AFSA PreK-12 Family Update

AFSA PreK-12 Families,

Winter break is upon us! Today was a special day at both buildings. The elementary students celebrated with all school Winter BINGO and a movie. The high school students had Healthy Lifestyles Day which started with an all school version of Taskmaster and moved on to a variety of healthy activities. See photos at the end of the newsletter!

Please see below for an important message from our school board chair, Kate Plaisance!

Have a wonderful winter break!

See you on January 6, 2025!

Important Date Reminders:

• December 23-January 3 - AFSA PreK-12 Winter Break

Special Note - To access the downloadable files attached to the newsletter click the top of the Family Update email that says "View in browser."

Dear AFSA Families,

I am pleased to announce that on Tuesday evening the School Board unanimously approved to hire Sam Wakefield as our Executive Director. He will officially start in this role January 1, 2025. Mr. Wakefield had been working closely with Ms. Meyer for the last 3 months to assume the role of Interim Executive Director of AFSA, but in light of his achievements, commitment and the support of teachers and staff, the School Board felt that offering him the role of Executive Director was the right way to move forward.

Ms. Meyer will be staying on as our finance director while we post and fill a Business Manager Position. The Board wants to thank Ms. Meyer for all she has done and continues to do for AFSA. Her commitment to the success of AFSA is truly inspirational.

Lastly, please join me in congratulating and welcoming Mr. Wakefield as our new Executive Director of AFSA!

Sincerely,

Kate Plaisance

ASFA School Board Chair

Save the date for our You Butter Believe It - AFSA High School's Dairy Event and our AFSA Elementary Literacy Night coming up January 16, 2025! One night! Two amazing events! Learn more about each event below!

You Butter Believe It - AFSA's Dairy Event is full of dairy fun! Including cheese making, butter making, FREE Culver's custard (Thank you to the Little Canada Culver's!), cow crafts and mooore! Join school board member and retired U of M professor, Dave Smith and ag teacher extraordinaire Ms. Laura Wyatt, as they teach the science behind cheese making while making fresh mozzarella cheese. You Butter Believe It is coming up January 16th from 4-7 p.m. at AFSA High School. Stop by the cheese making sessions at 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

AFSA Elementary's Literacy Night is coming up January 16 from 4-7 p.m. at AFSA Elementary. We are very excited to announce that we have some special guests for our Literacy Night. From 5:00 - 6:45 p.m. join authors, Laura Joswiak and Elena Melling to talk about their books.

More about Laura Joswiak: Laura's debut book is titled “A Rainbow of Orange” and is available on Amazon and Ingram. It’s a delightful story about a spirited little girl with reddish-orange hair, in search of her lost orange kitten. She is currently working on her second story, which is a rhyming children’s picture book about a monkey. She plans to release that book in 2025. She may even share a sneak preview of this story at the literacy event on January 16th .

More about Elena Melling: Elena and her husband Michael (Yes, AFSA's very own Mr. Melling!) have been married for 21 years and live in the river valley of Wisconsin with their 6 sons. She is a homeschooler and small business owner. When their youngest son, Rhodes-who has Down Syndrome, was just 6 months old he showed he had a love for reading which inspired Elena to write a rhyming book about him!

Elena's book is titled Rhodes' Magnificent Toes. Join Rhodes, a spirited little boy, on an enchanting adventure that celebrates the advantages of being born with an extra chromosome! In Rhodes' Magnificent Toes , readers are invited into a day filled with fun, laughter, and toe-tapping excitement as Rhodes showcases his incredible hyper-flexibility and imaginative toe tricks.

Both the elementary and high school will be hosting Scholastic Book Fairs the week of January 27 - January 31. This is also conference week! Watch for details coming soon!

We would like your help! We are reaching out to you and your family to find out how you first heard about AFSA PreK-12. This will help ensure that we are using our marketing efforts effectively and reaching families who may benefit from AFSA PreK-12. Whether you have been at AFSA many years or are new this year we want to hear from you! Please click here and take a moment to fill out this brief survey. Thank you for your help!

Attention AFSA PreK-12 Families! We need your help getting the word out about AFSA PreK-12! We would love to have you write a review on Google, share a post on social media, submit a quote or story about what you like best about AFSA PreK-12 or distribute flyers!

• Flyers: If you are interested in getting some flyers to help advertise the school please contact Ms. Forliti.
• Google Reviews: To write a Google review for AFSA Elementary click here and for AFSA High School click here.
• Social Media: To follow us on Facebook click here. To follow us on Instagram click here.
• Submit a Quote: If you are interested in submitting a quote or story, please fill out the AFSA Cheer Google Form or email Ms. Forliti.

Thank you for helping spread the word about AFSA PreK-12!

THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO STUDENTS NOT CURRENTLY ATTENDING AFSA AT THIS TIME.

Current AFSA students in 6th -9th grade will have a special Taste of AFSA event this spring.

Please pass this information on to friends and family that are interested in learning more about AFSA High School! Thank you!

Get a Taste of AFSA High School! Prospective students, currently in 6th-9th grade, are invited to join for A Taste of AFSA High School on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to see and experience a day in the life of an AFSA High School student. Students will be participating in a variety of subject related activities, meet students and staff and enjoy a complimentary lunch.

