December 8, 2016

Take a look at current volunteer opportunities! If you are not yet a volunteer, but are interested in becoming one - please fill out an application here. Vielen Dank!

Administrative Information

Early Release Wednesday Next Week

This is a friendly reminder about our early release Wednesday next week on Wednesday, December 14. School gets out at 12:45pm so please plan accordingly.

Brrr...It's Cold Outside!

The temperature has dropped and the snow has fallen! Please click here to brush up on our policies regarding cold weather recess, recess cancellation, and to find some tips for staying warm outdoors! If you're curious about snow day and cold day cancellations, please click here.

Volunteers Needed for Staff Lunch

The PTO-sponsored Staff Holiday Potluck Lunch is less than one week away, on Tuesday, December 13. Ask any (non-new) staff member and they will tell you how much they LOVE this event.

But putting on a feast for nearly 80 people is no small feat and currently only 21 of 73 tasks/items are claimed. The PTO Staff Appreciation Committee needs your help!

Please volunteer to bring and/or do something by clicking here . C an you help us fill up all the spots by Friday? Have questions? Contact Karin Stiles at [email protected] or 507-398-8715.

Winter is Here - Please Dress Appropriately

Minnesota winter has arrived! Please help your child remember to wear/bring to school appropriate outdoor clothing (coat, gloves, hat, scarf, snow pants, boots) so that they can enjoy the fresh air outside while staying warm! And PLEASE be sure everything is labelled with the student name.

Along with winter comes wet shoes. Each student needs Hausschuhe please. Teachers strive to maintain a clean and safe classrooms, however when wet outdoor boots are worn into the classrooms, it is impossible to the carpets to stay clean & dry.

Acceptable Hausschuhe are rubber bottomed slippers, Crocs, Birkenstock's, or even their indoor gym shoes, but each student needs to have one alternative pair of shoes.

Are These Your Lost Items?

Our lost and found is overflowing with coats, gloves, hats, and all sorts of lost items. Are you missing something? Please check these photos here to see if you can recognize any items as your own! We will be donating all remaining items a week or two after Winter Break, so please come in to claim your clothes!

Need Some Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season?

Join us for our student-run TCGIS Winter Market on Thursday, December 15 from 2:00-2:45pm. You'll be able to buy amazing arts and crafts, toys, jewelry, enjoy arcade games and a variety of snacks, baked goods, and beverages, etc. The market will be hosted in rooms 316, 318, and 319.

Our students have been planning their businesses, with logos, names, advertisement, products, marketing, market research, pricing, shopping, selling, producing, time management, etc. for a couple weeks now and it has been a joy to witness their excitement. Now the only thing they need is customers - you!

Please bring cash with you. We'll have 3 banks to exchange real money into tickets ( red: 25c each, blue: 1USD each). You can donate unused tickets or exchange them back to USD afterwards.

Each class gets to decide what to do with their profit, whether to use it for a fun class activity or donate it. The money initially invested into the business will be reimbursed to the young entrepreneurs afterwards .

We are looking forward to seeing you.

Kirk Martinson (6th grade) & Fabian Liesner (5th grade)

Maskenball Update

Thanks to the 50 parents, staff, and students who nominated a teacher to win a ticket to Maskenball. Winners will be announced December 13 and included in the next Elternbrief.

Are you interested in a business sponsorship for Maskenball? Or would you like more information on how to help? Use this form t o contact us by December 12.

Tickets go on sale December 14! $30 per person, $15 for staff, and interns are free. Find out more here.

Host an Intern!

Now is the time to apply to become a host family for the next school year. Options are available for short-term hosting, Fall semester, Spring semester or for full-year arrangements. Hosting a TCGIS intern from Germany, Austria or Switzerland can be a valuable experience for your family and expand the horizons of your children forever!

Click here to find out more about our intern program! Have any questions? Contact Tina Haarbusch. Already sold and excited to host? Click here to sign up by February 1, 2017 ! Check the Elternbrief weekly to see our progress.

Winter Clothing Drive

The Service Learning Group wants to remind you that the winter clothing drive ends on December 16. If you have any old or too small winter clothing at home, please donate them into one of the marked boxes at the entrances.

Curriculum & Instruction

Dear TCGIS Families!

I'm sending out a contribution this week in collaboration with two colleagues with whom I work at TCGIS on our Response to Intervention (RTI) Literacy Program: Gesa Zinn and Kirsten Newell. Beginning last year we started collaborating on a school-wide comprehensive literacy program. There are several goals to this Literacy Program, one of them being the aforementioned Response to Intervention (RTI).The goal of RTI is to identify early in the schooling life of our children those students who may be struggling in mastering basic phonemic and phonetic awareness. However, we have found value in formatively assessing our students- meaning NOT high stakes testing but smaller 'snap shot assessments' showing individual development along a continuum. There are many aspects of literacy we assess. Please click here to read more.

Mike Mullins

PTO

PTO Announcements

Click here to find out more about these upcoming events:

PTO meeting & holiday fun, Dec. 13, 6:30-8:15
Parent panel on transitioning to high school, Jan. 17
Maskenball, Feb. 4, University Club

GAI

GAI Announcements

SAMSTAGSSCHULE: Registration Now Open for Kids and Teens

Jan. 21 - April 29, 2017

Kids and teens can continue learning German on the weekend with Samstagsschule (Saturday School). Each Saturday morning over 12 weeks, the GAI will offer several classes for children and teens, from the beginner level through advance grammar and conversation skills. Registration is now available by clicking here. See the basic course offerings below:

German for Kids - Beginner (Age 4 to 4th grade): Children with minimal or no prior exposure to German will acquire basic communication skills and general vocabulary pertaining to the topics presented.
German for Kids - Advanced: At this level the class activities will be conducted primarily in German, with emphasis on oral language development. For 1st - 4th grade & Kinderstube Grads

German for Teens - Beginner: Introduction to German for students who have no or limited prior knowledge.
German for Teens - Intermediate: Course is designed to build on existing language skills.
German for Teens - Advanced: Course continues to develop language, grammar and conversation skills.