| Message from the Director |
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Schöne Grüße von Herrn Anderson
As we conclude our second week of Distance Learning, Herr Anderson shares some thoughts about how we - TCGIS staff and families - are partners in our school's mission:
innovative education of the whole child through German immersion.
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| Videogruß vom Direktor 16. April 2020 |
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School Board Announcements
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Herzlichen Dank: another fundraising milestone reached!
The Covid-19 crisis has made our lives as we know them come to a grinding halt. But there is some great news to report!
As of April 1 we've raised $75,987 towards our Annual Fund Campaign target of $125,000! Herzlichen Dank to our generous community!!
Especially significant is that this number includes $13,752 in monthly contributions through employee-giving programs and parent donations that are matched by their employers!
That is fantastic news and we are thrilled to have so many parents and family members take advantage of employee-giving and matching-fund programs.
Did you know? Numerous corporations are
increasing
their matching gift donations in light of the pandemic. Maybe your employer is doing the same, or is on
this list
of corporations increasing their matching gift donations? (Medtronic is not on this list but recently announced they are also increasing their matching donations by 2:1 during this time.) If a donation to TCGIS is something your family can consider right now, you can make a donation here.
In other great news:
we've unlocked the All-School Dress Up Day challenge by reaching our $75,000 milestone! We will have a VIRTUAL all-school dress up day for both staff and students; we'll send out details for
when
to dress up, and
how
to submit your photos, soon - stay tuned!
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Nominations & Applications to the School Board due April 18
By serving on the TCGIS School Board, YOU can help our school, strengthen connections within our community, and make important decisions that affect the future.The work of the Board ensures that TCGIS provides a meaningful education and experience for all students.
This year, the community will elect
FIVE board members
to each serve a
three year term
. We seek any interested persons (
parents, teachers, and community members
), especially those with experience in management & leadership, diversity & inclusion, financial compliance, education, board governance, legal matters, and marketing & development.
If you are interested in serving or would like to nominate someone to serve, all details and forms are available through the links below. You do not need to be nominated to apply.
Important Dates
April 18
: All nominations and applications due by 4:45 pm. Send via email to Stephanie Forsland (
sforsland@tcgis.org
) or drop off in the school office.
TBD:
Meet the Candidates Forum
May 11-15:
Board elections, drop off all ballots by 4:45 pm on Friday, May 15.
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Share the TCGIS message in different langauges!
In an effort to promote our school's goal of increasing diversity, the TCGIS school board Communications Committee wants to use videos in languages other than German and English to share what makes our school great. We are seeking volunteers to speak for the school in languages commonly spoken in Twin Cities immigrant communities such as
Amharic,
Arabic, Hmong, Karen, Somali, Spanish, Vietnamese, etc.
Please contact Rich Iwen at
riwen@tcgis.org
if you can participate in this outreach program.
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Upcoming Committee Meetings
Here are the scheduled upcoming committee meetings. Please contact the committee chair for meeting login details. Meetings will be virtual until further notice.
Finance & Facilities Committee: Tues April 21, 6:30pm, contact rheid@tcgis.org
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All-School Updates: Feedback Survey and important links
We have almost completed our second week of distance-learning - and we'd still like to hear how it's going for your family. If you haven't already,
please take moment to fill out this survey to let us know what's working and what areas need more work. Your feedback helps us form a complete picture of how things are working school-wide so we can make necessary changes and keep improving distance-learning for students, families and teachers.
Vielen Dank!
Here are links to useful pages you may wish to bookmark for easy reference:
In case you missed any of the email updates in the last month, find them here:
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Moving to Weekly Attendance next week
Vielen, vielen Dank for taking daily attendance for your child(ren) these last two weeks. By reporting attendance through the form, you are saving our teachers this significant administrative task, allowing them to focus on educating your child(ren).
We have been assessing the attendance procedure over the last two weeks and we now have almost 10 days of attendance data, providing us a good overview of where students and families are at. We have decided to streamline the process even further
next week by moving
to taking
attendance once a week
on Fridays.
The new form, in which you will enter weekly attendance for your child(ren), will be available Friday-Sunday (it opens Friday morning and closes 11:59 P.M. Sunday
night). If your child has attended school everyday, you will have a simple yes/no option. If your child missed any days that week, you'll have the option to check off which days they were absent and a space to tell us the reason (required for accurate attendance reporting).
