Naples Elementary Wolverines start strong!

By Robin Merrifield
Principal

Naples students say the Pledge of Allegiance on the first day of school.

The Naples Wolverines are off and running into the 2022-2023 school year. Some of them are hopping, galloping, or dancing. However you look at it, they’re moving! The new school year brought exciting changes to our building. New classroom cabinets, new gym paint, and a few new walls to kick us off. Now that those jobs are complete, we will begin to watch the new addition rise up on the north end of the building.

This improvement will add two new grade level classrooms, a new classroom for our art, music and STEAM programs, as well as a new resource and Title room. The best part is our Wolverine pack will soon be under one roof. This promotes safety and a culture of collaboration among students and staff. If you have a moment, please come visit to see what’s new!

Speaking of staff, we welcomed Mrs. Alli Lunger to the K/1 classroom. She joins us from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and will be working harmoniously with Mrs. Beckle. We also welcome Cara Urbaniak back to Naples. She has been the special education teacher at BFHS since 2014. Prior to that, she served as a paraprofessional at Naples. She is now back to being a Wolverine on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a Mount Hall Wildcat on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The rest of our staff from last year has returned to give their very best to our students and their families as they always have.

We’re excited to have the U of I and 4-H Robotics program return to our school this year! Shalonda Miller will be teaching and sharing many types of coding and robotic gadgets to all grade levels beginning September 19th. She will see each class once per week for four weeks at a time. We will have her here every other four weeks as she serves the other elementary schools. The kids are huge fans of this program and we are grateful to have it offered again this year!


Our Naples team is always looking for volunteers to join us. We are also hoping to rebuild our PTSA involvement. We have missed our chili cook-offs, carnivals and other exciting events that support our students with field trips, ski trips, play equipment, etc. If you would like to participate as a volunteer or serve on our PTSA, please contact the office at 208-267-2956.

Finally, we would like to welcome you to join us for our Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 21st, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Our students have already been hard at work and are ready to show you what they are learning. We’d love to see you!

Go Wolverines!