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 TCGIS Online Calendar
Upcoming Events:
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June 1-5: School Board Elections
June 5: End-of-Year Car
Parade
June 7: Virtual Graduation Celebration
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| Message from the Director |
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Direktorgruß von Herrn Anderson
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| Direktorgruß 04. Juni 2020 |
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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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TCGIS Sauerkraut Challenge Suspended Following George Floyd's Death
In the wake of George Floyd's death last week and the ensuing devastation to our community, we are suspending the TCGIS Sauerkraut Challenge. Instead, we are asking our community to donate to organizations who are serving those directly impacted by the violence and looting that occurred in the wake of George Floyd's death. The Star Tribune has compiled a
list of organizations helping our community right now. Please consider donating directly to one of these organizations if you can.
Secondly, we would like to challenge our own TCGIS community to help us in our efforts to further support equity work at TCGIS. This year the Board, Staff and Administration received guidance and anti-bias training from
AMAZEworks a local nonprofit organization focused on racial equity education. This was just the first step in many that we intend to take at TCGIS as we strive for all our community to "belong" vs. just be 'included'.
To that end: we commit to dedicating the next $5,000 donations received specifically towards implementing more AMAZEworks anti-racism educator and student training in the next school year. Donations can be made
online or you can send a check to the school office.
We are currently at $93,000 in donations. Let's reach $98,000 to implement our anti-racism training next year.
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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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TCGIS Car Parade: TOMORROW, Friday, June 5, 2020!
For those who plan to participate, the TCGIS Car Parade will take place
tomorrow, Friday, June 5th, 2
020 from 10:30am-12:30pm! Please read
this Google Slides presentation
carefully, as it has important information regarding the parade route, expectations, and assigned time windows for families (to avoid traffic congestion).
We can't wait to see you - from a distance - on June 5th!
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8th Grade Graduation Celebration
We will celebrate the TCGIS class of 2020 in a streaming graduation ceremony on June 7th at 12 p.m. You can access the live stream ceremony at the following link:
https://youtu.be/B3-BZjstXfM
8th graders will be able to pick up their graduation certificates at the Chromebook drop-off June 4th. The following awards will be presented at the ceremony and mailed to their recipients:
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Thank You, Coordinators!
The TCGIS Administration would like to take a moment to thank our school coordinators, Katrin Zinnow, Rachael Schlee, Kim Kulhanek and Beate Simon. These teacher leaders are essential partners in so many school-wide matters. They provide invaluable teacher perspective, advocate for their colleagues and support the administration in its efforts to make its decisions as kid-centered and effective as they can be. They also do a tremendous job of communicating between teachers and administration, between the school and parents. We are so lucky to have them!
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2020 Parent Satisfaction Survey
For the second time, your TCGIS Administration and your TCGIS Parent Council have collaborated to bring you the
annual parent satisfaction survey.
This is a general survey that applies to the whole of your school experience. A separate parent distance learning survey will come out next week.
TCGIS recognizes the severity of our current situation and remains committed to keeping as many regular processes going as it can. We are deeply grateful for any capacity our families have to help us in these minor matters and, at the same time, are cognizant that many others will lack the bandwidth.
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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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"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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Willkomment zum Sportfest 2020!
Sportfest was a great success! Thanks to everyone for all your submissions and for participating so enthusiastically. Take a look at the video below to see TCGIS students' Sportfest accomplishments!
-THE SPORT TEACHERS
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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 [email protected]
- U.S. mail to school (1031 Como Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103) ATTN: Monika Avery
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Parent Access to Grades and Comments Closed 5/20-6/8
Parent Portal access to student grades and comments is temporarily closed from May 20th until June 8th. This provides teachers time to finalize marking student work and posting comments for spring semester.
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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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Thank You for Retrieving Student Items & Returning School Materials!
Thank you to families for participating in the pick-up & drop-off weeks! Your help is greatly appreciated as we work on closing the school year and cleaning the halls, as well as looking ahead to next year and cataloguing the materials that are left! Thanks for your flexibility and cooperation, and we hope to see you at the parade tomorrow!
