Monthly Boost

February 2025

We are so proud of the hard work and dedication you’ve shown as we move further into Trimester 2. You’re making great progress, and we want to encourage you to keep pushing forward! Remember, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it—your teachers and all other staff are here to support you every step of the way.

February is "I Love to Read" month, and it’s a perfect time to explore new books and dive into exciting stories. If you’re looking for inspiration, don’t forget to check out MackinVIA, where you’ll find plenty of ideas to spark your imagination and grow your love of reading.

Keep up the amazing work, Otters!

-Ms. Swanson and Ms. Bisson

• February 3: Licensed Staff Workshop - No School for Students
• February 6: 279Online Winter Conferences - VIRTUAL
• February 17: District Closed for Holiday - No School for Staff for Students
• February 25: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Grades 11 and 12
• February 26: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Grades 9 and 10
• February 27: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Grades 6, 7, and 8

• March 4: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Grades 4 and 5
• March 5: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Grades 1, 2 and 3
• March 7: No School for Students - Mark Reporting
• March 10: Start of Trimester 3
• March 12: 279Online ACCESS Testing - Makeup day for ALL Grades
• March 21: Last Day of School before Spring Break
• March 24-28: No School for Students - Spring Break
• March 28: District Closed - Spring Holiday
• March 31: First Day of School after Spring Break

Save the Dates!

Mark your calendars for these fun activities planned for the 2024-2025 school year!

FEBRUARY

• I Love to Read Month
• Join us for virtual events during this time to celebrate all things reading.

MARCH

• Secondary Night: Thursday, March 6th from 6:00-8:00pm
• Middle and High School Activity Night
• Advisory Challenge: March 18th-22nd.

APRIL

• Virtual Talent Show: Monday, April 28th-Friday, May 2nd
• Whether you sing, dance, juggle, or have a unique talent, this is your time to shine. Show off your skills at our Virtual Talent Show!

MAY

• Teacher End of Year Choices
• Teachers may choose to celebrate the end of the school year in their own special ways.

As shared last night via email from the district, 279Online will be changing to a middle and high school ONLY this fall. This means kindergarten through fourth grade students attending will need to choose another option for their elementary education next school year.

Please join the informational meeting on February 4th, 2025 at 6:00 pm to learn more about this and to get any questions you have addressed. The meeting will be online via Microsoft Teams.

Again, please know that we'll do our best to support you and your family on the next step of your journey.

We are excited to share that the February edition of the 2024-2025 College and Career Newsletter is now available! This resource is designed to support your scholars as they navigate their futures, whether they're preparing for college applications or exploring career options.

📚 In this edition, you will find:

• Information on Military Careers and how to get in touch with a recruiter
• Announcement about the ACT, Fee Waivers, and study resources
• PSEO Links and Resources
• Information about HBCUs for Black History Month
• Fantastic Local and National Scholarships for students to apply to

We encourage you to review this month’s newsletter and engage with your scholars about the resources and opportunities available to them. Together, we can help them succeed!

Click this link to access the newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/1b953-college-career-newsletter

Our 279Online scholars will participate in ACCESS for ELLs testing at the Osseo Area Learning Center. MCA testing will take place at North View Middle School.

ACCESS for ELLs Testing Dates: **testing will take place at the Osseo Area Learning Center.

• Grades 11 and 12: Tuesday, February 25, 2025
• Grades 9 and 10: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
• Grades 6, 7, and 8: Thursday, February 27, 2025
• Grades 4 and 5: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
• Grades 1, 2 and 3: Wednesday March 5, 2025
• Makeup for ALL Grades: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
• Kindergarten: TBD. Please connect with your EL teacher to schedule this session

If you have any questions about ACCESS testing, please contact Katina Zambrano at ZambranoK@district279.org.

MCA Testing Dates: **testing will take place at North View Middle School

• Monday, April 7th: MCA Reading and Math - Grades 3, 4, 5
• Tuesday, April 8th: MCA Reading and Math - Grades 6, 7, 8
• Thursday, April 10th (AM): MCA Science - Grades, 5, 8 and 10-12
  **High School students who are taking or retaking Biology or Life Science are required to take the Science test
• Thursday, April 10th (PM): MCA Reading - Grade 10, MCA Math - Grade 11
• Friday, April 11th: MCA Make Up Day - ALL GRADES AND SUBJECTS

If you have any questions regarding MCA testing, please contact Tara Gravelle at GravelleT@district279.org.

