December 18, 2024

December 18, 2024

------------------------- TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENTS  ----------------------------    

--The 8th grade gold team defeated Wyoming yesterday 48-32.  Everett Hunsberger and Caleb Martin led the team in scoring.  Braylen Diaz, Chase Shults, and Braden Klaasen did a nice job on both ends of the floor.  The Chix finished the season 11-1.    

--Last night the girls swim & dive team concluded their season with their conference meet at Zeeland West’s natatorium with a second place finish out of 6 schools and had an inspiring total of over 200 seconds worth of time-drops!  Congratulations ladies!!!  The gold-medal winning 200 yard medley relay team of Madeline VandenHeuvel, Skyla Gettings, Clara Lauritzen & Allie Sanchez remained undefeated for the season with an impressive time of 2:00.47 as they placed 1st overall.  Allie and Mariam Norman swam best-times in the 200 yard freestyle placing 2nd & 5th while Danae Devries finished 12th overall.  All with personal best times!  Next up in the 100 IM Skyla Gettings finished 3rd place while Bryna Greene dropped 6 ½ seconds to earn 5th place!  Annalise Decker finished 10th as Ollie Ruszala came in 21st followed by Charlee Holthus and Tess Siffin finished 27th & 30th.  Makenna Landes & Mariam Norman medaled in the 50 freestyle with 6th & 7th place finishes.  This event also saw many Zeeland swimmers swim their best times notably by Ruby Cook, Genevive Eikenhout & Ava Reid who bettered their personal records by over three seconds each!  The 50 yard butterfly saw Clara Lauritzen earn her first individual gold with a personal best time of 27.85 seconds while Makenna Landes finished 3rd bettering her best time by over 2 seconds while Danae DeVries dropped over a second to earn 14th place.  Anna Linn finished in 17th place, respectively.  Allie Sanchez earned another silver medal in the 100 freestyle with a time of 58.99 bettering her personal record by almost 3 seconds! Madeline VandenHeuvel finished 7th with a time of 1:05.27 which is another 3-second time-drop for her.  This event yielded seriously impressive personal best times by Ollie Ruszala, DeeDee Voskull, Peyton Beisel, Anna Linn, Chahee Jeon, Addison Schafer & Laurel Black.  Next, in the 100 yard backstroke Clara earned her second individual gold of the night with a time of 1:05.59 as Madeline VandenHeuvel finished 4th with a time of 1:13.87 with personal records for both of them Annalise Decker finished in 11th dropping over 2 ½ seconds while Charlee Holthus swam a personal best finishing 22nd.  Reese Beyer finished right behind Charlee, bettering her time by almost 12 seconds!  Autumn Young swam a personal best by over 6 seconds.  Skyla Gettings earned her second overall gold of the night and first individual win in the 100 yard breaststroke, dropping over 4 ½ seconds to finish with a time of 1:13.07.  Bryna Greene earned her second individual medal, dropping nearly 5 seconds with a time of 1:26.11 to finish in 8th place. Kassidy Kragt finished 11th place with a time of 1:31.49 as Genevieve Eikenhout finished 18th, bettering her personal record by over 6 seconds while Ella Conover dropped 4 ½ seconds to finish right behind in 19th.  The final event of the evening, the 200 yard freestyle relay, ended in dramatic fashion with our A-relay narrowly missing a victory by 14 one-hundredths of a second while incredible swims were still had by Anna Decker, Bryna Greene, Makenna Landes & Mariam Norman.  Meanwhile the B-relay team of Payton Beisel, Danae DeVries, Ruby Cook & Ollie Ruszala dropped an amazing 12.73 seconds!  Congratulations ladies, on a great season, and we will see you all in the Chix Coop after school today for our Team Christmas Party!

--Please check the Lost and Found over the next few days.  Unclaimed items will be donated during Christmas Break.

--Last chance! The 8th grade art students will be selling ornaments after school today.  These beautiful ornaments are only $4.  All proceeds go to benefit Resilience of Holland.  These will make great gifts and stocking stuffers.  Or, you can purchase these beautiful ornaments online at this LINK.

--Listen Up all Spellers! The Cityside Spelling/Vocabulary Bee will be held on Tuesday, January 14th at 12:45. You will want to start studying for the Spelling/Vocabulary Bee over break.  Please stop in the main office to sign up for the Bee and to pick up your study guide sometime between Dec. 13-20. See Mrs. Huizenga with any questions.  

--Students ~ Just two days left in our Spirit Week!  

  • Thursday: Holiday Head & Toe Thursday: wear your favorite holiday hat and comfy holiday socks or slippers! 
  • Friday: Ugly Sweater Day: wear your best festive ugly sweater! 

