Aquila Communicator

November 21, 2019

Greetings!

Hello Aquila Families,

Thank you to the almost 300 of you that attended our annual pancake breakfast at Aquila last Saturday. It was so fun to see you and have the time to connect as a community. Thank you to the many volunteers who helped make this morning such a success!

Next year the start time for the elementary schools will be changing to 7:45 AM - 2:15 PM. To prepare for more after school options for our students, an Out of School Task Force was created. I encourage you to look at the work this committee is doing. I am on this committee and would welcome any feedback you want to share. Last week a number of our students offered feedback to Lisa Greene our Director of Community Education on what they hope to see offered after school. I heard many students expressing an interest in theatre, art, sports, music and activities off site. Click here to see notes from the meetings and offer feedback. The last meeting will be Monday, December 2.

Amanda Bauer, our music teacher, has created a staff band to sing and play for our students as they are coming into school. The group has performed twice so far. See the picture below from last week.

Our PTO is finalizing our AQ Reads$ fundraiser numbers! More information on how much we raised and awards will be coming out soon.

Our lost and found is growing by the day. Remind your child to check for any missing items. The lost and found is located by the cafeteria. Please put your child’s name on their coat, snow pants, hats and any other items if possible. Many coats and snow pants look the same and we want to make sure your child is able to keep track of their belongings.

Reminder, next week we have school on Monday and Tuesday. There is NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday next week, November 27-29. School will resume on Monday, December 2.

Shelley Nielsen

Aquila Elementary, Principal

Winter Outdoor Clothing Donations Needed

The front office is collecting new or gently used mittens, gloves, hats, jackets (L and XL sizes needed), and boots.

Donations can be dropped off at the front office. Thank you!

Band & Orchestra Spotlight - Emilie Bertram & Mark Anderson

Emilie Bertram is the Band Teacher at all the elementary schools. Her favorite experiences with band include all of the travel and performance opportunities. These include traveling to Chicago, South Bend, Indianapolis, Detroit, New York City, Orlando, San Diego, and Honolulu. She has had the opportunity to perform around the Twin Cities, Rochester, Gopher sporting events, Vikings games, and the Super Bowl 52 Halftime Show. These travels have sparked a passion for traveling. Last year she was able to go to Europe for the first time to visit Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, and Prague.

Mark Anderson is the Orchestra Teacher at all the elementary schools. His favorite thing outside of school is to practice his instruments! He does freelance work in the Twin City metro area and has been able to meet and perform with many celebrities: Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Moody Blues, The Who, Manhattan Transfer, Bruce Cockburn, Bob Hope, B.J. Thomas, Fernando Ortega, Michael W. Smith, Billy Graham, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Bernadette Peters. When he's not busy with his music, you might find him at his favorite restaurant Spasso.

While continuing to grow confidence and skills on our new instruments in band, we also started doing "Band Houses". The students are split into four teams to work together to get the most points for practicing, remembering their instrument, and participating in class. The four houses are Ellington, Larsen, Sousa, and Grainger. Each house is named after a famous composer.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Orchestra members and Fifth Grade Band members are working very hard to learn songs for their 2020 concerts. Please continue to urge your child to practice every day. Every day practice will help the students learn the songs quicker and they will have much more fun playing their instruments.

Cold Weather Recess Reminders

Please remember students go outside for recess every day! Make sure they have outdoor clothing. Label all clothing. Visit the Lost & Found which is located near the cafeteria to find items your student might be missing.

Students will always go outside unless the regular temperature is below 0 degrees or the windchill temperature is -10 degrees or below. We will watch the temperature to keep our students safe.

If you are in need of winter gear, please contact our Social Worker Dana Baumeister at 952-928-6498.

Winter Weather Closing & Early Dismissal Information

Are you prepared for a school closing, late start or early dismissal due to bad weather? Click here for flyer! Click here for district website!

AQ Service Club - Collecting Welcome Bag Donations

Aquila Elementary Service Club is currently collecting Welcome Bag donations for mothers and children who are seeking support from the human service program, Perspectives, in St. Louis Park.

