Welcome back to school! We hope you had a relaxing and fun winter break. This week's Videogruß is brought to you by Herr Mullins!

Videogruß vom Herrn Mullins 09. Januar 2020

January 29, 7:00-9:00 p.m., University of St. Thomas

Buy your $12 tickets to an evening with Sara Zaske,  author of Achtung Baby. 

Whether you read the book or not, it will be a thought-provoking evening that will shed light on German and American parenting and education methods. 

This community event is open to the public and a fundraiser for the TCGIS Annual Fund. It is co-sponsored by TCGIS and the German Department at University of St. Thomas.  Please spread the word to your friends, family, colleagues, neighbors! Our goal is to sell 300 tickets. 

Copies of Achtung Baby are available at TCGIS for a $20 donation to the TCGIS Annual Fund. Pick up or order your copy now.

 

Governance Committee: Mon., Jan. 13, 3:30 - 4:30pm, Rm. 99

Communications & Diversity Outreach Committee: Tue., Jan. 14, 8:15-9:15am, Rm. 99

Workplace Culture and Innovative Education Committee: Rescheduled, TBD

Finance & Facilities Committee: Tuesday, January 21, 6:00 - 7:00pm, Rm. 99

Executive Committee: Thursday, January 23, 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Rm.  100

School Board Meeting: Thursday, January 30, 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Rm. 100

Nomination Committee

In preparation for the upcoming Board elections in the spring, TCGIS is required to form a Nominations Committee to consist of one Board director, one parent, and one staff member. To date we still need a staff and parent member. The time commitment is one in-person meeting and making a few phone calls or personal outreach. Please  contact Stephanie Forsland ( sforsland@tcgis.org ) if you are interested in serving the school in an impactful way!

February's early-release day has been changed  from Wednesday, Feb. 5  to  Thursday, Feburary 6. 

We are refining our background check procedure at TCGIS to better align with our school boad policy about volunteers on field trips and  in the classroom. 

If you (or a grandparent/relative) may chaperone a field trip with your child(ren)'s class this spring, and have not turned in a Background Check form within the last two years, please do the following: 

The cost for background checks if $20 / adult and can be paid with cash, check or in Boonli. 

Parents for whom the $20 fee would present an obstacle to chaperoning: please email Nicole Sveen (nsveen@tcgis.org). We also welcome donations towards the $20 fee for parents who may otherwise not be able to afford it. 

Background checks will be considered valid for 3 years. If you're not sure if a background check you submitted in the past is still valid, please email Nicole Sveen (nsveen@tcgis.org). In order to ensure we've received background checks from our provider before your next field trip, please submit your disclosure form by February 1. Thank you!

While we had our winter break and celebrations, the construction contractors made good progress on our new building. The foundations are poured and the backfill is mostly in place for now. We are ready for walls, and, at this time, the precast walls are scheduled for delivery by February 3. 

Here is the current construction timeline:   

• Foundations and footing concrete work:  December 2019 - January 2020
• Setting up walls and structural steel: January - February 2020
• Roofing and exterior site work: March 2020
• Interior construction work: March 2020 - July 2020
• Final exterior site work (sidewalks, curbs, landscaping): April 2020-July 2020
• Construction complete: August 2020

Andy Nesset 
Facilities and Grounds

Y ou still have time to purchase a TCGIS  yearbook  for the lowest price this school year! 

For a limited time, buy your 

yearbook  for $17.50! Prices will increase at the end of January.

Go to  jostens.com  and search for Twin Cities German Immersion School. 

Celebrate your 2020 grad with a yearbook ad! Submissions are due by February 8, 2020.  Click here for more information.   

Parents with incoming  siblings of currently-enrolled TCGIS students: please remember to submit an application for sibling enrollment.

Please visit the TCGIS website under the prospective parents tab to find our 2020-2021 application online. 

7th grade is hosting the final breakfast for our Fall Interns:  Monday, January 13 -  Sign-up here

As we get ready to bid our fall interns farewell next week, we hope you'll consider hosting an Intern  next  school year! 

We will need approx. 25 host families for the 2020-21 school year. We'll have about 12-15 interns each semester, 4-5 of whom will stay for the entire year. Here are some FAQs about hosting. 

If you are interested in learning more, or are ready to sign up, please fill out this short interest survey by February 1. Vielenk Dank! 

Do you have any calendars from 2019 that you haven't gotten rid of yet? Frau Henry is looking for calendars that have LANDSCAPE photographs for an upcoming art project. Drop them off in the front office or in Room 301. 

Landmark Center's popular Urban Expedition program, provides families with an opportunity to learn about the world right here in Saint Paul's backyard. In its 14 season, five individual programs will provided authentic cultural experiences that included music, dance, crafts and traditions from different destination countries. 

Saturday, January 11: 1:00-3:00 p.m.