St. Louis Park Middle School's Weekly News
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A Message from the Principal
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We finished our first official week of Distance Learning today. Teachers started out Monday morning reconnecting with students and families. The school also set up a system to take attendance, teachers continued to design learning activities, collected assignments, and in some cases provided live help/class sessions among other things.
A major goal for the week was to re-engage all students with the school, the learning process and help in the development of a new academic routine.
Our student body is comprised of 1022 students. Please see the number of daily absences as well as numbers of students in our school that haven't yet made a connection with us.
- Monday 4/6 = 175 (gr 6 = 68 gr 7 = 46 gr 8 = 61)
- Tuesday 4/7 = 148 (gr 6 = 62 gr 7 = 44 gr 8 = 42)
- Wednesday 4/8 = 123 (gr 6 = 49 gr 7 = 34 gr 8 = 40)
- Thursday 4/9 = 122 (gr 6 = 45 gr 7 = 34 gr 8 = 43)
- Friday 4/10 = 129 (gr 6 = 54 gr 7= 32 gr 8 = 43)
Total number of students who never checked in:
- Monday 4/6 - Friday 4/10 = 31 (gr 6 = 14 gr 7 = 5 gr 8 = 12)
I believe some of the reasons for the low numbers of absences and high student engagement is the exceptional effort and intentional outreach to partner with our families by our teachers and support staff. We hope to bring this number of absent students down steadily as we all get used to distance learning and what coming back to school means in this new environment of learning we are all actually now participating in.
We know that families are all over the board on how they are managing and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. The middle school staff is with you trying to support your child on their academic needs. We hope your family is able to gather together this weekend to support and enjoy each other's company. We, at the middle school, remain optimistic about the future; our continued work together and our societal support of each other.
Have a great weekend.
We'll be back in touch on Monday.
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With distance learning set to begin on April 6th, the PowerSchool Public Portal and mobile apps will be disabled Thursday, March 26 at 3:00 p.m. for quarter 3 grading. They will reopen by Friday, April 10, by 3:00 p.m.
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Community Resources (Food Resources, Mental Health, Crisis, Technology, Unemployment, Social Isolation/Anxiety etc.)
Food Resources
Information Regarding Free Childcare for Children of Healthcare & Emergency Workers
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A Message from the Student Services Team
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Greetings SLPMS families and students -
We miss you! We hope you are all doing well and settling into a routine during this strange time. Most importantly, we hope you have found ways to stay connected to others. Community (even digital community) is vital during this time, and we are grateful to be part of the SLPMS learning community with you.
Thank you for your dedication to the learning process. Transitioning to distance learning has not been without its struggles. We appreciate your patience. Know that we are here to support you during this time. We all need to work together - MS staff, families and students - to ensure that students are productive learners during this time away from the school building. Our student services team continues to be available to assist families and students in any way we can. You can find contact information for the whole team listed below.
While important, we know that academics are not the only concern on many families’ minds. This is a stressful, uncertain time. Please understand that during this time, anxiety, fear, and anger may present itself in different ways for your child. As a result, you may see more behavioral issues than usual at home. This is normal and to be expected. We all need to practice mindfulness, and extend grace and patience to each other. If the stress level in your home is unmanageable, please reach out to us.
Our Grade Level Coordinators and other support staff are also ready to assist. Even though they are not physically in the Reflection Room, they are still available during school hours to reflect with students. It doesn’t have to be academic related. Any student or parent can reach out for additional support as they normally would.
Please remember that during distance learning your student must register their attendance by logging into their advisory class in Schoology. This must be completed by 1 p.m. each school day. If you have any technology needs, please let us know.
Our district has compiled a comprehensive list of resources. Check out this link:
Resources
Your SLPMS Student Services Team -
Instructional Assistants:
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Tips for Families to Manage COVID-19 Stress
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Click
here
to see the flyer.
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The list of SLPMS databases, including BrainPop, CultureGrams, EBSCO, Discovery Ed Streaming, Encyclopedia Britannica, Gale and ProQuest, and their corresponding login information is on page 6 of your student's agendas. They can log into any of the databases with this information when they are not in school.
Here is a link to a View Only document with this information.
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Attention 8th grade families:
Unfortunately, no one was able to present their Community Projects before school changed over to Distance Learning. Students put in a lot of effort and made a great contribution to a community and grew as individuals. We want to honor that contribution and their effort even though as a school, we will not be doing any further work with the Community Project this year. Instead, we want to focus on subject specific school work through Distance Learning.We encourage students and families to take time and reflect on the project they had selected and consider all that was learned.
