Columbia Academy Weekly Update

Greetings from Columbia Academy,

Thank you for helping make our first week of school go very well! We hope your child was able to leave school on Friday confident that they can find all (or most) of their classes and know and can follow our school expectations. Most of all, we hope they felt and now know that they belong at CA! It was a smooth start for our school as a whole and we hope your child feels the same.

As we begin our year, I would like to emphasize three school goals. The first is attendance. The first step to learning is showing up. If students miss school, they miss the opportunity to learn and quickly get behind. Parents and guardians, thank you for making sure your student has every opportunity to learn. Attendance matters and at this age it is our job as caring adults to make sure our young learners are in school.

The second goal is focused effort. Your child has amazing potential. You see it and we see it, but often students do not at this age. If things are hard, students can sometimes doubt their ability to learn. By emphasizing focus and effort, we can show students the pathway to success through persistence.

Finally, we want to celebrate our amazing community. Taking pride in our school, our diversity, and our common goals of doing right by our kids provides us with an opportunity to experience joy, increase understanding, and build a support system of adults that benefits our students in so many different ways. I hope this year we can enjoy each others' company more often and celebrate our amazing kids together.

Thank you for being part of our CA community! I am proud to be the principal of a school with such amazing students and staff. I am excited to work together with them and with you to make this a great school school.

All the best from Columbia Academy where we all belong and together we rise up!

Principal Berkas

berkasd@colheights.k12.mn.us

763-528-4705

• FASTBridge testing of reading and math begins: Monday, September 9 - October 1
• CA after school practices begin: Monday, September 9, 3:15 - 5:15
• CA PTO: Monday, September 9, 5:00 - 6:00
• CA Picture Day, Monday, Sept. 30th (Non-uniform day)
• Spirit Week, Sept. 30 - October 4th

Columbia Academy PTO meets once a month from 5:00 - 6:00 on the first Monday or Tuesday. Our first meeting will be this Monday, September 9th. We invite any parent or guardian of a CA student to join us! Our PTO organizes fund raisers and special events for CA. We'd love to have you help us begin planning for this year. Come join a small team that makes a positive impact on our school!

Per Minnesota Law, students either need to be up to date on their immunizations for school or have a signed and notarized exemption form. The day that Columbia Heights Public Schools will begin enforcing immunization compliance will be Monday, October 21st. If your student is still non-compliant or does not have a signed and notarized exemption form on this date, they will not be able to attend school until they receive the needed immunizations or provide an exemption form, and will be sent home from school starting this day if non-compliant.

See below for which immunizations (and how many doses total) your student needs in order to remain compliant.

6th Grade

• Hepatitis B: 3 doses
• Polio: 4 doses
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): 2 doses
• Varicella (chickenpox): 2 doses
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP): 5 doses

7th and 8th Grades

• Hepatitis B: 3 doses
• Polio: 4 doses
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): 2 doses
• Varicella (chickenpox): 2 doses
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP): 5 doses
• Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap): 1 dose
• Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY): 1 dose

If your student needs an appointment, our school district partners with Park Nicollet Brooklyn Center to provide no-cost, walk-in immunization appointments. If this is something you are interested in, please let email Keturah Spriggs, District Nurse, at spriggsk@colheights.k12.mn.us and she will provide you with the necessary paperwork and information. If you have any questions or concerns or are wanting to know your student's immunization status, please contact the Health Office or Keturah Spriggs.

Thank you for your assistance in keeping our students and community safe and healthy!

Please note the following dates for safety drills at Columbia Academy. By law we are required to conduct 5 evacuation drills and 5 lockdown drills each school year. We are also required to provide notification of the dates of these drills. Here are our tentative plans for this year.

Evacuation Drills

• 9/13/24

• 9/19/24

• 9/27/24

• 10/15/24

• 10/24/24

Lockdown Drills

• 9/20/24

• 9/26/24

• 10/16/24

• 10/25/24

• 11/11/24

In order to make sure everyone is safe during our busy drop-off and pick-up times, please follow these mandatory safety procedures:

Drop-Off

1. Be alert and drive with caution.
2. Do not drop off your child on 49th. This is extremely dangerous and you may be ticketed.
3. Do not drop off in the Walgreens parking lot or between CA and Valley View.
4. Do not sit and wait with your child in the CA drop-off lanes. Students must get out immediately so the next cars can pull up. Have your child join the other students waiting in front.
5. Proceed forward as far as possible before dropping off. Stopping on the curve at the entrance of the drive to drop off backs more cars up into 49th because cars cannot get around you

Pick-Up

1. Be alert and drive with caution.
2. Do not pick up your child on 49th. This is extremely dangerous and you may be ticketed.
3. Pull up as far as you can. This allows more cars in behind you and helps make it easier for you to exit onto 49th.
4. There are two lanes for stopping and a third for cars to exit. Please do not stop in the exit lane.
5. Do not pick up your child at the entrance to the CA parking area. This backs cars up onto 49th.
6. Do not pick up your child at Walgreens parking lot. We want to be good neighbors!

Walkers and Bussers

1. Students are required to use the walking bridge over Central and the cross-walks on 49th. Please emphasize this to your child.
2. Students should stay on the sidewalk on 49th in front of our building until they reach the new sidewalk that goes through the front lawn next to the CA electronic sign. This is the safest way for walkers reach the building from 49th.
3. Students who ride the bus are not allowed to go to Walgreens or cross 49th after getting off or before getting on their bus.

Please note that Walgreens does not allow CA students into their store immediately before or after school without a parent.

• Transportation questions or concerns? Call 763-528-4424
• Need to order order a CA uniform or case-it? Click here
• Need to sign up for ParentVue? Click here
• Need to complete the Educational Benefits form? Click here
• Want to sign your your child up for sports or Robotics? Click here
• Does your child have Meds or other health concerns? Please come to our front office.
• Is your child going to be absent from school? Call 763-528-4704
• Need to leave a message for your child or ask us a question? Call 763-528-4701 or 4703

All bussing questions should be directed to our Transportation Company. If your child qualifies for bussing, you will receive notification from the bus company. They will send you your child's bus number as well as the time and location of your child's pick-up spot and drop-off spot.

Please plan on transporting your child until you receive this information from the bus company. Here is the phone number to the bus company: 763-528-4424

Columbia Academy has high expectations for our students because we believe in them! Here is a link to the Students Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Here is a link to our school rules in a more condensed format. Things to keep in mind include:

• Students must come in uniform. If they do not, they will need to wear a loaner.
• Phones and other electronic devices must be stowed in lockers the entire school day. This includes cell phones, smart watches, air pods, beats, and headphones.
• Students must be on time to class and follow teacher instructions.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

A big thank you to our WEB leaders pictured below for all their help in welcoming our new students to CA! WEB leaders have given tours of the building to 6th graders, helped them learn how to open their lockers, and provided friendly smiles and support to those who got lost. Our WEB leaders have helped us have a great start by providing the kind of positive student leadership we need to make sure all students know they belong and together we RISE UP!

This summer the CA gym received new scoreboards, new safety padding, new stage curtains, and a new coat of paint that emphasizes our school pride. A big thank you to the Columbia Heights Boosters and the Columbia Heights Basketball Association for their contributions for our much needed new scoreboards. We are proud to be Hylanders and it shows!

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