During the week of March 17th, our 4th and 5th grade class will begin the Human Sexuality and Infectious Disease units of the District Health curriculum. Outcomes and a list of vocabulary words were shared via email on Friday, January 24th to help families prepare for potential discussions at home. For additional information, including the lesson overview, visit the Parent & Family Toolkit.

• Families who prefer their child not participate in these lessons must contact their child’s principal by March 10th to review alternate options.

If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to our assistant principal, Ryan Bisson, at bissonr@district279.org. Thank you for supporting this important part of our curriculum.

279Online Commencement Ceremony Information
June 8th, 2025 at 11:00am

McNamara Alumni Center – University of Minnesota
200 SE Oak St, Minneapolis, MN 55455

All senior scholars must attend advisory to receive commencement information. Senior scholars have been added to a Schoology group entitled “Commencement Information – Class of 2025.” Commencement information and tasks will be shared through this group as well. Parents and caretakers will receive email reminders to ensure all tasks are completed.

Please check the 279Online Commencement site often throughout the rest of the school year as information is released.
https://sites.google.com/apps.district279.org/279online-commencement/home

If you have any questions, please send an email to online@district279.org.

Ms. Larsen’s Kindergarten class is learning about farms in their reading unit. This past September their class adopted Poppy the cow! Poppy lives on a farm in Minnesota, and the class gets updates about her to share with Mrs. Lussier's first grade class.

They’re also taking virtual field trips to learn more about farm life, making the learning experience even more exciting for the kids!

Scholars learned about non-objective art, the abstract expressionism movement that emerged after WWII, and color theory. They used open-ended instructions and made creative choices about how to interpret and select colors for their own non-objective drawings.

Scholars also listened to clips of various kinds of music, and drew lines inspired by the feel of the music and chose colors to reflect its mood. Check out their creations!

Staff members at 279Online and the Osseo Area Learning Center (OALC) have recently taken an active approach to championing recycling efforts, earning us a free park bench to be placed on site at the OALC.

The effort was led by Jesse Huff-Larson, our 279Online attendance education support professional, who wrote a Hennepin County Recycling Grant in Feb. 2023. This allowed the OALC to create displays of recyclables and signage at recycling stations throughout the building, promote recycling facts through the TVs in the commons area, create table tents for the tables during lunchtime, host a recycling exploratory for scholars with OALC teacher Beth Demerest and purchase compost bins to use kitchen scraps to make compost soil to add to a garden on site. As a result, the school has seen an extra two bags of recycling a day.

“We are trying to instill the recycling mindset in kids going forward so they can go out into the world and teach the world to do better,” Huff-Larson said.

In Feb. 2024, the school staff started participating in the Trex company’s NexTrex Recycling program, which gives schools a free Trex bench when they collect and recycle 1,000 lbs. (or 81,000) plastic bags within one year. The OALC and 279Online staff reached the goal a month early.

Elementary and middle school attendance boundaries are being changed in order to balance student enrollment across the district. These future adjustments, set to take effect in 2026, will reassign the Osseo Area Schools elementary and/or middle school that some households are zoned to attend.

Proposed scenarios available to view online: There are four proposed attendance boundary change scenarios being presented at this time. On each of the following information pages, you’ll find an overview of the proposed scenario, a map and a search tool. Community members can use the search tool to see how the proposed scenario would impact their household.

• Info on proposed scenario 1

• Info on proposed scenario 2

• Info on proposed scenario 3

• Info on proposed scenario 4

Community input is important: Please share your thoughts on the four proposed scenarios by filling out the online feedback form or participating in an upcoming community informational meeting.