Community Project supervisors are being asked to review evidence they have seen from student work in class, reflections, process journals, and student action, to prepare a grade for the project in third quarter. This deadline was communicated to students all throughout the project. Instead of scoring the projects in four criteria we've decided to move to a Pass or No Grade scoring option for this. The grade will be a Pass/P in Powerschool in the Community Project line to show that your child passed the Community Project if there is evidence that they were working on one. If the teacher has not seen any evidence from students, they will be reaching out to students to communicate this and to gather evidence before April 6th marking a "no grade" NG until evidence is turned in.
International Baccalaureate schools consider the world as our community. We encourage students to continue growing as compassionate humans, reaching out in as many ways as possible to positively impact others. We look forward to hearing more about the projects you are involved in during this unique time across the planet. Stay well...
Sincerely,
Mia Waldera
MYP IB Coordinator
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Please remember that during distance learning your student must register their attendance by logging into their advisory class in Schoology. This must be completed by 1 p.m. each school day. If you would like to excuse an absence, please call the middle school attendance line at 952-928-6394 or send an email to
[email protected]
. If your student is experiencing any difficulties engaging in distance learning, please contact your student's teachers or grade-level dean.
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Ms. Ahrens had a little fun with her students the week of March 23 and posted a video and a selfie asking them two questions. What are you thankful for? What are you doing for fun? (Video games don’t count! Here are some of the responses to those questions.
Ms. Ahrens says, “My students Rock!”
Look for more photos from Ms. Ahrens classes in upcoming issues of OT News.
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Site Council Opportunities for 2020-2021 School Year
Interested in getting more involved with SLP Middle School next school year?
Come put your talents to use as a member of the Site Council leadership team!
We are currently recruiting for the following positions for the 2020-2021 school year:
- Incoming Co-Chair – do you like being organized, setting meeting agendas, and being in on setting strategy? Learn to keep the Site Council wheels in motion as incoming Co-Chair. We’ll show you the ropes.
- Fundraising Co-Leaders – make Spirit Week happen. Raise important funds for things like a field trip for every student. This job is big enough for two – bring a friend…a great role for organized extroverts!
- Communications Lead – coordinate Site Council content for Oriole Times and lead the Site Council Communications work group to strengthen communications to families. Great for someone passionate about connecting school and families.
- Coffee with the Principal Coordinator – choose dates, pick up coffee, and join “CwtP” twice a year. A great way for coffee lovers to contribute with a smaller time commitment.
No prior experience is required – just your willingness to jump in and help out! Site Council meets approximately seven times during the school year.
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Host Families Needed for Global Interns 2020-2021
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The middle school has had another successful year with our two Global Interns, Carlos and Irene! They have been a great addition to our classrooms and have made many connections with our students. They continue to assist teachers during this time of distance learning choosing to stay here and help contribute to the school as well as the community.
We are looking forward to the next school year with two more interns. Angela is from Spain and we are currently interviewing candidates to fill the other intern position.
We are looking for two host families for the fall semester-late August through the end of January and two more host families for next spring- late January through the end of the school year in 2021. The main requirement is the intern must have their own legal bedroom. It is a great opportunity for your family to learn about another culture while introducing them to Minnesota and our community in St Louis Park. You do not need to be a PSI family. All middle school families are welcome to host. The interns are also fluent in English. My family has hosted an intern the last two years and had great experiences with lasting friendships. Please reach out to me if you are interested or have questions.
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March Health Topics Newsletter
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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
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Click
here
for the March issue
of tips, activities, and helpful information for families
.
Click
here
for the April issue.
Click
here
for the May issue.
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Looking for other opportunities? Check out these programs
Census Babies Count
Census & Education
YEL Summer Flyer
Park Valley United Summer 2020 Rec Soccer
2020-21 Student Calendar at a Glance
SLP SEEDS Offering
Young Entrepreneurs Academy
Golden Valley Girls Softball
St Louis Park Mountain Bike Team
Click
here
to see the website.
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Washington D.C., updated 4-10-20
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2020 D.C. Trip (Current 7th Graders):
Please check your email for an important message from Mr. Burr regarding this year's trip! If you did not receive the notice, please email him at
[email protected]
as soon as possible.
2021 D.C. Trip (Current 6th Graders):
Registration is still open for next year's trip. There are 3 ways to register:
- Call WorldStrides Customer Service at 1-800-468-5899
- Mail in the registration form that was in your student's invitation packet
If you'd like more information about this travel possibility for your student, please contact David Burr at
[email protected]
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