Community Update: 05-08-2025

Good morning,

I hope this message finds you well. As we approach the home stretch of the 2025 school year, I want to share a few updates and reminders with the NCS community:

Staff Appreciation Week

Each May, we take time to reflect upon and celebrate the outstanding work that the NCS staff does to support our students.  This year is no exception as we are incredibly fortunate to have so many dedicated staff that work each day to provide the best for our students.  Whether in the form of teaching, supporting, transporting, maintaining our wonderful facilities, or providing tasty and nutritious meals, our staff so often goes above and beyond to ensure the best experiences for our students through actions both large and small.  These actions do not go unnoticed, and to all of our NCS staff, we extend a heartfelt thank you!

JH/SH Concert & Art Show Date Change

As we look towards the end of the spring sports season and sectional contest dates that have now been scheduled, our music department will be shifting the date of the JH/SH Spring Concert and Art Show that was previously scheduled for May 29^th.  Within the next few days, the department will identify a date in early June and we will communicate the community.  This shift will ensure that our athletic contests do not interfere with our music/art events that so many look forward to.

Technology Trend & Tik Tok

Over the past few weeks, a disturbing trend has been occurring in school districts across the country as the result of video challenges students are viewing on the social media site Tik Tok.  Students across the country, including Naples, have viewed these videos.  They depict students demonstrating a variety of ways to damage chrome books or other electronic devices, often by inserting graphite or other materials into ports in an attempt to set fire to these devices (sometimes successfully).  There are a multitude of articles in the news that speak to this recent trend. While some Tik Tok challenges or trends are of a benign nature, others, such as this one, are more concerning.

Our JH/HS administrators, along with our Director of Technology, have been made aware of and are dealing with a number of instances where NCS students are attempting to damage these devices as a result of viewing these Tik Tok videos.  We are reminding students that our community has made a significant investment in these 1:1 devices for students and that having access to them is a privilege.  We expect that all NCS students adhere to the district acceptable use policy on technology, which forbids the intentional damage or destruction to these devices.  While this is without question a safety issue, repairs, replacement costs, and labor to address these damages are also significant and as such the district will enforce our acceptable use policy and code of conduct for students should behaviors occur.

I appreciate any conversations you as parents or guardians may have proactively to assist your child in making positive choices.  There is no question that the impact of social media on student behavior is profound.  It is our hope that by working together, we can maximize the positive aspects of social media while limiting the negative, particularly when it comes to engaging in dangerous trends and/or challenges.  We appreciate your support, and NCS will continue help educate our students about the importance making good choices and navigating the world of social media.

Lastly, a reminder to our community that our annual NCS Budget Vote will take place on Tuesday, May 20^th from 7 AM to 8 PM in the High School Library. 

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns and have a wonderful weekend.

Kevin Swartz

NCS Superintendent