News and events

At University Avenue,

WE are committed to honoring and developing the greatness in each student so that THEY are able to find THEIR VOICE.

October/November 2023

• November 8 - First Grade Family Night 5:30-6:30PM

• November 9 - PTO Meeting 6:30 PM

• November 10- Veteren’s Day Recognition & Readers
• November 14 - Magnet Info Night for Prospective Students 5:30-6:30PM
• November 17 - Turkey Bingo by PTO 6:30-8:30
• November 22-24 - No School
• November 30 - End of Trimester 1 - ACES Day!
• December 1 - No School

On November 10, we are inviting our students who are connected to a Veteran to bring in a sheet to share about their Hero. These are being sent home with students. We are also inviting Veteran’s that our students know to come in and read with students. Parents, family members and family friends who are Vets are encouraged to sign up to come read here.

Greetings University Avenue Families,

We are excited to start our school year as a Magnet Schools of America Top Magnet School. We are also excited to share that in July we became a Leader in Me Lighthouse School. This is an incredible honor and we are proud to be among the only two Leader in Me Lighthouse School in Minnesota! We continue to grow as a Leader in Me school, elevating student voice, supporting students to set Individual and classroom academic Wildly Important Goals (W.I.G.S), and develop student leaders based on their passion. We know this directly reflects YOUR engagement and our amazing University ACES Community, and we appreciate YOU.

23-24 Student Lighthouse Team - We are in the process of building our 23-24 Student Lighthouse Leadership Team. This Leadership team consists of one student leader from each classroom. This team is meets bi-weekly with the the Principals and CIC to share ideas and support adults with decision making in the building. There is an application process to "apply" for the position. Students interested in applying will be bringing the application home and be required to have a family signature. If your student is applying, please have the application returned by Friday, November 3rd. Thank you for your support at home!

Playground Equipment - Last year, we raised money for a new piece of playground equipment for UAE. Our student new Lighthouse Leadership Team will be meeting the week of November 6th to decide on the new piece of playground equipment that we will add to our playground. We will give you updates on the progress of ordering and installation. A big SHOUT OUT to all of you who supported our Boosterthon last year. We are so excited to add to our playground!

WE NEED YOU! - We know that students who engage in learning at home, grow academically and feel success while at school. Please encourage your student to compete activities (students do NOT have to complete every activity to receive credit - just participate as much as possible and bring it back to school) on their math/reading monthly calendars at home and then turn them in each month. We have a SCHOOLWIDE goal and want to increase the number of these calendars turned in each month. When we increase the number of calendars turned in, we will have an ALL school celebration.🙌🎉

Family Drop off & Pick Up - Our goal for arrival and dismissal is to keep ALL students safe. Please help us to keep everyone safe and support your student by modeling Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand. We have limited space to drop off and pick up and need to keep the lines moving ONLY when staff give the signal to move forward. There was an accident last week which would have been avoided if the procedures were followed. Thank you for your understanding.

Your VOICE is Important to US - If you have something to share that can help us be better, please share your thinking with us. Mrs. Davis and myself are here to partner with you and we are always working to improve what we do. We honor you and your families and want to partner with you to support the GREATNESS happening at OUR school.

We had a wonderful opportunity to partner with Northwest Suburban Integration School District and bring a small group of Grade 5 students to St.Cloud State University for a day on campus. This visit included a campus tour and hands-on science in a University Lab. We hope to provide more of these types of experiences throughout the year. Event Pictures.

If you missed our 2nd Grade Flight Expert Field Experience to the local Airport you can read the District’s Communication about it here: https://www.ahschools.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=47725&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=96180&PageID=1

Magnet Lottery is Open through Northwest Suburban Integration School District. The first round of the lottery will close December 31. If your student is currently here through this process you DO NOT have to reapply for enrolled students BUT younger siblings planning to enter Kindergarten will need an application submitted. If you have a 5th grade student wanting to pursue STEM or Arts magnet education this application process is also for you. https://www.nws.k12.mn.us/magnet-lottery.html

Questions? Please contact our Curriculum Integration Coordinator Kate Watson, kate.watson@ahschools.us.

We take our responsibility to keep each of our students safe each day very seriously. In order to do this we practice Habit 1: Be Proactive when it comes to practicing our required drills.
Throughout the year students will practice fire drills, severe weather drills, and lock in/lock out procedures These processes are in alignment with district, state, and federal policies to support safe schools. We will be have our first lockdown drill this week. Our teachers review the procedures with students in advance so students are not surprised and understand that it is a practice drill.

