Principal Hitchens's Notes

Maxfield Families,

We had a wonderful week back from Spring Break. Our scholars came right back ready to learn and be in the community. Next week we will resume MCAs. Our third through fifth grade scholars will take their Math MCAs.

Please join us on May 3rd, at 9am to discuss the budget for next school year. Note that we will have significant cuts and changes. Join us to learn what our changes will be and how it will impact our community and how plan to meet the needs our scholars.

The weather has been constantly changing, please make sure your children are dressed for the weather we will go outside unless it is raining.

Dear Families,

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment(MCA) is a standardized test taken by students across the state in grades 3-8 and 11 for math, grades 3-8 and 10 for reading, and grades 5,8 and high school for science.

Here at Maxfield our MCA test will be given:

April 23 and 24, 2024 for math 3-5

April 30 and May 1, 2024 for Science 5

Please make sure your child has a good night's sleep and is here on time. Testing will begin at 8am these days.

If you have any questions email Margaret.blake@spps.org.

Thank you,

Margaret Blake

We will be hosting Parent Academy beginning Wednesday April 24th at Maxfield. A light meal and child care will be provided. We are partnering with Family Engagement. Please contact Brianna King to register you can email her at Brianna.King@spps.org

Illness Guidelines

We understand it is difficult to decide whether or not your child is too sick to come to school. Here are some guidelines for staying home:

Fever - 100 degrees or higher Stay Home The child needs to be fever free (< 100.0 F) for 24 hours without fever reducing medication (i.e. Tylenol, Ibuprofen). We have noticed several children coming back to school the next day after being sent home with a fever.

Vomiting and Diarrhea - Stay Home

Covid 19 - Come to school once fever free 24hr without medication or after isolation period.

Cough - Stay home with worsening cough accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever, diarrhea, vomit, etc. If the cough is due to asthma, call the school nurse for more guidance

Strep Throat - Return to school once prescribed medication from the physician has been given for 24 hours.

Ear Infection - Come to school if not accompanied with no other symptoms (fever etc.)

We have a limited supply of free COVID tests for students in the nurse's office, please call the nurse's office for more information.

• Tommie Tuesdays: We are encouraging our scholars to wear their purple collaborative shirt on Tuesdays ONLY!
• All School Assembly and Academic All Star School Awards Friday, May 3rd at 8am
• Budget and SCIP meeting May 3rd 9am
• APTT Maty 9th at 5:00-7:30pm

The winter months mean more sickness going around, if you have questions about whether or not your scholar can come to school, please call the health office at 651-888-7648. Please call the office to report every time your scholar(s) will be missing school, 651-293-8680 ext. 42853

Thank you for continuing to work hard to get your scholar to school every day, on time! When students miss more than 10% or 18 days, excused or unexcused, in a school year they are:

• Less likely to read proficiently by 3rd grade

• Missing out on important academic time which impacts whether or not they make appropriate grade level gains

• Fewer opportunities to build positive relationships with staff and peers

• May not develop behavioral and social-emotional skills necessary for success in school and life

We understand that kids get sick and things come up, we trust your judgement when keeping your scholar home. But we know kids need to be in school as much as possible in order to make grade level gains!

If you have questions or concerns with getting your scholar(s) to school please contact school counselor Kary Kuenzli, 651-744-7644 or text 612-405-9477 or principal Dr. Hitchens 651-744-4534. We are here to support you and your family!

Classroom Counseling Lessons for Kindergarten-4th Grade:

This week during your scholar's classroom counseling lesson we started to talk about bullying. We will be spending the next couple of weeks learning about how to recognize, report, and refuse bullying. Check with your scholar to see if they can tell you how they recognize what bullying is!

Classroom Counseling Lessons for 5th Grade:

5th grade is reviewing identity and learning about self esteem. We focused on how identity and self esteem can be positive or negative, which can impact academics, connectedness to school, and relationships. 5th grade scholars started an activity "what I love about myself", be sure to ask what they wrote down!

Hey Hey Listen Up! We continue to demonstrate our use of PBIS C.A.R.E.S. Our March and April focus for C.A.R.E.S. is Empathy. We want all our scholars to show empathy in all that they do. As adults we try to model empathy at school so our scholars model it with each other.

UPDATES & REMINDERS

• • Families will receive a postcard in the mail with transportation information at the end of August. If your child rides the school bus, you’ll receive the bus stop, pick-up and drop-off times. This postcard will also include information if your child walks to and from school, or uses Metro Transit at participating high schools.
  • If your family moved over the summer, update your address at spps.org/onestop.
  • If you believe your student is taking the bus but did not receive a postcard at the end of August, please call your child's school.
  • Please arrive at the bus stop five minutes before the bus is scheduled to pick up your child.
  • Track the status of your child’s bus on your school’s website or the Bus Status app linked below.
  • For your up-to-date bus pick-up and drop-off times, log on to your Campus Parent account and click on the Transportation tab.

  
  

TRACK YOUR BUS WITH THE BUS STATUS APP

• The Bus Status app reports buses greater than 10 minutes late and displays up-to-date bus information for SPPS families and students.

  Notice: Bus Status has a new and improved app just in time for the new school year! The Bus Status app currently installed on your phone will not update automatically to the new app, and will end notifications after September 29. Download the new Bus Status app for free at the Apple App Store and via Google Play.

Education Benefits Discounts for Families

• Amazon - 50% off Amazon Prime Membership
• Xcel Energy’s Income-Qualified Home Energy Saving Program - Free advice and energy-saving improvements, including weatherization and replacement of your older appliances for newer models.
• Minnesota Children’s Museum - Discounted tickets and membership
• Science Museum of Minnesota - $15/yr membership for two adults and all dependents under 21. Includes free admission, Omnitheather movies, and parking. Discounts on summer camps and the Explore Store gift shop.
• Metro Transit’s Transit Assistance Program (TAP) - $1 rides for all household members
• Xfinity Internet Essentials - $10/mo high speed internet
• Affordable Connectivity Program - Up to $30/month towards broadband service and a one time reimbursement of up to $100 for a device (i.e tablet, laptop). Through approved providers only.
• The Minnesota Telephone Assistance Plan (TAP) - TAP is a bill credit of $10 monthly for landline service and LL is a bill credit of up to $9.25 monthly on either landlines, cell phones or broadband internet service.
• T-Mobil 10million Project Free Internet access & hotspots for students for 5 years
• The Works Museum - Discounted admission, memberships and camp scholarships.
• Guthrie Theater Gateway Program - Up to four tickets per production for $5 each
• Bell Museum Curiosity Membership - $15/yr membership for two adults and all dependents under 21 within one household. Unlimited free gallery admission, $2 planetarium tickets, early access to summer camp programs, and pre-qualification to apply for camp scholarship lottery.