News and events

August 13, 2024

Hello Hoover Families,

Can you believe it's already mid-August? I hope you are all enjoying your family time together. My family and I have tried to check off our summer bucket list items, and it may turn into a fall/winter/spring list, too, since we are running out of summertime! We moved my oldest, Ian, into his college house back in June, and he'll enter his junior year of college this fall. We will move my daughter, Kalla, into her dorm next week as she enters her freshman year of college. Our youngest, Emmitt, will be the lone wolf at home, entering 6th grade, and will be our "only" at home this year.

We have been busy here at Hoover, preparing for another year of crazy creative thinking, learning, and fun for our students, staff, and families. Please take some time to review the content of this newsletter and reach out with any questions.

We have a couple of positions open and are looking to hire from our amazing community. Please click on the links below for more information and share the information with friends and family who may be interested.

Open Positions at Hoover:

• Special Education Teacher
• Kindergarten Teacher

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Wednesday, August 28th, 4:30-6:00 pm - Open House
• Tuesday, September 3rd - First Day of School for 1st-5th Grade Students
• Tuesday, September 3rd & Wednesday, September 4th - Individually Scheduled Kindergarten Conferences (more info from Hoover will be shared soon with Kindergarten families)
• Thursday, September 5th - Kindergarten students with last names starting with A-L attend school
• Friday, September 6th - Kindergarten students with last names starting with M-Z attend school
• Monday, September 9th - ALL Kindergarten students attend school
• Tuesday, September 10th, 6:30-7:30 pm - PTO Meeting

Summer Food Program (FREE breakfast and lunch):

• The Anoka-Hennepin School District is participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides meals to all children 18 and under, free of charge.

• Meals will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, at 14 sites across the district.

• Meals will be served inside school buildings. Parents accompanying their children may purchase a meal. Adult breakfast is $3.00 and lunch is $5.00. Exact change is required, and no checks will be taken.

• Meal availability and serving times vary from site to site and are subject to change. Review a list of sites and meal times for more information.

• For more information, please contact Anoka-Hennepin child nutrition at 763-506-1240 or staff.CnpEnrollment@ahschools.us.
  

Best,

Mrs. Strusz

Do you have an incoming Kindergarten student at Hoover? Here are some ideas and activities to try over the summer to help your child be more prepared for kindergarten.

• Almost K Volume 1
• Almost K Volume 2
• Almost K Volume 3
• Almost K Volume 4
• Almost K Volume 5
• Almost K Volume 6

Reminder, all incoming kindergarten students HAVE TO BE REGISTERED. Even if there is a sibling already attending Hoover, kindergarten students have to be registered initially. Please go online to the district webpage and log in (upper right-hand corner) to start the process. Your login information was sent out to you via email back in the spring. If you need additional help with logging in, please call 763.506.HELP.

What to expect the first week of school:

Anoka-Hennepin has a tradition of hosting a “Welcome Week” for kindergarten students, to ensure each student has the time and opportunity to focus on new experiences. The goal is to ensure all students and families get off to a strong start.

Schedule an individual meeting with your child’s teacher on Sept. 3rd or Sept. 4th:

Families will be invited to schedule a one-on-one opportunity to meet your Kindergarten teacher, drop off school supplies and familiarize your child with their new classroom. These meetings will be scheduled in 30-minute time slots and will be offered on Tuesday, September 3rd, and Wednesday, September 4th. Classroom teacher information and a link to sign up for the 30-minute meetings will be sent separately via email to kindergarten families the week of August 19th. There is no school for kindergarten students on these two days.

School begins in a phased approach on Sept. 5th or Sept. 6th:

This means that half of the students will attend school on Thursday, Sept. 5th, and the other half of the students will attend school on Friday, Sept. 6th. Schedules are determined by site based on alphabet and number of students at Hoover:

• Thursday, Sept. 5th: Students with last names A-L attend in person.

• Friday, Sept. 6th: Students with last names M-Z attend in person.
  
  

Welcoming smaller groups of students provides your child’s teacher the ability to provide individualized attention as they introduce students to classroom and school routines such as arrival and dismissal procedures; schedules for small group and full class activities; introductions with physical education, music, art, media center, technology, and science teachers; and school lunch routines.

All kindergarten students attend school together beginning Monday, September 9th:

Again, Kindergarten teacher and class assignments will be sent out the week of August 19th, via email. Open House for all K-5 students will be on Wednesday, August 28th from 4:30-6:00 pm. Students in 1st-5th grade will find out their teacher and class assignments at Open House.

This was our 3rd summer of providing your child with a Summer Express Activity Book from Scholastic using Title I funds. These colorful, fun-filled activity books have 10 weeks of engaging activities targeting vocabulary, reading, writing, phonics, grammar, math, and more. Each week students have an incentive chart with a sticker and a certificate for you to award your child for their weekly progress.

We encourage you to discuss the activities with your child while they are solving the problems or after they finish. They match important concepts to prepare your child for their next year of learning and they support important Minnesota standards.

At the end of the summer, have your child bring back their completed certificate to their classroom teacher to receive a special award.

We hope you and your child enjoy the summer and the Summer Express Activity Book!

Electronic Entrance Sign:

Student Lockers (Before):

Student Lockers (After):

Cafeteria and Gym Floors (Asbestos Abatement Process):

Cafeteria and Gym Floors (Tiles Removed):

Cafeteria and Gym Floors (Installation of the Floor):

Cafeteria and Gym Floors (Painting the Lines on the Floor):

Parking Lot Lines Repainted - Make sure to follow the yellow arrows in the drop-off/pick-up line!

• Kindergarten
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade

I hope you have all had an amazing summer! Can you believe school is just around the corner?! With school starting in just a few weeks, we have a lot happening at Hoover that staff is looking for help to prepare for the new school year. If you are available to help at all in the couple weeks before school and the first couple weeks of school, your help would be greatly appreciated! We have the following volunteer requests starting the week of August 19th going into the first couple weeks of the school year:

• Open House Folders - We are looking for volunteers to assist with stuffing folders for open house on Tuesday, August 20th from 10am to 1pm. If you are available to assist, our staff would greatly appreciate your help!
• Workroom Projects Needed Before School Starts - We are looking for volunteers to assist with many workroom projects that include making copies, laminating, cutting, creating curriculum journals, etc the 2 weeks before school starts starting August 19th. On Wednesday, August 21st we may also need help stuffing any remaining Open House folders. This can be done anytime between 9:30am and 3:30pm the 2 weeks before school starts.
• Workroom Volunteers - We are looking for volunteers to assist with many workroom projects that include making copies, laminating, cutting, counting, etc to assist our teachers throughout the school year. This can be daily, weekly, monthly or whenever you are available.

As of July 1, 2024, all volunteers, including those who volunteered last school year, will need to complete a new volunteer application and background check in order to volunteer for the 2024-2025 school year.

Please contact Tina Fletcher, VSC, at tina.fletcher@ahschools.us with any questions.

Another option is to go to https://www.boxtops4education.com/ to learn more about downloading the app to scan receipts for box tops for Hoover Elementary.