St. Louis Park Middle School's Weekly News
March 20, 2020
A Message from the Principal
Parents, Students, Staff & Community Members

At this point we are all trying to understand what the new normal looks like in our greater society and at the middle school. Now and in the days ahead challenges abound from the international, national, and local levels with no modern playbook to guide us through this.

Our entire staff (food service, custodial, teachers, admin. assistants, instructional assistants, administration, district office, health services) across the district are here to support all the children and parents/guardians in The Park.

No doubt COVID 19 and the battle we are waging has stressed us on both a systems as well as a personal level. It seems like it has been much longer than just Tuesday that students have not been in session......so much has happened since then, to restate, to me, it seems much longer than that.

Our grade level teams (for example: 7th grade science, music, 8th grade math to name a few) are meeting daily to coordinate learning activities, instructional strategies, etc. to try and systematize our efforts. I have checked in with the vast majority of the teaching staff and have heard from a variety of parents as well.

Three Questions I asked, of more than a dozen teacher/working teams, at the middle school:

Question One: What are comments and feedback you have received from parents and students.
Question Two: What is the percentage of students you know that have received information or are doing academic work you have given them.
Question Three: How is your teacher team working as a group and how do you feel personally today (Friday).

I believe for most people the main point of reference you have is based on how your family feels and/or what you have communicated back and forth between friends and extended family. Thus, I am listing below comments that were shared numerous times to me from either the staff or parents.

Answers to question number one: Feedback from Parents/Students
*Confusing information is being given out by the school.
*Too much information is coming our way from so many teachers....makes my child/me stressed.
*The district and the Governor are not in agreement.
*Parents expressed thanks for building a connection with their child before too much time elapses between when school was dismissed and when we first engaged with their child. Multiple parents spoke to how it provided some structure to the day as well.
*Many thanks for the extra efforts by the teachers for their proactive care and concern above and beyond during these uncertain times.
*Many neutral reactions, just checking in to get information needed.
*Students expressed a wide range of feelings to their teachers, bored, working hard, thanks for giving me individual help, like the assignments, the technology received isn't working, etc.

Answers to question number two: What is the percentage of students you know that have received information or are doing academic work you have given them.
*Teachers reported that they believe, on average, 40-55% of the students have responded to the outreach by teachers through phone, email, schoology analytics, quizzes, homework, etc.

Answers to question number three: How is your teacher team working as a group and how do you feel personally today (Friday).
*I would describe our team using the following words: successful, cohesive, awesome, grateful, all positive, nothing negative.
I would describe how I feel personally in the following terms: stressed, stressed (I repeated it because it was stated so often) anxious, feel great, supported, "loving life".

In closing, I believe parents should focus on taking care of themselves and their family. This includes actively making decisions on what your child should be doing daily as well as monitor the communication received from the school based on where your child is personally at. I ask that we support each other knowing that we are all trying to do our very best while physically disengaging from other members in our community to slow down and/or stop this ugly virus.

I can assure you that the entire city and school district are partnering together to provide the best possible support to you. Please know that even if we miss the mark in providing the correct service you feel you need; we are all working hard to be of service to you.
Les Bork
Principal
A Message from the Deans
Hello St. Louis Park Middle School families -
We, as your grade level deans, wanted to take a moment to reach out to you given our new reality. We can't imagine how difficult this time is on families and we know that keeping kids engaged is not easy. We encourage you to create a sense of routine with specific times to be doing academic work. 

We are living in unprecedented times. With that being said, the only way we are able to come back to school is to follow all of the guidelines and protocols set forth by our health officials. Again, this is uncharted territory, so feel free to reach out with any questions that you may have and we will do our best to answer them. We encourage you to reach out to your child's teachers if you have any specific questions or concerns about your child's grade or work. 

We will continue to communicate during regular school hours via email as we too, are out of the office. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do to support you and your family through this uncertain time. There will be more to come from our counseling and social work offices about resources as well, so look for another email. 

Kind regards,
8th grade dean: Gina Magnuson  magnuson.gina@slpschools.org
7th grade dean: Delana Brinkman   brinkman.delana@slpschools.org
6th grade dean: Randy Zutz  zutz.randall@slpschools.org  
Virtual Staff Meeting
The first virtual meeting was held between 94 members of the staff at different physical locations getting ready to close the school and open up remote/virtual operations for our students and community.

Mr. Carnes taking a selfie of himself with me on the monitor.

Les Bork
Principal
Picking Up Chromebooks
A steady stream of parents and students picking up educational supplies to work on during our extended time away from each other.

Les Bork
Principal
Food Service Support
Pictures of staff preparing and distributing breakfast and lunch for some of our families. To the Food Service team, thank you for your support.

Les Bork
Principal
March Health Topics Newsletter
Hello SLP Middle School Families,

We hope that you continue to enjoy our Health Topics Newsletters! Our dream is that these newsletters spark conversation with your middle schooler. We welcome your feedback and hope that you connect in some way with these monthly “newsletters”.  

This month's topic is...getting ready for physical activity/exercising at home!


Please read the newsletter and stay healthy.

Derek Wennerberg
Middle Years
Click here for the February issue of tips, activities, and helpful information for families.
Click here for the March issue.
Click here for the April issue.
District/Community News
Looking for other opportunities? Check out these programs
Young Entrepreneurs Academy
2020 Census The Importance of Counting Children
Celebrate Arbor/Earth Day
E.X.I.T.E Camp
Census Babies Count
Census and Education
Golden Valley Girls Softball
Northern Breezes Youth/Teen Sailing Day Camp
Census 2020 Statistics in Schools Week
Park Valley United Summer 2020 Rec Soccer
SLP Parenting Series
2020-2021 Student Calendar

Washington D.C., updated 3-13-20
2020 D.C. Trip (Current 7th Graders):
1) There is still a bit of time to register! Please call WorldStrides at 1-800-468-5899; our Trip ID number is 175696.
2)  Final payments are due this month.   Please ensure that all payment arrangements have been made through WorldStrides to avoid cancelation. Call 1-800-468-5899 and use Trip ID number 175696.
3) Within the next few weeks registered families should receive a mailing from WorldStrides at their home address. It will contain a  Roommate Request Form  and an  Emergency Contact/Behavior Contract  (2-sided document).   BOTH  items should be completed and returned to David Burr at the Middle School as soon as possible.
4) Our pre-trip parent meeting will be 1-2 weeks prior to our trip departure.

2021 D.C. Trip (Current 6th Graders):
1) An informational parent meeting for next year's trip was held at the Middle School Thursday evening. If you were unable to attend and want more information please contact David Burr at  burr.david@slpschools.org  or (952) 928-6375.
2) Our Trip ID is 188262. There is a discount if you register by March 20! Here are 3 easy ways to register:
- Online at  worldstrides.com/signup
- Call WorldStrides Customer Service at 1-800-468-5899
- Mail in the registration form that was in your student's invitation packet