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 2024

October

4 - No School for Elementary Students

7 - No School for Elementary Students

7, 10 - Conferences (Book Fair in the Media Center)

8 - PTO Meeting 6:30 PM

11 - Grade 2 Airport Field Experience

11 - PTO Fall Festival (evening event)

14, 15, 16, 21, 22 - STARBASE Grade 5

This month, students and staff are working on Habit 1, Be Proactive. 😀

This means that you plan ahead, you set goals and you do things that have meaning and make a difference. Our ACES have a plan!

Greetings University Avenue Families,

Welcome to the 2024-25 School Year. It has been a great start to the school year. We had our first ALL School Meeting where we introduced our staff and made our our commitment to our students (See picture). We have been busy creating our class mission statements and students are beginning to set their wildly important goals. We had two days of common spaces kick-off and have been practicing those expectations throughout the building each week. During the first 8 Days, students had an overview of the 8 Habits and many opportunities to build community in their classrooms.

24-25 Student Lighthouse Team - We are in the process of building our 24-25 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 was an application process to "apply" for the position. Students interested in applying brought the application home and were required to have a family signature. Thank you for your support at home! Our 2024-25 Student Lighthouse Leadership Team will be announced at our October All School Meeting!

Schoolwide Wildly Important Goal - This year we will be focusing on increasing our overall student attendance. Students will be tracking their own personal attendance and keep track of it in their leadership binders. We understand that students need to be absent at times due to illness and other family situations. The purpose of this goal is to bring awareness of the importance of regular student attendance and the correlation to student achievement.

Goal:

By the end of the 2024-25 school year, 100% of the students at UAE will have tracked and recorded their daily attendance in order to increase student engagement and achievement.

Transportation - Thank you for your patience as we have been navigating the beginning of the school year transportation for your student(s). It always takes a few weeks to get settled. If your student's transportation is still chronically late, please don't hesitate to call Mr. Williamson or Principal Bloemers. It is important that we know so that we can help support and work with the transportation companies to work on the routes. We appreciate you!

Your VOICE is Important to US - If you have something to share that can help us be better, please share your thinking with us. As principals of University Avenue ACES Elementary we 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.

Hello,

My name is Kate Watson and I'm our Curriculum Integration Coordinator. My role in our school is to support our being a Magnet School in content, teacher training, student opportunities and family engagement. As you can imagine connecting students, staff, families, and the community with Aerospace, Engineering and Science is awesome! What I love most about my job is being able to see curiosity growing and support our student leaders each and every day!

Our school is aligned with Northwest Suburban Integration School District and this year we will have a review. If you are interested in being on our Parent Panel for this site visit please contact me at your convenience. We plan to have our review done in late January.

If you have questions about our school, the opportunities or even next steps to stay in a STEM learning environment for Middle School please reach out. kate.watson@ahschools.us.

Ask your ACE!

We teach the kids that often we call them 'ACES' because they are the best and it's our school nickname.This month all our classrooms are working to develop their Leadership Class Mission Statement. These will go on a special giant Mission Patch outside their classroom. Check it out at Conferences! I've had the opportunity to put on my blue flight suit and give each classroom in the school a lesson about our Mission Patch tradition that we share with NASA Astronauts. The students loved being able to see real mission patches up close!
All students will eventually have their picture and their Personal Mission Statement posted above their lockers as well. We love seeing so many smiling ACES faces in our hallways!

Field Experiences:
(at University ACES our Magnet enrichment is called a learning experience instead of a field trip)
Grades 3 & 4 have had space expert and Observatory Coordinator Mr. Ron Schmit out to teach about Planets and Space (Grade 3 Space Exploration Experts) and NASA X-Planes (Grade 4 Innovative Engineering Experts).

Grade 2 Flight Experts - On Friday, October 11 will go to the Anoka-County Airport to learn from pilots, meet the LifeLink Helicopter team and play 'I Spy' from the tower at the airport.

Grade 5 STEM Career Experts will be attending STARBASE Minnesota October 14, 15, 16, 21, 22. It's imperative students arrive on time to school on these days. Learn more

Perspective Student Open House

Know someone looking to attend our school?
We will be hosting a Magnet Information Meeting on Tuesday, November 12 from 6-7PM. This will be for students interested in attending our school in Fall 2025.

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.

Upcoming Events:

• Fall Festival: Mark your calendars for our first-ever Fall Festival on Friday, October 11th. We're planning for a fun-filled evening of games, food, and activities for the whole family—more details to follow. We want your opinions on how to make this a super fun event, please join us after the PTO meeting for an informal discussion about this event

We Need Your Help!

We're always looking for volunteers to help make our events a success. If you're interested in getting involved, please contact Kim at UniversityAvePTO@gmail.com or 763-412-2827. Your time and energy are invaluable to our school community.

When should my child stay home from school?

Many students and parents are frequently concerned about when students should stay home or attend school. The following information is intended to help with this decision.

General practice:

• If a student has had a fever of 100 degrees or more, the student must stay home for 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal without fever reducing medication.

• If a student has vomited or had diarrhea, the student must stay home until 24 hours after the last episode.

• If a student has had any rash that may be disease-related or the cause is unknown, check with your family physician before sending the student to school.

• If a student is ill, please call the school daily to report the illness.

If you are concerned about other diseases, please review the Is My Child Well Enough document.

If your child is going to be absent, please put their absence in ParentVue or contact the attendance line at 763-506-4506.

• 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