Tanglen Update

Email: jim.hebeisen@hopkinsschools.org
Website: https://hopkinsschools.org/schools/elementary/l-h-tanglen-elementary
Location: 10901 Hillside Lane West, Minnetonka, MN 55305, USA
Phone: (952) 988-4900
Facebook: facebook.com/tanglenelementaryschool
Twitter: @LHTanglenSchool

We had our first fire drill of the year on Thursday. Staff from around the district continue to be SO impressed with how well behaved and engaged Tanglen students are during our drills. Make sure and let your children know how proud you are of them for taking the drills seriously and being so well behaved. Tanglen students continue to be district role models, and we are proud of them!

Each year we hold five fire drills, five lockdown drills, and one severe weather drill as required by the state. On average, it is about one drill per month.

Today 10% of our students were late to school. We know that construction might be difficult to maneuver through in the morning, however do all you can to assure your children are here by 7:50. Teachers start the day with important reminders and activities to build community, so having your children here on time is very important. Thank you for tweaking your morning routines, for doors open at 7:40 each school day.

One of our school goals is to increase our students' attendance this year. We need to partner together to increase our students being at school each and every day!

Below is a link to a quick overview of reasons WHY school attendance is important. Please read over the tips and see how well you can do in implementing the ideas for your family. Thank you in advance for making attendance for your children a priority!

Link to attendance tips for parents and caregivers.

Next week begins our first testing window for our FastBridge math and reading screener in grades K-8. FastBridge is a Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST) used to measure student learning over time. These assessments are a great place to start a conversation with your student’s teacher about your student’s learning.
More information regarding our assessments at Hopkins can be found on our website.

Greetings, Tanglen families! Our biggest fundraiser of the year is only 2 short weeks away and we can't do it without you!

We'll kick off two weeks of fundraising with our FREE-for-all Block Party on 9/28! You'll have a few tasks to complete- getting registered for our fundraising platform Raise Craze, signing the waiver for your kiddos to play on the ninja rig at the block party, and downloading the givi app to bid on our silent auction items.

TODAY:

Please review the following two sign-ups:

• This one is for the grade-level auction baskets we will include in our silent auction. https://bit.ly/TanglenBlockParty23
• This one is for volunteer spots to lend a hand at the Tanglen Block Party. https://bit.ly/TanglenAuctionBaskets

NEXT WEEK: Watch for an email with important reminders including:

• This link to sign the online waiver so your kiddos can rock the Ninja Anywhere course at the block party on 9/28.
• This link to get registered for Raise Craze, our online fundraising platform
• This link to register & download the givi app so you can participate in the online auction

More details to come early next week! Remember that next week is spirit week! Show your Tanglen Pride each day by coming to school in that day's spirit theme! Check out the flyer sent home or review it here.

Last year we were fortunate to have ICA Food Shelf donate over a 1,000 snacks per week to Tanglen to give to our students. Unfortunately, this program has been dramatically reduced by ICA due to budget concerns. This means it is even more important than ever that you provide your children with healthy snacks each day. Even though we provide breakfast and lunch each day, there are often big chunks of the day in which students need snacks. Please do all you can to support sending a snack to school each day with your child. Thank you!

We also know that we have a school community FILLED with problems solvers and creative thinkers. What ideas do you have to help us provide healthy snacks for all of our students? For many of our families, it places an extra burden on finances to need to provide snacks. Put your brains to work...if you have ideas to help us efficiently get healthy snacks into the hands of all of our students, contact the PTO (LHTanglenPTO@gmail.com) or me (Jim.Hebeisen@hopkinsschools.org) with your ideas.

Join us at our Annual Rock-n-Royal Block Party in downtown Hopkins on Saturday, September 23! It's a fun back-to-school event (for adults only) and all proceeds go to support Hopkins staff and students. There's live music with food and drinks included with the price of the ticket. Info and tickets here.

This week one of our bus driving team passed on to me some tips drivers had been discussing to help assure our students have a safe and confident bus ride. Please look over the list below, for our drivers have some good advice for us:

*Spend extra time with your child at the bus stop and have them pick out landmarks that they can see from a bus window. This helps your children to know when it is their turn to get off the bus.
*Get to know other families at your bus stop. Older students can be great role models and helpers to younger students. Learn each other's names and exchange phone numbers so you can support each other as needed.
*If you have multiple children on the bus, get them in the habit of watching for each other when they get off the bus. We have had some older students in the past forget to remind younger siblings to get off the bus at their stop, which can lead to issues.
*Make sure your child knows their first and last name and at least the first few letters of both. They should also know their bus stop. If they do not, feel free to make your child a tag to hang on their backpack with the information. (Try to use the same bus stop name that was sent to you by transportation.)

Thanks for attention to this advice!

In addition to the advice above, Hopkins Public Schools has put together a Transportation FAQ. This link will be a useful resource for you.

Check out the flyer below for details...

Hello!

We are fortunate that all of our students will be using the latest edition of Apple iPads as their technology devices. One challenge with the new devices is that they no longer have a traditional headphone jack. They only accept USB-C connections.

Our school will be purchasing headphones that will be shared among students as needed. We recognize, however, that many students like to have their own headphones that do not need to be shared.

District tech team members have been researching the types of headphones that will work the best with our new devices. If you choose to purchase your child their own set of headphones (or a dongle which would allow the students to use a more traditional set of headphones with the adaptor) follow the links below to see the recommendations. You may certainly buy a different type of USB-C headphones, however the recommended headphones seem to be a good quality for the price. At this time, we do not envision students needing a microphone with the headphones, however, one of the recommended headphones does have a built-in microphone. Be aware that if you decide to purchase and use a dongle with a more traditional set of headphones, the dongles may need to be replaced if lost or broken.

Kensington USB-C Hi-Fi Headphones (K97456WW),Black ($22.91)

Kensington Hi-Fi USB-C Headphones with Mic (K97457WW), Black ($25.66)

Apple 3.5 mm to USB-C Dongle ($9.00)

If you purchase your own set of headphones, please label them with your child's name. Thanks!

Click the pdf below to learn about enrichment classes being offered this fall at Tanglen.

If you have not already, please participate in the Student Digital Equity Survey. This survey collects information on student access to the Internet and electronic devices used for schoolwork in the student’s home. Hopkins Public Schools may use this information to make sure all students can access learning opportunities outside the classroom or school building. We will never share your personal, identifying information provided in this survey with others without your consent. Please fill out the survey for each child here. It will take less than 5 minutes.

Are you the parent or caregiver of a child who transcends traditional binary gender roles? We are offering a supportive, ongoing group for parents and caregivers to ask questions, share ideas, and support one another. For more information, please follow this link.

This month we are working on the character strength of KINDNESS. The other day I was at a district meeting and someone who works in multiple buildings commented on how nice the students are at Tanglen. She mentioned they greet her in the hall with small waves, give her a big smile, and make her feel like a welcomed guest.

I know you support kindness as well. Our combined efforts are being noticed by others. Thanks for your efforts at home to assure your children take pride in our school and openly model KINDNESS. Our students show their Tanglen Pride daily!