• Online feedback form

• The first Community Informational Meeting is being held on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5:45 p.m. in the Brooklyn Middle STEAM School cafe

• Please fill out this form if you’re planning to attend; or

• Watch the presentation-portion of the event via the livestream

• The second Community informational Meeting is being held Thursday, Jan. 23 at 5:45 p.m. in the Maple Grove Middle School cafe

• Please fill out this form if you’re planning to attend; or

• Watch the presentation-portion of the event via the livestream

Timeline: Please share your thoughts on the four proposed scenarios by Friday, Feb. 7. After that, all community feedback will be reviewed and adjustments to the proposed scenarios considered. Likely, our community will have another opportunity to provide input on some edited scenarios in March. The school board is expected to approve final attendance boundary changes by this May.

The new attendance boundaries will go into effect fall 2026 alongside the tentative opening of the new elementary school in the northwest region of our district.

Background: It’s common for communities to experience changing student enrollment. Our district’s Enrollment and Capacity Management Advisory Committee (ECMAC) has been monitoring these enrollment shifts in conjunction with our school building capacities for the last several years. Their most recent reports have detailed that a significant enrollment imbalance exists and that it should be addressed.

ECMAC’s work helped to form 2023’s Building a Better Future referendum. A new elementary school and additions to Maple Grove Senior High School were requested to address space constraints from continued growth. It was additionally noted that attendance boundary changes were needed no matter the outcome of the election. Thankfully, our community supported the 2023 referendum request so additional facility space will help to address growth needs, which limits attendance boundary changes to elementary and middle schools and impacts fewer families.

Stay tuned: Please continue to stay tuned for updates over the coming weeks and months. Detailed information will continue to be shared on the district website, district279.org/boundaries. Feel free to reach out if something additional needs to be addressed via BetterFuture@district279.org or 763-391-8990.

English: 763-391-8900, Español: 1-855-891-8364, Lus Hmoob: 1-844-577-9549, Soomaali: 1-855-891-5322 or Tiếng Việt: 1-855-891-8365

Each year we ask scholars and parents/caregivers to read and sign an agreement between themselves and 279Online concerning expectations and mutual understanding about appropriate behavior and responsibilities.

We’re excited to remind you about MackinVIA, our online library that’s available anytime, anywhere! With a vast collection of eBooks, audiobooks, and educational databases, MackinVIA is the perfect resource to support your child’s learning and love for reading.

Access is easy and open 24/7—so whether it's for homework help or a good book to enjoy, MackinVIA has you covered. Scholars can find the link to MackinVIA in Clever.

Happy reading!

Talent Development, Academic Challenge and Gifted Support (TAG) services are available to students in third through fifth grade to strengthen interests, extend grade-level content, and apply skills and concepts in authentic ways.

Please feel free to contact our TAG Specialist, Ms. Wald, at walde@district279.org if you have any questions.

• Follow us on social media:
• Facebook at 279Online
• X (formerly Twitter) at 279Online
• Instagram at 279Online_K12
• 279Online website.

• Keep your contact information current in ParentVUE. You can update phone numbers and email addresses at any time in ParentVUE, and also report full day absences for your scholar(s). For instructions, please visit the ParentVUE Site.
• At the elementary level, please check Seesaw for daily assignments and schedules, information from your teacher, and more.
• At the secondary levels, please check Schoology for current grades, daily assignments, and overall progress. Mid-trimester grades and Trimester grades are posted in ParentVUE.
• Review our current and past newsletters on our website for important information.

Check your email regularly for Blackboard and Schoology emails from us. If you aren’t seeing them, please look in your junk folder or check your setting to make sure you don’t have emails blocked.

ParentVUE is an application you can use to view your scholar(s) attendance, report cards, schedule conferences, update your contact information, enter full day absences and more. We highly encourage you to create an account if you do not have one already. Please follow these instructions on how you create an account.

You may also visit our ParentVUE page for more step-by-step instructions on how to access and change things in ParentVUE.

If you have any questions regarding your ParentVue account, please submit a ticket to our technology department via Incident IQ.

Families will need to complete the Back-to-School Annual Verification form in ParentVUE before accessing their accounts for information regarding students in the new academic year. Please review the information thoroughly to make any necessary changes to you or your scholars information.

Need help logging in to an account, checking in for an online meeting with a teacher, or setting up a device? Check out the technology resources in the Parent and Family Toolkit.

