Perspectives

This newsletter provides updates, information and event details for Horace Mann School, the Horace Mann School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and Saint Paul Public Schools. It is published weekly and distributed through email. Past issues can be found at mann.spps.org.

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This Teaching Assistant role supports the school children and staff in two main roles.

• You will work with children under the direction of the teaching staff. You will help students with academic, social-emotional, physical, and behavioral needs.
• You will answer phones and greet visitors to school during the clerk's lunch and break.

The hours are 7:00am-2:30pm on all school days.

A qualified candidate must

• Pass the ParaPro exam or
• Have at least 60 college semester credits or equivalent or
• Have an AA, AS, AAS or higher degree.

Please direct questions or interest to Jim Litwin at 651-293-8965 or jim.litwin@spps.org.

• Horace Mann School Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments in Reading and Math held steady near 72% of students proficient.

• 78% of 3rd Grade students met or exceeded on the Math MCAs.

• 80% of 5th Grade students met or exceeded on the Reading MCAs

• For the third straight year, Science MCA scores improved by 8+%. 81% of 5th graders met or exceeded.

• 356 students had no referrals to the office for behavior.

• We made 859 Good News Calls of the Day to families last year. Every child received at least 2 calls. That was a ration of 4.5 GNCOD to 1 behavior referral.

Picture day at Horace Mann will be Wednesday, September 25. Families will order directly from Lifetouch. Photos will be delivered to the school.

Look for a flyer in your child's backpack between September 13-20. You will also be able to order directly by going to mylifetouch.com and using the Picture Day ID, EVTCKXVJ4, or your child's student ID number.

Saint Paul Public Schools begins the year with two assessments for elementary students. We use the assessments to understand what students know and are able to do in reading and math. It helps the teachers to plan instruction. Please encourage your child to do their best, but not worry. Our mantra is "show what you know."

Students will take the "Into Math" Growth Measure and FAST Reading between September 9 and 27. All the work is done during school.

If you have questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.

We will need to complete a criminal background check for all chaperones and volunteers. Each background check costs $12. The school will cover the cost of one per family. If you have additional family members, you pay online here or send a check with your form to the school office.

All field trip chaperones need to also complete a Chaperone Acknowledgement Form. If you'd like to bookmark the form, go to https://forms.gle/7Uh1GsUjYY2sqTpb8.

Saint Paul Public Schools had a large cut to custodial services in 2024. (picture to right). Horace Mann School went from 4 staff members to 2. Our custodians, Levi and Ferdi, work hard and will do everything they can to keep the building clean. However, the reality is that they will not be able to keep up. This is actually the same stafffing level we had before Holleran Hall, the green bathrooms, Music Room, and 1st and 5th grade wings were added.

Classrooms will be cleaned twice a week. The office, gym, and library will be cleaned once a week. Bathrooms, garbage, kitchen, cafeteria, and nurse's office will be cleaned daily.

Another area affected will be set up and services for large events or outside permits. Please make sure to do a permit or request support at least 3 weeks in advance.

We ask everyone, students included, to do their part to keep the building clean and clean up after themselves.

All in-person students will receive free breakfast and lunch under Minnesota’s Free School Meals program.

Yet it remains critical that ALL families complete an Application for Educational Benefits each school year. These applications determine how much funding Horace Mann School receives for educational programs and supports. Additionally, eligible families can qualify for other benefits.

The application can be completed online. Paper applications are available at school.

Extended Day for Learning (EDL)

EDL is an after-school program that provides instrumental (Band) instruction for Gr 4-5, academics, and enrichments. The program is offered for Grades 4-5 and is dependent on interest and staffing. We add younger grades when staffing allows. EDL begins on October 21 at 2:00pm with a snack and concludes at 3:45pm. Busing is not available this year. A sign up will be sent out later in September.

Community Education

This fall we have several fee-based classes on Thursdays, 2:00-3:15pm. Registration opened Sept 4th. PeachJar sent flyers for afterschool classes on 8/21& 8/28. Go to https://commed.spps.org/youth-programs/afterschool-for-elementary. It is first-come, first-serve with some class limits. You may sign your child up for:

• NEW Choir: Grades 2-5 with Ms. Bowron, our Music Teacher!
• Adventurers' Guild Youth D&D: Grades 2-5
• Youth Yoga: Grades K-5.
• Foam, Slime & Potions (Art): Grades K-5

Language Sprouts

Horace Mann partners with Language Sprout to offer tuition-based small-group Spanish instruction on Tuesdays & Thursdays after school from 2:00 - 3:00 pm. Call us at 651-323-9523 or go to our website for more information.

