March 13, 2025

Dear Park Spanish Immersion Elementary School Community:

The students have really enjoyed the additional sunshine this week! Our kindergarten students enjoyed their adventure at Westwood Nature Center on Wednesday.

Speaking of kindergarten, we are excited to welcome next year's kindergarten students to our school on Tuesday, March 18! We will host tours from 5:30-6:00 p.m., and we will have a presentation for families starting at 6:00 p.m. while students participate in a lesson in Spanish with our amazing staff members.

Thanks to our Parent Teacher Organization for hosting a silent auction which largely benefits our Amity Intern program; please see below for more information. We are in the process of interviewing Amity interns for the 2025-2026 school year. If you would be interested in learning more about hosting an intern next year, please reach out to our Amity parent coordinators at psiamity@gmail.com.

Take care, have a great week, keep reading, and thanks for being members of our community!

In partnership,

Corey Maslowski, Principal

Megan Paulis de Rangel, Assistant Principal

In this section, we are featuring some of our amazing PSI Staff so the community can get to know every adult in the building as we work together to support each student at PSI!

This week we want to highlight a few PSI staff members. Sra. Velazquez and Sra. Smith are two of our wonderful assistants here. Sra. Velazquez is a kindergarten assistant, and Sra. Smith is an instructional assistant! We are so happy to have them here!

5 Fun Ways to Bring Social Studies Home

Click here to see the full report in English, and here to read it in Spanish!

First Grade Architecture Showcase

Our first graders have been hard at work in Talent Development, exploring the fascinating world of architecture! They have been inspired by the remarkable Norma Merrick Sklarek, a pioneering architect who opened doors for many female and minority architects. The students are excited to share their creations with you, showcasing their journey from blueprints to final products.

We invite you to our 1st Grade Architecture Showcase on Thursday, March 20, from 5:00 to 5:45 PM at PSI, outside room 214.

We look forward to celebrating their creativity and hard work together!

Incoming 2025-26 Kindergarten Welcome Night

What: Kindergarten Welcome Night!

When: Tuesday, March 18 at 5:30 pm

What: Tour your future school, participate in classroom activities, and meet teachers and staff!

Who: Incoming Kindergarteners and their parents, other siblings welcome but will need to stay with parents during the presentation portion. There will not be childcare provided! We hope to see you there!

CARTONERAS - if you have a sewing machine, we need your help!

We are gearing up for our Cartonera Project (in May/June).  In this culminating celebration, every student publishes a book!  We then host families to read and rave about the books.

We will need people to help sew the books.  It really only requires a sewing machine and the capacity to sew a straight(ish) line.  If you are willing and able to assist in this way, please us know (scheid.kara@slpschools.org or schuster.ashleigh@slpschools.org).

March February A-E Day Calendar

Sharing Culture

Based on community feedback, we are adding a new section to La Prensa, Compartiendo Cultura (sharing culture). This section will highlight the many ways that we help students bring to life our SLP Public Schools’ vision statement, in becoming their best selves as globally minded contributors to society. 

In this issue, we want to highlight Elders' Wisdom, Children's Song. The fourth grade classes are participating in Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song. While doing so, they have had the opportunity to learn about three special people. This year, they are excited to honor three members of the PSI community. In February, students interviewed Ram Etwarroo, an immigrant from Guyana who works in our building, Dan Jensen, a Vietnam veteran who is a long-distance runner, and Gayle Knutson, an EMT who assists the Red Cross with disaster relief. Students are now writing songs for each elder. All families and friends are invited when students honor the three elders in a community celebration on Monday, April 28, at 6:30 pm at the SLP Middle School.

School District News

Way To Grow Community Event: SLP Family Roundtable

Way to Grow is hosting a Family Roundtable Event on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM, focused on managing parent burnout. Our goal is to strengthen community engagement among families and let you know that you are not alone!

We will have Spanish and Somali interpreters available, and if another language is needed, please let us know—we’ll do our best to accommodate!

