gia đình it has a common meaning, a group of people connected together with a common purpose and belief. At North Star, we come together daily with a common purpose to learn, share and challenge each other so we may all full fill our future dreams. As a staff, we want to make sure each student is prepared to go to college, or take on a career of their choice. It is never too early to begin working on those dreams and you will hear the staff talk about going to college often. We will work as a family to support each student each and every day. Completing homework on time, daily attendance and getting C's or above all contribute to being a success at Lincoln North Star. Our test scores continue to rise as students and parents recognize the importance of daily and semester grades. The 2010-11 school year will be an exciting one. A new program called the LNS Community Learning Center will begin. This program will focus on supporting students who have been struggling with school in the past. Additional individual help, through the CLC, will assist them get back on track to graduate from high school on time. We believe this will make a big difference in many students’ lives. I look forward to renewing relationships with our sophomore, junior and senior students, and parents. Welcome to our freshman class. Rumor has it they are a wonderful group of students eager to accept the challenge of being GATORS! If you have any questions please let us know. We want the 2010-11 year to be our best yet.

Telescope The

LINCOLN NORTH STAR FINE ARTS BOOSTERS

HUSKER FOOTBALL PARKING FUNDRAISER

Help raise $$$ for the Fine Arts

by donating your time to our organization!

Contact LNSFAB@gmail.com

to volunteer.

Husker Football Parking 18th & Y Street

2 hours prior to kick-off Sept. 4/Sept. 11/Sept. 25/

Oct. 16/Oct. 30/Nov. 13/ Nov. 26

CHARTING OUR COURSE, NAVIGATING THE JOURNEY, CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Did you know? Between the issues of the TELESCOPE

important announcements and updates are posted on the North Star website at

http://lns.lps.org?

Bus Schedule

you want to share with. PLEASE NOTE: If your partner cannot be at locker check out with you, make sure you have your partner’s written permission at locker check out time. We will have stations set up for you to follow. They will be set up as follows: Station 1: Check-in. Pick up locker card and turn in census

sheet; proceed to next station

Station 2: Photo/ID pictures

Station 3: Locker payment $5.00 per student

Station 4: Locker # & combo will be issued.

Station 5: SNAP Account

If paying by check, you must have a separate check for each station. All students will need to end their day at the check-out station before leaving and turn in their card for a drawing to receive a door prize. There will be other tables set up to represent academies, clubs, committees, school parking registration, student council, yearbook, etc.

Check attendance & grades on-line >>>

ask the administrator >>> Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV) http://www.lps.org/post/detail.cfm?id=2733 Should I bring my Cell phone or

Musical Device to school?

Welcome New Gator Staff Members:

We hope you have already heard

about our exciting news at North Star. Lincoln Public Schools has implemented an online gradebook from GlobalScholar. The gradebook is called Pinnacle Gradebook. What does this mean? NORTH STAR teachers have been trained to use the web-based attendance and gradebook. It also means that you will NOT be logging in via a teacher's web link to view grade reports the way that you have done in the past. Instead, your student's teachers may have been sending progress reports to you via email.

Beginning this Fall, a full-featured parent portal into the Gradebook is scheduled to come online. The portal will provide you access to your student's assignments, attendance, and grades in all classes. Advanced features include the ability for you to set up

The Star Tran SPECIAL bus will continue to drop students off in the mornings at 6:50am and 7:50am daily. The afternoon pick up times will be 3:15pm and 4:15p http://getonboard.lincoln.ne.gov/

You must be present at locker check out. There will not be a make-up date. All students will need to share a locker. There is a $5.00 (non-refundable fee) per student. Please come with the person

Ben Davis, SPED

Marcie Dean, World Language

Alexus Hall, CLC

Bailey Heafer, Math

Evamarie McDowell-Coffin, SPED

Erin Miles, Science

Jessica Meyers, FCS

Odell Santos, Asst. Athletic Dir.

Kyle Schwaninger, Math

Matt Wrenholt, Science

Caitlin Wolfe, World Language

Cell phones and electronic musical devices (iPods, MP3 and CD players, etc.) distract from the learning process. These items must be off and out of sight during class time. Students will be allowed to use them in the halls between classes and during lunch. Students are responsible for their own phone and musical device at all times, even if it is taken from someone they have loaned it to.

If the cell phone is used to make or receive calls or texts, or the electronic musical device is used during class the following steps will be taken: First offense: Cell phone or musical device will be taken by the teacher and turned into campus security in an envelope stating: Student name, Teacher Name, Period, Date. A phone call home will be made by the teacher. The student may pick up the phone or musical device after school that day in the security office. Second offense: Cell phone or musical device will be taken by the teacher and turned into campus security. Parent must pick up item and sign in a notebook acknowledging 2

nd offense.