Need more technology assistance? The district tech support help desk is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on student days, and 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on non-student days.

The best way for scholars and families to receive technology help during school hours (7:30-4:00pm) is to contact 279Online's main office at 763-391-8670 or email us at online@district279.org.

• We will then have the technology department reach out to you as soon as they can.

The best way for scholars and families to receive technology help outside of school hours is to submit a ticket for technology assistance through our new ticketing system, IncidentIQ

• Use the following link to submit a ticket via IncidentIQ. https://district279.incidentiq.com/guest/5K9FRZD3/help-desk-kiosk.
• Once you submit the ticket, then your user information will be in IncidentIQ for the future.
• You may also call the tech department directly at 763-391-7180.

We would love to partner with you to build our parent/caregiver community.

If you'd like to share ideas, feedback, or connect with other parents and our administration team, please contact Assistant Principal, Ryan Bisson at BissonR@district279.org or 763-391-8682.

Volunteering is an opportunity for you to:

• Show your children or the youth of our community that you are interested in their school life and their future
• Show your commitment to the community
• Help others and develop new skills
• Meet new and interesting people and develop friendships
• Share your time and talents
• Open communication between you and your child when you’re involved and know what is going on at school
• Give your child a boost -- studies show that parent and community involvement and volunteering enhances student success
• It’s fun!

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities for 279Online, please contact us at online@district279.org

In the back-to-school forms process, families have the ability to deny the release of all directory information (including a student’s image) or to specifically deny the release of a student’s image only. Families who wish to change their student's opt out preferences can do so at any time in ParentVUE.

What is the difference between denying a release of a student's photograph and denying a release of directory information?

• If you deny the school district the ability to release your child’s photo only, the school district will not include a photo or a video/audio recording of your child in yearbooks, school/district websites, school/district social media pages or other school/district publications accessible outside of school.
• If you deny a release of all of your student’s directory information (which includes the student’s photograph), the school district will not include your child’s name, image, voice, school of attendance, awards, participation in officially recognized activities/sports, or any other directory information in any school/district publication that is accessible outside of school.

More information about the Directory/Photo Release information can be found here: https://www.district279.org/info-center/media-inquiries/opt-outs

Seesaw is a digital portfolio that your scholars will use in grades K-5. Scholars can post images, drawings, videos, and other examples of classwork to show what they are learning in school and share it with their family.

For more detailed Seesaw technology tips and instructions, please click here.

For families who use Schoology, we created this handy reference guide to help you navigate what you’ll see in Schoology, how Schoology is different than ParentVue, and how to get support for accessing the parent side of Schoology.

Click here for the reference guide.

Parents/Guardians can access the Schoology Parent Access Code in ParentVUE under the Lunch PIN in Student Info.

GRADES K-5

Teachers take attendance twice a day through their classroom meetings.

GRADES 6-12

Scholars in 279Online are expected to attend live instruction for classes every day.

• Teachers verify and submit the official attendance record in Synergy.
• At 6:00 pm, Blackboard calls will go out to families for scholars with unexcused absences from the previous day.

OTHER ATTENDANCE TIPS:

• If a scholar is unable to attend, families need to report the absence to 279Online in order to excuse the absence (email: online@district279.org or phone: 763-391-8670 option 1) OR report your student(s) FULL DAY absences in ParentVue. Click Here for directions.
• If you need to report your scholar’s absence and speak a language other than English, please email online@district279.org in your language and label your message with the name of the language. We will translate your message and record the absence.

If you have any questions regarding attendance please contact your scholars’ teachers or the main office (phone: 763-391-8670 OR email: online@district279.org)

Rather than posting numerous resources each week, we are compiling them in a Google Doc that will be updated accordingly. Please click here for assistance regarding things like mental health, food and clothing support, and Internet access.

Examples of Resources included:

• Educational Benefits Application Information
• Mental Health Resources
• District Multilingual Facebook Pages
• Technology Resources
• Community Resources
• Winter Weather Gear
• Furniture, Sheets, Blankets, Dishes, Pots and Pans, Cleaning Supplies and Clothing
• Homework Starts with Home Program