-Front Office, Admin, & Educational Assistant Teams
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Construction Updates
This week our structure is getting windows and the upper classrooms are getting painted. Mechanical, electrical, and low voltage are still working t
hroughout the building.
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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School Board Announcements
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School Board Elections
The 2020 School Board Election is taking place this week
from Monday, June 1 at 7:30 AM to Friday, June 5 at 3:30 PM.
This year's election is virtual and hosted by ElectionBuddy. You should have received an automated email Monday including your unique link to vote in the election.
There are seven candidates running for five open Board positions. Three candidates are incumbent Board members running to continue in their roles. You can read biographies of all seven candidates here and watch the recording of the candidate forum here. Biographies of each candidate are also included directly in the online ballot.
The email from Monday contains your unique access key.
This key can only be used to vote once, and your voting choices will remain anonymous.
When you've finished voting, click "verify your selection" and you will have a chance to review and edit your votes. When you're satisfied with your vote, click "submit ballot." You will then see a "thank you" screen with a verification code. You will also receive a confirmation receipt email with the same verification code.
If you have election questions or feedback, please email Nicole Crashell at
[email protected]
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Sincerely,
The TCGIS School Board
May Board Meeting Summary
The TCGIS School Board held a virtual meeting on May 28th. The recording can be found
here
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The Board recognized and thanked Parent Council Representatives for their work this year. The Board also thanked Jake Holdreith, Candidate Forum moderator, and Carrie Raey and Clare Roney, Candidate Forum hosts.
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The Board heard an update by Director Anderson on the following:
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The Board approved the application for the PPP loan, for which funds were received. This enabled the school to bring back and pay staff from programs without current revenue due to the pandemic, as well as to honor the busing contract, negotiated to 80% payment.
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The Board approved changes to the Bylaws and discussed and approved policies 102 (Equal Education Opportunity Policy), 509.2 (Enrollment Policy - Early Admissions), 616 (School District System Accountability), 215 (Election Policy), and new policy 4xx (Dignity at Work).
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The Board voted to approve the director's contract.
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.
Important Policy Review in June
This month's Governance Committee meeting includes the first reading on two policies that are of particular relevance and importance to TCCGIS students, staff, and families: Policy 504 Student Dress/Appearance and Policy 532 Use of Peace Officers/Crisis Team. I encourage all staff, parents, and even students to look through these policies at some point in the next week. Please join us for the virtual meeting to share in the review of them or send your thoughts to [email protected] or [email protected]. If you are unable to dedicate time this month, they will undergo a second reading at the next meeting of the committee.
TCGIS Community Garden Project
Parents, teachers, kids, whether you have a green thumb or not, you are invited to participate in a fun new project- the TCGIS Community Garden! The School Board arranged for TCGIS to have a 306 sqft plot at the D10 Como Community Garden,
and this inaugural year, we plan to donate the produce to the local food shelf as a community service. We've planted broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, brussel sprouts, strawberries, cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, and some flowers too! Thank you to the Deimel family for donating the majority of plants to kickstart this effort!
Let's grow a garden together! Sign up HERE! Please help us maintain the garden over the summer by signing up for days to visit, pull weeds and water from the nearby fire hydrant. More details will be sent to those who sign up. The community garden is located on the east side of Snelling, north of Como Ave, between Almond and Albany Avenues. With questions,
please email Julie Alkatout at [email protected].
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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
[email protected] 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.
Deutsche Tage Masks: One-of-a-Kind!
Volunteers from our board and the Damenklub are busy sewing face masks made from vintage shirts, Dirndl, aprons, and event banners that have been donated to the GAI over the past few decades. This makes them not only sustainably made, but also durable and soft. These one-of-a-kind masks are currently only available in our Deutsche Tage Haus Party Kits. Find the whole story at gai-mn.org/deutschetage
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