STEM Newsletter

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November 2023

Greetings Weaver Lake Families,

I continue to be grateful for the Weaver Lake students, parents, staff and community members! Thank you to all who have participated in the fundraisers, Dine to Donate nights, and most of all for all of your support of your STEM child(ren). As our students and staff say, "That's the Weaver Way!" The Weaver Way is incredible!

It's definitely fall and the weather is changing. Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for outdoor activities and recess! It is also important to label your children's outdoor apparel so if staff find it, we can get it back to the right child. If your child is missing items, we do have a lost and found. Make sure you check it when you are in the building

We hope to see you on November 16 for the STEM in Action Fair. Come see all the hard work our STEM scholars have put into their projects this fall! It is so exciting to see their progress! If you have any questions or comments for us that will help us support your scholar, please do not hesitate to reach out.

With Warm Regards,

Lena Christiansen

• November 1: Butter Braid Pastries, Luige's Pizza & Wooden Spoon Cookie Dough Fundraiser Orders Due (PTO Sponsored)
• November 3: Picture Retake Day
  
• November 7: Licensed Staff Workshop (No School for Students)
• November 14: PTO Meeting, 6-7:30pm in Media Center and via Google Meets
• November 16: STEM in Action Fair, 5-6:30pm
• November 16-November 19: Dine 2 Donate - Jersey Mike's (PTO Sponsored)
• November 17: Fundraiser Pick Up
• November 20-December 1: Weaver Wear Sales Open (PTO Sponsored)
• November 23 & 24: Thanksgiving Holiday (No School for Students)
• December 1: Mark Reporting for PreK-12 (No School for Students)

This week families should have received an email from the photography company with your student's picture day gallery. Please see the flyer below for more information.

Kemmetmueller Photography, Inc. serves as the school photography provider. Feel free to contact them if you have any questions about your student’s school picture experience, need help with ordering photos, or have any other concerns:

info@k-photography.com

(952) 473-2142

Picture retake day is scheduled for Friday, November 3rd. Please see the flyer below for school picture day and ordering information.

All students NOT currently enrolled at Weaver Lake Elementary in grades Kindergarten-5th Grade must apply through NWSISD and be accepted to attend our school. Applicants who currently have a sibling attending Weaver Lake Elementary in grades K-4 will have sibling preference through the NWSISD lottery process. To be considered for sibling preference when filling out the application, you must check the box, "Check here if the applicant has a sibling currently attending their first choice school," and complete the rest of the page. All students who apply during the priority application period will be considered for assignment before any students who apply after the priority period.

The application is available on the Northwest Suburban Integration School District website: http://www.nws.k12.mn.us/

Tours: Informational tours are currently being held at Weaver Lake. Interested families can register for a tours at Weaver Lake School Tour Sign Up.

If you have any questions, please contact the Northwest Suburban office at 763-450-1300 or the Weaver Lake office at 763-420-3337.

Last year, we rolled out our new program for STEM Identities, which continues this year. Students take on various roles as they inquire, discover, explore, and achieve. Through unique learning opportunities at Weaver Lake, students practice these roles from kindergarten through fifth grade in order to build independence in their learning. There are eight identities, and we focus on one each month. Classrooms discuss the identity, complete activities tied to it, and then have a mini celebration. Each student also receives an identity tag that they put on their backpack or hang in the classroom. This year 1st-5th graders can earn their second set while kindergartners will get their first set. Tags will have the same icons but will be blue to differentiate them from the previous year.

• September: A STEM identity is who you are when you do science, technology, engineering, and math.
• October: A questioner is a STEM student that wonders, has curiosity, and wants to find out about the world.
• November: A creator is a STEM student that uses ideas or materials to make something new.
• December: A communicator is a STEM student that respectfully exchanges ideas with others using evidence.
• January: A problem solver is a STEM student that combines ideas from multiple perspectives to find solutions.
• February: A collaborator is a STEM student that contributes to a project and gets others involved in the process.
• March: A collector is a STEM student that gathers information and data in an organized way.
• April: An analyzer is a STEM student that looks at information and data to find patterns and relationships.
• May: An evaluator is a STEM student that uses criteria and evidence to give suggestions.

With the arrival of winter weather, please ensure your student is dressed appropriately to be outside for 30 minutes. Most days this will include boots, snow pants, winter coats, hats and mittens/gloves. Please mark all winter clothing items with the student's name. ALL students will go outside for recess unless they have a note from their physician stating the reason they need to stay inside and the duration of the limitation.

Indoor recess will be held with the temperature at lunchtime is below 0 degrees and the wind-chill falls below -5 degrees.