Third offense: Cell phone or musical device will remain in campus security office until the end of the semester. At that time it will be released to the student.

Locker check-out >>>

Locker Check-Out Days & Student ID/Pictures

SENIOR PICTURES Attention seniors! You should be taking your senior portraits now as they will need to be submitted to the yearbook by the last day of school in October. (October 22). Photos received after that date will not be published.

Q:

A:

email alerts based on attendance and student performance. If you have more than one student at NORTH STAR, you will be able to access all of them via a family access code. Individual students will have their own access code to view only their information. The emphasis with the Pinnacle System is for parents to set up their own time lines and parameters for reports being sent directly to their email accounts. This provides much greater precision in our communication since parents determine the parameters of what gets sent to them via email, and parents can check the parent portal as often as they like. It also reduces the burden on teachers to send out those reports. This is similar to the move banks have made providing patrons with online banking rather than a single monthly statement.

So please, take advantage of this wonderful feature once you have received your access code. Then you

NORTH STAR FINE ARTS BOOSTERS Marilyn Cobb, President

(mcobb@lps.org)

2010-2011 MEETING DATES: 1

st Monday of each month North Star band room

7:00 PM

2010 2011 August 2 January 3

September 13 February 7 October 4 March 7

November 1 April 4 December 6 May 2

June 6

LNS FINE ARTS BOOSTERS WEBSITE: http://isite.lps.org/josborn/music

LNS Fine Arts Boosters Presents:

“Star Your Yard”

A great way to celebrate a special occasion such as honor student, birthday, graduation or anniversary! For a $25.00 donation LNS Boosters adorn your yard with sandwich signs and lots of STARS! Help the LNS Fine Arts Boosters and let us do the decorating!

Call: (402) 477-2989 for Details and Reservations

Professional Learning Communities Continue at North Star… For the 2010–2011 school year, staff at North Star will continue meeting in Professional Learning Communities. These meetings will be on Tuesdays, with students being released early on those days for staff to meet. The focus of the staff conversations will be to improve instruction to increase student achievement. Students who have activities after school will have a supervised study hall environment in the building.

TUESDAY EARLY RELEASE SCHEDULE: 1

st Period 7:00-7:45

2nd

Period 7:57-8:39 3

rd Period

8:44-9:26

4th

Period 9:51-10:43 5

th Period 10:48-11:40

6th

Period 11:45-1:07 1

st Lunch 11:40-12:10

Class 12:15-1:07 2

nd Lunch 12:37-1:07

Class 11:45-12:37 7

th Period 1:12-2:04

8th

Period 1:12-2:04 After school activities start at 3:15 p.m. Students are allowed to remain in the Bayou for quiet study time.

The other days will run on the regular school schedule:

M-W-Th-F 1

st Period 7:00-7:52

2nd

Period 7:57-8:49 3

rd Period

8:54-9:46

4th

Period 9:51-10:43 5

th Period 10:48-11:40

6th

Period 11:45-1:07 1

st Lunch 11:40-12:10

Class 12:15-1:07 2

nd Lunch 12:37-1:07

Class 11:45-12:37 7

th Period 1:12-2:04

8th

Period 2:09-3:01

August 4th 12th Grade 8:00am-11:00am 11th Grade: 12:00pm-3:00pm August 5th 10th Grade 8:00am-11:00am 9th Grade: 12:00pm-3:00pm

Summer

Information from the Special Education Department

We hope your students are enjoying their summer. If you have questions or concerns over the summer, please contact:

Lori Devine, Special Education Coordinator lcalkins@lps.org,

436-1305 ext. 65012

Sharilyn Bullock, Asst. Special Education Coordinator sbullock@lps.org,

436-1305 ext. 65008

Bonnie Mitchell, Special Education Secretary 436-1305 ext. 65006

Your students' IEP managers will be contacting you by phone or mail at the beginning of the new school year in August. If you need to contact them, please call the North Star SPED department and ask for Bonnie at 436-1305, option 5 or email the teachers directly. Teachers' email addresses can be found on the LNS website, lns.lps.org. Have a great summer and we look forward to working with you and your students in the fall.

Attendance Is Key! Time spent in class learning is one of the most important indicators of success! Lost instructional time is often difficult to make up with the busy schedules that students keep. That is why it is extremely important that our students are present and on time. Here at North Star we continue to work with students and families to help them have as many resources as possible available to ensure that their children have a safe and consistent ride to school. However, we need everyone's help to achieve this. Please work to ensure that students understand that regular attendance and being on time are traits that are valuable long after they leave high school. Here are some important reminders about our attendance policy:

Parents and guardians are responsible for excusing their student(s) with our attendance office if they are aware of a scenario that will prevent their child from being present or on time.

Our voicemail system allows messages to be left at any time of day.

