Dear Normandale families,

Winter break begins next week and I know many of you are looking forward to re-connecting with friends and family. The pandemic has made what once were routine get togethers and interactions much more challenging and important. While in-person learning has provided some sense of normalcy for Normandale students, families and staff; quarantines and limited activities have taken their toll. Recognizing this, Normandale teachers and staff have worked hard to include social, emotional learning (SEL) into their instruction. 

This year Normandale teachers began using the Caring School Community curriculum to reinforce social and school skills that may be a bit rusty. Some of the topics covered include: skills for learning, empathy, emotion management, and problem solving. Last week during a staff meeting Normandale teachers got a peek at newly translated units from this curriculum that touch on playground problems. 

In addition to the SEL work being done in the classroom, Normandale administrators and Kids Club/Wise Guys staff have also been meeting weekly with each grade-level to reinforce SEL topics and school-wide expectations. Normandale’s Ambassadeurs (5^th grade leadership team) have been busy helping create video content for these weekly sessions. It has been fun for our younger students to see and hear Normandale’s Ambassadeurs reinforce these topics. We are hopeful that all of this work will help Normandale’s students build their school and social skills as we head into the second half of the school year. I hope you enjoy a restful holiday season!

NOW OPEN: ONLINE KINDERGARTEN PREFERENCE FORM

Current French Immersion families who have an incoming kindergarten student for the 2022-23 school year will need to submit the Program Preference Form in order to receive Sibling Preference for Edina residents. The Preference Form is available online now and is due by 6:00pm on January 5.

If you should have any questions about the process, please contact the Normandale office at 952-848-4100.

RALLY MONTH IS COMING!

During the month of January, we are recruiting Host Families for the 2022-2023 school year!

The success of our Edina French Immersion program depends on having warm, welcoming host families for our amazing French Interns! Without French Interns, we could not sustain our position as a top immersion program.

To continue this momentum, it is critical we secure 62 Host Families by January 31st. With 62 Host Families, we can support 27 French Interns, meeting our ideal allocation of Interns across all schools:

Normandale French Immersion

K-2nd grade: 5 interns, 1 per class

3rd - 5th grade: 2 interns per grade

Valley View/EHS Extended French

Valley View: 3 interns

Edina High School: 3 interns

To learn more, check out our Rally Month hub on the Normandale PTO site.

Already know you want to host next year? It's not too early! Sign up now!

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. Get a jump start on your holiday shopping with these experiences. It's a win-win; we make gift-giving a snap and you get to support French Immersion in the Edina Public Schools and delight your family!

COLD WEATHER CAR LINE REMINDERS

The weather outside has turned frightful and it's easy to run late with all of the cold weather gear we have to deal with now! Here are a few reminders as we transition in to winter.

• Once you enter the circle, please pull as far forward as you can before letting kids in or out of the car.
• Please remain in your vehicle. If you need to help kids enter/exit your car, please park in the lot.
• NO PARKING in the circle during drop off time (8:25-8:40 am) or pick up time (3:15-3:25 pm)
• NEW! The coned off area at the front of the line is reserved for kids club drop off until 8:25am
• No parking in the signed Handicapped parking spaces unless you have qualifying tags

LUNCHTIME VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

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.

Fully Vaccinated and Quarantines/Illness

Quarantine: To be fully vaccinated is to be 2 weeks out after your second dose.

If someone is exposed during that two week period, they would still need to quarantine, regardless of receiving the second vaccine.

Illness: Although a child or person may cross that glorious threshold of being fully vaccinated, it is still a requirement to test for COVID if you or your child has symptoms. If you need assistance accessing a test or need more clarification on when to test, call me ;) 

Hang in there everybody! Keep doing that constant and difficult risk analysis for your family, we’re almost there and soon we can put this all behind us!

