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Brookside Elementary news & events
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In the Know- December 2022
December 21, 2022
Upcoming events
January 2- District closed
January 16- No school
January 20- Pop up shop and Spirit Day. Spirit Day theme is all about Brookside.
A message from the principal
We hope you enjoy your winter break by spending time with your family and friends. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
Happy Holidays,
Dr. Cravens and Mr. Potthoff,
School highlights
November Golden Ticket Winners
The following students earned 30 minutes of free time with Mr. Potthoff to do an activity of their choice:
Nolan Obiko
Andrew Skrzypek
Angel Vizcarra-Rodriguez
Sophie Hnath
Aubrey Bottita
Brooklyn Raske
Attendance
Reporting an Absence
There are 2 ways you can report your student's absence:
- Call the attendance line EVERY DAY your student is late or absent at 763-433-5206 (the attendance line is open 24 hours a day).
- Log into ParentVUE. Select the "My Student Information" icon and then choose "Attendance" on the left side. Next, select "Report Absence" up in the right corner. A pop-up will then appear asking for further information (such as a start/end date, reason, notes/comments). Follow the on-screen directions and click "Save." Attendance reasons to choose from online:
- ILLNESS- Use if student is sick (provide symptoms) or has a doctor/dental/medical appointment.
- MEDICAL- Please do not use.
- Personal- Use for out of town, funeral, vacation, etc.
- NOTE: If you are notified by the School Nurse, Judy or Terri, that your student is required to stay home for a longer period of time, you will not have to make the daily attendance calls as they will let the main office know for you. They will also provide you with your student's return date.
- If you do not know your parent account information. please contact (763) 506-HELP (4357) or 506HELP@ahschools.us
Parent Engage 360 Podcast
Parent Engage 360 Podcast Episode 28: Anti-bullying and discipline
Bullying is a topic that often arises, and is not always easy to discuss as a parent or guardian. Parents may be wondering how to support their child, what questions to ask, or who to talk to at school to help.
In the latest episode of the Parent Engage 360 Podcast, host Liz Burgard, Anoka-Hennepin parent involvement coordinator, is joined by Britt Olean, district school social worker, and Mary Kling, assistant principal of the Compass program overseeing elementary student conduct and discipline, to share information on how Anoka-Hennepin defines bullying and how parents can help support their children if they suspect bullying is happening.
Also in this episode, Olean shares the role of school social workers in the district and how they support students in a variety of ways.
Tune in to the latest Parent Engage 360 Podcast on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, or at ahschools.us/parentengage360.
The Parent Engage 360 Podcast aims to provide parents and guardians with knowledge from experts in chemical health, mental health, internet safety and more, as well as the tools needed to support their children. Anoka-Hennepin hopes that providing timely and helpful information through the Parent Engage 360 podcast series will strengthen the bond between school and home with resources parents and guardians can use and share with others.
Lunch Guests
Here is the Lunchroom Sign-Up Links for January, February, March, April, and May 2023. June will come out at a later date. You can also sign up through the Brookside Elementary Home page. Please see directions below.
Directions to Sign-Up to Have Lunch with your Child
- Go to the Brookside Elementary Home Page: https://www.ahschools.us/brookside
- Click on "About Us"
- Click on "Daily Schedule"
- Click on the link "Sign up to have lunch with your child in December"
Directions to Add Funds to Your Student's Meal Account
- Log in to your A-H Connect parent account at ahschools.us.
- Click on the My Student Information/Synergy icon.
- Once in ParentVUE, click on the "Fee" tab.
- Click on "Pay Fees" to enter the SchoolPay payment system.
- Click on "Food Services" to add funds to your student's meal account.
School Stop Sign
Please be mindful of the stop sign in the front parking lot. Also, be aware that traffic leaving from the back of the school has the right of way.
Conferences
Welcome To Brookside's
22-23 Winter Conferences
**ALL FAMILIES**
Tuesday, February 21st 4:20-8:20 pm
Thursday, February 23rd 4:20-8:20 pm
Tuesday, February 28th 4:20-8:20 pm
Please schedule a time with your child’s homeroom teacher for a Winter Conference. If you would like to meet with a specialist teacher, please make an additional conference with that teacher on their individual schedule. If you are having issues - please contact the Brookside Office Staff at 763-433-5200.