-------------------------  REMINDERS FOR STUDENTS  ----------------------------

--Students:  Having good ATTENDANCE and being at school as much as possible is so important to a successful education.  Please make every effort to arrive to school on time, to get to class on time, and to come every day.  We love having you with us here at Cityside! 

--If your Chromebook needs to be repaired, please bring it to Mrs. Nelson in the CBC by 9:00 in the morning so it can be sent off to the technology office the same day.  Just a reminder:  Mrs. Nelson does NOT have any loaner Chromebooks or charging cords for kids who forget them at home.  Please make sure you are charging your Chromebook fully at night and make sure you take it to school every day.  If you forget it, you will need to call home to have someone bring it to you.  If you forgot to charge it, bring your cord from home. Please completely shut down your Chromebook at least once a week to install any updates that are out there and please remember to fully charge it at home each night.

--Students:  You must use a crosswalk when crossing the road at any time because we care about your safety.  State law requires you to ONLY cross at a crosswalk.  It is illegal and unsafe to cross anywhere else.  Please make sure to find the closest crosswalks and use those to get where you need to go before or after school.  Thank you! 

--If you leave school early for any reason, you MUST go through the office and let them know you are leaving.  Thank you.

----Students: Chix Tutor Time runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school from 2:40-3:40 in Mrs. Sluiter's room, #135. Chix Tutor Time is  a drop-in homework help where you can get help with homework from certified teachers. You do not have to attend every week or certain days; you can come as needed. However, you do need to stay the whole hour if you attend. Remember ~ this will only run on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons (not Wednesdays like last year). We hope to see you there!  

----A quick reminder about Success Time:  If you have been assigned success time or lunch detention, first drop off your assignments and Chromebook (if needed to complete your assignment)to the LGI room and then grab your lunch so you're ready to get to work right away.  If you've turned your assignments in and have a signed slip, you have 3 options:

1. Hand your signed slip to Mrs. DenBoer in the LGI on your way to lunch. 

2. Put your signed slip in the folder on Mrs. DenBoer's office door in the Media Center. 

3. Put your signed slip in the Success Time Folder on the front desk in the Main Office. 

--Students:  There is now a donation bin/box beside the Lost and Found table outside of the office.  The bin/box is for clothing donations that will go to the organization City on the Hill to help clothe homeless people. Feel free to donate old used clothes by simply putting them in the box. Thank you for your help! 

--------------------------------  FOR PARENTS  ----------------------------------

--8TH GRADE PARENT NIGHT - MONDAY, JANUARY 13 @ 7:00 PM

Zeeland East High School will hold its annual 8th grade Parent Information Night on Monday, January 13, at 7:00pm at the DeWitt Auditorium at ZEHS. During this presentation, we provide all details related to the high school experience at our campus. Please join us for an informational meeting to ensure your student has the best possible start to their high school experience.

--On half days, if your student plans to visit the Howard Miller library after dismissal, please remind them to follow the library's rules to ensure a safe and enjoyable space for all:

  • Respect the space and rules: Use chairs, not aisles or hallways, for seating. Keep backpacks and instruments out of walkways.
  • Keep it quiet: Speak in low voices to maintain a calm atmosphere.
  • Computer use: Public computers are limited to one person per station.
  • Snacks only: While snacks and covered drinks are allowed, full meals (like pizza) should be enjoyed outside.

The Howard Miller library looks forward to welcoming our students and appreciate their cooperation in making the library a welcoming place for everyone! Thank you for your support.

--Foodservice Newsletter Note: Zeeland Public Schools is committed to ensuring all students have access to nutritious meals through the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs. Through the 2024-2025 school year, every Michigan student can get FREE breakfast and lunch at their school. No qualifications are necessary. The purpose of posting this regulation is to comply with federal reporting requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program and to provide oversight for collecting outstanding student account balances. To learn more, please visit this link. Have questions? Email questions to Food Service Director Sarah Stone at sstone@zps.org.

--Sign Up to Receive the 'Z for Me,' our ZPS district email newsletter- Stay informed about the latest ZPS news, events, and updates, including important district announcements (school closings, etc.), upcoming events, and more. See this FLYER and visit www.zps.org to sign up.

--Parents, please make sure you have an Infinite Campus Parent Portal account set up.  You will be able to check your student's bus schedule, grades, attendance, etc. with the Parent Portal.  If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Wolters at hwolters@zps.org.

--If your child will not be in school, for any reason, you MUST call the attendance line at 748-3205. Thank you! 

--If you are picking your child up from school for any reason you must call the office before we will let them go.  You may also call their cell phone in addition to the office, but the office must hear from you.  616-748-3250. Thank you!  

--ZPS utilizes the School Messenger system to deliver text messages straight to your mobile phone with important information, including school
closings, safety alerts, and more. You can participate in this free service just by sending a text message of "Y" to our school's short code, 67587. See this informational FLYER for more details. 

