Ithaca North Elementary

TUESDAY PREVIEW: Favorite Superhero Graphic Tee & Comic Brights! Day 2 is all about showing off your favorite characters and bold power colors! What to wear: Your favorite superhero t-shirt OR bright comic book colors (red, blue, yellow, green, or purple). Don't have a superhero shirt? Any top featuring an empowering word like "Kind," "Strong," or "Brave" totally counts as a hero shirt!

Third grade is representing green today!!!! Way to show school pride on our first spirit day of Homecoming week!

Congratulations to 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Caldwell for receiving QBX and Michigan One Community Credit Union Teacher of the Week!

Miss Sopocy’s 5th graders got their hands messy this week with a fun science experiment! Working in pairs, students used gummy worms, baking soda, and vinegar to explore chemical reactions and model how decomposers break down matter. It was awesome watching our 5th graders practice real teamwork and critical thinking as they worked together to make their worms help "decompose" and discuss how the science works. Hands-on learning at its best!

MONDAY PREVIEW: Superhero Color Squad!
Tomorrow kicks off Homecoming Spirit Week! Let’s fill the hallways with color.

What to wear: Dress in your assigned grade-level color!

3rd Grade: GREEN

4th Grade: ORANGE

5th Grade: PURPLE

6th Grade: RED

Any basic t-shirt, sweatshirt, or socks in your grade’s color works perfectly. Zero fuss required!

HOMECOMING SPIRIT WEEK IS NEXT WEEK!
Get ready to show off your superpowers and school pride! Next week is Homecoming Dress-Up Week, and we are keeping it simple, fun, and 100% budget-friendly.

No need to buy fancy costumes! Everything your child needs can be found right in their drawers, closets, or around the house. Check out the lineup below and dive into the spirit:

THE DAILY LINEUP

Monday: Superhero Color Squad

The Look: Dress in your grade level’s assigned superhero color!

Around-the-house tip: Any basic t-shirt, sweater, or socks in your grade color works perfectly.

Tuesday: Hero Graphic Tee & Comic Brights

The Look: Wear your favorite superhero shirt OR wear bright comic book colors (red, blue, yellow, purple, or green)!

Around-the-house tip: Have a shirt with a positive word like "Kind" or "Brave"? That counts as a superpower shirt too!

Wednesday: Everyday Real-Life Heroes

The Look: Dress like a real-world community hero—doctors, nurses, firefighters, teachers, military members, or postal workers.

Around-the-house tip: Scrubs, a high-vis vest, a sports jersey, or a simple paper badge taped to a shirt instantly does the trick.

Thursday: Superhero Accessories & Sock Day

The Look: Rock your favorite superhero socks, hats, wristbands, or capes!

Around-the-house tip: Tuck a small towel or pillowcase into a shirt collar for an instant DIY cape, or wear fun, mismatched colorful socks!

Friday: Homecoming Hero Spirit Day!

The Look: Show your ultimate school pride! Wear your BLUE & GOLD school colors or spirit shirts to cheer the YELLOWJACKETS on for Homecoming!

Quick Friendly Rules for a Safe Week:

No weapons or play props (keep swords, shields, and blasters at home).

No full-face masks or scary face paint (we need to see those smiling faces!).

Let’s make this the highest-participation Homecoming week ever!

A big thank you to our school safety officer, Officer Greene, for coming in to speak with all of our 5th graders! He walked students through different situations to help prepare them and answered their questions. Officer Greene reminded every one of the importance of safety drills and staying calm so that every student feels confident knowing what to do. We truly appreciate his work in keeping our school community safe, prepared, and informed!

Sixth grade Student Council members are building positive relationships and strengthening our school community by creating posters for Homecoming Week. Working collaboratively, students designed colorful reminders of each day’s theme to help schoolmates join in the fun and show school spirit. This project gives students an opportunity to contribute to North Elementary creating a welcoming sense of community throughout the school.

Remember to make reading at home part of your back to school routine! Enjoy a good book with your family!

Fourth graders expanded on their science unit about animal sense structures by creating animal ears in STEAM lab!

Celebrating Our September Students of the Month! We are so proud to recognize our incredible September Students of the Month! Each homeroom selected a standout student who showed up, worked hard, and truly exemplified our core positivity traits throughout the month: Curiosity – Asking big questions and seeking new knowledge Teamwork – Working together and lifting others up Open-mindedness – Listening to new ideas and appreciating different points of view Perspective – Seeing the bigger picture and offering thoughtful insights What an honor it is to watch these students lead by example and make our school community a brighter place every day. We love celebrating our students when they shine!

Third graders learned that plants inherit the instinct to turn their leaves toward light this week in STEAM lab. They were then challenged to create moving models that demonstrated that instinct using legos and sensor-based cubelets robots. Working designs had a plant moving on its own toward a sun!

Third graders are reading The BFG and enjoying every chapter. Today they had a chance to show their creativity to make posters.

From elementary leadership to state-level service, our former students continue to accomplish incredible things!
Meet our featured alum from the Class of 2011:

Current Title: Senior Executive Management Assistant, Michigan State Police – Emergency Management Division

Higher Education: Central Michigan University (B.A. in Advertising and Communications)

Favorite North Elementary Memory: "I loved my time in student council, it helped shape me into the leader that I am today!"

It is inspiring to see how early experiences in student government at North Elementary helped build the foundation for an impactful career in public service and executive management.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is picture day! You can order online or send money in the picture form envelope to school tomorrow! We can't wait to see all those smiles!

Get ready to cheer on our Yellowjackets to victory! Grab a pom pom to shake during the school parade and bring it along to the game on Friday night. The Ithaca North Elementary Student Council is selling pom poms! Not only will your student show off their school spirit, but every pom pom purchased helps our community! All profits raised will be donated directly to our school's upcoming CMU Hoops for Hunger campaign. POM POM SALE DETAILS Price: $2.00 each Order Deadline: Friday, October 2nd Delivery: Friday, October 9th (Homecoming Morning) Easy Delivery: Pom poms will be delivered directly to your child's classroom on the morning of Homecoming! How to Order: Order forms/flyers were sent home in Friday folders. If you need an extra copy or have questions, please send an email to jfogle@ithacaschools.net Let's line the parade and fill the stands with yellow pom poms, and make a huge difference for Hoops for Hunger!

This month in Music, 3rd grade learned the song "Here Comes the Bluebird" which we used to review concepts we learned in 2nd grade such as rhythm reading and rests. We then learned a dance that went along with the song, which has students stand in a circle and weave between each other. It was a great time!

Recess is always fun, but it was even more exciting for these 4th graders when they found a grasshopper! They had fun observing it before letting it go!

Third graders expanded their inherited traits science unit by playing Smart Farmer in STEAM lab. This logic puzzle game requires players to provide different animal species their own space in the farmyard. It was exciting to see students collaborating to successfully complete levels!