If you forget to enter attendance, let the front office know by emailing info@tcgis.org.
If you would like to receive a weekly email reminder to enter attendance on Fridays, you can opt in to reminder emails by filling out a brief form here
.
(If you already signed up for the daily reminder, we will continue to email you this weekly reminder, until you email Katharina to be removed from the list.)
Attendance data will be entered into PowerSchool the following Monday by front office staff. If you opted to receive attendance notifications for your child(ren) from PowerSchool, these notifications will now be for the week prior.
Thank you for adapting to this new process with us. Taking attendance gives us the ability to say to the State of Minnesota what our participation rate is. The collaboration between parents and the front office staff can provide this crucial information and allow teachers to focus on instruction.
Thank you for supporting TCGIS this way.
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Weekly Meal Pick-up for Qualifying Families
TCGIS will continue to provide meals to qualifying families with weekly pick-up on Mondays. If your family is experiencing loss of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic, your child/ren may qualify for free or reduced price lunches. To apply, please complete an Application for Educational Benefits
and contact Alex Weeding at
aweeding@tcgis.org
. Should your family qualify, we will add you to our weekly meal distribution at our OPC cafeteria.
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Kinderclub Updates for April 2020
TCGIS will continue to provide care for students of Emergency Workers, First Responders and Essential Workers starting April 6th. You may review the list of eligible workers
here
.
If you will continue or need to start care at TCGIS please fill out
this form
by Monday, April 20
.
As a reminder we will provide care for your school-aged students between the ages of 5-12.
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Checking in with the Parent Council
The Parent Council met (via Zoom) on April 13. Not surprisingly, the bulk of our discussion centered around distance learning. It's safe to say that parents, students, and staff are all being stretched. School representatives reiterated that they understand parents are juggling homeschooling with working at home and other demands; they don't expect things to be done perfectly and are allowing "space and grace" during this time.
Elementary and middle school coordinators provided feedback at the meeting, expressing gratitude for parents' support and asking for continued patience and understanding as they adapt to this new educational landscape. Middle school teachers face particular challenges to connecting with students in the same way as elementary school teachers, simply because they have more students. Middle school teachers are looking for more ways to connect with students as distance learning continues.
The parent council will meet again in May. If you have concerns about issues you'd like us to address, get in touch with your class's Parent Council representative.
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Construction Updates
We're happy to report construction is moving forward as planned. We anticipate they will pour more of the concrete floors next week. We have some new views of the construction site to share witth you this week.
Andy Nesset
TCGIS Facilities and Grounds
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3rd Floor East View 4-16-20
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| 3rd Floor West to East - 4-16-20 |
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Neue Sporthalle / New Gymnasium
(facing east, panning from south to north) 4-16-20 |
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PASCH Competition Winner for Cross-Country Meet
Congratulations, TCGIS!
TCGIS won $5000 in this year's
PASCH Competition
of "Overcoming Boundaries" for the 30th Anniversary of German Reunification
from the
German Consulate
and the
German Federal Foreign Office
to host a cross-country meet in the fall 2020 season:
Immer Sportlich Cross-Country Invitational Meet
.
In our application, we connected running to German and "Overcoming Boundaries". Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
. Eliud Kipchoge holds the current marathon world record in Berlin and ran the world's first sub-2-hour marathon in German-speaking Vienna. Overcoming boundaries - be it personal records, hitting the wall in the marathon, or proving what is humanly possible - is what each athlete strives to achieve. Through this invitational meet, we want to cultivate stronger ties between German and running.
The invitational will be open to middle school cross-country teams throughout the Twin Cities in order to promote our school and the German language and culture. Our cross-country and track-and-field program is also very interested in offering races for elementary school students, high schoolers and the wider community at this event.
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New Middle School Athletics Page
Please check out the brand new webpage and information regarding Middle School Athletics at TCGIS. It is located in the Extracurricular Activities section under the Family Resources tab, and also here: www.tcgis.org/athletics
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Yearbook Orders due May 8th
There is less than one month to order your yearbook! The price is $25 until May 8th. Order your yearbook today at
jostens.com!
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Health Office Update for 11 year-old Students:
Current Vaccination Records Needed
If your child is 11 years old and/or entering 7th grade next school year, Minnesota State Statute 121A.15 requires your student to have a dose of the Tdap and Meningococcal vaccine to return to school. If you choose to opt out you may file a medical exemption signed by a health care provider or a non-medical exemption signed by a parent/guardian, and notarized (vaccine needs to be specified). Please return completed immunization documentation to TCGIS once available, but not later than August 15th, 2020 via:
Vielen Dank!
