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 TCGIS Online Calendar
Upcoming Events:
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May 11- School Board Elections
May 15:
May 14- Classroom Art Auction
May 17:
May 21: Kaffeeklatsch
May 26- Pick-Up/Drop-Off Weeks
June 4:
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Wir sind sprachlos! (We are speechless!)
Last week's #GiveAtHomeMN campaign, which TCGIS participated in with GiveMN, has left us truly speechless! Despite the uncertainty from the current COVID-19 crisis that Minnesota and the world finds itself in, our community stepped up to the challenge to support our school with an amazing show of generosity. Together we raised $5,936.80, and many of you were able to take advantage of your employer's matching program to double or triple your impact. We are now at $91,121.74 for the year, which is extremely close to our next Annual Fund milestone target of $100,000. Once we reach that target we will unlock the next surprise activity. Stay tuned to learn what that will be! Again, recht herzlichen Dank (heartfelt thanks) for the incredible support of our school! |
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Schöne Grüße von Herrn Anderson
Herr Anderson invites the school community to participate in virtual events, including Kaffeeklatsch, the Art Auction, and the Board election - all of which represent opportunities to support
our school's mission:
innovative education of the whole child through German immersion.
Kaffeeklatsch with Julie and Ted!
Here's an opportunity for the TCGIS community to gather socially over coffee and chat via Zoom. The School Director and Board Chair will be hosting and loo
k forward to seeing you next Thursday, May 21, from 10:00-11:00 AM. If we get a lot of attendees, we plan to split up into sma
ll group virtual breakout rooms, mixing a few times, just like we're socializing in the TCGIS foyer. We have some fun topics in mind, like what do you think about a TCGIS community garden plot?
Meeting ID: 786 0308 7419
Password: TCGIS
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PTO Art Auction
The time is here! Start your bidding on your child's unique classroom art work! All art pieces would have been up for bidding at Maskenball, but due to the postponement, the Art Auction is
open to EVERYONE here! We are hoping to bring in lots of support for our school through this Auction! A big thank you to our art teachers for making time in your lessons for the art piece.
Some teasers from the auction:
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End of Year Updates
Many of our school programs & traditions have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and this will also apply to the final weeks of the school year: Here is an overview of important information for the next weeks.
Last Day of School
The last day of school will be
Friday, June 5
. This will allow teachers and staff to have 2 full workdays on June 8 & 9 to close out the school year.
Return of Medication (emergency and over-the-counter): 5/18
If your student had medication in their health file during this school year, Nicole Sveen and Monika Avery will have the medication available for pick up in the school office from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM on Monday, May 18th.
- If the student's medication is not picked up it will be disposed of appropriately.
- The path to the main entrance from Como Avenue is currently closed. Please enter the playground using the Van Slyke gate and walk around the corner to the front entrance.
- In case of a line please keep a safe distance of 6 feet.
- If at all possible, please leave your children at home.
- This visit may not be used to clean out lockers or access the rest of the school building.
- If you have any questions, please contact Monika Avery at mavery@tcgis.org.
Classroom Clean-Out Week: 5/18-5/22
Teachers will start cleaning up classrooms next week following social distancing guidelines. Teachers and staff will bag and label any student belongings and they will be ready for the Family Drop-Off/Pick-Up weeks (detailed below). On each teacher's assigned clean-out day, there will be no face-to-face instruction. You will receive a message from that teacher that will inform you of the date in advance.
Family Drop-Off/Pick-Up weeks: 5/26-6/4
Families will be assigned a day and time window to pick up their children's belongings and to drop off any school property, including library books, in a contactless process. Further details and instructions, as well as your family's assignment, will be provided
next week
. Stay tuned! Tier 1 & Tier 2 essential workers can pick up/drop off your student's belongings on Monday, June 1 during your regular drop-off and pick up times.
Chromebooks
Only 8th grade students need to return their chromebooks - all other middle school students may keep their computers over the summer. Returned chromebooks must be:
- cleaned and have all stickers removed
- returned with their chargers and laptop sleeves
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End of Year Car Parade - Survey!
This pandemic has taken away many things for us as a school community this year, but we as a staff would like to show our appreciation and have a little fun by hosting a 'reverse' car parade! Students and families would be able to drive in their vehicles around a parade route as the staff waves from the curb spread around a designated route! Don't worry, the staff will be following social distancing guidelines, but we would love to send you off into summer vacation on a good note! Once we have an idea of interest, we'll be able to send out more details about this fun event!
Fill out this
SURVEY to let us know about your interest in the car parade. Thank you!
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All-School Updates: Important Links
Here are links to useful pages you may wish to bookmark for easy reference:
In case you missed any of the email updates in the last month, find them here:
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Yearbook Orders due May 29th
It's your lucky day! The deadline to buy a yearbook has been extended to May 29th! There are fewer than 30 books left, and we sold out last year, so make sure to buy one today! Go here to order:
jostens.com
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Spring Surveys from the University of St. Thomas
TCGIS's authorizer, the University of St. Thomas, looks to gather feedback from key school stakeholders each spring. This year they are gathering that feedback virtually, in the form of a short survey tailored to each group. Below are the links to
the respective surveys for TCGIS parents and students. The surveys are anonymous, and St. Thomas requests that they be
completed and submitted by Friday, May 29.
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TCGIS XC Team Registration Opens Tomorrow
May 15 at 8:00 AM until May 31 at 11:59 PM, and the season is currently planned to begin on
Monday, August 3
. Please, register early! We quickly reached our maximum number of athletes for indoor track and outdoor track this school year.
Regarding the
calendar: Practices are set for Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Most of the meets and races are still based on last year's calendar. We have not yet been able to confirm all of the meets, especially given COVID-19. We will let you know once we have confirmed those meets.
