FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Chris Holden | @MonsieurHolden | 952.848.4100

Dear Normandale Families,

Research has shown that regular attendance and punctuality are two extremely important criteria when measuring a student’s school success. In addition, they are two attributes that will positively or negatively affect an individual’s success throughout their professional and personal lives. When a student is frequently absent or tardy it results in interruptions and missed instruction that could delay and detract from the student’s progress.

Good attendance is essential for strong academic performance and school achievement. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP FOSTER GOOD ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY? 

• Establish routines to ensure punctuality. In many instances, morning procedures need only be altered by as little as 5-10 minutes to ensure on time arrival. Students should arrive at school between 8:25 and 8:35 AM. The tardy bell rings every day at 8:40 AM and students are expected to be in their classrooms ready to begin the day at that time.  
• Schedule vacations and appointments outside of school time. If you do schedule a vacation during the school year please fill out the planned absence form or submit the attendance in Infinite Campus at least 5 days in advance.  
• Set a schedule and routine for bedtime, morning wake-up and transportation to school so time is not missed due to poor organization. 
• Review your student’s attendance in Infinite Campus. 
• Aim for 95%+ attendance every year! This represents less than 9 days out of school per year. 
• If your student is absent call Normandale’s attendance line at: 952-848-4102. Do NOT call or email your student’s teacher to report an absence.

 WHAT WILL THE SCHOOL DO TO FOSTER GOOD ATTENDANCE? 

• Our Attendance Team will closely monitor absences so that families can remedy potential attendance problems. 
• Families will be contacted if a student is frequently absent and/or tardy. 
• If an attendance problem is identified, our Attendance Team will work with families to correct the problem. 

If you have questions about your student’s attendance, please contact the Normandale Front Desk at 952-848-4100

LA BELLE SOIRÉE - ADULTS ONLY FUNDRAISER

Please join us on Saturday, November 12th for our Edina French Immersion gala - La Belle Soirée! We need many volunteers to make this wonderful event possible. If you are interested in being a part of our silent auction, live auction, or community connections teams, offering day-of support, or have other skills to lend, please email [email protected]. Watch your inbox next Monday for the first Gala update of the season! Merci!

ROOM PARENTS & VOLUNTEERS

Interested in being a room parent for your student's classroom? Visit the PTO website for the link to our sign up. Please sign up for only one room parent spot, even if you have multiple children at Normandale. We are still in need of grade-level coordinators for several grades, as well as a few more room parents!

The sign up for school-wide volunteer positions will go live TOMORROW, Thursday, September 15 at 9 am. Please visit the PTO website for the link.

ORDER YOUR 2022-23 NORMANDALE YEARBOOK

This year our Normandale Yearbook will be printed by Jostens.

For the lowest yearbook price, order your yearbook through Jostens before October 14!

Pricing is as follows:

Order until 10/14/2022 - $22 per yearbook

Order after 10/15/2022 - $25 per yearbook

Yearbooks from last school year have been distributed. There is a limited supply of extras available at the front desk for purchase. They are $25 each. Cash or a check made out to “Normandale PTO” is acceptable.

BACK-TO-BACK EXCHANGE 

We are excited to announce an informational meeting about the amazing opportunity for adventure and learning, the “Back-to-Back” exchange trip for current 5th grade students to Bordeaux, France in June 2023. 

Parent/Student Information Meeting: September 27 at 4:30pm in the Library Media Center

We will have a general overview (preview slides here), the logistics of the trip and what to expect as well as time for questions. 

Sign-up deadline is currently November 1, so there is still time to decide if this trip is right for your student and family.

Can’t make the meeting? Take a look at our website. Then, fill out the form that says you might be interested (this is not an application or any kind of commitment).

FROM THE MEDIA CENTER

Do you love books? Do you love kids? Are you an organizer? Do you like to be active in our learning community? Sign up to volunteer today! “Many hands make light work.” Check out the media center calendar to view the schedule of classes. https://bit.ly/3e8sPdc Thank you! Merci!

Edina Public Schools is committed to high quality instruction with the use of technology in order to meet the needs of all of our students. Web based learning resources are increasingly being used to engage students and improve student learning outcomes. Please read this letter for additional details.

FROM THE INTERN COMMITTEE

Continue to check back at the Intern Hub for volunteer opportunities within the intern community. Our next event is the Intern Fall Leaves event on Saturday, October 8th. We have a fun day planned for the interns to enjoy fall in the midwest, including shopping in downtown Hudson, hiking to Willow River waterfall, games, and a BBQ. We need volunteers to attend the event and assist with rides to and from Hudson. It is a fun day where you are able to get to know some of the interns (entire families welcome).

Fundraising Coupons Needed

We are looking for extra pizza fundraising coupons from various sport/fundraising efforts. We realize that these coupons often go unused. Our interns have several events throughout the year and these coupons will be put to good use!

Please note: we are not purchasing fundraising coupons. We are asking for donations of coupons that are not being used or set to expire soon. 

Please bring coupons to the Normandale office. Thank you!

The Intern Committee would like to say THANK YOU to the families who donated food, helped with driving, and/or spent the night at Camp Singing Hills on Friday. It was another successful Intern overnight! A great time was had by all!

EASY WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUR NORMANDALE PTO

Need labels for your back-to-school clothes? Purchase labels using this link from namebubbles.com and Normandale PTO will receive a portion of your purchase amount!

Shopping at Amazon? Choose "Normandale PTO Parent Teacher Organization" as your Amazon Smile charity and use smile.amazon.com when you shop.

EVERY MEAL PARTNERSHIP

Healthy eating is very important for children. Research shows that children who eat regular, nutritious meals are more likely to attend school and be engaged in learning.  As a part of this, we are excited to partner with Every Meal to offer a free weekend meal program to all our students. 

Every Meal is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to fight child hunger through community and school partnerships. They strive to make a difference in children’s lives by focusing on food gaps like weekends, school breaks, and summer when they can’t receive food in school. 

• Free for all families 
• No qualifications required 
• Students enrolled in the program will receive a 4-5 pound bag of nutritious, nonperishable food each week 
• Every Meal does not collect information from families; privacy is protected 
• Families may choose to participate in the program anytime throughout the school year
• Families may choose from a variety of different weekend food bag options 



Please sign up here. You may also contact Lisa Rapke Hoffman, School Social Worker at [email protected] 

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE

The Alliance Française is the non-profit French cultural center serving the Twin Cities and is a proud partner of French immersion schools and their families. Alliance Française offers a library, summer camps for children of all ages and levels, French classes for adults, cooking classes, and more than 150 cultural events each year. Learn more about Alliance Française Mpls/St Paul at www.afmsp.org.

BUNNY AND BEAR DEDICATION CEREMONY

Friends of the Edina Library invite you to a dedication event to celebrate the installation of the Bear and Bunny sculpture bench. The bench is a gift from former President of Friends of the Edina Library Linda Brandt who believed in our library as a place to stimulate the imagination of children and adults. Edina sculptor Janey Westin transformed Brandt's wish into a tangible reminder of what the imagination can do.

Join us for a short program with remarks by Janey Westin, community members, and Linda Brandt's family. Then have a seat on the bench and let your imagination fly! Sponsors: Friends of the Edina Library, Friends of the Hennepin County Library. Click here to register for the event. 

Normandale PTO| [normandalepto.org]