Hello Rainbow Families! On Thursday April 16, Rainbow will be taking a field trip to Bennett College. This field trip will be an opportunity for our students to learn about a historic part of Greensboro and see some of what life at college can be like. It will also connect with a lot of the things we have been talking about in class and lead into our upcoming Town unit. We will get to tour the campus, engage in some interactive learning activities they are planning for us, and connect with their community. Arrival and dismissal times will be the same and students will need a packed lunch and water bottle. We do not need chaperones, but if you would like to join us, please reach out to your student’s contact teacher.

In peace,

Samantha and Mandy

Dear Parents and Guardians of Current Students in Kindergarten, Grade 2, and Grade 4,

We are excited to share details with you about a very important event that is coming up on Thursday, February 19. This is an informational event for parents / guardians preparing for 2026 - 2027 grade level transitions for their students. Teachers at each level will have lots to share with you and will give you an opportunity to ask questions about the upcoming grade.

Each of these three meetings will take place on the same night on the GC Campus. The schedule is as follows:

• Rising 1st at 6 p.m. Location: Rainbow classroom (Parker Young Building). This meeting will provide parents/guardians of current Kindergarten students an opportunity to learn more about Rainbow (grades 1-2).
• Rising 3rd at 6:30 p.m. Location: Horizon classroom (upstairs of Newlin-Stewart Building). This meeting will provide parents/guardians of current 2nd graders an opportunity to learn more about Horizon (grades 3-4).
• Rising 5th at 7 p.m. Location: Galaxy classroom (upstairs of Newlin-Stewart Building. This meeting will provide parents/guardians of current 4th graders an opportunity to learn more about Galaxy (grades 5-6).

Childcare is provided for K, 2nd, and 4th graders and their siblings during this meeting at no charge. Advance sign-up is required to ensure appropriate staffing. Please sign up by sending an email to extendedcare@ngfs.org by Tuesday, February 17.

We look forward to an exciting evening as you begin to prepare for your child’s next year at NGFS!

Thank you,

Genny

Hello First Grade Families!

The following is a list of spelling words containing concepts we are learning during our literacy time. This week’s spelling list includes words containing concepts studied in unit 3 including a review of the vowel team oo. When two o’s are together, oo can say /oo/ or /oo/

examples: took and tooth

Here is a video that explains the oo says /oo/ sound.

This video explains the /oo/ pronunciation of oo.

Also included on this spelling list are words containing a new concept:  ou says /ow/ as in loud.

Here is a new video that explains ou says /ow/.

First grade friends will spell the words below independently during our school day, but I wanted to send the list home as well for optional at-home practice.  

If you would like to, please take a few minutes each night to practice several words together. Helpful activities for your student to do include: dictating the words to your student for them to spell on a dry erase board or with paper and pencil, encouraging your student to say the word aloud before spelling it, helping your student to break the word into individual sounds to spell it, as well as discussing the meaning of each word.

The following chart provides the spelling rule clues you can reinforce with your student through this practice.

Spelling Word

If your student needs support to spell the word you might say:

room

Say the word: room

Say the sounds in the word: /r/ /oo/ /m/

Spell the sounds: r-oo-m

oo spells /oo/ or /oo/

booth

Say the word: booth

Say the sounds in the word: /b/ /oo/ /th/

Spell the sounds: b-oo-th

oo spells /oo/ or /oo/

stood

Say the word: look

Say the sounds in the word: /l/ /oo/ /k/

Spell the sounds: l-oo-k

oo spells /oo/ or /oo/

brook

Say the word: brook

Say the sounds in the word: /b/ /r/ /oo/ /k/

Spell the sounds: b-r-oo-k

oo spells /oo/ or /oo/

proud

Say the word: proud

Say the sounds in the word: /p/ /r/ /ow/ /d/

Spell the sounds: p-r-ou-d

ou says /ow/ in the middle

shout

Say the word: shout

Say the sounds in the word: /sh/  /ow/ /t/

Spell the sounds: sh-ou-t

ou says /ow/ in the middle

south

Say the word: south

Say the sounds in the word: /s/  /ow/ /th/

Spell the sounds: s-ou-th

ou says /ow/ in the middle

Tricky word: 

down

Tricky words have letters that don’t make expected sounds in words.

First graders have not yet learned that ow can say /ow/ in the middle of a word. For now, this part of the word must be memorized by heart.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns!
In peace,

Samantha Hudson

Click HERE to read the email.

Hello Rainbow Families!

Our next field trip will be on November 13! We will be visiting the Lam Museum at Wake Forest to tie in with our Knowledge and Choice Time units. For this field trip, please make sure your student brings a lunch. Hot lunch will be cancelled. Arrival and dismissal times will be the same. We do not need parent chaperones for this field trip either, but if you want to join us, please reach out to your contact teacher to discuss.

Let us know if you have any questions!

Mandy & Samantha

Hello 2nd Grade Parents,

We are excited to share that we are opening our fall drama club to 2nd grade students who have a strong interest in participating in a drama production. The fall drama club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the gym after school, 3:15-4:45. The next meeting will be this Thursday, October 16. A snack is provided each meeting. This group will now be for any interested students in grades 2 - 6.

As you know, we will have a club specifically for our younger students in K-2 in the spring, but if your 2nd grader absolutely loves drama and is ready to join a group of slightly older friends, please know there are some small roles and chorus spots available for the fall production. The drama club is led by Michaeline Parrish (Upper School drama teacher) and Samantha Hudson (Rainbow teacher).

