FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Chris Holden | @MonsieurHolden | 952.848.4100

Dear Normandale Families,

As of today, 50 families have stepped up to host an intern for next year… thank you! We are almost to our goal of 62 families. 

This month Sharon Norlander (former grade 1 teacher) and Rolland Talan (former grade 5 teacher) have been recruiting interns in France. During this time they have interviewed over 100 intern candidates and have presented Edina’s intern program to a half-dozen French universities. This process will allow us to identify the best intern candidates in hopes of offering positions to them in early February.

We currently are able to invite 21 interns to Edina to work with our students in grades K through 12. We are hopeful that additional host families will step forward in the next few days so that we can invite the full complement of interns for next school year. 

Below is a table showing how interns will be allocated for next year if NO other host families are recruited. If you have questions about hosting, please contact shannon.case@edinaschools.org, or sign up to host here. With your help, on January 31 the Intern Committee will be able to offer intern positions to our goal of 27 interns! 

This Friday 1/28 we will celebrate the end of Rally Month with a French dress up day and crepes served during lunch (an allergy friendly treat will be available)! We need a few volunteers between 10:30-2 to help plate and serve crepes. Please sign up for a shift!

Help us finish strong by signing up to host an intern! We only need 12 more host families to meet our goal and invite a full slate of interns for the 2022-23 school year.

2022 NORMANDALE READ-A-THON

Normandale is excited to announce our third annual Read-A-Thon, La lecture, c’est magique! (Reading, it’s magic!). This is an all school fundraiser benefiting the Normandale PTO and our French Intern program. Students will collect pledges from family and friends and log their reading minutes during the month of February.

All minutes spent reading or listening, independently and together can be logged. Audio books, book readings online, reading to siblings and pets ALL COUNT! Both French and English reading minutes count as well. This will be a participation based fundraiser and is student driven! Students who participate will have the opportunity to win reading raffle prizes and rewards!

The more you read = the more chances to win fabulous reading raffle prizes!

During the Read-A-Thon, students will set their individual reading goals and collect pledges. Our school goal is to have the students of Normandale read 500,000 minutes during the month of February! This is 30 minutes per day for 4 weeks! WE CAN DO IT! In 2021, we surpassed our reading goal of 500,000 minutes, so we can do it again in 2022! La lecture, c’est magique!

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR - COMING IN FEBRUARY

We are excited to have the Scholastic Book Fair return to Normandale this February! Our fair will take place Tuesday, February 8th and Wednesday, February 9th and we need volunteers to fill multiple roles to help make our fair successful! Please sign up to volunteer here.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS - GET IN ON THE FUN!

Community Connections events are LIVE on our Membership Toolkit platform! There are many great events for parents and kids in all grades still open for participation. Winter is long; support French Immersion in the Edina Public Schools and delight your family with fun experiences!

LUNCHTIME VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We need 2 volunteers on Fridays to help serve hot lunch. Volunteers will need to be masked (please bring your own) and wear a hairnet (provided at school). You may have to do some light lifting (i.e. moving pans of food to the serving area).

Please sign up HERE if you are able to help!

We need volunteers EVERY DAY to supervise home lunch in the Normandale Auditorium. Please sign up HERE if you are able to help. Volunteers are what allows us to offer a separate space for home lunch students.

GOOD NEWS!

Need rapid tests at home? White House passed a bill allowing every household to access 4 COVID tests, free of cost You can order 4 free tests to be delivered via USPS!

COVIDtests.gov - Free at-home COVID-19 tests

EDINA COMMUNITY EDUCATION

Our virtual screening event of Screenagers Next Chapter: Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience on February 8^th is now free thanks to the support of the Edina Ed Fund. Following the screening, stay for a discussion with Natasha Monsaas-Daly, Director of Media and Technology Services; and Jeff Jorgenson, Director of Student Support Services. Sign up here: edinacommunityed.com/Screenagers

Community Ed is looking for exceptional speakers to represent the widest possible spectrum of ideas and point of views for our TEDxEdina event next October. We want to bring new ideas and thinking to our community and we want you to share your ideas with us. Applications are due February 25^th. Sign up here: edinacommunityed.com/TEDxEdina

EDINA EARLY LEARNING CENTER

Do you have little ones at home? The Early Learning Center registration for school year 2022-23 opens January 25! Join us for classes for birth to PreK and parent and family education. Learn more here and at our open house on January 18 (5:30-7:30pm) and January 22 (Noon - 2pm).

EDINA PCN - PARENT COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• Do you enjoy hearing from experts on parenting topics?
• Are you looking to volunteer in the community?
• A volunteer opportunity that doesn’t involve fundraising?
• Do you want to shape the parenting topics that PCN brings to our community?

Edina Parent Communication Network (PCN) has a goal to support parents and educators to build stronger families and a stronger community. In the past year, PCN has brought forums on the topics of Sleep, Importance of Play, Amazing Marriage, Navigating Big Feelings with Kids. And two upcoming forums on “Five Things Today’s Teens Wish Their Parents Knew” and “Youth Sports Culture Today.” As a volunteer, there is a minimal commitment: one hour-long meeting a month, attend 4-5 forums a year, and do some research on speakers outside of the meetings.

If you are interested in joining us, please email Stephanie Braman, robertsbraman@hotmail.com and/or attend an upcoming volunteer meeting. It is with the community’s help that we can make these events happen. More information at edinapcn.com.

Volunteer Information Meeting

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Noon – 1pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4625686416

And available at edinapcn.com

MERCY CLOSET

If you are in need of winter clothing, check out Mercy Closet for no cost, gently used winter items. For more information, please visit https://www.mercycommons.net/mercy-closet-1

Normandale PTO| [normandalepto.org]