PTO is so excited to be back to school this year. We had a great start to the year with a Movie/Community night in October, we watched Hotel Transylvania and spent time with our friends. In October we kicked off our first PTO meeting, where we welcomed some new faces to PTO. Please join us on November 9th for our next PTO meeting. We are going to offer the meeting in person (Explorations Room) or Virtually (via Zoom). We are excited to see everyone in person Nov 9th.

We will be having a Turkey Bingo also on November 17th and are looking forward to a fun activity with friends. If you would like to assist in the planning or volunteering of this event, please email us at universityavepto@gmail.com

Please make sure to follow us on Facebook. Also, if you would like to assist in planning future events at the school, such as dinner night out fundraisers, movie nights or spring fling or if you would like to join a group of other like minded parents please email us at universityavepto@gmail.com.

Art: Let’s celebrate and learn about all of the amazing work our students have created! Click on the Art Newsletter Link; to gather information on the focus of the lessons, vocabulary and projects that they have completed since the beginning of the year!

Music: On Wednesday, October 25 the 5th grade students attended a Minnesota Orchestra Young People’s Concert called Philharmonia Fantastique. Students learned about the instruments of the orchestra as well as how and why they are grouped into instrument families.

• Ala Carte (extras or Mega bites) are available to students in 4th and 5th grade. We will be offering Ala Carte Items to 4th and 5th grade students everyday starting October 30th. As of this time right now those are the only two grades that we will be offering Ala Carte items too. To be able to purchase an Ala Carte item a student needs to have money in their account. You can add money online using the AHConnect. Please see the information below. Items that will be offered when available:

• Entrée - $3.00
• Milk - $0.50 / Lactose Free - $0.75 / Soy - $1.00
• Cheese Stick, Cinnamon Roll - $0.75
• Bag of Crackers, Churro, Biscuit - $0.50
• Ice Cream Treat/Cookie (Friday’s only) - $1.00
• Small PB&J - $1.25

• Payments using AHConnect online service.

• Parents and guardians of Anoka-Hennepin students can now access even more information online about their student's child nutrition account. To manage your account, click the lock and key icon found on this page, login and select the MyStudentInformation icon. You will be able to:

• View meal account balances.

• Sign up for automatic recurring payments.

• Receive e-mail notifications of low balances.

• Make payments with a credit, debit card or direct bank account withdrawal.

• View a student's purchase history for the preceding 90 days.

• Families that need help with their username and/or password can contact the Communication Technologies Help Desk at 763-506-HELP.

• Free School Meals program

• The state’s Free School Meals program have begun in 2023, families will still need to apply to qualify for more educational benefits Starting Sept. 5, 2023, every student may receive one breakfast and one lunch at no cost during the school year. The state’s Free School Meals program will cover the cost of one breakfast meal and one lunch meal for every student daily, however the cost of a la carte items, such as milk, other drinks, or extra meal items will not be covered. Students will need to have funds in their meal accounts to purchase any additional food items. If your family needs access to any other educational benefits available to your student, please visit ahschools.us/freereduced to complete an application.
  The enrollment window for the 2023 Applications for Educational Benefits begins Aug. 1, 2023. Anoka-Hennepin asks that all families complete an online application to provide additional school funding to support all students in the district. By filling out this application, your school can earn funding and you can save money. Educational benefits include:
  ● Athletics fees: Eligible students may qualify for fees to be waived or reduced.
  ● SAT, ACT, AP Fees: Students may be eligible for discounted fees for academic tests and some lab fees.
  ● Other high school activities: Students may qualify for discounts on speech, debate, theater, band and others.
  ● Additional benefits and cost savings: Chromebook device protection, Comcast Internet Essentials discount, Amazon Prime membership discounts, discounted bus fares with Metro Transit, Xcel Energy account assistance, discounts at museums and theaters.
  Resources:
  ● Educational Benefits flyer
  ● Educational Benefits flyer (Spanish)

• Menus Subject to Change

• Supply chain issues are impacting school meal programs nationwide. Our breakfast and lunch menus are subject to change based on food item availability from our distributor. We will do our best to serve our regular menus, but we may have to make adjustments. If changes are made, we will do our best to post the menu changes in a timely manner. Our Child Nutrition Program is committed to ensuring our guests are fed healthy and nutritious meals at school each day. Thank you for understanding.

• Breakfast and Lunch Menus

• View or download menus at: ahschools.us/menus