Hamline Family Newsletter

Greetings Hamline Families,

Snowflakes are beginning to drift into our days as the season changes from Fall to Winter. Changing seasons are one of the many things I love about Minnesota, until about January and then I think about all the warm places to move to:).

We are super excited about the vaccines now available to children ages 5 and up. Please see the below section in Newsletter for vaccination clinics and how to get your children vaccinated. The information is in many languages when you click on the link.

We are also super excited about our first ever student Showcase on "Identity". Identity is one of the four Social Justice domains we are exploring this year. The key is to be able to understand how our identities are formed, which can lead to self-confidence and the ability to celebrate others.

On Friday, students did a learning walk through the halls to see what other students showcased and give them feedback. Families and caregivers are also welcome to take a 15 minute walk through the hallways to see the beauty in these amazing young people. If you can't make it to school we will be sending home a virtual showcase learning walk for you to see.

Teachers are still scheduling conferences, mainly virtual conferences, as we are still being very diligent in maintaining a safe school community. If you have not already scheduled a conference with your child's teacher please make sure to reach out. Interpreters are available for conferences. Make sure to let the teacher know if you would like or need an interpreter.

Just a reminder that there is no school this Friday, November 19th as it is parent-teacher conferences. Also there is no school on November 25th and 26th for Thanksgiving.

Have a wonderful week and as always thank you for sharing your children with us.

Principal Reilly

Picture Day has been rescheduled for December 1st. Check your child's backpack for order form. If you want to order online you can go to mylifetouch.com and enter code: EVTNDTFV7. If you choose to fill out the paper form and send to school on Dec. 1st, please make sure to have the exact amount of money in the envelope. We are not able to make change at school.

Great News! SPPS is partnering with St Paul-Ramsey County Public Health to offer vaccine clinics to students ages 5-11 at Como Park Elementary and Battle Creek Elementary. Find more information athttps://www.spps.org/covidvaccine

Please read attached letters for more information about free Covid testing for students who show Covid related symptoms at school. These are take home tests.

English:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-sQYfGca2nA7LnakOR81xPJjX7IhW-cdQkiRBKilmhc/edit

Spanish: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fvAiVRhLA3_G60-4bCynZO0hmCyMXbIHQWSSOON-YTM/edit

Somali: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vn09OzxWtd-zvG9ok6EHgmaQKMPvW26RZPQ0JcflU88/edit

Hmong: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13F-jShJwxhal4trYuGHDYs-y_H_su7Oj8IbgFmBE1lo/edit

Our Hand in Hand Mentor program is one of the many partnerships we have with Hamline University. University student volunteers come over each week during lunchtime to meet one on one with their elementary buddy. The pair does a short, fun inquiry challenge, gets to know one another by asking questions, and finish off doing activity of choice.

Over the next several weeks, I will be going into all classrooms and teaching about Bully Prevention. We will be taking a deep dive into what bullying is, how we can recognize it when we see it, and what tools we have to protect ourselves and our classmates from bullies.

Bullying is when someone keeps being mean, on purpose and it is unfair & one-sided. The main takeaway from these first lessons are to recognize bullying when we see it, and understand the difference between someone being a bully & someone being mean. The four phrases that are bold in the definition above, are the four components I ask the students to consider when we are learning to recognize bullying.

Please feel free use this as an opportunity to engage in conversations with your students on bully prevention.

Another thing we will be working on for the next few weeks is how to be effective communicators. Communicators can share and express ideas in multiple ways. Additionally, they listen and hear other peoples thoughts and ideas. When students are able to demonstrate examples of effective communication in our school, students will earn tokens toward an all-school reward.

I hope you enjoy watching your students grow in these areas over the next several weeks, thank you for sharing them with us.

Beds for Students

Hello Hamline Huskies! I'd like to share a great resource available for families. Michael Allen, the founder of My Very Own Beds (MVOB), is partnering with SPPS to provide beds to families who qualify for free and reduced lunches and are in dire need of beds for their children ages 2 to 17.

