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| Message from the Director |
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Planning for the 2020-2021 School Year
TCGIS administrators are working hard to develop an operationally and educationally workable solution for our school community. As this school year comes to a close, we want to share with you our process for planning for the 2020-21 school year.
Currently we are in Stage 2 of the planning process (below). Administrators are working with educators, staff, and school board members to develop solutions for at least three potential scenarios.
Parent and student feedback on distance-learning experiences this year will be collected through the Parent and Student Councils and will help inform the solutions TCGIS administrators and educators develop for next year. Watch for communication from the Parent Council in the coming weeks.
In Stage 3, once plans for next school year are finalized, we will again seek parent and student feedback on the plan through the respective councils.
We appreciate your trust and patience with the process as we work together to "build a school" in such uncertain times.
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Resources for Conversations with Kids on Race, Racism, & Discrimination
AMAZEWorks, which provided guidance and anti-bias training for TCGIS staff earlier this year, is currently offering
free resources
on their website for parents to have conversations with their kids on race, racism, and discrimination.
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Seeking Parent Feedback on Distance Learning
TCGIS administrators are working hard to develop an operationally and educationally workable solution for our school community. Last week we shared with you our process for planning for the 2020-21 school year.
Currently we are in Stage 2 of the planning process (above) and we are ready to collect Parent Feedback. We thank the Parent Council for their leadership and work in developing the
Parent Council Distance Learning Survey, a collaboration between the Parent Council and the Administrative team. Your feedback
will help inform the solutions TCGIS administrators and educators develop for next year.
The Minnesota Department of Education expects to release concrete information by the end of July. Once that happens, we will be able to finalize our planning. We will continue to seek feedback from our councils and are grateful to them for their help.
We appreciate your trust and patience with the process as we work together to "build a school" in such uncertain times.
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Returning Student Registration Begins Now!
Please log in to your children's PowerSchool accounts and fill out annual student registration forms by June 30th. We have revised several of the forms so even if there is no new information, we need you to review the form and, most importantly, even if you change nothing, you must hit the submit button on each form for the information to update in their account. Please review and update the following forms:
B - Student Demographics - review & submit
C - Student Health Information - review & submit
D - Media/Directory Release - update & submit
E - Neighborhood Walk Permission - update & submit
F - Emergency Treatment Authorization - fill out & submit
T - Student Contacts - update & submit
Please also use this opportunity to fill out any forms your child is missing except the S - Change of Address form. Only fill out this form if you have moved.
Thank you so much!
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Parent PowerSchool Report Card Instructions
PowerSchool is open for student and parent access. Please click on
this link to find information on how to view/print your child's report card. Kindergarten report cards were emailed out to parents and guardians earlier this week.
Click here to log in to PowerSchool.
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Car Parade Picture & Video Submissions
Reminder to send pictures and videos from the TCGIS car parade to
ealbers@tcgis.org. If you use the hashtag #TCGIScarparade, make sure that the post is public to all so non-friends can see! I'd love to have more in the video before we send it out. Thanks!
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Health Office Update for 11-Year-Old Students
Current Vaccination Records Needed by August 15!
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:
- email to info@tcgis.org
- mail to the school:
- 1031 Como Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103; ATTN: Monika Avery
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Parent Council Update
Your Parent Council met on Monday, June 8th by Zoom and we have a few updates to share.
The PC will continue to meet though the summer and by fall we hope to start inviting parents to attend our open session.
We are also working with the school on ways to welcome new families, we may soon be asking for parent volunteers to co-host Zoom meetings with incoming families. Finally, keep an eye out for the PC web page which should be up on the TCGIS website this summer.
Other topics discussed:
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Distance learning challenges and triumphs
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Middle school health curriculum: the Family Tree presentation on this topic was postponed to a future meeting
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Exploring the idea of creating a Subcommittee for Environmental Stewardship
As always, please email your Parent Council representative or the full Parent Council (
parent-council@tcgis.org
) with questions or comments.
The Parent Council wishes you all a healthy and happy summer!
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"Welcome to MS Presentation" for Next Year's 5th Grade Families
Greetings current 4th grade families! In light of recent events, we have moved our usual face-to-face presentation online. Please
check out this presentation for information regarding all things Middle School!
Please make sure to take the survey linked on the last slide: a pace to ask your questions and give feedback! At this time, please refrain from asking any COVID-19 related questions, as we are still making plans for what school might look like in the fall.
We are so excited to meet you!
Rachael Schlee, Beate Simon and the MS teaching team
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Library Updates
Free German E-Library
The
eLibrary "Onleihe" is the virtual library of the Goethe-Institut USA. This free service allows you to borrow digital media, such as ebooks, audio and video files, and electronic newspapers and magazines. The library offers around 2500 books for children and young adults. It is very easy to sign up and you can start borrowing books within minutes. by downloading the Onleihe app on AppStore and Play Store.
Summer Library Hours
Thank you for returning all library books to the school! We are planning to offer safe and creative library services to students over the summer once we have the books back on the shelves. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.
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Construction Updates
This week we have painters finishing the inside walls on the upper and middle levels. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing are still working throughout the building. Window frames and glazing is being installed.
Andy Nesset
TCGIS Facilities and Grounds
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TCGIS Band Program Information
To all 4th grade families: are you interested in participating in the TCGIS Middle School band program? Click
here to find more information about signing up for band and participating in summer lessons online!
Krista Johnson
Band teacher
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All-School Updates: Important Links
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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Thank You to Parents & Volunteers
The 2019-2020 PTO Executive Team would like to say "thank you" to all our amazing parents and volunteers who helped out this year!
We look forward to next year - whatever it may bring - and we can't wait to continue to support our awesome school in new and innovative ways!
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School Board Announcements
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School Board Election Results
The TCGIS would like to thank all the candidates who ran in last week's election. We are pleased to announce that Kim Kulhanek, and Missy Morrissey have been elected to the board and that Silke Moeller, Dianne Bell, and Emily Albers have been re-elected. They will be seated at the June 25 board meeting. We also want to thank the 271 voters who cast ballots - 33% of eligible voters. Active engagement is truly a strength of our school community.
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.
Fundraising Update
Our TCGIS Annual Campaign has received $93,816.74 in donations so far this year. We are incredibly grateful to our community's generosity during these difficult times. In last week's Elternbrief, we announced that we are dedicating all donations made since mid-May until end of the fiscal year June 30th, up to $5,000, toward implementing further anti-racism educator and student training through AMAZEworks. These donations include the Sauerkraut Challenge, employee contributions, and family donations. The AMAZEworks training fund has already received $2,580! Donations can be made online or sent via check to the school office.
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Community Events: Updates
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GAI: Podcasts, Masks, & Summer Camps
Registration is open and at this time we plan to offer summer camps as scheduled. To ensure safety and observe social distancing, the number of campers will be limited. Register at
gai-mn.org/Summer-Camp-2020
Hier & There Podcast Live | Thursday, June 11 | 6:30-8 PM
Tune in for the first-ever Hier & There podcast live event streamed on Facebook. Bring the German grammar questions that have always stumped you, hear about others' cultural missteps and "bloopers", and join in some language and culture trivia to win prizes!
Send us your language questions and bloopers: Email the team at
podcast@gai-mn.org or follow @GAIHaus to send us your feedback through Instagram stories!
Sponsor: German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, Minnesota Chapter.
Participate in our live event at
www.facebook.com/GAIMN.
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