We're excited to offer another season of Girls on the Run at Horace Mann this fall - but we need more volunteers! Currently we only have enough coaches for one team of 20 girls, which is already full and has a waiting list. We're looking for 4-5 more coaches so we can open up another team!

Our practices will be held from 3:30-5:00pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, from September 9th until our final 5K event on November 9th. Coaches can volunteer for one or both weekly practices. NO RUNNING EXPERIENCE NEEDED (nor do you even have to run at practices)! Coaches can be teachers, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, and other community members! For more information, check out the GOTR Coach website or email christina.connelly@gmail.com.

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is not sponsoring, endorsing, or recommending this activity. No SPPS student will be turned away due to inability to pay. Reach out to Christina Connelly if you'd like to add your child to the waiting list and need assistance.

Bookmark our school calendar. It can be found at the top of our website. Here are some highlights for the next two weeks.

Monday, September 13-Friday, September 27

• Fall assessments to determine student levels in reading and math

Wednesday, September 25

• Picture Day
• 6:00pm HMS PTA Meeting in the Library

The Horace Mann PTA is preparing the 2024-2025 Horace Mann School Directory. Each year, the PTA publishes an online Student Directory as a resource for the Horace Mann School community of students, families, and staff. Please take a few minutes to complete the online form here. Information is only used for the directory and PTA communications. The deadline to submit your information is September 20th. This year, we cannot promise anything received after September 20th will be included in the directory. If you have any questions, if filling out an online form is not accessible for you, or you know of a family that might need assistance with the form, please reach out to Samira Afzali (Student Directory Chair) at ariemas@gmail.com or 917-406-4795.

Help us kickoff another great school year by attending the PTA’s first meeting of the year on Wednesday, September 25th from 6-7pm in the HMS Library. Meet the PTA board, learn about the ‘24-25 PTA plans including budget information, ask questions, and connect with other families. We look forward to a great year, please join us!

School-age child care available for in-person meetings provided by 5Th Grade Ambassadors.

• Wednesday, September 25, 2024

• Tuesday, October 29, 2024

• Tuesday, February 25, 2025

• Thursday, May 15, 2025

Check the HMS PTA website for the most up to date information about meetings, latest forms, announcements, contact information, volunteer opportunities and more.

We always have openings on our committees and there is room for more on the PTA board! Are you interested in joining the PTA board, helping out at an event or chairing a committee? Contact Christine Holloway at VOLUNTEER.COORDINATOR@HMS-PTA.ORG

Join the HMS Parent Facebook Page where you can connect with other families of current students. This page often has some of the most up-to-date information about events and activities with both the PTA and the school in general and is a great resource for families. Click this link and be sure to answer the entry questions as this group is private and only for HMS families (this page is not managed by the HMS PTA).

Red T-Shirt (pictured)

If your child has grown out of their red Horace Mann t-shirt or an adult in the family would like their own shirt, you can purchase shirts by clicking here and going to Spiritwear. The deadline for orders will be Friday, September 13. All new students and staff receive a t-shirt courtesy of the Horace Mann School PTA.

More Spiritwear

Check out the Horace Mann School spiritwear and merchandise store. There are hundreds of styles, color, and size combinations available! Both the gnome logo and classic HMS logos available. 10% of the purchase price of any product directly benefits the HMS PTA. There are no minimum orders and your items ship quickly, directly to you. Shop the store here!

Did you know you can support the HMS PTA at no additional cost to you using the Box Tops for Education App? Click here to learn more about downloading the app to your mobile device. Be sure to select “Horace Mann School, Saint Paul, MN” as your current school. You can use online receipts or scan paper receipts with your phone and earn money for the school every time you shop!

President: Grace Hanson, president@hms-pta.org

Vice-President: Gina Corradi, president@hms.-pta.org

Treasurer: Alex Stuart & Sam Smith, treasurer@hms-pta.org

Teacher Reps: Amy Kortuem & Mark Lindskoog, teacher-rep@hms-pta.org

Communications: Lisa Ortmann, communications@hms-pta.org

Volunteer Coordinator: Christine Holloway, volunteer.coordinator@hms-pta.org

Recorders: Andrea Gleckner & Sarah Liuzzi, recorder@hms-pta.org

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is not sponsoring, endorsing, or recommending the activities/events announced in the PTA Section and no SPPS student will be turned away due to inability to pay (21-22).

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is not sponsoring, endorsing, or recommending the activities/events announced in the PTA Section and no SPPS student will be turned away due to inability to pay.

Perspectives Submission Deadline: Thursdays by 8:00am

Email: jim.litwin@spps.org
Website: https://mann.spps.org/
Location: Horace Mann School, 2001 Eleanor Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55116
Phone: 651-293-8965
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPPSHoraceMannSchool/