Paw-some News

• March 24th-31st: No School (Spring Break)
• April 17-18: No School
• April 22: Science Fair, 5:30-6:30pm in Gym
• April 22-25 and 28-30: Book Fair in Library
• April 30: Literacy Night
• May 23: No School
• May 26: No School
• June 5: Last Day of School

2024-25 School Year Calendar

Our next meeting will be April 10th at 7pm in the Library. We are currently looking for anyone interested in being a board member next year. Our elections are in May. Please help us spread the word.

Lost and Found - We will be clearing out the Lost and Found on Friday, March 21st. If your student is missing any items, feel free to stop by and look through it or reach out to us and we can try to locate the missing item. Here is a link to current pictures of items in the Lost and Found. Also, it is very helpful and highly recommended that you label all removable clothing items with your student's full first name (not nickname) and last initial. We go through every lost and found item to look for a label and when we find one we try our best to reunite missing items with their owners.

Book Fair Sign up - The spring book fair will be open to the public April 22-25 and 28-30. We are looking for volunteers to help with set up, running cash registers, keeping the sales floor clean and tear down. To sign up to volunteer, click here. Note: A background check is required for any activity or event that takes place during the school day. Forms are available in the office.

Thank you,

Pike Lake PTA

pikelakepta@gmail.com

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Are you interested in subbing for our paras that supervise recess and lunch?

Para subs have great hours in the middle of the day (they don't conflict with your child's drop off and pick up)!

If you'd like to discuss the possibility of subbing for paras in our building, please contact April Notsch: april.notsch@mvpschools.org, 651-621-7402.

The Pike Lake Science Fair will be held on Tuesday, April 22nd. All students will attend the fair, but creating a project is optional. Click here to learn more about the science fair. Students interested in doing a project should register by April 16th. To register, click here.

Questions? Contact Susan Lee, Science Specialist, at susan.lee@moundsviewschools.org or 651-621-7443.

Science: This month, we have been learning about space. We learned about the sun - how we get light and heat from the sun, that it is a star and many facts about the sun. We also learned about the moon, the planets, and constellations. Next week during science class, students will have the opportunity to join me in Star Lab! Star Lab is an inflatable planetarium, where students and I will be able to discover more about stars, the moon and other objects in space. I have been amazed this month about how excited students are about space, and how much they can share with me about space.

Art: This month in art students will be finishing the biggest paintings of the year! These beautiful floral masterpieces were made by using tempera paint to create dots, lines, and shapes that look like a bouquet of flowers in a vase. After the paintings go home, we will begin our earth clay and glaze medallion unit.

We are excited to be working with your students this year! It is so fun to watch students learn and grow throughout the kindergarten year! The contact information for the specialist teachers are:

Art - Jessica Silk, jessica.silk@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7460

Music - Ashley Morben, ashley.morben@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7497

Physical Education - Joe Persuitti joe.persuitti@moundsviewschools.org 651-621-7431

Science - Susan Lee, susan.lee@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7443

Your current kindergarten student will automatically be enrolled in first grade at the appropriate grade 1-5 elementary building (either Bel Air, Pinewood, Sunnyside or Valentine Hills) depending on your home address. There is nothing you need to do to make this happen. As we get closer to the end of the current school year our teaching staff will make class lists which we give to the elementary schools. Teachers work hard to balance the classes on a number of factors.

If you, a friend, or a neighbor has a child who will be attending kindergarten next year, please make sure the registration process has started. We have sent out letters to everyone we know who lives in our attendance area. If you or someone you know has not received the information, please have them contact our main office at 651-621-7400 so we can get their child's enrollment started. We want to know about every child as soon as possible because enrollment directly impacts our staffing and planning.

The monthly school lunch menus can be found here.

The school district has online interactive menus which include nutritional information and allergens. To view the menus, along with instructions on how to print them if you choose, click here.

Second Step is a program that we use at Pike Lake Kindergarten. Second Step is a social-emotional learning program that teaches skills to help students succeed academically, socially and emotionally. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following: Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting, Emotion Management, Empathy & Kindness and Problem-Solving.

To see what your student is learning and what you can practice with them at home, click here. Home links are provided in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Hmong, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Registration for summer day camps and activities opens Tuesday, March 18 at 9 a.m. Flip through the electronic catalog and register at mvpschools.org/RegisterCommunityEd.

You’re invited! Attend the Mounds View Schools Education Foundation’s Partnering For Education Breakfast on April 10 to learn about how the Foundation is supporting Mounds View Public Schools students, hear updates from Superintendent Lennox, other district partners and from Irondale graduate Ellisha Dunnigan (2011). Learn more and register here. Late arrivals are welcome!

In the latest issue of the District's news magazine, School Talk, read about the District's cybersecurity efforts and how we are working to prevent cyberattacks and protect student and staff data. Also inside:

• An overview of Community Education's award-winning adult programming.

• Details on the recently approved student cell phone policy.

• Upcoming events

Join the Mounds View Education Association for the 38th annual Chalkboard Capers variety show. District teachers and staff host the show to raise money for student scholarships for graduating seniors. Ticket and schedule information can be found at mvpschools.org/chalkboardcapers.

