1-28-04

Semester Two Greetings,

We have a lot of information that we have to pass on to you as we move into the second half of the year.  So hang on and let's get to it.  Fourth quarter and June will be here before we know it!

1. Please welcome a few new faces to our building this semester.  Ms. Stefanich will be taking Mrs. Wikstrom's classes, Mrs. Smolke is in for Mrs. Alstad from the High School for two hours a day, and Mrs. Petermeier is in her third year of job sharing second semester with Mrs. Ulseth.

2. Parents please note that this coming Tuesday and Thursday, Feb. 3rd and 5th, our 8th grade students will be taking the Minnesota Basic Skills Test.  The testing will take place 1st - 3rd hour on Tuesday and 4th - 6th hour on Thursday.  Please make sure that your students are here (no appointments), well rested and ready to go.

3. During our 6th hour classes on Wednesday, Feb. 4th, Mr. Silko, the High School Principal, will be coming down to the Middle School to hand out registration material for next year's 9th grade classes.  On Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., the High School is holding an informational session for parents who may have questions about the registration process.  On Feb. 12th, the 8th graders will be registering for their 9th grade classes on-line in our computer lab during their Social Studies classes.  You can also call Mrs. Hagman at ex. 1208 if you have questions.

4. Enclosed in the letter delivered to your home you will find information about the Parent Portal.  If you are on the Internet, or have access to the Internet at work, you can now check your child's daily or weekly academic progress, mid-quarter progress reports, and quarter grades by accessing their teacher's grade book through the Web.  Our enclosed letter explains assigning a password, how the confidentiality works, and how you can get started.  Use of the portals by our high school parents and students is very positive.  If you have questions, please call.

5. I've got some concerns with the morning drop off of students!  A number of parents coming onto the site from both the north and south on 8th Avenue are stopping on that roadway and crosswalk to drop off their children.  This stops traffic and forces your child to walk between vehicles that are pulling into the "designated" drop-off area.  If the drop-off area is full, transportation has okayed using the handicapped drop-off area adjacent to the pool in the mornings only.  Additionally, we are seeing parents leave their vehicles in the drop-off area to take care of school business.  Please use the visitor parking lot area for these situations. The after-school pick up of students is going much better.  Remember that you can use the frontage road to the north of the gymnasium and the back of the parking lot up by the tennis courts to wait for students.  With colder weather too many vehicles are trying to pick up students in the visitor parking lot area near the crosswalk which is causing congestion at those exits.

6. 6th graders will be taking the Minnesota Student Survey in their Health rooms the last week of February.  The survey is available to view in the counseling office and covers a number of topics which include drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and other at risk behaviors.  Some questions are asked in the areas of suicide, bullying, eating habits, exercise, and seat belt use.  Student names are not used in the survey, and we hope that parents realize that this valuable data is important to our district and schools around the state in identifying the need for intervention programs.  Parents do have the right to ask that their child be excused from the survey and placed in a study hall for that hour.  This survey is also being given to our 9th and 12th graders in the district.

7. The Blue Bus scheduled for the library after school has been temporarily canceled.  At a cost of .25 cents for students, we need at least 32 students to make it work.  We could raise the cost to .50 cents, and do an additional student survey or start a sign-up sheet to assess interest.  Our Parent Advisory Committee will look at this issue.

8. Mrs. Gibbons and students from ICC are working on a Middle School Web page. As soon as it is up and running, we will have my newsletters, school and sporting event dates, pictures and a host of information about the Middle School available. This link could be found at www.isd318.org on the District's Web page.

9. We have received two grants and will be starting to update our 6th grade orientation video.  The new version should be available to 5th grade parents and teachers in April.

10. Our Parent Advisory Committee meets on Feb. 11th at 12:45 in the Media Center Conference Room.

Finally, balancing our curriculum with all the testing, winter concerts, sports trips, Math Masters and Academic Triathlon competitions, pod field trips, pod rallies, PE trips, and after-school programs make for some busy days around here in the office.   Bear with us and continue to use the Attendance Line at 327-5804 with calling in absences.  We are looking forward to a great second semester!!!!!!!

With kids in mind,

Len Rothlisberger