Dear Normandale Families,

Educational research shows that students learn best when they feel connected to a warm and caring school environment. A sense of community is a reliable predictor of a student’s academic and social success at school. Creating this environment at Normandale was a priority last year when teachers piloted a new social emotional curriculum called Caring School Community. After a year of hybrid, distance and in-person learning, Normandale is even more focused on social emotional learning (SEL). This year all teachers are ensuring that SEL is happening in classrooms daily using the Caring School Community curriculum. In addition our recess supervisors, our Dean of Students, and I are also conducting weekly meetings with students to reinforce our schoolwide focus on SEL.

LOST AND FOUND

Our lost and found is overflowing!

Please come collect your lost items any school day before 5pm or any time during conferences day, Tuesday, November 2.

Any items not claimed by November 5 will be donated.

The PTO makes an effort to sort through the lost and found and return labeled items to students. Most items in the lost and found are not labeled! Need name stickers? Use this link for Name Bubbles and Normandale PTO will receive 20% of the subtotal of your purchase.

2021-22 SCHOOL PICTURES

Picture retake day is scheduled for Tuesday October 26th. If you would like your student to get picture retakes, please sign in to your Josten’s account and click ‘Sign Up For Retakes’ at the top of the page. If your student was absent on picture day, you do not need to sign up for retakes, they will automatically get their picture taken.

School pictures are ready to view and order online! Parents should have received an email from Jostens with information. The event code is FE74521. If parents are not able to access the pictures, please make a request using a different account and it will be approved. 

Note: Parents need to order the class composite if they would like to receive one this year. 

Questions: kingvaldson@gmail.com

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS ARE BACK!

Community Connections are events that come in all sizes – small, larger and just right. They are events for both students and parents hosted by Normandale, Valley View Middle School, and Edina High School families in the French Immersion Community. The events are designed to bring together our community while raising funds for our fantastic Edina French Intern Program. Sign up on the Normandale PTO site to host a party!

NOUVEAUTÉS À NORMANDALE

Nouveautés à Normandale is a monthly Google Meet to bridge the distance between home and school. They cover topics specific to Normandale, language immersion, and education in general.  

The topic of our first meeting this year will be Normandale’s French Intern Program. Normandale’s Intern Coordinators, Lisa Bekemeyer and Sharon Norlander, will join Principal Holden as they share a behind the scenes look at our intern program. Please join us on November 3 @ 9 am as we share information about how we recruit, hire, train, and host interns. Spoiler alert, it is not as easy as it looks! 

If you plan on attending, please RSVP here so we can send you a Google Meet invite.

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! https://forms.gle/UdjFmDrbRhB6Vond9

Many hands make light work! Check out the media center calendar to view the schedule of classes. https://bit.ly/ndmediaschedule

MASKS ARE REQUIRED AT NORMANDALE

The Health and Safety Measures resolution that was approved by the Edina School Board on August 17 includes universal masking for all students and adults in Edina transportation and indoor school settings. Please remember your mask when you visit Normandale for Partnership Planning conferences and volunteering.

The Minnesota Department of Health is requesting that schools continue to track COVID related cases among their student population.  

Covid/Illness Reporting Form - Please use this form to report your child’s absence due to illness. It is helpful to us in tracking illness related absences and which families we need to follow up with to guide through the decision tree.

As always, call if you need consultation on whether or not your child should stay home, get tested, and where to get tested. We’re here to help!

LUNCHTIME VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We continue to need volunteers to supervise outdoor home lunch. Please sign up HERE if you are able to help. As a reminder, volunteers are what allows us to offer outdoor lunch for students.

DAAN VAN TIL- SECOND GRADE

About me...:  I live in France since I am six years old, in a small village called Nannay of 100 inhabitants. I live their with my mother. My father lives forty minutes nearby. I study English in Clermont-Ferrand for four years now. My main hobby is music. I play the guitar for 8 years. I play also a little bit of the ukulele and the mandoline. I had a band this year in France.

In The US...: I'm interested in music events. I would like to go and visit New York and Chicago during the holidays if I got the chance. Otherwise, I am interested in anything which is related to the American culture: Thanksgiving, Watching a Football game, hiking next to the Mississippi river...

My favorite food…: I like almost everything. I love Pizza of course ! My favourite dish however is something unique: it is pasta with spinach, cream, spices and French Conté cheese.

I am excited about…: Mostly to meet new people. I can't wait to meet everybody: whether it is the children with whom I am going to work, the staff which appears lovely and friendly, Peggy with whom I'm going to work, the other interns with whom I am going to share this adventure with, and of course my host family which appears to be so nice as well.

EDINA COMMUNITY EDUCATION - MEA BREAK CAMPS

Robot Builders: Mighty Machines: Gr. 1-5: With the LEGO™ WeDo Robotics System, kids can build and program their robotic creations and explore different Robotic Themes. Students working in teams will work with simple machines, program models they design and create, measure time and distance, write, and much more! Thursday Oct 21, 9:00am-12:00pm

Colorful Critters Drawing Workshop: Gr. K-5: Animal lovers rejoice; an all new - all pastel workshop is here! Students will learn pastel drawing and texturing techniques to illustrate whimsical bees, a fanciful army of frogs, a striking owl and more artistic critters filled with detail. Challenge your creative kids by introducing them to the world of pastels. Thursday and Friday Oct 21/22, 9:00am-12:00pm

Will DeBerg: MEA Basketball Camp: Gr. 2-4

Will DeBerg: MEA Basketball Camp: Gr. 5-6: This is a great chance to work on your game as you are coached by current and former college and professional basketball players! Plenty of opportunities for individual coaching. Kids will be grouped by age and/or experience. It is a 2 day camp that runs Thursday and Friday. 9:00am-11:00am

Game Coding: Super Mario: Gr. 2-6: This course will give you hands-on experience developing your own game using Scratch 3, a visual coding platform. Students will learn how to think like programmers and learn coding concepts while creating a 2-dimensional, arcade-style Super Mario Bros.-themed game. The first part of the class will be instructor-led; with the time remaining, students will have the opportunity to customize their games. Thursday Oct 22, 1:00pm-4:00pm

Normandale PTO| [normandalepto.org]