--Any message needing to get to a student must be received by 1:20 pm. We call students down at the beginning of their last hour during announcements so we are not disturbing classroom instruction time.

--We need your help to ensure our schools receive important state and federal funding by completing the Education Benefits Form,which collects information for educational program grants.  Even though all students get free breakfast and lunch this year, filling out this form can also provide your child with additional services like summer food support, help with school fees, and potential household support for internet and cable.  Questions?  Please see your building principal.  Scan the code on this Informational Flyer for more details. 

--We would like to offer your student the opportunity to participate in a program at Cityside Middle School called “Hand2Hand”. This program helps provide a student with food for the weekends and is intended for families who currently may be experiencing a financial burden.  Please contact the front office if you would like to participate.   Please see the attached Hand2Hand Registration Flyer which is in both English and Spanish. Print it off and return it to the Cityside front office.

**Our Miles of Smiles (MOS) mobile dental unit is scheduled to be in Ottawa County Schools during the 2023-2024 school year. Our mobile dental unit provides no cost, preventive and restorative dental services for financially-qualifying children.  Unfortunately, MOS will not be visiting your school this year. However, we want parents to know that they can schedule their child to be seen on our mobile unit when we locate at another Ottawa County School.  Miles of Smiles can be accessed by using the following informational application link:  MILES OF SMILES 

--Please do not have lunch food delivered from area restaurants to our students for lunch.  We aren't allowed to sign your credit card receipts, and often the order only comes with a student's first name on it making it very difficult for us to know who it is for.  Students often don't know a lunch is being delivered for them, so they don't come to pick it up and the food goes uneaten. Thanks for understanding!

--Last year a new tradition was born in the Zeeland Public Schools Performing Arts Department,as we hosted our first ever benefit concert. This concert had a charitable focus and featured performances by our most advanced ensembles in every performing arts discipline. Friends, family and community were able to see all of our top ensembles in one night, in a performance that lasted about one hour. The feedback we received after this event was positive and encouraging, with many saying it was a joy to see all of our advanced groups at once.  So, our new one night collage style concert was born. Please join the Zeeland Public Schools Performing Arts Department for our Christmas themed benefit concert on Thursday, December 19 in DeWitt Auditorium. This year's benefactor is our very own Norma Sneller Scholarship and Summer Arts Study Fund! This fund provides scholarships to students in grades 6-12 to pursue their art form over the summer, through private lessons, at camps/intensives, and for our college bound performing artists!Patrons set their own ticket price at zpsarts.ludus.com! This year you will enjoy many holiday favorites including, "Carol of the Bells, "Snow," "Sleigh Ride," "Rudolph," "Winter Wonderland," and much more. The concert features Jazz Band, Dance Ensemble, Varsity Voices, Zeeland High Players, Wind Ensemble, and the Advanced String Chamber Ensemble! Support our Zeeland Performing Artists with your attendance and donation to our scholarship fund!  See you on Thursday, December 19 at 6:30 PM in DeWitt Auditorium!

-------------------------  ATHLETICS ANNOUNCEMENTS  ----------------------------

--SPORT SIGN-UPS:  FINAL FORMS REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE 2024/2025 SCHOOL YEAR! Please see the CITYSIDE ATHLETICS WEB PAGE for information on signing up student athletes.  All registration and sports sign ups will be done online in the Final Forms website for the 2024/2025 school year.  Drop in locations for sports physicals are also listed on the athletic web page.  If your student is planning to participate in any sports during this 2024/2025 school year, please remember that they must have a new sports physical that is dated AFTER April 15, 2024.   Please bring sports physicals to Mrs. Nelson in the CBC or upload a PDF (Preferred format) into your student's Final Forms record.  

--Hey Chix Families!  Have you heard the big news in athletics? For the first time ever, the Zeeland Athletic Boosters are allowing you to directly support our Cityside athletics the next time you volunteer! New to Cityside or new to our Athletic Boosters? No problem! Everyone is encouraged to volunteer!  The Zeeland Athletic Boosters are our biggest partner when it comes to supporting our athletes. From purchasing equipment or jerseys, to providing scholarships to our Senior Athletes, our Boosters help support athletic excellence at Zeeland Public Schools.   The next time you volunteer, just write “Cityside” for the team/program you would like to sponsor. By doing this, the funds you raise will go directly to our Cityside Athletics account. Workers earn $10/hour at any ZPS athletic event! Sign up here!  Go Chix!

--7th and 8th grade boys interested in playing Boys Volleyball or Baseball this spring, you are now able to sign up on Final Forms to receive preseason and tryout information. Questions? Ask Mr. Gontjes!