Next Tuesday, May 14th we will attempt to do an all school photo on the field. If your child still has the blue Bike Rodeo shirt from last year we encourage them to wear that. If not, please have them wear something blue.

The end of the school year brings lots of fun activities, but these activities can't happen without your hlep. Please consider volunteering your time to make these activities happen for our students and staff:

Bike Rodeo - May 14th - https://signup.com/go/dMswDXT

Field Day - June 5th - Sign up coming soon!

Staff Brunch - June 7th - https://signup.com/go/dEDgjCD

Thanks for helping to support our Congdon community!

Congdon Park's Student Council is organizing a food drive for the week of May 13th-17th. We are collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to Chum. Students can bring canned or dry goods into school and place them in the collection box in their classrooms. A collection box will also be available during the Spring Concert if any families would like to bring items then. Thank you!

Most needed items

Cereal

Instant Oatmeal

Canned Chili

Canned Beef Stew

Canned Pork and Beans

Canned Pasta

Canned Fruit

Canned Vegetables

Rice-A-Roni / Rice

Ramen

Canned Soups (No Cream Soups)

Canned Tuna

Canned Salmon

Spam

Peanut Butter

Macaroni and Cheese

Dry Pasta

Do you like cutting, gluing, and stapling? How about helping our incredible teachers? If so, PHIT needs you! PHIT (Parents Helping Incredible Teachers) meets every other Wednesday morning from 9:00-11:00 and helps the teachers by doing tasks that make their day easier - like cutting, gluing, stapling or sorting. Our last two meetings of the year are May 8 and May 22. Come check us out! For more information contact jennifer.a.engel@gmail.com.

Our spring concert will be on May 17th. The format will follow years past. Concerts at 8:30 and 12:30 and prelude music provided by students starting 30 minutes before the program.

• Two identical performances in our gym...8:30 am & 12:30 pm on Friday, May 17.

• Please attend only ONE performance. We want to have seating for everyone, and there will be A LOT of parents, siblings, grandparents, etc, coming to hear our students sing.

• Doors will open at 7:45am and 11:45am. Anyone who arrives earlier will need to wait outside of the school.
• Please be respectful of our neighbors and do not block their driveways or the Congdon Park driveways. Remember there is alternate side parking in effect - do not park on both sides of the street.
• WE WILL BE HAVING A NON PERISHALBLE FOOD DRIVE. THERE WILL BE BOXES IN THE LOBBY TO COLLECT YOUR DONATION - THANIK YOU STUDENT COUNCIL FOR ORGANIZING.

We are celebrating the end of the year with one last game of Bingo on June 4th. We are in need of chapter books to give away as prizes. There will be a box in the lobby if you have some to donate.

Join us for a FREE bike rodeo at Congdon Park Elementary on Tuesday, May 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. Kids and their parents (from any school!) are invited to bring their bikes, scooters and helmets to this free family event.

The bike rodeo will feature a bicycle obstacle course, bike maintenance clinics to get your bike tuned up, bike safety information, a Duluth DEVO Mountain Biking demo course, a raffle, free helmets, food trucks, and more! A bike fleet and adaptive bikes will be available for those who do not have their own bicycle. Bring a food donation for CHUM and receive an extra ticket for the raffle to win a free bike!

We are looking for many volunteers to help us have a great safety event for our students and families. There will be several stations for kids/families to rotate through, including registration and raffle tickets, helmet fitting and safety table, name plate crafts, basic bike mechanic station, an agility course, and MORE! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - SIGN UP HERE

Great community building and fun for the whole family. If you have any questions about the bike rodeo, please contact Katie Benziger at katiebenziger@gmail.com.

"Once again, the PTA is offering prepackaged school supply packs for sale as a convenience for our Congdon Park families! These kits can be ordered now at https://www.educationalproducts.com/shoppacks/ , using code CON036 (3 letters/3 numbers). Place your orders by 6/2/2024 for the lowest price! Proceeds from the sale support PTA-funded activities."

All library books are due back in the library on May 24th so we can conduct an inventory and prep the library for summer time Key Zone and Summer School. Please visit the Duluth Public Library for Summer reading. They have physical books and digital selections galore. Avoid the “Summer Slump”. Reading with your child is the single most effective way to ensure school and life-long success. During the month of May, in the Congdon Library Media Center, we are exploring digital citizenship and computer science with Code.org. Some details about plugged and unplugged activities are below. Please email Mrs. Miller (cynthia.miller@isd709.org) with comments or questions.

Kindergarten - Course A: this is an introduction to computer science for pre-readers. Students will learn to drag and drop, and will learn about loops, events, sequencing. We will practice digital citizenship and staying safe on online adventures.

Grade 1 - Course B: The lessons will teach how the information you share online leaves a digital footprint or trail. First graders will learn about creating patterns, sequencing, algorithms, and will start using the debugging process.

Grade 2 - Course C: students will create programs with sequencing, loops, and events they'll investigate problem solving techniques and develop strategies for building positive communities both online and offline. They will debug a maze, collect treasures, complete drawings, and make sticker art.

Grade 3 - Course D: It's often easier to be mean online than in person. we'll learn how to deal with online meanness when we see it in the digital citizenship part of this unit. We will do other activities that include robotic cup stacking In a linear sequence, understanding algorithms and debugging, And we will help a farmer who is harvesting multiple veggies growing in large bunches. In a final project, we will collect data to be used in different groups and build a game.

Grade 4 - Course E: In the digital citizenship part of this unit, we will learn about cyberbullying and appropriate ways to take action and resolve conflicts. We will learn the difference between information that is personal and what is best left private. Other activities include drawing with loops, fancy shapes, using nested loops, songwriting, Minecraft, and using conditionals.

