How Can NCNA Help Our Local Schools?
What can NCNA do to support our local schools & neighbors?
As an individual it can be daunting to figure out how to make an impact on something as large as a school district that supports 45,000 students. But as a neighborhood association, we can operate as a larger community with a stronger voice.
NCNA can become a reliable, proactive resource for information. Rumors and misinformation spread quickly, but we see the potential for NCNA to have a role in reducing confusion by doing the following:
Providing neighbors with timely resources to easily contact School Board and County elected officials to advocate for our schools.
Notifying neighbors when we can/should we be physically present at relevant School Board/County Commission/City Council meetings. This can relate to the ongoing Facilities Plan, but also things like providing a voice to support educational/student values (support school libraries, advocating for students and staff, etc.)
Neighbors can tangibly support the school.
Use your time or talents to support the school! Just a few examples:
Who has cool tools that the STEM teachers could use in class?
Who has a business that might make a good Learning Expedition (field trip) destination?
Who may be interested in mentoring students? Tutoring students? Employing students? Help with minor projects at the school? Etc.
Help teachers with their Classroom Amazon Wishlists.
NPMM teachers’ Lower & Upper School Wishlists
Fill up the Care Closets - The Normal Park Care Closet provides gently used and new clothing, backpacks, school supplies, shoes/socks, and hygiene items, to students that experience an emergency while at school. (Use the links on the left hand navigation to see what each school needs)
NCNA can be a cheerleader for our local schools. Our schools do amazing things and we should be jumping for joy for that success - whether it’s test scores, recognition for special teacher achievements or (most importantly) everyday successes for our students.
Help us with Historic Preservation Grant research. Normal Park’s Upper and Lower school buildings are both about 100 years old! They are beautiful landmarks in the neighborhood, but they also suffer from decades of deferred maintenance. Neighbors have begun looking into ways to tap into Historic Preservation grants and government funding options for these old buildings so that they remain great places for our kids to learn every day.
Join us for our next Education Committee Meeting on Sunday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the Amy’s home. Address details will be sent via email.
