Paw-some News

• November 1st: No School
• November 7th: Conferences
• November 12th: Conferences
• November 25th-29th: No School

2024-25 School Year Calendar

This is a reminder that there is no school this Friday, November 1st.

There will also be no school on Monday, November 25th-Friday, November 29th.

School pictures are available for families to view and order online. View and order at https://shop.jostenspix.com/login

• If you have not ordered pictures with Jostens, you will first need to create an account
• Click, "Find Your Student"
• School Name: PIKE LAKE EDUCATION CENTER
• Event Code: FE54424
• Also Needed: Synergy Unique Student ID (This is your child's Student ID, also called Perm ID, and can be found in ParentVUE by tapping 'Student Info')

At Pike Lake your student may participate in some fun activities this week. Classroom teachers often will have fall-themed games to play or even make small adjustments to typical classroom activities to include a little fall fun. One thing that is common is that students don't wear costumes. Please help us out by NOT sending costumes to school.

Our fundraiser event is officially over! With your support the PTA raised over $14,000!! Thank you to parents and staff who helped with the fundraising to support Pike Lake. The PTA will continue to accept donations and member requests all year at this link.

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 7th and 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.

Science: In October, we are beginning to learn about force and motion. We will learn about the difference between pushes (moving an object away from you) and pulls (moving an object towards you). We enjoy exploring pushes and pulls through experiments, activities, songs, and stories. Students especially enjoy using balls, cars, gears and paper wrecking balls to move objects by pushing and pulling on them.

Art: In early October students took home an artwork that featured warm, cool, and neutral colors as well as textures. All students got the opportunity to help create our school's mosaic mural with artist Lisa Arnold. Thank you so much to the volunteers and staff who helped with this beautiful artwork! At the end of October students will continue learning about primary colors and will take home their spin paintings with a 3D rainbow that they create using primary colors of model magic.

Music: In October, we are beginning to explore high and low pitch with our voices. Students are learning how the shape of a line can guide whether to move their voice up or down in pitch. We have been working on a song called “Autumn is Here” by Rob DelGaudio. This is a cumulative song that we have learned with actions and are now starting to add classroom instruments. We explored how to make chiffon scarves into falling leaves with the song “Falling Leaf” by Stephanie Leavell. To connect with music at home, ask your child to teach you how to “sing a leaf” or teach you the song “5 Perfect Pumpkins” and see if they remember the words and actions!

We are excited to be working with your students this year! It is so fun to watch students learn and grow throughout the kindergarten year! The contact information for the specialist teachers are:

Art - Jessica Silk, jessica.silk@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7460

Music - Ashley Morben, ashley.morben@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7497

Physical Education- Joe Persuitti joe.persuitti@moundsviewschools.org 651-621-7431

Science- Susan Lee, susan.lee@moundsviewschools.org, 651-621-7443

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.

The District's two kindergarten centers, Pike Lake and Snail Lake, opened 10 years ago.

This year, the School Board is asking the community to provide feedback regarding student use of cell phones in schools. This feedback 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 www.mvpschools.org/cellphones.

Back by popular demand! Father, daughter, mother, son, grandma, grandpa, uncle,aunt, cousin, all are invited to the Frosty Ball VIP (Very Important Person) Dance, benefiting the Mounds View Community Education Youth Scholarship Fund.

Don’t miss this opportunity to dress up, dance and have a whirly twirly good time with the very important children in your life! At the ball enjoy a night of dancing, games, crafts, refreshments and more as you create lifelong memories with the most important people in your life! Semi-formal attire is encouraged!

Featuring a live DJ, Bounce house, Photobooth stations, Balloon artists, crafts, snacks, cotton candy and more!

Sat, Nov. 9 | 6 - 8:30 p.m. | Edgewood Middle School

$15 Per Person | E.B. Fee: $7.50 per person

Register now!

The Lost and Found is filling up! We already have a number of items in the lost and found. If your student is missing any items, please have them check the lost and found. Also, it is extremely helpful to label all of their clothing (especially easily removable items such as sweatshirts and jackets) with their first and last name so we can help reunite students with their missing items.

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.