Book Fair will be open at 4:20-8:00 pm during conference days.
If you need to change your time, simply check the email confirmation for instructions.
Character Strong
We began rolling out our Character Strong social emotional curriculum this fall. Students are receiving daily lessons with an emphasis on conflict resolution, emotion regulation, and executive functioning skills. Below is the family newsletter for each grade level. Please take a peek to see what your child is learning.
Student Council News
The Secret Santa Shop was a huge success. We were blown away by the turn out. We are already working on ideas to make next year’s shop even better!
Our Kindness Counts Campaign spread kindness to over 3300 Brookside Students and Staff! Wow!
We have some exciting opportunities coming your way in 2023! January 20 will be our next Pop Up Shop and Spirit Day. Our Spirit Day theme will be all about Brookside. We invite you to wear your Brookside swag and school colors.
Thank you for your continued support of the Brookside Student Council! Our student leaders continue to look for ways to support the amazing learning that happens each day here at Brookside!
Brookside PTO
December PTO Update
Craft Fair Boutique/Secret Santa
Our first ever Craft Fair Boutique was held on December 3rd was a HUGE success! Huge shout out to Grandma Cheryl for organizing and planning this fun event! Thank you to the Student Council for putting on the Secret Santa! Can’t wait for next year! Thank you to all the vendors, shoppers, and volunteers for a successful first year of the Craft Fair!
Upcoming events:
-Join us for our Dine out night January 10th from 5-7pm at Subway in Ramsey off of 47 and Bunker!
-January PTO Meeting: Thursday January 12th at 6:30 in the Maker Space.
-Winter Wonderland will be on Friday January 27th from 6-7:30. Join us for a night of fun!
Check out this link if you are willing to help!
-Conferences are coming up in February! We would love your help feeding our amazing staff! If you can help out, check out this link:
Volunteer Update
Volunteers play an important role at Brookside Elementary School. If you would like to learn more and help out our students and staff during the school year, please complete the volunteer paperwork for this school year. Check out Brookside Elementary Volunteer links for more information.
EXCITING UPDATES:
We are utilizing several volunteers to provide support to our 4th and 5th grade students with reading. Additionally, we have started up our K-Skillbuilders program with our littlest learners. Lastly, we will be starting up a Math Plus after-school group that will be run by one of our lovely volunteers. We're so thankful for the ways our volunteers commit to helping our school, students, and staff. It's truly just amazing!
Our PTO hosted its first ever craft fair and Secret Santa event on December 3rd. It was a huge success! We are thankful to our volunteers who helped facilitate this event. We look forward to tweaking a few things and making it even better next year!
CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTEERS:
- We are looking for more volunteers to do K-Skillbuilders.
- Community Members, parents, grandparents and business leaders make the most of their time volunteering in our elementary schools supporting kindergarten students with math and literacy skills through a volunteer program exclusive to Anoka-Hennepin Schools, K-Skillbuilders. The program was developed in coordination with school district curriculum staff to equip volunteers with the tactics needed to help kindergarten students develop lifelong literacy and math skills.
- The volunteer program is comprised of a variety of activities that volunteers can practice with students one-on-one in the classroom while reinforcing the skills that classroom teachers have already introduced to kindergarteners through lesson plans, including:
- Reading aloud
- Tracing the alphabet
- Sorting and finding letters
- Listening to sounds
- Counting and building number recognition.
- The benefit is that the trained volunteers will be able to respond to individual student needs as requested by the classroom teacher. K-Skillbuilders also provides opportunities for families to work with children on structured activities outside of school.
- Our 4th grade students could use more volunteers to offer reading support one-on-one or in small groups. A brief training would be provided from a Brookside staff member.
- If anyone is interested in starting up a Math Plus or Challenge Reading group before or after school, we'd love to get those programs running after the New Year. There is a district wide training for these programs that is required. They are amazing programs for students to be part of.
- Challenge Reading: Volunteers provide children with additional opportunities to foster a love of reading outside of the classroom by introducing various genres of literature, extending students' writing connections, and promoting higher level thinking skills.
- Math Plus: The purpose of the Math PLUS is to provide additional, on-going mathematical experiences for students in grade K-5. Students participate in math activities that reinforce problem solving, logic and reasoning, and communicating mathematical findings.
Current Volunteer Opportunities: