Perspectives

This newsletter provides updates, information and event details for Horace Mann School, the Horace Mann School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and Saint Paul Public Schools. It is published weekly and distributed through email. Past issues can be found at mann.spps.org.

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The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT7) is one measure used to identify students as advanced learners/gifted and talented in Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS).

The CogAT7 will be administered to all SPPS kindergarten and second grade students sometime between October 7, 2024 and November 7, 2024. The test is only available to take during this time frame. If you do not want your child to participate, please email Principal Jim Litwin.

Students in grades 1, 3, 4 and 5 may also take the CogAT7 test if requested by a staff member, parent or community member. Please email Principal Litwin by October 14, 2024 if you want to request that your student take the test.

For more information, visit the Talent Development & Acceleration Services (TDAS) website: spps.org/tdas or email us at tdas@spps.org.

We are seeking a volunteer who can help us coordinate the 2024-2025 Scripps Spelling Bee. You will help schedule each round of the spelling bee. You will coordinate with the teachers. You will recruit or lead the final round of the Spelling Bee in January. You will set up the next stage for our school winner. Questions, please email anne.commers@spps.org.

Horace Mann is seeking to add family representatives to some of our building teams. We need parent/guardian voice and perspectives. We are seeking three representatives to attend about 10 meetings. Our hope is to have different grade levels, races, genders, and more represented.

Through the year, we will be looking at and discussing school data, academics and school culture, professional development, family engagement, staffing, and budget. Family representatives would be invited to share their thoughts and opinions and to ask questions. Your participation will inform decisions, influence directions, and help family communications.

The Leadership Team meets on 1 or 2 Thursdays each month. The meeting would be from 2:45-3:30pm. Participation could be virtual or in-person. Please reach out to jim.litwin@spps.org with questions or to express interest.

Bookmark our school calendar. It can be found at the top of our website. Here are some highlights for the next two weeks.

Sunday, September 15-Tuesday, October 15

• Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month

Monday, September 30

• 6:00-7:15pm Sarah Johnson's Class Academic Parent Teacher Team (APTT)

Thursday, October 3

• No School for Teacher Professional Development

Friday, October 4

• (tentative) 1:00pm Dance Performance for Indigenous People's Day (Oct 14) in the gym

Monday, October 7

• 7:00pm Online Parent/Guardian/Student Meeting for Band (Grades 4-5)

Thursday, October 10

• 2:45-3:15pm Leadership Team Meeting

Don't forget the back to school dance is this Friday!

When: Friday, September 27, from 6-7:30p

Where: Horace Mann Gymnasium -- ALL students and families are asked to enter via Door 7 (near the playground/Holleran Hall), as the main doors on Eleanor will be locked.

This year, music, contests + select prizes will be offered by Kidsdance Interactive DJs!

Please note that this will not be a drop-off event, and all kids must be accompanied by an adult. See you there!

You may recall that at the end of last year, a group of parents and the PTA brought forth a recommendation to upgrade the field at Horace Mann. We wanted to provide an update on the progress of the field upgrade project:

• Staff Changes: Our main contact and advocate, the Executive Director of Facilities, has recently left the school district. While this is a significant change, we are continuing to move forward with school district support. We have recently been assigned a district facilities planner who will work with us to gather more detailed information about our specific needs. Principal Litwin has had an initial meeting with the planner.

• Scope of Work:

• Field Improvement: A school district review determined the needs for our field are similar to another school’s, and both projects are larger than anticipated. As a result, the field upgrade will be handled through the district’s capital maintenance process. We are awaiting more information on what this process looks like.

• Rain gardens: Corrie Layfield met with representatives from the Capitol Region Watershed District to explore the potential to incorporate rain gardens in the project. The watershed district may be able to provide designs and partial funding for rain gardens depending on a few factors.

• Trees: Parents also expressed interest in planting trees to provide shade and reduce the field area that needs to be maintained. We will explore this portion of the project more once we have better information about the path of the field upgrade.

• Next Steps:

• Field: Principal Litwin has a second meeting scheduled with the facilities planner to get more details in place then will meet with the field committee to discuss some proposals.

• Rain gardens: We are working to get the watershed district information they need to inform rain garden design and funding potential. Then they will provide designs and information on funding opportunities.

We will provide further updates as we learn more. Thank you for your continued support!

The Family Community Service Committee's purpose is to coordinate and facilitate community service opportunities for Horace Mann families to give back to the larger community. Please take this one-minute survey to share your interests and help guide our efforts.

In order to run our amazing events, WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Please consider signing up for one event or committee this year, using this volunteer interest form. Only have an hour to spare? Great! Check “yes” to the last question on the interest form. Want to get a bit more involved in the decision making for events? Check “yes” on the first question to join our board! We have openings.

For questions contact Christine Holloway at VOLUNTEER.COORDINATOR@HMS-PTA.ORG

Thank you to everyone who attended the first PTA meeting of the school year last Wednesday. If you weren’t able to attend but want to stay informed, check our website for the meeting minutes.

At the meeting, we approved our PTA 2024-25 budget. Highlights for our spending this year are:

• Community building events such as the Spring Carnival and Free Family Fun Nights

• Enrichment opportunities for students such as field trips and classroom residencies

• Classroom support and supplies for teachers and specialists

• Direct support to all Horace Mann students such as kindergarten spirit wear, yearbooks and books

Check the HMS PTA website for the most up to date information about meetings, latest forms, announcements, contact information, volunteer opportunities and more. Click on the “Treasurer’s report and Budget” to see this year’s budget.

President: Grace Hanson, president@hms-pta.org

Vice-President: Gina Corradi, president@hms.-pta.org

Treasurer: Alex Stuart & Sam Smith, treasurer@hms-pta.org

Teacher Reps: Amy Kortuem & Mark Lindskoog, teacher-rep@hms-pta.org

Communications: Lisa Ortmann, communications@hms-pta.org

Volunteer Coordinator: Christine Holloway, volunteer.coordinator@hms-pta.org

Recorders: Andrea Gleckner & Sarah Liuzzi, recorder@hms-pta.org

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is not sponsoring, endorsing, or recommending the activities/events announced in the PTA Section and no SPPS student will be turned away due to inability to pay.

Perspectives Submission Deadline: Thursdays by 8:00am

Email: jim.litwin@spps.org
Website: https://mann.spps.org/
Location: Horace Mann School, 2001 Eleanor Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55116
Phone: 651-293-8965
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPPSHoraceMannSchool/