Principal's Newsletter

Happy last day of Trimester 2 Packer Families! What a week we have had! And... Wow, 2nd trimester is completed! 2/3 of the year down! Time really goes by fast!

• Even though the last day of the trimester was today, Friday March 8, we have changed when final grades are due. This additional time will allow our students and teachers time and flexibility to improve grades by completing work that was missed during the last week because of our technology issues.

• Staff Back Online- Thursday afternoon the district initiated the process of bringing staff back online, granting them access to email and our other online educational systems. If you sent our staff an email in the past week, there’s no need to resend that email as all emails have been retained in the system. Please be patient with our staff as it may take additional time to respond to all messages that have been sent.

• Secondary Student Devices- All student passwords have been reset. High School students will receive their new passwords in their second hour class on Monday, March 11.Teachers will guide our students through the process of updating their passwords on their devices. Student devices will only be active and functional after the password reset process has been completed in their second hour class on Monday.

• Your student/s did an amazing job of managing the changes due to the technology issues. It was awesome to go into classrooms and see our students working in groups completing tasks/assignments, working with partners discussing the lesson/topic, and helping each other during this time period of no technology. It was so cool to witness the resiliency of our students and staff.

Thanks for all the support you give your student and the school! Have a fantastic weekend! Go PACKERS!

Sincerely,

Chuck

Mr. Chuck Ochocki

South St. Paul High School Principal

700 2nd Street North

South St. Paul, MN 55075

(651) 457-9402

cochocki@sspps.org

Packer Pride: Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

If your student is interested in participating in baseball, softball, track and field, boys tennis and golf you can register them on the Athletics and Activities homepage. You must have an up-to-date physical! If you need help with activity fees, scholarships are available! In order to participate in Spring activities, you must have a 1.7 GPA during the 2nd trimester.

The District Calendar Advisory Committee, comprised of both families and staff, engaged in collaborative dialogue over the last several months for the development of the 2024–25 academic calendar. To guide their efforts, the committee created a comprehensive Guide Change Document, to guide their work in ensuring the recommended calendar not only met state instructional requirements, but also the committee’s established priorities, including minimizing consecutive week disruptions for families and allocating ample time for staff professional development, particularly in meeting the Read Act training requirements, were seamlessly integrated into the calendar. View the Calendar.

South St. Paul Public Schools has summer learning opportunities for all ages. Whether your student is going into a new school or you want to keep their brain stimulated during the summer months, there’s a learning opportunity for your student. Click here to enroll your student or to learn more about any of the programs listed below.

• Kindergarten Camp, Incoming Kindergarteners

• Elementary Summer Learning Academy, Grades 1-5

• Packer Preview, Incoming 6th Graders

• Middle School Summer Learning Academy, Grades 7-8

Instilling healthy habits and routines (adequate sleep/nutrition) and consistent attendance ensures a student’s success in school even as early as kindergarten. We know that too many absences/tardies, for whatever reason, can cause children to fall behind both academically and socially.

To help ensure healthy habits consult with your health care provider regarding well-visits and immunizations, as well as maintain good personal hygiene. Also:

• Get the appropriate vaccines.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Stay home if you are sick (so you do not spread the illness to other people) (do not return to school until fever free for 24hrs without use of medication or 24hrs after last time vomited).
• Use a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand and turn away from other people.
• Use single-use tissues. Dispose of the tissue immediately.
• Wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, or using tissues.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands (viruses can enter your body from unwashed hands).
• Do not share cups, glasses, dishes, cutlery, or cellphones.

The school district will follow the guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health for recommended exclusion and notification for vaccine-preventable diseases including mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria, viral hepatitis, chickenpox, and meningitis. Families will not be notified, and students are not excluded for lice, mononucleosis, pink eye or strep throat.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me:

Rick Moore BSN, RN, PHN moorer@sspps.org

651-457-9449

Reminder - Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for at least 5 days from the onset of symptoms or test date (asymptomatic) and can return when fever free for 24 hours (without fever reducing medication). Following symptom improvement and return, individuals must wear a mask (not shield) for days 6-10 OR individuals may remove their mask sooner than day 10 with two sequential negative antigen tests 48 hours apart. See MN Department of Health Guidance for further details.

Please make sure to update your contact Information.

In order to receive important information regarding school closings and family messages, make sure your contact information is correct in our student information system, Infinite Campus- Parent Portal. To do so:

• Log into your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account

• Click on the user menu icon in the upper left hand side of the screen

• Click on Settings

• Click on Contact Preferences

• Check to make sure all information is correct and preferences are updated

ParentSquare Communications

South St. Paul Public Schools uses ParentSquare for school to home communications. When the need for an emergency school closing arises, this is the system that will alert you.

• One of the best ways to receive these alerts is by downloading the app from the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store

• Look in your ParentSquare account settings and be sure you HAVE NOT turned off notifications from your student’s school or the district, directions here

• Check your phone settings and be sure you are not blocking unknown calls, or you can add SSPPS as a contact in your phone 651-457-9400

• If you have not been receiving school texts, you many have accidentally opted out from receiving them, to start them back up send the word "START" to 66458 to opt back in

March 11- Start of Trimester 2

March 13- NO W.I.N .WEDNESDAY- all students are in the building

March 20- NO W.I.N .WEDNESDAY- all students are in the building

March 25- March 29- No School, Spring Break

Want to see our students and staff in action? Come watch them at a home event. Here is the link to this weeks schedule: Weekly Home Schedule

If your family is experiencing homelessness, such as staying in a shelter, hotel or temporarily with others, we can help make sure your child has stability in their education through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act. For help in accessing these services, please contact Candace Burckhardt, Special School District #6 Homeless Liaison/Local Coordinator.

For more information please look at the resources at the following link: https://www.sspps.org/departments/student-services/special-education

Additional resources can also be found at https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/HealthFamily/PublicAssistance/Housing/Pages/default.aspx or MDE's website: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/ESEA/home/

Email: cochocki@sspps.org
Website: https://www.sspps.org
Location: 700 2nd Street North, South Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-457-9402