Elternbrief
Issue: 414            
May 21, 2020 
In This Issue

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Message from the Director
Schöne Grüße von Herrn Anderson

Herr Anderson previews end-of-year events coming up. There are so many examples of participation and dedication in supporting the school's ongoing mission of innovative education of the whole child through German immersion! He also wants you all to keep your eyes peeled for the #TCGISSauerkrautChallenge!

Direktorgruss May 21 2020
Direktorgruß May 21 2020

School Information
Pick-Up/Drop-Off Details
 
We have created a process for families to return items and pick-up student items with very minimal contact. This process will be facilitated by minimal staff during specific hours (below).

The Front Office will continue to be closed, except for Monday, June 1, for teacher-required materials pick-up (9am-12noon). The Front Office will not be able to distribute student items during these times. Tuesday, May 26 teacher-required K-4 materials pick-up will be conducted curb-side along with the all-school pick-up process.

Pick-Up Process
  • This is a NO CONTACT drop off/pick up: Stay in your car at all times. Do not park and walk up to the building.
  • Do your best to leave children at home
  • Pick-up/drop-off will take place at the standard location on the school side of Van Slyke, pictured below:

  • In your passenger side window, place your green PikMyKid tag or a piece of paper with student(s) Last Name, First Name(s), and Class Section/Teacher Name(s) (USE A MARKER)
    • if you need to pick up K-4 teacher-required materials (on Tuesday, May 26, only), include this information on the paper in your window
    • the staff will communicate with walkies to fetch and ferry materials to/from family vehicles  
  • Have all items to return bagged and marked as to where they go (Teacher Name, Class, Student name) and in your trunk; if items go to different teachers, please bag them and label them separately.
  • Once you are in the loading zone on Van Slyke, pop open your trunk and a staff member will come retrieve the bagged items. If you need to exit your car to open your trunk, please wear a mask.
  • Please wait a moment for other staff to place any student items in your trunk. Staff will close your trunk when they're done loading in items. You're all set!
  • We encourage you to leave directly after you have picked up and returned all materials and avoid socializing with other families.
Materials to Return / Pick-up
Teachers will communicate with parents via the Klassenbrief and with students via email what specific materials (if any) need to be returned. General examples of materials to return/pick-up are: 
  • to return to school: library books, textbooks that stay with that grade level, manipulatives, technology (headphones, calculators)
  • to pick-up from school: locker contents, K-4 teacher-required materials

Chromebooks: 
  • All returning middle school students may keep their chromebooks over the summer. Chromebooks being returned need to be cleaned and have all stickers removed, as well as be returned with their chargers and laptop sleeves.
  • All 8th grade students need to return their chromebooks on Thursday, June 4.
Staff have done their best to clean out every child's locker and teachers have cleaned out their classrooms. We do not have staff capacity to follow up with items you or your child may feel are missing from their bag. Student items from lockers that are not picked up by June 4 will be donated or recycled. 

Lost & Found: current items in the lost and found will be stored until school resumes in the fall. 

Drop Off/Pick Up Week 1

Tuesday, May 26
10am-1pm
Families Last Names A-B 
Wednesday, May 27
10am-1pm
Families Last Names C-E 
Thursday, May 28
10am-1pm
Families Last Names F-H
Friday, May 29
10am-1pm
Families Last Names I-K


Drop Off/Pick Up Week 2

Monday, June 1
10am-1pm
Families Last Names L-M

Tuesday, June 2
10am-1pm
Families Last Names N-R
Wednesday, June 3
10am-1pm
Families Last Names S-Z 
Thursday, June 4
10am-1pm
8th grade families 
Friday, June 5
Time TBD
End of Year Parade (All Students)
NO Pick-up/drop-off available today.

Front Office Limitations During May 26-29

Families, please note that this coming Monday, May 25th, is Memorial Day. Given that this Monday is a holiday, please note the following:
  • On Tuesday, May 26, teacher-required materials pick-up for K-4th grades will be conducted curb-side on the Van Slyke side of school. This is a contactless procedure detailed in the article above.
    • In your passenger side window, place your green PikMyKid tag or a piece of paper with student(s) Last Name, First Name(s), Class Section/Teacher Name(s), and what teacher-required materials you need (USE A MARKER).
    • Pop open your trunk and a staff member will place the materials in your car. If you need to exit your car to open the trunk, please wear a mask.
  • The Front Office will be closed for materials pick-up and will instead be open on a limited basis for Kinderclub check-in and for families bringing 8th graders to school for DSD 1 exams.
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:
  • Marcy Zachmeier-Ruh Award for the Promotion of German Language and Culture
  • Mary-Fred Bausman-Watkins Award for Academic Achievement and World Citizenship
End of Year Car Parade - Survey!

This pandemic has taken away many things for us as a school community this year, but we as a staff would like to show our appreciation and have a little fun by hosting a 'reverse' car parade! Students and families would be able to drive in their vehicles around a parade route as the staff waves from the curb spread around a designated route! Don't worry, the staff will be following social distancing guidelines, but we would love to send you off into summer vacation on a good note! Once we have an idea of interest, we'll be able to send out more details about this fun event!