For more information about AFSA High School and to register for this event please go to www.afsak12.com and click on the A Taste of AFSA High School button on the main page.

Show off your school spirit with some AFSA gear! We have a ton of different sweatshirts, tshirts, sweatpants and so much more to choose from. Just click here to check out all of the options and place an order.

Attention AFSA families, staff, board members, and community! We are looking for donations for our Annual AFSA Elementary Silent Auction. Please drop off donations at either building front desk or contact lscherer@afsahighschool.com. Ideas include tickets, baskets, items, experiences, crafts, etc! Please include item description, value, suggested minimum bid, and donor name

Please contact leslie.scherer14@gmail.com with any questions regarding donations or the AFSA PreK-12 Parent/Family Group.

Stay connected with us on Facebook! Join the AFSA PreK-12 Parent/Family Group click here.

Be a part of this year's 24th Annual AFSA High School Science Fair! All students at AFSA must complete a science fair project and present their findings to a panel of judges. This year, we are holding two science fair nights, February 6 for grades 7-9 and February 20 for grades 10-12 and we need your help! For each night we need about 40 science fair judges. If you are interested in volunteering click here to register. Thank you for supporting AFSA Prek-12!

Elementary Yearbooks (PreK-6th):

Elementary Yearbooks are on sale now for $15. Yearbooks will be delivered at the end of the school year. If you would like to order an AFSA Elementary (PreK-6) yearbook online please click here. Cash and check payments can be made in the front office of the elementary school. Orders for the AFSA Elementary yearbook ends April 25th, 2025.

High School Yearbooks (7th-12th): ****Price goes up after today!****

High School yearbooks are on sale now! Yearbooks are $35 if ordered by December 20, 2024 after that the cost goes up to $45 until March 8, 2025 and after that the cost goes up to $55 until the last day to order, April 29, 2025. Click here to order the HS yearbook online. The HS yearbooks are ordered through Entourage (not SchoolPay). You can also pay for high school yearbooks with cash or check in the front office at the high school.

AFSA High School students are invited to design this years 2024-2025 yearbook! Students can pick up a template from the front office. Designs must be turned in to Ms. Vorwald by January 20th. Contact Ms. Vorwald with any questions.

AFSA Class of 2025 Graduation Information:

Graduation will be held the evening of Friday, June 6, 2025 at Bethel University in Arden Hills. Directions and details, including ticket information, will be sent home later in the school year.

Keepsake Gown/Cap/Tassel:

The cost for the keepsake gown/cap/tassel is $25.00 per student. Families can purchase the keepsake gown/cap/tassel online here or pay with cash/check in the front office. Last day to purchase is December 20, 2024.

Class of 2025 yearbooks submissions are due December 20th!

Graduation Details:

Seniors need to submit their Diploma Name and sizes for shirt and Gown. Please click here to fill out important details for graduation. Last day to submit information is December 20, 2024.

Yearbook Submissions:

We want to ensure that the yearbook is special for our senior class. Therefore, we need the following from each senior by December 20th, 2024:

1. Baby Picture
2. Senior Picture
3. Family message of congratulations or encouragement

To submit your senior's photos and message, please click here. If you have any problems uploading the items you can email them to afsamedia@afsahighschool.com

Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Thank you!

Join us at Culver's in Little Canada (2880 Rice Street Little Canada) for our Culver's fundraising nights throughout the 2024-2025 school year! See dates below! Take your family out to dinner and support AFSA K-12 at the same time! AFSA receives 10% of all food purchases from 5-7 p.m.

• January 21, 2025
• February 18, 2025
• March 18, 2025
• April 15, 2025
• May 20, 2025

Special thank you to the Little Canada Culver's for their continued support of AFSA K-12!

Watch your email for the January lunch menu. It will be sent out at the beginning of January.

City of Little Canada Indoor Market - Join the City of Little Canada for their Indoor Market. The market will be held in the Little Canada City Hall Council Chambers (515 Little Canada Rd.) from 2 to 5 PM on the following dates:

• January 13

The school directory is a great way for AFSA PreK-12 families to stay in touch! Click here if you are a current AFSA PreK-12 family and would like to be added to the 2024-2025 school directory. The directory will be emailed out to all participating families. If you have been in past directories you will still need to sign up this year to be included. Questions? Please contact Ms. Forliti

The 2024-2025 AFSA K-12 School Calendar is attached to this newsletter!

If you are having a problem downloading this file please make sure you click the top of the Family Update email that says "View in browser."

December 23-January 3

AFSA PreK-12 Winter Break

January 6

School Resumes

January 16

AFSA PreK-12 Open House

AFSA Elementary Literacy Night

AFSA High School You Butter Believe it! Dairy Event

January 22

A Taste of AFSA

AFSA High School

January 30 - 31

AFSA PreK-12 Conferences - No School

February 1

AFSA Elementary Winter Carnival

Click Here to go to the School Calendar for more details

Please call the attendance line or email the following if your student is absent.

Elementary Attendance Line:

612-260-2664 or email k6attendance@afsak12.com

High School Attendance Line:

651-209-3910 or email hsattendance@afsak12.com

www.afsak12.com