If the absence is medical, please inform the attendance office of that distinction. You may also initiate a homework request at that time.

Students with excessive truancies may be referred to the county attorney's office for action.

Student's with a high frequency of excused absences may be asked to provide a doctor's notice indicating the reason for the absences.

Students who repeatedly arrive late to class may be subject to disciplinary action for excessive tardies.

Student/Child Learning Center Picnic Come to our picnic and enroll your child for the 2010-2011 school year. When: Thursday, August 12

th, 2010

6-7:30 p.m. Where: Student/Child Learning Center Playground Please bring:

Your child’s birth certificate (if new to the center) Updated immunization record Food dish/snack to share (hot dogs, chips, drinks, and table service will be provided)

Close family members are invited to come and meet the staff and enjoy a fun-filled evening! Please RSVP by either calling North Star 436-1305 or e-mailing Nancy Falter – nfalter@lps.org.

ATHLETICS

Participating in a sport? Students who plan on participating in a sport during the 2010-2011 school year will need to complete an athletic packet and have it returned to the Athletic Office prior to the first day of practice. If you need an athletic packet, you can stop by the Athletic Office to pick one up or they are available online at http://lns.lps.org/athletics/index.html. Click on LNS Athletic Packet 10-11.

Adult sport passes can be purchase at Gatorfest on August 19th or in the Athletic Office beginning August 23rd. If you student qualifies for free/reduced lunch, an adult pass can also be purchased at a reduced price. Call the Athletic Office at 431-1305 extension 4 with any questions.

Summer conditioning began June 7th and will run Monday through Friday until July 23rd. Weight room hours are Monday through Thursday 9:00am-10:00am and 4:00pm to 5:00pm. The weight room is only open from 9:00am to 10:00am on Friday. REMINDER ABOUT DRESS CODE: Students are expected to dress in a manner that is appropriate for the school setting. Inappropriate items include but are not limited to: clothes that promote illegal activities such as alcohol or drugs, clothes that show an inappropriate amount of bare skin such as midriffs and spaghetti straps, gang-related clothing or jewelry, clothing or jewelry that could be used as a weapon, clothing with sexual references, pants that are worn in a sagging manner. In addition, hats, coats, bandanas and scarves are not to be worn during the school day.

Counselor Assignments Grade 9 Becky Tegeler A-Mc Susan Seacrest Me-Z

Grades 10-12 Rick Boyle A-Go Ginny Schnabel Gr-Mc Lionel Suarez Me- R Virginia Saporta R-Z

Schedule changes

Students will be receiving a tentative copy of their schedules in the mail in late July. Instructions for schedule changes will be printed on the schedule. Changes will be made on

a first-come, first-serve basis according to the following schedule:

All grades August 4

th 8:00am to 11:00am & 12:00pm to 3:00pm

August 5th

8:00am to 11:00am & 12:00pm to 3:00pm

Schedule changes will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis. *BE PREPARED FOR LONG WAITS.*

Only teacher-initiated or counselor -initiated schedule changes

will be made once school starts.

Students who are new to North Star may contact Jodi Vanek, Registrar, at

Help “kick off” our 2010-2011 school year by attending

Gatorfest on Thursday, August 19th

beginning at 5:45pm. Come watch your athlete’s practice, the

Dazzlers and Cheer Squad perform and listen to the LNS

Band.

Congratulations to SkillsUSA

National Bronze Medalist Jackie Michals!

Jackie won the bronze

medal in the Job Interview Competition at the

2010 National SkillsUSA Championships held at H. Roe Bartle Hall

and Kemper Arena in Kansas City on June 20th

through the 25th.The North Star SkillsUSA Coach

and Team Sponsor is Charmain Satree.

Fill Out a New Free and Reduced Meal Application Starting July 19 Each new school year a free and reduced meal application must be completed. Failure to do so will cause your children to lose meal benefits. Please read your letter of “Notification of Receiving Free and Reduced Meal Benefits” carefully. Children not listed on the letter will not receive meal benefits. You will need to complete a free and reduced application for any child who does not appear on the letter as well as for your other children. Until the free and reduced application is approved you will need to send money or a sack lunch for those children not approved for free or reduced meal benefits. The “Notification of Receiving Free and Reduced Meal Benefits” letter must be saved to verify your free or reduced status with other programs. We do not mail a second copy.

Complete Free and Reduced Meal Application On-Line Starting in August the free and reduced meal application may be completed on-line at lps.org. Fill-in your information as prompted and submit. A notification letter will be mailed to you.

Pay for School Meals on the Web Pay for school meals on-line. Go to lps.org and look on the left side for “Buy Student Meals” and follow the directions. There is a small fee (20 cents for check debit, $1.95 for credit card) for using this service. You may also use this site to monitor your child’s lunch and breakfast account. Unless your child is on free meals, you will need to deposit money into his/her account. A suggestion for the amount of prepayment would be $47 for high school students. This would provide lunch meals for four weeks. More money would be needed to purchase breakfast meals, snacks, extra milk and seconds. Money for your child’s meals can be deposited on-line, at open house, before school or during meal services. Any amount of money may be deposited. As long as your child does not owe money, cash may always be used to pay for school food. Money in an account will be transferred from one school to another if a student changes schools within the Lincoln Public Schools. When money is owed on an account (negative balance) the deposit (pre-payment) always pays off the money owed first and deposits into the account the difference. Students are only allowed to buy snack items, milk or seconds if their account does not have a negative balance.

2010 – 2011 North Star High School

Important Dates (subject to change)

August Locker Check-Out (Grades 11-12) ..................................................... 4

th

Locker Check-Out (Grades 9-10) ....................................................... 5th

Fall Sports Practices begin ................................................................ 9

th

LPS Safe Walk to School .................................................................. 16th

First Day (9

th Grade Only) ............................................................ 18

th *

Gatorfest ...................................................................................... 19th

* First Day of School (Grades 10-12) ............................................. 19

th *

*school will dismiss 1 hour early

September No School (Labor Day) ...................................................................... 6

th

ACT ............................................................................................... 11th

* Fall Honor Convocation .................................................................. 14

th

School Picture Re-take (tentative) .................................................. 24th

GDE Writing Testing (Narrative) ..................................................... 29

th

GDE Writing Testing (Mult. Choice) ................................................ 30th

*Watch the LNS website for ACT class registration information

October School Picture Re-take ..................................................................... 4

th

GDE Writing Testing (Expository) ..................................................... 6th

GDE Reading Testing ......................................................................... 7

th

SAT .................................................................................................... 9th

Conferences ..........................................................................11

th & 12

th

GDE Reading & Writing Testing (Make-up) .................................... 13th

PSAT ................................................................................................ 16

th

Last Day to submit Senior Pictures ................................................. 22nd

ACT .................................................................................................. 23

rd

No School (Fall Break) .............................................................. 25th

-29th

November SAT .................................................................................................... 6

th

No School (Thanksgiving) ......................................................... 25th

-26th

December SAT .................................................................................................... 4

th

ACT .................................................................................................. 11th

No School (Winter Break) ...................................................... 23

rd – 31

st

January No School (Winter Break) ......................................................... 1

st – 2

nd

No School (Semester Break) ....................................................14th

-17th

SAT ..................................................................................................22

nd

NeSA Writing Testing .............................................................. 24th

-28th

NeSA Writing Testing (Make up) ..................................................... 31

st

February NeSA Writing Testing (Make up) ................................................ 1

st – 9

th

ACT .................................................................................................. 12th

GDE Writing Testing (Mult. Choice) ................................................ 16

th

GDE Writing Testing (Narrative) ..................................................... 23rd

GDE Writing Testing (Expository) .................................................... 24

th

March GDE Reading Testing (Make-up) .......................................................2

nd

Conferences ............................................................................. 7th

& 8th

GDE Reading & Writing Testing (Make-up) ....................................... 9

th

SAT .................................................................................................. 12th

Spring Honor Convocation .............................................................. 15

th

No School (Spring Break) ........................................................ 21st

-25th NeSA Reading, Math, & Science ................................ 28

th-thru May 6

th

April Prom..................................................................................................2

nd

ACT .................................................................................................... 9th

No School (Good Friday) .................................................................22

nd

May SAT .................................................................................................... 7

th

Navi Awards .................................................................................... 20th

Senior BBQ ...................................................................................... 20

th

Last Day of School ........................................................................... 27th

North Star Graduation 3PM @ Pershing Auditorium ..................... 28

th

Graduation Announcements /Caps & Gowns Rental: (Balfour) http://www.lincolngraduation.com

(402) 826-1950

Keep in touch! For your convenience, there are a number of ways to contact us. We welcome your questions, comments, input and suggestions. Give us a call at 436 -1305 or stop by our offices. Our website address is: http://lns.lps.org We respond promptly to eMail as well:

Dr. Nancy Becker, Principal nbecker@lps.org Tom Focht, Associate Principal tfocht@lps.org Gus Jacobson, Associate Principal ejacobs@lps.org Vann Price, Associate Principal vprice@lps.org Lori Devine, Special Education Coordinator lcalkins@lps.org Sharilyn Bullock, Asst. Special Education Coordinator sbullock@lps.org Karla Tinius, Coordinator ktinius@lps.org Mike Gillotti, Coordinator mgillot@lps.org Craig Jacobson, Athletic Director cjacobs@lps.org Odell Santos, Asst. Athletic Director osantos@lps.org