Grade 5 - Course F: In fifth grade we will learn about cyberbullying and will create an interactive poster about sharing or not sharing information that is personal vs. private. We will learn about variables by testing a hypothesis, simulating experiments, and creating a game. We will try AI for Oceans on the code.org website..

This year's theme was “I am Hopeful Because…”. Arthur Foley received an Honorable Mention in Visual Arts for his drawing “Battle Bots”. Ariana Shahmammadli received an Honorable Mention in Literature for her poem “The Sun”. Additionally, Ariana’s photograph “Heavenly Harbour” took first place in the State and has been advanced to the National Level. The National PTA selected Ariana’s photo from among 900 student entries and awarded her a silver medallion, a $200 Young Artist Scholarship and an Award of Excellence certificate.

Congratulations to Ariana and Arthur!

The theme for next year has already been announced and is available on the National PTA website. It is “Accepting Imperfection”. Students are encouraged to start reflecting and creating their art in the following categories: Visual Arts, Film Production, Choreography, Music Composition, Photography, Literature, and Accessible Arts.

Please ask Yelena Sokolova any questions regarding the Reflections, yelena.evs@gmail.com.

The yearbooks have arrived. They will be distributed to students the last week of school. We do have some extra if you would still like to order. Cost is $25, cash/check up front on a first come first served basis. The yearbook will be held in the office until we do the mass distribution to students who ordered one.

Dear Families,

We are committed to continually improving the ways we communicate with you and value your feedback as an integral part of this process. To better understand how effectively we are reaching each family and meeting your needs, we invite you to participate in our Family Communication Survey. This brief survey is designed to assess your satisfaction with the communication you receive from our schools, identify areas where we can enhance our interactions, and ensure that you feel informed and involved in your child’s education.

Your participation is crucial in helping us tailor our communication strategies to better serve our community. The survey covers various aspects of our communication efforts, including the clarity and frequency of information shared, the accessibility of communication channels, and your preferences for future communications.

The survey should only take about 5-10 minutes to complete, is completely anonymous and will be used for the purpose of improving our service to you and your family.

Fill out the 2024 Family Communications Survey now!

Thank you in advance for your time and invaluable insights!

Adelle Wellens
Communications Officer
Duluth Public Schools
communications@isd709.org

For the 2024-25 school year, the Duluth School District will test out using Jostens for Elementary school pictures and yearbook. As a result, you will notice some changes, but we hope they are all good ones!

Below is a little blurb from Jostens that we wanted to share with you:

Fall 2024 Pricing

As costs continue to rise everywhere we want you to know that JostensPIX has your families and their pocketbooks in mind. We are proud to announce that we are holding steady on our pricing from the 2023 season! This fall we will also be offering a new discount - Families ordering for three or more students will receive a “Family Discount” of 30% off their entire order. These can be packages or a la carte portraits sheets. There are no promo codes required, discount will automatically be taken off at checkout.

We have our dates set and on the school calendar for Picture Day and Retake Day. They are Sept 23 and October 30

Find out more about Keyzone at Congdon, dates, times registration etc.

https://www.isd709.org/community/key-zone

You may remember our teacher wish tree from the hallway of the school. Teachers would list items they need for their classrooms and parents could take down the apple, purchase the item(s), and return the item(s) to school. The tree is gone and the list is virtual! Teacher wishes are in a sign-up and will be updated throughout the year, so keep an eye on the list! Once you purchase the item, tag it with the teacher's name and drop it in the labeled bin in the school lobby.

Here are our teacher wishes so far.

Chester Bowl’s Summer Day Camp is based on a philosophy of nature play, support from caring staff and teen volunteers, and spending nearly every minute outside in the park. A typical day may include fort building, hiking on the trails, group games, arts and crafts, unstructured play time on the playground, playing in the creek, smiling, laughing, making new friends, and asking “do I really need to go home now?” at the end of the day. Our promise to parents is to return your child “tired, happy, and dirty”!

Our camp still has limited openings, and we hope your family will join us for the best summer ever! Summer camp is for children who have finished grades K-6, and runs Monday through Thursday, from 8am to 5pm. The cost is $170 per week plus a one-time $75 family registration fee, and campers can attend as many or as few weeks as you would like. We operate out of three sites within Chester Park (Upper Chester by the field at the end of the park road, Middle Chester out of the Chalet, and Lower Chester out of the Lower Chester Community Center) with the most current availability at Lower Chester. Be sure to scroll through all three sites when registering!

You can find out more and register at https://www.chesterbowl.org/summer-camp/.

Dave Schaeffer

Executive Director

Chester Bowl Improvement Club

1801 E. Skyline Dr.

Duluth, MN. 55812-1154

Work Cell (218) 940-9378

Office (218) 724-9832

dave@chesterbowl.org

www.chesterbowl.org

Please reference last week's newsletter for all information previously posted about summer camps and activities for kids.

By Youth For Youth Bike Check Basics: Free Workshop for Kids + Teens!

Friday, April 26 from 3-5pm at the Duluth Public Library Downtown Branch

This event is for kids + teens with all levels of bike experience (recommended for ages 8-18). Youth can learn from their peers how to: Fix a flat, lubricate a chain, align brakes, set a seat, and more.

Kathi Kusch Marshall - Principal

ISD709 SCHOOL DISTRICT CALENDAR

STAFF DIRECTORY firstname.lastname@isd709.org

School Supply List

Website: https://www.isd709.org/congdon-elementary
Location: 3116 E. Superior St
Phone: 218.336.8825
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpsduluth