New Market Elementary School faculty and staff expect that families and community members are an integral part of our school.  Classes are periodically offered for parents as well as for faculty and staff in the Love & Logic curriculum, which is used throughout the school year.  Teachers and staff have received Capturing Kids Hearts training to better support building positive relationships within our building and provide a structure for supporting student behavior in a more meaningful way. School Volunteer Training will be offered throughout the school year in person and in virtual format as needed to accommodate parent schedules.   

Response to Intervention is offered daily through Star Time to each child based upon the child’s academic and behavioral needs.   Instruction is provided and individual progress is monitored.   Meetings are held with parents when student progress is not what it should be and students need more intensive assistance.   Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher any time by notes, e-mail, or by calling the school during the teacher’s planning period. Teachers use student planners, class notebooks, daily calendars, Class Dojo App, and the Remind App to inform parents of students’ daily behavior and grades.  We celebrate student success with parents and the community. The Pre-K teacher sends home monthly take home material for parents.

Families in need may sign up for the Second Harvest Food for Kids Program.  Students are given enough food from the five basic food groups to take home on Fridays to ensure they have something to eat over the weekend.  New Market United Methodist Church, located adjacent to the school, has offered room for storage of the food and members assist with the delivery to the site and bag the products for school distribution. 

Parents are given many opportunities to participate in the decision-making process of New Market Elementary School.  We believe their input is important to the process of creating class rosters.  Parents are asked to serve on the Community Engagement Committee, the School Improvement Plan Committee and the School Health Index Committee.  Parents are invited to attend various music programs throughout the school year, STREAM Night, a Veteran’s Day Program, Pre-K and Fifth Grade Graduations, as well as the school’s Honors Day, etc.  Parents are asked to participate in the school’s Book Character Day near Halloween to read to classes. A Veterans’ Day Program allows students to invite military family and friends where they are recognized and honored in a special program. Our School hosts an annual Fall Festival/Literacy & Math Night and provides volunteers for the library’s annual Book Fair.  Fifth Grade sponsors opportunities where parents and community members are invited to participate in raising money for a fifth-grade overnight field trip.   Parents are also encouraged to attend special events through the school year such as Field Day, Fun Day, County-Wide Elementary Field Day, the school and County-Wide Spelling Bees, Scholars’ Bowl Tournament, as well as Chorus and Band performances and many grade-level field trips.  The annual County-Wide Spelling Bee is hosted at New Market Elementary.

Visitors are only allowed to enter our school after we have verified who they are and why they are here.  The visitor must be “buzzed” into the school building because all building doors are locked. During afternoon car rider dismissal, the person picking up the child must have a specialized car tag with their name on it. If a child must be dismissed through the office, a driver’s license must be shown and that person must be listed on the child's emergency card as having access to the child. We have radios assigned to each school employee for communication purposes in case of an emergency.  We have a School Resource Officer provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department assigned to our school that patrols the area to make sure our school is secure. Our school safety team meets regularly to update our notebook of plans that we are to follow. We have security cameras and lights that surround our building so that we can monitor activity. All outside and classroom doors are locked throughout the school day.  School safety is very important to us at New Market Elementary School.

Student progress is easily accessible to parents through the ASPEN school information system as well as through the Remind App and the Class Dojo App where students are rewarded for good behavior by earning points.  The RTI2B program is fully implemented at NMES and positive behavior supports are in place. 

Student attendance is critical to achievement.  Parents are encouraged to have students arrive on time each day and that they remain at school for the duration of the school day.  Students are encouraged to be present and are rewarded for perfect attendance in each grading period. The school also incorporates a weekly attendance competition between classes to reward the class with the best attendance from the prior week. We support parents and students who are struggling with attendance by creating and implementing individualized attendance intervention plans. 

Parents are asked to participate, communicate, and work closely with their child each day to boost their learning and be involved in their education.  The principal and faculty are readily accessible to the parents and truly care about each student and their achievement.