Additional details about the bed program:

1. We only provide twin sized beds and no bunk beds or cribs
2. Pick-ups are an option if the family does not want a delivery
3. Eligible families will be notified on Mondays & Tuesdays to confirm their availability
4. Google translator is used if there is a language barrier
5. Families do not need to have experienced homelessness to qualify for this bed program

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to apply.

Office: 651-744-5588

Text: 612-568-3616

Email: lynnette.medcalf@spps.org

We are returning to a Hamline tradition of preparing a taco bar for staff having conferences on Thursday evening, November 18th.

You can donate store-bought or homemade food to create a meal for our staff, and there's a Sign-up Genius divided into categories, so we can cover all the bases.

Set up begins on Thursday, November 18th at 1:00 in the staff lounge so staff can have a bite after dismissal. You can drop off anytime on Thursday, or pick-up can be arranged, just email Karen McCauley at karen.mccauley@spps.org.

Sign-up Genius:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094daaab29a6fc1-fall2

Our Every Meal program began on November 12th. This weekly service provides weekend food for kids and families, that is sent home in students' backpacks on the last school day of the week. It's free, there are no qualifications, Every Meal does not collect private information, and you can still sign up!

A flier with a short enrollment form was sent home in your child's folder, and you can also contact Karen McCauley to sign up: karen.mccauley@spps.org.

There are five different color-coded bags that you can choose from:

Blue Bag

Tailored for East African dietary preferences. This bag is pork free and may contain items such as tuna, spaghetti, black eyed peas, corn flour, fava beans, and tomato products.

Green Bag

This bag offers the widest variety of food items, such as chicken, tuna, pasta, rice, mac and cheese, chili/ soup, and varied vegetables and fruits.

Orange Bag

Tailored for Latino dietary preferences. This bag may contain items such as rice, black beans, pinto beans, corn flour, fideo pasta, enchilada sauce, chipotles in adobo, and diced chiles.

Purple Bag

Tailored for Southeast Asian dietary preferences. This bag may contain items such as rice, rice noodles, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, curry paste, green beans, and mandarin oranges.

Yellow Bag

Contains all ready-to-eat items which require little or
no preparation, such as dried fruit, tuna salad, chicken salad, sunflower seeds, granola, oatmeal, and soups.

A special thanks to the folks at Central Baptist who help make this program possible at Hamline Elementary!

Family Engagement Plan

We have uploaded our 2021-2022 Family Engagement Plan and would love your continued input.

The plan can be viewed on our website: https://www.spps.org/Page/33648

Contact: Karen McCauley karen.mccauley@spps.org

PTA

If you are interested in serving as an officer on the PTA and would like to help organize, contact Karen McCauley: karen.mccauley@spps.org

Family Engagement Committee

If you would like to serve on the Family Engagement Committee, please contact Karen McCauley (karen.mccauley@spps.org). This committee includes staff, and we work together to plan events help families be even more involved in the school community. We meet monthly at the school.

Principal Reilly and Ms. Medcalf held our annual Title I Community Information Meeting on Thursday, October 14th. This was a virtual meeting to discuss how we spend our federal Title I funds at Hamline Elementary.

● Title I is a federal program provides supplemental educational resources to ensure that all children have a fair, equitable, and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education

● At Hamline, we use our Title I funds for an Inquiry-based learning and academic support content coach, a social worker, counselor, and part-time family resource coordinator.

The full presentation can be viewed on our website:

https://www.spps.org/Page/40880

A Family-School Compact for Achievement is an agreement that parents, students and teachers develop together. It explains how parents and teachers will work together to make sure all students get the individual support they need to reach and exceed grade level standards.

The full Compact can be viewed on our website:

https://www.spps.org/Page/33849

School districts must notify parents of children attending Title I schools that they can request information regarding their children's teachers, including, at a minimum, information on (1) completion of state requirements for licensure and certification; (2) emergency or other provisional status; (3) educational background; and (4) whether paraprofessionals are serving the child and, if so, the paraprofessionals' qualifications.

The full Parents' Right to Know is available on our website in multiple languages:

https://www.spps.org/domain/4127