Winter Gear

Winter weather is headed our way! This year, Weaver Lake received a large community donation of winter coats. If you would like your student to receive support with winter gear, please reach out to our school social worker, Libby Lorron, by calling the office or emailing lorronl@district279.org.

Greetings Weaver Lake Elementary Volunteers!

We completed two HUGE events already this year! The first was the Color Run which brought in over 60 volunteers over the two weeks that the fundraiser was open. THANK YOU to each and every volunteer who came out to support that event. From the people who spent an hour helping to the people who were here over multiple days, we could not have done this without you! If you have suggestions for next year’s run, or are hoping to help with the planning, please contact Mona at funrun@weaverlakepto.org.

We also wrapped up our Fall Scholastic Book Fair! We had about 30 volunteers work over 80 volunteer hours combined to make this Book Fair a success. Thank you for all of your hard work helping students and families build their home libraries!

Although these two events are wrapped up, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more volunteer opportunities to be had! Check out some of the upcoming opportunities that are coming soon!

• We’re hoping to be able to bring back recess groups after winter break, and we are looking for volunteers to run these groups. If you would like more information, please click the link below: https://bit.ly/3rSEbJS

• The STEM in Action Fair will be held on Thursday, November 16 and we need volunteers to help display the students’ hard work in preparation for the fair. Please watch your inbox for a request for help!

• Pick-up for the Butterbraids, Luige’s Pizza and Wooden Spoon Cookie Dough fundraiser will be on Friday, November 17. We will need a volunteer or two to help with this after-school pick-up, so please reach out to me if you are able to help!

Don’t miss out on the great opportunities we have here at Weaver! Be sure you’re registered to volunteer by filling out the online application at https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/Nzg0OmVuLVVT and stay up-to-date on all things volunteer by visiting the volunteer website at https://bit.ly/WVRvolunteer.

Stephanie Clark, Volunteer Coordinator/ESP

clarks@district279.org

Office Hours M-F 9:15am-2:15pm

763-391-8873

https://bit.ly/WVRvolunteer

Starting in December, Fridays will be a chance for parents to sign up to come eat with their child in the cafeteria. Space is limited and parents are encouraged to only sign up once a month.

Please sign up HERE for the grade level that your student is in. This will be the time you will be joining them for lunch.

• Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance.
• Parents will be allowed to have lunch with their child(ren) only on Fridays. Limit two guests per child.
• Due to limited space for guests, we ask parents sign up for a maximum of one lunch per month. You may sign up on the same day for your children in different grades.
• Cost of the school lunch for parents is $5.00 (please bring exact change!). You can use your child's lunch account if they normally pay full price for lunch. Free/reduced lunch families will need to pay for their meal using cash. The school lunch menu can be found here: https://schools.mealviewer.com/school/OsseoISDElementarySchools
• Please arrive 5 minutes prior to the start of the scheduled lunch time for your child(ren). If you are purchasing a school lunch for yourself, we ask that you go through the lunch line BEFORE students arrive.
• All parents are asked to be seated at a designated table. Your child(ren) will sit at that table with you after they have gone through the school lunch line (if needed).
• Parents joining their child(ren) for lunch are asked to clean up their area at the end of lunch.
• Please delete your reservation if you are unable to make it to allow for other parents to attend.

On November 7, our Osseo Area Schools community will determine whether critical school building needs will be addressed. Make a plan to vote and ensure your family, friends and neighbors have a plan also:

• Option 1: Vote early between now and Monday, Nov. 6. Head to Brooklyn Park City Hall’s multipurpose room at 5200 85th Ave. N during the following hours. Please note: this is the early voting location for all Osseo Area Schools voters.

• From Tuesday, Oct. 31 through Friday, Nov. 3 the hours are between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

• On Saturday, Nov. 4 the hours are between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

• On Monday, Nov. 6 the hours are between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

• Option 2: Vote on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 7. Go to pollfinder.sos.mn.gov to find your election day polling location. Then visit your designated polling location between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Please note school is not in session this day.

Remember: the one-question ballot focuses on critical school building needs with regard to safety, learning and space. If approved by voters, proposed projects would address districtwide needs, including for: schools in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, schools in the city of Osseo and surrounding area and schools in Maple Grove. This list of ten reasons why a bond referendum is being held is a helpful summary.

So what happens if the referendum fails?

• Projects to improve safety/security would not proceed.

• Crowded conditions and large class sizes would continue. Attendance boundary adjustments would be required at all levels to provide relief, which is estimated to move 6,000 students from their current schools.

• Learning spaces would continue to age and become less relevant.

• Inconsistent learning experiences would continue.

• Budget cuts would be required. Projected to be at least $31 million (approx. 300 jobs).

Questions? Email BetterFuture@district279.org, call 763-391-8990 or visit district279.org/BetterFuture.

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