Monika Avery, Health Services
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Re-Enrollment Survey: Please Respond
Please respond to our 2020-2021
re-enrollment survey
if you have not done so already. Even/especially if your plans are not yet finalized or you will not be returning to TCGIS next year; there is a "maybe" option provided. Thank you so much to those of you who have responded, we're only missing about 100 students! This survey is enormously helpful for TCGIS in planning our class compositions.
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Enrichment Activities Spring Session
If you have not yet received a cancellation email and a refund, then your class is continuing remotely and the instructor should have been in touch with you about organizing that. If you would prefer not to participate in the activity remotely or if you have any questions, please contact
info@tcgis.org, ATTN: Clarissa Herman and we will refund your registration promptly.
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Attention St. Paul Residents:
Applications now available for the Saint Paul Bridge Fund
Applications are now open for the Saint Paul Bridge Fund, which will provide emergency relief for families and small businesses most impacted by COVID-19.
Apply by April 19 at 5 p.m. at
stpaul.gov/bridge-fund
Grant Application Guidelines and Process
Eligibility for Families
Grants to residents are targeted to ensure families can remain in secure and stable housing. Eligible families include those who:
- Have incomes at or below 40% of area median income (or $40,000 annually for a family of four) before a COVID-19-related change in employment;
- Have at least one minor child under 18 present in the household; and
- Have experienced a significant loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional resources
The Saint Paul Bridge Fund includes funds provided by The Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority and private donors including the Baird, Bush Foundation, Ecolab Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Securian Foundation, Minnesota United FC, Minnesota Wild, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and the Xcel Energy Foundation.
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Open PTO Exec Team Positions for 2020-2021 School Year 
For the 2020-2021 school year, there will be a some positions opening on the Exec team! Are you interested in getting more involved? Do you have expertise in marketing, finance, education or fundraising? We would love to get in touch with you! Email
tcgispto@gmail.com
if you are interested!
TCGIS Maskenball 2020 -
More info coming.
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Community Events: Updates
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GAI: New Courses and Events for Adults
STARTS SATURDAY!
Oberstufe LK C+ advanced class
Von Goethe, Grass, und Grönemeyer-Gedichte
Schon seit Jahrhunderten drücken Menschen ihre Regungen in Form von Lyrik aus. Lyrik kann aber auch gesellschaftskritisch und politisch sein, und allem voran - ein Sprachexperiment. In dem Lyrik-Kurs überbrücken wir Vergangenheit und Gegenwart und befassen uns in einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit Poemen, Gedichten und Liedern.
Instructor: Valentin Solachau
Dieser Kurs ist für Fortgeschittene-Niveau B2 oder höher
Sat 4/18-6/13
, 10:00 a.m.-noon
, 8 weeks
NOTE: GAI language classes beginning in April will be offered in an online / live video format until it is safe to resume in-person sessions.
Kaddish: Reflections on the Holocaust in Music and Words, by MPR Classical Music host Mindy Ratner
To honor Holocaust Remembrance Day, or "Yom Hashoah" on April 21, the GAI is offering special online programming to the community that will be available throughout the month. More information at
gai-mn.org/event-3808672
NOW ONLINE: Happy Hour auf Deutsch-Freitag Feierabend
Friday, April 24 | 5:30-6:30 PM
Now in the comfort of your home! Bring a beer or wine to your computer or smartphone and join in the conversation, led by a GAI language instructor. Register at
gai-mn.org/Freitag-Feierabend
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Parent &
Family Resources
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NEW: Stress Management Resources at tcgis.org
In collaboration with school psychologist, Carol Mecklenburg, and our team of mental health providers and interns at TCGIS, Jessie Kember, Sydney Carlson and Danielle Becker, we have created a
new resource page
for TCGIS families.
Resources include:
videos and apps for guided meditation, yoga and breathing exercises; tips for talking about the stress of the pandemic with children and teens; ideas for adapting daily life to these extraordinary circumstances; and many more.
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Family Resources
These and more resources can be found on
this new page on our website:
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German Enrichment Resources
Looking for ways to keep your child(ren) engaged in German? Check out this
new webpage with resources in various media and subject-areas. Check back often for the
Video des Tages!
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