Now through December 5th, we are inviting students to help support our project by bringing in donations (small/travel size) for the following items:

Mothers: Small lotions, chapstick, small bubble bath/bath bombs
Children: Small toys, small coloring/activity books, colored pencils, crayons

Bags will be decorated and assembled at our December meeting and given to Perspectives to share with their clients. The Aquila Service Club thanks you for your support!

AQ PTO - Parent Teacher Organization

The Aquila PTO partners with families to enhance the education experience of all Aquila students, families and staff! If you are interested in being involved, please contact AQ PTO President Rachel Bohn at rrbohn@live.com. Please click here to visit our Facebook page!

PANCAKE BREAKFAST RECAP

Thank you to all of the families who came out to the Aquila Pancake Breakfast. We were so happy to see more than 300 people at the event. With your help we raised almost $1,400 for Aquila. A BIG THANK YOU to parent volunteers and the Gentleman of Aquila for organizing this fun community building event.

A SPECIAL THANKS to parent volunteer Zach Neuman and the Teachers & Staff who worked on Teacher Experiences. We were able to raise an additional $400 at the Pancake Breakfast from Teacher Experiences .

Did you miss your chance to buy a Teacher Experience? Don’t worry. There are still some spots open. Stay tuned for the next chance to purchase one of these unique experiences with your favorite teacher!

Did you lose a set of keys at the Aquila Pancake Breakfast on Saturday? Please call the school office at 952-928-6500.

Noodles & Company (at Knollwood Mall) has invited the AQ PTO to participate in their National Day of Giving on Tuesday, December 3rd, 4:00pm to 8:00pm. Noodles & Co will donate 25% of sales from the fundraiser to AQ PTO. Bring in the flyer, show it on your smartphone or simply tell the cashier. Please note the fundraiser is for IN STORE ORDERS ONLY (online orders are not eligible). Click here for the flyer: Noodles & Co flyer

SPOT THE SPIRIT

When you go to the restaurant wear your ORANGE and BLACK to show your AQUILA SPIRIT . If you are spotted by a PTO member wearing your spirit you could win a gift card!

When you shop at Amazon a portion of your purchases can be donated to the AQ PTO using the SmileAmazon.com website.

There is no additional cost to you & sign-up is easy.

Click this link to see how:

Amazon Smile Instructions!

Does your company offer DONATION MATCHES ?

If they do please consider Aquila PTO. We are a 501(c) charity and thankful for every dollar we can collect for our community.

Aquila Elementary Parent Teacher Organization

8500 34th Avenue South

St Louis Park, MN 55426

Tax ID #46-1661166

Questions? Need a letter confirming your donation? Please contact the AQ PTO Treasurer at AquilaPtoTreasurer@gmail.com or Megan Berry at 612-578-5796.

Looking for Aquila Spirit Wear?

Check out our online store to see the eye-catching and budget-friendly designs for the whole family:

https://aquilawinterstore2019.itemorder.com/sale

Order by NOVEMBER 24!

A portion of proceeds from this sale go back to the Aquila PTO to support our students in their efforts at school, so you’ll do good and look good too! Click here for more info!

SLP Family Services Collaborative 2020 Speaker Series

The St. Louis Park Family Services Collaborative and Prairie Care are partnering to present free presentations on timely topics for parents. Click here for flyer. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. All four presentations take place at Lenox Community Center with a 6:30 PM start time.

Thursday, January 9th: Childhood Brain Development
Thursday, February 27th: Vaping
Thursday, March 19th: Help! Technology is Taking Control! Strategies for Leading Young People in Safe and Healthy Use of Technology
Thursday, January 16th: Parenting a Child with ADHD

T-shirt Tuesdays - Starting Next Tuesday, November 26

T-shirt Tuesday started as a simple idea. Why not put out positivity by wearing it so everyone could see it?

Local school counselors started wearing t-shirts with a positive message every Tuesday last year and eventually challenged their staff and students to start doing the same. It's caught on and now staff and students, both locally and nationally, have been embracing the positivity on Tuesdays.

You can wear ANY t-shirt from anywhere that shares a positive message.

Even if you choose not to wear a t-shirt or forget, you can participate in this extra kind initiative by throwing out some extra smiles on Tuesdays!