During the last legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature directed all school districts to adopt a cell phone policy by March 15, 2025. In response, the School Board asked the

community to provide feedback regarding student use of cell phones in schools. About 3,000 respondents completed a survey, and two community conversations attracted about

200 attendees.

This feedback was shared with a cell phone advisory committee made up of parents, students and staff. The group met three times last fall, and identified themes found in the responses and provided recommendations to the School Board at its December meeting.

At its meeting on March 6, the Board approved a policy effective March 15 that reflects the group’s recommendations:

Elementary schools

• Students should not access or use cell phones during school hours.

Secondary (middle and high schools)

• Students should not access or use cell phones during scheduled academic class time or during activities/assemblies when instruction or information is being delivered.

• Secondary students may access and use cell phones during non-academic or unscheduled time during school hours.

Watch a brief video about the cell phone policy engagement process.

Show your school spirit! Starting this month, our apparel stores will be open year-round. Orders will be processed on the 10th of every month, with delivery approximately 3 weeks from that date. Find your school store and place an order at mvpschools.org/spiritwear.

To ensure the office receives messages about your student's attendance, please use one of the two options below. Attendance messages sent directly to teachers will not be received by the office if the teacher is absent or does not read/forward the message.

1. ParentVUE - Select "Report Absences" on the Student List/Home Screen (See mobile device screenshot. Format for the desktop version is very similar). Click here for the ParentVUE login link. Note: For midday pickups, notify the teacher directly via email, please do not submit the absence on ParentVue.

2. Call the attendance line: 651-621-7401. This is a voicemail only line so you can leave a message any time of the day or night.

When reporting absences, please be sure to indicate the reason for the absence. If your student is ill, please list their symptoms.

The Lost and Found at our school fills up very quickly, especially with easily removable items such as:

• sweatshirts (most common unlabeled item)
• hats
• mittens and gloves
• jackets
• snow pants
• boots

Please label all clothing items with your student's full first name (not nickname) and last initial. Ideas for difficult to label items:

• permanent marker
• ball point pen (for tags that bleed easily)
• white or silver sharpie for dark colored material
• white out pen
• fabric pen
• iron or sew on labels

As the weather gets colder, we recognize it can often take longer to prepare for a school day. However, we ask that you please still plan ahead to ensure that your child is prepared for the scheduled bus arrival time every day.

As a reminder, a parent or designated responsible person must always be at the bus stop in order to provide "eye-to-eye" transfer of kindergarten students. Bus drivers are not allowed to release kindergarteners off of the school bus without this type of transfer.

Please plan to be outside at the bus stop with your child for bus pick up and drop off 5 minutes prior to the scheduled bus arrival time every day. Buses will always try to run as close as possible to their scheduled stop times.

Early start students (those who live in the Bel Air or Sunnyside attendance areas) may enter the building at 7:55. Their school day is 8:20-3:00. If you arrive at school after 8:20, please park in the visitor parking and walk your student into the office.

Late start students (those who live in the Pinewood or Valentine Hills attendance areas) may enter the building at 8:45. Their school day is 9:05-3:45. If you arrive at school after 9:05, please park in the visitor parking and walk your student into the office.

To find your child's home elementary school, click here and enter your address.

Our number one priority during drop off and pick up is SAFETY. Thank you for consistently following the instructions and expectations our staff provide during this busy time of day. When everyone follows the expectations for drop off and pick up the process is SAFE and FAST.

1. STAY IN YOUR CAR - DO NOT park and walk over to our staff. We do not want pedestrian traffic mixed with car and bus traffic.

2. STAY OFF YOUR CELL PHONE

3. PULL ALL THE WAY FORWARD

4. TEACH YOUR CHILD HOW TO BUCKLE IN. If your child needs help with this, please pick up your child and then pull forward to a parking spot in the front lot where you can assist them and not slow down the car line.

This video discusses how to safely enter and exit the parent drop off and pick up.

If you need to make a transportation change for the end of the current school day, please call the office (651-621-7400) at least 60 minutes prior to the end of the school day. Because teachers are not always able to check their email during the course of the day, reaching out to the office is the best way to make sure the message is received. Also, please do not rely on your child to communicate the information to their teacher. Unless we hear from an adult, the transportation change will not be made.

• If you are picking up your child early from school, please park in the visitor parking and make your way in to the office.
• Please be prepared to show your identification when you arrive.
• The front office staff will call your child down when you arrive to check them out. This enables the student to take part in as much of their school day as possible.
• Please try to give yourself a little extra time when picking up your child as we find that it can take some time for kindergarteners to gather up their items and make their way down to the office.
• It can often be very helpful to let your child's teacher know via email 1-2 days prior so they can help to have your child ready and awaiting the phone call from the office. Also, if at all possible, it can be helpful to try to avoid picking up your child during times when they are not in their classroom, such as lunch, recess, or specialist.

In order to provide a safe environment for our students with food sensitivities, all kindergarten and elementary schools have the following guideline for birthday celebrations: If you wish to bring something to share with classmates for a birthday celebration, please limit it to a non-food acknowledgement. Please do not send latex balloons. Donation examples include, but are not limited to: student's favorite book to the class collection, stickers, pencils, pens, markers, erasers, a board game to the class for indoor recess days, etc.