CDC: Tips for a COVID Safe Holiday

In protection of your family, your friends, your Normandale Community, and the community at large, please consider these tips as you plan your holiday gatherings:

• Protect those not yet eligible for vaccination such as young children by getting yourself and other eligible people around them vaccinated and boosted.
• If you are sick or have symptoms, don’t host or attend a gathering.
• Consider using a self-test before joining indoor gatherings with others who are not in your household.
• A positive self-test result means that you have an infection and should avoid indoor gatherings to reduce the risk of spreading disease to someone else.
• A negative self-test result means that you may not have an infection. Repeating the test with at least 24 hours between tests will increase the confidence that you are not infected.
• You might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission if a member of your household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe disease, or is unvaccinated.

By working together, we can enjoy safer holidays, travel, and protect our own health as well as the health of our family, friends, and community.

Vaccine Updates

Edina is hosting a booster clinic for students, staff, and the community this Friday 12/17 1:30-3:30 at Edina High School. You can find more information HERE including consent forms.

HELP WANTED!! We need a group of medical and non medical volunteers for the booster clinic! Please come and help- you know i’ll be there jabbing away! Here's where you can sign up! 

Thank you to all those who volunteered their time and efforts into making the vaccination clinic possible!

Curious on the benefits of getting vaccinated for you or your child?

1. Significantly decreases you or your loved ones chances of getting severely ill from COVID-19.
2. Offers greater protection to those around us who are too young for vaccination or are immunocompromised.
3. No quarantines if exposed to a COVID+ person (MDH Decision Tree)

FIND A VACCINE FOR YOU OR YOUR LOVED ONE HERE

As a thank you to the wonderful doctors and staff of community care clinics to make these vaccination events possible, it would be SO GREAT if we could send thank you cards made by the kids of Normandale. Thank you’s and well wishes can be addressed to: Dr’s Robert and Abena Odem and Community Care Clinics Staff. Please drop thank you cards off at the front desk or send with your child by Tuesday next week. Once I collect the thank you cards, I will send in a santa-sized sack in the mail!  

Wishing you and your families a healthy and relaxing winter break,

Nurse Cesley

Nurse Sheri

JUSTIN GARCIA - EHS

About me...:   Hello there ! I live in Châteaurenard, it is a small city near Avignon. It really is a cute little 'provençal' village.

My mom's name is Céline, she is 50, just as my dad whose name is Julien.

I also have a big sister aged 26, Cindy.

I enjoy spending time with my friends and when I'm home, I like watching TV series or reading when I take time to do so.



In The US...: EVERYTHING ! I want to do, visit, see, meet, everything and everyone as much as I could ! Obviously it won't be possible but visiting each state would have been wonderful so I will try to get as close as possible to this goal !

My favorite food…:  I'm not a great example for food because I enjoy junk food ! Fast-foods ans late-night snacks are at the core of my alimentation and when I cook it is usually quite simple meals as pasta or steaks for example... Moreover, I enjoy Chinese or Italian food also !

I am excited about…: Living in the US, discovering the culture, meeting new people and working with kids through a new approach are all the aspects that I am very eager to discover !

SENSORY-FRIENDLY COVID-19 VACCINE CLINIC

Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Autism Society of Minnesota, Multicultural Autism Action Network (MAAN), and Spero Academy are partnering with Hennepin Healthcare to offer a sensory-friendly COVID-19 vaccine clinic for kids and families on Saturday, Dec. 18 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Spero Academy in Minneapolis. For more information, visit: https://ausm.org/events/vaccine-clinic/

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

Every Meal has launched their Winter Meal Program, providing children and families with easier ways to get the food they need. Over 100 locations throughout the Twin Cities now have our meal bags available for free with no qualification requirements. Locations include local libraries, YMCAs, fire stations, faith communities, schools, businesses, and recreation centers. These locations will be distributing meals starting November 19th, 2021 through January 3rd, 2022.

We hope these locations provide additional opportunities for your families to access Every Meal weekend food bags. Check out the winter meal program map to find locations.  

Normandale PTO| [normandalepto.org]