Payment required at time of registration: $175*
The price increase is so that we can add bus transportation to certain meets. If we cannot meet together in-person as a team and we have to cancel all in-person events for the cross-country season due to COVID-19, we will refund the total amount of $175 to families.
*Finances should not be a factor in deciding to participate in TCGIS sporting teams. If finances are a concern, please contact Coach Tabisz BEFORE registration opens because payment is required at the time of registration.
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PBIS Grant Award
TCGIS received a $1,000 grant award from the MN Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) group. The grant will cover the renewal of our School-Wide Information System (SWIS) for tracking discipline reports, purchasing staff t-shirts for new TCGIS staff, and replacing some of our social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum. PBIS is supported by federal and state Departments of Education.
The PBIS Team is a district committee comprised of teachers, administrators, parents, and others who are tasked with the overview of the school's behavior expectations, rules, discipline data review, SEL curriculum, school culture and climate, all through an equity lens.
The TCGIS PBIS Team is
looking for 1-2 new parent members for the 2020-21 school year to join us for monthly meetings! Please contact
Michael White if you are interested.
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Re-Enrollment Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who submitted the re-enrollment survey! Our response rate was over 90% which is absolutely amazing! Over 95% of TCGIS students will be returning for the 20-21 school year and the biggest reasons for returning were language immersion and our students' positive attitude towards school followed by good academic fit. We're so proud and pleased to receive this feedback from our community, thank you so much!
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Checking in with the Parent Council
Your Parent Council met on Monday, May 11th by Zoom and we have a few updates to share.
Beate Simon and Rachel Schlee provided a Middle School update:
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They discussed the challenges of face to face instruction in Middle School - Teachers have 125 students each (rather than 24-25 for the Elementary School) so Zoom meetings for every class are not possible.
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Teachers are offering face to face meetings on a voluntary basis and they are seeing participation decline over time for both voluntary and mandatory advisory meetings.
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Technology is difficult for students because the Chromebooks don't work well for Zoom.
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Teachers are transitioning from a focus on academics to focus on the social/emotional component of teaching.
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Teachers are doing the best they can to keep up and they miss seeing their students!
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Some teachers struggle with this new format, just as some students and families do.
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Admin and Teachers are working on contingency plans for Fall.
Other topics discussed:
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Herr Mullins provided some math curriculum updates.
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The Parent Satisfaction Survey is ready to go and will be sent when the Administration is ready.
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The New Student Parent Mentoring Program is in progress for the incoming Kindergarten class, a handful of new Elementary students, and about a dozen Middle schoolers expected to matriculate in the fall - stay tuned for details on volunteer opportunities.
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The Middle School health curriculum will be discussed at the June PC meeting.
As always, please email your Parent Council representative or the full Parent Council (parent-council@tcgis.org) with questions or comments.
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Construction Updates
This week construction is framing in walls and work progresses on ducting, plumbing and electrical. There will also be some inspections and
the exterior walls are receiving insulation.
Andy Nesset
TCGIS Facilities and Grounds
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School Board Announcements
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Meet the Candidates Forum
Last night, the PTO and Parent Council hosted a forum to meet the 7 candidates for the Board of Directors. Sincere thanks goes to Clare Roney and Carrie Raey for hosting the event, and to Jake Holdreith for moderating the interviews. Thanks to Stephanie Forsland for coordinating the Zoom meeting. Thank you to the truly impressive candidates for the thoughtful and engaging forum. The talent and dedication offered by all candidates is inspiring. Thanks also goes to the ~35 community attendees; it was great to see you there. The forum recording is available to view here. Please set aside 1.5 hours to watch before the online election in the first week of June.
Upcoming Committee Meetings
Here are the scheduled upcoming committee meetings. Please contact the committee chair for meeting login details. Meetings will be virtual until further notice.
Finance & Facilities Committee: Tues May 19, 6:30pm, contact
rheid@tcgis.org
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Sunday May 17th noon
- Art Auction CLOSES
Sunday May 31st 4:00 PM - LAST PTO Meeting for the year (Virtual! Link coming soon)
*We will have voting on next year's executive committee as well as a brainstorming session on what 2020-2021 might look like. Please join us!*
Open Positions for 2020-2021 School Year
We need you! The PTO executive committee is seeking new, fresh faces to join our team! It is a great way and fun to get involved with the school!
Open Positions Include: Secretary, Fundraising, Treasurer
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Community Events: Updates
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GAI: Virtual Music and Summer Classes
Summer Language Classes: Take advantage of your stay-cation!
Continue your German language learning this summer! Topics include conversation, pronunciation, literature, and grammar. Online and in-person (if possible) options are available. More information and registration at
gai-mn.org/Summer-2020
Since we can't come together in-person this year to celebrate the GAI's annual Musik im Mai concert series, our team has put together some suggestions for great listening at home. Find it at
gai-mn.org/Musik
Deutsche Tage 2020: A new kind of celebration!
From June 8 through June 13, Deutsche Tage activities will include an on-your-own Fahrradtour, a German grammar class, online trivia, and live-streame
d music. End the week with an at-home Deutsche Tage Haus party! Details coming soon.
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Parent &
Family Resources
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AmazeWorks Webinar
AmazeWorks is a St. Paul-based organization that provides
anti-bias education curriculum, programs, and training for schools, and organizational and individual cultural assessments, consultation, and equity training for communities, nonprofits, municipalities, and for-profit businesses. Here is an upcoming webinar that may be of interest to the TCGIS community:
Reflecting On The Five Positions of Control:
Tuesday, May 19, 3:30 - 4:45
By understanding the five positions of control, caregivers can create daily structures that allow children to better manage their own behavior. This webinar will help caregivers guide their child
ren and youth in developing healthy self-management skills.
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