Zaj's Weekly News

A big thank you to our staff and volunteers- for teaching and practicing with our students so they can shine, for serving food and managing activities, and for setting up and cleaning up.

A big thank you to our parents and families - for supporting our students and dressing them up in their best clothes all week, for donating water and money towards our dinner, and for being their biggest cheerleaders.

Thank you to our planning committee for all your hard work: Bao Xiong, Hlee Vang, Thao Lor Lee, Neftali Ramirez, Cheng Xiong, Pang Xiong, Bounthavy Kiatoukaysy, and our engineers: Tony Schueller and Jim HIggins.

Our district is very close to selecting our next superintendent. Please go to the SPPS website (linked here) to get the latest updates with some very important live interviews and parent sessions for each candidate. I encourage you to attend the parent sessions.

With the holidays coming up, just a friendly reminder of our food/candy policy. We have a growing number of students with health and nutritional needs that can be put at risk if exposed to certain foods. Rather than excluding our students from celebrations, we would like to have all of our classrooms find ways to celebrate and have fun together in ways that do NOT involve food. If you would like for your child to share something with their classmates, please make sure it's NOT a food item. We can NOT put our students at risk. Please work with your child's teacher for some ideas that do not involve food. Thank you for keeping our students' health and safety first. Please call Principal Xiong or Nurse Michelle if you have any questions or concerns.

Each month, XF Vee draws upon the rich oral tradition of storytelling and brings a story to life for all of our students. "Dab Neeg" (pronounced /da neng/) is the White Hmong word for folktale. "Lug nruag" (pronounced /lu droua/) is the Green Hmong word for folktale. XF Vee is a gifted storyteller and has collected many "lug nruag" over the years. Each month, she "opens" up a story bag and shares it with our students. She invites a staff member to tell a story with her. This month, XF Vee and XF Cheng will be telling a folktale on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ask your child what their favorite part of the "lug nruag" is.

I will add a section titled "News from PTO" so PTO can update parents/families as they meet and make any announcements.

On Thursday, Dec. 19th, PTO would like to request parents AND students, and staff to attend the Open Comment part of the School Board Meeting at our District Center located at 360 Colborne Street, St. Paul, MN 55102. Please come to the district center at 5:15pm with your families. We will meet briefly before Open Comments starts from 5:30-6:30pm. We need our community to come support our students as we address facilities concerns and other concerns around our students' needs. It's important to have a strong voice and presence to advocate for our children. Questions can be directed to board officers at this email: phalenlakepto@gmail.com

President: Lis Thao

V-President: Eric Khounchaleun

Secretary: Padmini Yang

Treasurer: Shela Her

PTO has decided to combine the PTO from Lower Campus and Upper Campus. All parents from both sites are invited to join the Txuj Ci PTO. We will alternate meetings at each site and address needs of both schools. Our next PTO meeting will be on Thursday, January 9th at Txuj Ci Lower Campus from 5:30pm-7:30pm. We hope you will join us!

The window to apply for next school year is now open. If you have an incoming PreK or Kindergarten student for next year, please make sure you enroll them before the priority deadline, Feb. 14th, 2025. Remember for PreK, we only offer Hmong Dual Language classes. For Kindergarten, we offer both Hmong Dual Language (Hmong and English Instruction) and Hmong Studies (English only instruction) classes. Make sure you select the correct program. Please call the school if you have any questions. You can apply online or stop in the main office if you would like assistance. If you have a young child who may qualify for special education services, please bring them in for their screening. They may qualify for programming that starts BEFORE they turn 4 years old. If you have questions or need help, call the school. CLICK HERE FOR THE SPPS Placement Center Link to apply online.

Click here for Karen Flier

Click here for Spanish Flier

Parents, please do NOT drop off students before 9:10am. There is no supervision of students. To change pick-up, you MUST call the office BEFORE 3:00pm. If you are picking your child up early, you must be present in the office to walk out with student. This ensures their safety. Thank you for your help.

Important Upcoming Events:

December 23rd - January 3rd - Winter Break

January 6th - School resumes

Click here for the December menu. Nias nov yog koj xav saib cov zaub mov!

Arrival/ Xa tuaj kawm: 9:10-9:30am

Dismissal/ Tuaj tos me nyuam: 3:55-4:10pm

Front Office Hours/ Tsev kawm ntawv qhib raws sij hawm no: 8:30am-4:30pm

Clerks/ Kws teb xov tooj: Lisa Lor and Aneedda Xiong

School phone number/ Xov tooj: 651-293-8935

Principal/ Thawj Tswj: May Lee Xiong, AP/ Lwm Tswj: Michelle BrownTon