March News

Order your Rosa Parks 2024-25 yearbook now! Please note: ALL orders must be placed online. We are not accepting cash/checks. Here is the link to place your order. The deadline to order is March 14, 2025.

Volunteers are needed to teach Junior Achievement lessons in Rosa Parks Elementary classrooms. Kindergarten and 2nd grade available. Volunteers have all lesson materials provided and receive a short training by Junior Achievement. This commitment is about 5 lessons- 40 minutes each in the classroom. To sign up or for more information, email Haley at haley.geinnotta@janorth.org

Linked here is the letter shared with families on February 12. This letter contains instructions for viewing your student's NWEA results.

Focus School Transition Update

• Building-level teams continue to collaborate and work on developing schedules, aligning content with the focus theme, and embedding it into core curricular areas.
• We will start our professional development plan on March 14 as we engage in our first steps of Inquiry Based teaching models. We are partnering with MSU and will have more training opportunities this summer.
• Our team is working on what parts of the educational experience will look like for the Fall of 2025. Some of those items include:
• Adding an Engineering Lab for students to have further hands on opportunities that will encourage collaboration and problem solving skills.
• Our special area classes (Art, Music, STEM) will incorporate the concepts to STEAM.
• Working on designing opportunities where students could design and build a simple bridge using everyday materials, applying math to measure dimensions, science to understand forces, technology to test strength, engineering to construct it, and art to make it visually appealing.

We are looking forward to communicating further updates as we progress in our planning stages throughout March. Please stay updated through our SMORE newsletters.

We are currently accepting donations of new or gently used winter clothing items such as boots and waterproof gloves. Items can be dropped off in the office.

Winter weather will be here soon, so it’s a good idea to have a plan for your family in case of school closings, early dismissals, or late starts.

Notices for school closings and early dismissals will be posted on the following websites, radio, and television stations. You can also hear a recorded message on the District Notification Line at 507-387-6046.

Other ways to track school closing delays/dismissals/closures:

● www.isd77.org ● katoinfo.com ● mankatofreepress.com ● southernminnesotanews.com ● keyc.com ● KEYC 12 - TV AND MANY MORE.

Click HERE for a copy of the Winter Weather Information.

*Blue Earth Area Schools is a smaller school district south of us. When you hear or see this, IT IS NOT Mankato Area Public Schools.

Mar. 6 PTO Fundraiser-Applebee's

Mar. 12 Early Release

Mar. 14 NO SCHOOL-Teacher Work Day

Mar. 17 PTO Meeting, 7:00 pm Media Center

Mar. 18 Conferences and Book Fair 3:20-8:00 pm

Mar. 18, 19, 20, 21 Music Informances Grades K, 2, 4

Mar. 20 Conferences and Book Fair 3:20-8:00 pm

Mar. 24 Conferences and Book Fair 3:20-8:00 pm

Mar. 25 Science Fair

Mar. 26-31 NO SCHOOL

MAPS families, we will have early releases on the following Wednesdays:

2-Hour Early Release Days

March 12, 2025

April 9, 2025

May 14, 2025

• This means your student will start their day at the normal time of 8am and be released at 12:30pm. Your student will still receive lunch prior to the 12:30pm dismissal when buses will leave the building.
• Optional supervision by school staff is coordinated by the building and provided between 12:30 and 2:30pm. A Google form will be used to sign up again this year.
• Students who stay for the optional supervision and are not enrolled in ACES must have transportation home by 2:30pm, the end of a normal school day.
• Lastly, ExCEL and After School Club programs will not run on early release Wednesdays.

We have our arrival and dismissal procedures in place to keep students safe, and operate in an efficient and effective manner.

Arrival:

• Doors will not open until 7:35 unless you are enrolled in our ACES program. Also, adult supervision does not start until 7:35.
  

• Students that arrive between 7:35 and 7:50 should either report to the playground or breakfast.

• Curbside drop off is in the lower lot, door (#3). Please follow the flow of traffic.

• DO NOT PASS cars and skip ahead in line.

• Pull ahead as far as possible at all times. It may be super convenient for your kid to exit the vehicle right in front of the door or playground but please be considerate of others. The better everyone follows the procedures the smoother the experience is for everyone.

• The upper lot, (door #1) is reserved for buses only. and special circumstances. Should you need to visit the office, use the upper lot to park and enter the building.

• Students who walk or ride their bike will approach on the path, on the playground side of the building. They will walk/bike around the building to the bike racks and use the lower door (#3).

THE END OF DAY PICK-UP PROCEDURES -

DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

• Students who walk home will exit door #7 (near orange playground equipment)

• utilize the walking path

• must promptly begin leaving campus once they exit the building.

• Students who bike home will exit door #7 (near orange playground equipment)

• utilize the walking/bike path

• must promptly begin leaving campus once they exit the building.

• Students who are car riders will exit door #3.

• We are committed to keeping Rosa Parks students, families, and staff safe. Thank you for your cooperation!

• Each family is given a number that will need to be displayed in the car window

• Families will get two numbers to have in multiple vehicles

• Display number on the passenger side

• When pulling up, always pull up as far as you can and we will load multiple cars at a time.

• Staff will communicate the numbers in the order they have arrived into the building.

• Avoiding the process and driving to the front will result in your number not being called. Follow the process!

• As cars load, they will be dismissed and the next batch of cars will pull in.

• Make sure your children know their number for dismissal.

Please make sure your child knows how they will be getting home each day. Inform your child’s teacher or the school office if there is a change in your family’s plan.

The Greater Mankato Mental Health Hub has launched! This hub was developed by Greater Mankato Area United Way's Youth Mental Health/Suicide Prevention Committee and is hosted by the Center for Rural Behavioral Health at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The hub is meant to be a tool for parents and caregivers to easily find information on crisis support, local mental health services, parent education, and more.

Find more information HERE.

Rosa Parks is a School-wide Title 1 School, meaning we receive additional funding to provide supplemental interventions or services to students. The purpose of Title I, Part A under the Federal ESEA Act is to supplement services to students to help them learn what they need to know to be successful on high academic standards.

Rosa Parks' Parent Engagement Plan emphasizes the importance of collaboration between parents and educators. We encourage you to participate in our school activities, attend meetings, and provide feedback to help us create a supportive learning environment for your child. A copy of Rosa Parks' Parent Engagement Plan is available upon request.