Sign-up for the club is done through CampSite, which is used by Auxiliary Programming to manage Extended Care, Summer Camps, and club offerings. Access the CampSite login page here. The fee for Session One of the drama club is $200, which will be assessed in CampSite after the club roster is confirmed.

If you have any questions, please let one of us know and we will be more than happy to help.

Michaeline (mparrish@ngfs.org), Samantha (shudson@ngfs.org)

All the best,

Genny

Good afternoon,

Here are some quick details and reminders for the field trip Friday 10/17:

-We are going to Gateway Gardens and will be outside most of the day. Arrival and dismissal time will be the same.

-Lunch will be provided, but students should still bring their morning snack and water bottle.

-Hot lunches for that day have been cancelled.

-Our medieval feast will be cheese, meat, and fruit with assorted crackers along with "spiced mead" (apple cider). If you have a picky eater and you know they will not want to eat some or any of that, feel free to send a lunch that day for them to bring along instead.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your contact teacher. Thank you!

Hello Rainbow Families! As you may have read in the class newsletter, we have scheduled our first field trip for the year. We will be celebrating the end of our Castles unit with a trip to Gateway Gardens. Students will get to enjoy a medieval picnic, act out fairy tales on a stage, and explore the gardens. We do not need chaperones since it will be in a small area, but if you would like to join us, you are welcome to; please let us know if you will. Our trip is on Friday, Oct. 17 from about 10:00-1:30.

Also, we have a new sign up for the next two weeks of Choice Time. If you would like to join us, please sign up here:

https://calendar.app.google/hiwUskQL4193MtGM7

Thank you!

Good afternoon! In preparation for our field trips this year, we are going to be making tie-dye t-shirts with the students. Please send us your student's t-shirt size as soon as you can. Also, look for upcoming field trip info very soon!

Thank you,

Hello Rainbow Families! We have a fun opportunity to volunteer in the classroom: Choice Time! Starting next week (on Tuesday Sept 23 because Monday is the Carnation Ceremony), you can sign up to help out at Choice Time. We are currently working on our Castles Unit, so for example, you might be helping students with Castle Blocks Construction, how to play a Fairy Tale board game, or making a cool medieval art project. If you would like to volunteer, please click this link and sign up: https://calendar.app.google/LXRM2sWTni7cuYs79. You can share this with other family members who may want to join us as well, but everyone who volunteers must clear a background check with the office. Please email gsmith@ngfs.org or switherspoon@ngfs.org to start that process or confirm you are already cleared.

Thank you so much!

Samantha and Mandy

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday evening for the Lower School Parent Night meeting. If you were not able to attend or would like to review the information we shared, the presentation links are provided below. The first is the "Introduction" presentation with the information that was shared during the all-campus portion of the evening. This is followed by links to the presentations that were shared in classrooms by the teachers.

Lower School Parent Night Introduction presentation

A Child's Garden Parent Night presentation (preschool and pre-K)

Sunrise Parent Night presentation (TK and K)

Rainbow Parent Night presentation (grades 1-2)

Horizon Parent Night presentation (grades 3-4)

Galaxy Parent Night presentation (grades 5-6)

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Speech Pathologist, Martha Eanes, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, offers speech and hearing screenings to the children at New Garden Friends School. These screenings include:

Hearing screening using an audiometer - This assessment takes about 5 minutes. If the child does not pass the initial screening, parents/guardians are notified, and the child is seen again in 2 weeks (at no additional charge). If the child does not pass a second time, families are referred to an audiologist or ENT specialist for further audiological assessment.

Screening of articulation, language concepts, sentence grammar, auditory memory, voice and fluency - Teachers are asked to fill out a questionnaire that will assist in identifying any speech, language, listening or early literacy problems. This screening takes about 10 minutes.

These screenings will result in either 1) no further evaluation necessary, 2) a recommendation for a short assessment in specific problem areas identified, or 3) a recommendation for a more comprehensive assessment. A letter will be provided to parents/guardians and teachers indicating the child has either passed all of the developmental screening or is recommended for further assessment. A list of services available in the Greensboro area will also be provided.

This service is offered at a cost of $50 per child. *The fee for 4 and 5-year-olds (ACG-Iris and Sunrise students) is paid through tuition and no payment is required.

Screenings will take place during September. If you would like for your child to participate in the screening, please complete the permission form here (or a paper copy) and return it as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please email Marci Richardson, Lower School Learning Specialist  at mrichardson@ngfs.org.

Thank you,

Genny

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am Kathryn, the school nurse. My job is to ensure our students are learning in a healthy and safe environment, this includes asking for your assistance in being mindful of food allergies.

In Rainbow we have children allergic to: eggs and peanuts.

Please be mindful of these allergies but the classroom does NOT have to be free of these foods.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Kathryn

School Nurse 

health@ngfs.org 

Good afternoon,

We had an awesome first day of school in Rainbow! We talked a lot about expectations and will continue working on those for the next few weeks as we get into our learning. Just a couple of quick notes from our first day:

-if you have not sent in your child's change of clothes in a labeled bag, please do so. Include extra socks.

-Our lunch time is right after 12, so make sure to pack a great snack as some students were very hungry well before lunch.

-If you have not signed up for Remind yet, please do so. If you need instructions, let us know and we can send them home with your student.

Get some good rest tonight!

Samantha and Mandy

Click here for the Rainbow welcome letter.