Paw-some News

• November 12th: Conferences
• November 25th-29th: No School
• December 23rd-January 1st: No School

2024-25 School Year Calendar

This is a reminder that there is no school on

Monday, November 25th-Friday, November 29th.

The Lost and Found at our school fills up very quickly, especially 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

Please stop by the Lost and Found located by the playground doors at the school. There are pictures of what is currently there on the PTA Facebook page.

If you need help looking for a specific item please send a message or email the PTA at pikelakepta@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to look for it!

Our next meeting will be Thursday November 14th. At 7pm there will be a presentation by Pike Lake's instructional coach, Shelby Winters. See the flyer below for more information. The PTA meeting will follow the presentation. Childcare will be available.

The PTA is looking for parents to help provide teacher dinners for the upcoming conferences on November 12th. If you are able to donate any meal items please sign up here.

The school is always looking for parent volunteers to help with lunch. If you are able to help, sign up here. Note: All volunteers are required to have a background check on file prior to volunteering at Pike Lake. Forms are available in the office.

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.

Show your school spirit! Apparel stores are now open through November 14. For guaranteed holiday delivery, order by November 12. Find your school and place an order at mvpschools.org/spiritwear.

Irondale High School is named after the historic Harris Brother Iron Works, honoring the area's industrial heritage.

Early giving for Give to the Max is happening NOW and continues through Give to the Max Day on Nov. 21. Consider donating to the Mounds View Schools Education Foundation, a local nonprofit whose mission is simply to support all MVPS students. We accept donations from individuals, donor advised funds, corporate matches and donations via checks. Donate here to elevate our student's access to excellence.

This year, the School Board is asking the community to provide feedback regarding student use of cellphones in schools. Nearly 4,000 people shared their thoughts in an online survey, and about 200 people attended community conversations. Survey results and themes from the conversations will be shared with the community in the coming weeks. This feedback also will be shared with an advisory committee of parents, students and staff for their review. The group will identify themes found in the responses and provide recommendations to the School Board. The feedback and recommendations will ultimately be used to help inform the creation of a cell phone policy. Learn more at mvpschools.org/cellphones.

Mounds View High School's name references the Mound View territory, acknowledging the region's distinctive geographical features.

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.

To ensure the office receives messages about your child'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 your child's absence. If your student is ill, please list your child's symptoms.

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.

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.

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.