Link to flyer, Spanish Flyer

Way to Grow Community Event: Sabathani Community Baby Shower

We are partnering with Sabathani Community Center to host a Community Baby Shower being held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. 

Link to flyer

PTO News

Movie Night (2025)

Bring the whole family and come join us for a free pizza dinner and showing of Inside Out 2.  We’ll be watching Inside Out 2 in Spanish with English subtitles.  The pizza dinner will be in the middle school cafeteria from 5:30-6:00 pm, and the movie will start in the middle school auditorium at 6:15 pm.

Silent Auction Closes TOMORROW!  

Thank you to everyone who has played a role in the success of the PSI PTO 17th Annual Silent Auction! You still have a chance to win something great, or buy a ticket for a fun party. Auction closes tomorrow, Friday, around 10pm. We did have a few surprise late entries, including a MN Loons jersey signed by the whole team!! So login at psi.auctionanything.com and check it all out!

In Search of A Parent Amity Coordinator!

Interested in working with the Amity Program but can’t host? We are looking for a parent to be a coordinator for next year. Each year 4 parent volunteers help coordinate the program, helping the Amity Interns with finding host families to live with, making sure they have everything they need outside of school, coordinate them helping with afterschool activities such as the Carnival, Math Night, and more. It’s a great way to get to know these amazing Amity Interns and help out our school. Please let us know if you are interested or if you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you! PSIamity@gmail.com

Application to Host an Amity for the 2025-2026 School Year Now Open!  

Each year PSI typically welcomes Amity Interns from Spanish speaking countries who assist our teachers in the K-5 classrooms. These interns are either pursuing or have recently completed a college degree with an education focus, and are between the ages of 20-30 years old. Amity interns live with PSI host families one semester allowing both an opportunity for greater language learning and cultural exchange. Please consider hosting an Amity Intern either fall or spring of next year. A unique and wonderful experience that can benefit your entire family. Plus, it's a great way to give back to the students, staff and entire community. Want more info? Contact us at psiamity@gmail.com, we are happy to answer any questions or meet up to talk about it.

Ready to sign up? Go to psiparents.ptboard.com, click Amity Interns to find the Host Family application. Fill yours out today! 

Not able to host, but interested in supporting the Amity program in another way? We also solicit volunteers to be a Cousin Family.

The Cousin Family is an extension of the host family and supports both the intern and their host family throughout the intern’s stay. This is most successfully achieved when the cousin family takes the initiative to reach out and communicate frequently with both parties. This effort allows families to build lasting connections with one another and brings a sense of community to the intern. The more involved the cousin family is with the intern the greater the opportunity is for language learning, cultural exchange and lasting relationships for all.



Go to psiparents.ptboard.com, click Amity Interns to find more information about the Cousin Family role along with the Cousin application. Fill yours out today!

Thanks for considering these amazing opportunities!

Your Amity Coordinator Team,

Steve Kalpin

Darlene Kuykendall

Kelly Marinello

Kevin Russell

Community News

Kids Place: Summer Childcare Registration Open!

PSI Kids Place Fundraiser: Gertens Garden Center

Park Spanish Immersion Elementary Kids Place is doing an online Gertens Fundraiser! This group will receive 30% of all plant sales and 15% of all plant card sales. Proceeds will go toward field trips. 

Orders must be completed by 10:00 PM on Thursday, April 3.

NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED. 

Your order will be ready for pick up on May 13 in the evening at PSI (9400 Cedar Lake Road, St. Louis Park, MN).

If you have any questions, please contact your fundraiser chairs: Demario Mckinney, mckinney.demario@slpschools.org or Lisa Ralston, ralston.lisa@slpschools.org.

Thank you for your support! 

To access the site and place an order for your fundraiser group:

1. Go to www.gertensfundraising.com
2. Enter the Store ID code provided into the text field and click ‘Enter ID to Continue’.

Store ID code for Kids Place Park Spanish Immersion Elementary: 1082