Fill out this  SURVEY to let us know about your interest in the car parade. Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE: TCGIS CAR PARADE

When? Tentatively June 5th (weather permitting)
Time? 10:30am-12:30pm
Where? Route specifics TBD, but the Como Neighborhood!
What to wear? Dress up (or not!) in any way you'd like! We just want to see you! 
Anything else? Decorate your car if you'd like to! 

We will be hosting our end of the year parade in lieu of the picnic. Families are invited to drive past the route - which will be more detailed in next week's Elternbrief - and wave goodbye to staff as we all wave hello to summer! Please note that this is a  replacement  for the picnic. As we continue to maintain and follow social distancing guidelines, there are no plans to gather after the parade. Thank you and we'll see you soon!
Get Ready for the #TCGISSauerkrautChallenge!

Stock up on sauerkraut over the Memorial Day weekend because you're going to need it! Next week we are launching our final Fundraising challenge of the year to get us to $100,000 in donations this year!

Remember the ALS Ice Bucket challenge from a few years ago? Substitute Sauerkraut!   

Stay tuned for more information next week!
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.
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:

Yearbook Orders due May 29th

It's your lucky day! The deadline to buy a yearbook has been extended to May 29th! There are still a few books left, and we sold out last year, so make sure to buy one today! Go here to order:  jostens.com

Please note that some Jostens plants are closed due to COVID-19, so yearbooks will not be delivered until a later date.
Spring Surveys from the University of St. Thomas

TCGIS's authorizer, the University of St. Thomas, looks to gather feedback from key school stakeholders each spring. This year they are gathering that feedback virtually, in the form of a short survey tailored to each group. Below are the links to the respective surveys for TCGIS parents and students. The surveys are anonymous, and St. Thomas requests that they be completed and submitted by Friday, May 29.


Sportfest 2020 is Next Week!

Dear Parents,

Next week we, the Sport teachers, would like to invite your children to join our virtual Sportfest 2020. Like so many things, this year will be different. But this one is a good change: This year both Elementary and Middle School students are invited to participate so that siblings and families can join in on the fun.
 
We aim for lots of participation, including pictures and/o r short videos of students enjoying the activities. We are aware that the gathering of the needed material might take some time. Therefore, we decided against giving out any other tasks for Sport next week.

Keep an eye out for information on the distance learning website next week, including the activities and picture upload link.

Sincerely, 

THE SPORT TEACHERS
TCGIS XC Team Registration Open!

We are 70% full!

Registration for the  TCGIS Cross-Country Team will be open on  Popsicle from 
May 15 at 8:00 AM until May 31 at 11:59 PM, and the season is currently planned to begin on  Monday, August 3 . Please, register early! We quickly reached our maximum number of athletes for indoor track and outdoor track this school year.

Regarding the  calendar: Practices are set for Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Most of the meets and races are still based on last year's calendar. We have not yet been able to confirm all of the meets, especially given COVID-19. We will let you know once we have confirmed those meets.

Payment required at time of registration: $175*

The price increase is so that we can add bus transportation to certain meets. If we cannot meet together in-person as a team and we have to cancel all in-person events for the cross-country season due to COVID-19, we will refund the total amount of $175 to families.

*Finances should not be a factor in deciding to participate in TCGIS sporting teams. If finances are a concern, please contact Coach Tabisz BEFORE registration opens because payment is required at the time of registration.

With questions, please contact Herr Tabisz
Construction Updates

This week the sewer and water mains were hooked up at the street, and Veit is completing the underground stormwater management system. Most of the interior walls are now framed, insulated and are being closed up with sheetrock. The inside of the building is starting to look like a school. HVAC, plumbing, and electrical are still being installed in different parts of the structure, and we are still waiting for the air handlers to be set in place.

Andy Nesset
TCGIS Facilities and Grounds


School Board Announcements
Upcoming School Board Elections

Elections for open seats on the TCGIS school board will occur online June 1 - 5 this year. Details on how to vote will be coming soon. In the meantime, please read about the candidates here, or watch the recording of the recent candidate forum hosted by the PTO and Parent Council.

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.

May special board meeting: Thurs May 28, 6:00pm, contact [email protected]
The board will hold a brief special meeting ahead of the regularly scheduled board meeting. Bylaws require all draft policies to be read and discussed at two board meetings before being adopted. This special meeting will fulfill this requirement and allow the board to vote on the Election Policy and Dignity at Work policy later in the evening.


May school board meeting: Thurs May 28, 6:30pm, contact  [email protected]
Fundraising Committee: Tues June 2, 8:15am, contact  [email protected]
Governance Committee: Mon June 8, 3:30pm, contact  [email protected]
Communications Committee: Tues June 9, 8:30am, contact  [email protected]
Diversity Task Force: Tues June 16, 3:45pm, contact  [email protected]
Executive Committee: Thurs June 18, 6:30pm, contact  [email protected]
Finance & Facilities Committee: Tues June 23, 6pm, contact  [email protected]
June school board meeting: Thurs June 25, 6:30pm, contact 
[email protected]
PTO Updates 
PTO Important Dates

Sunday May 31st 4:00 PM - LAST PTO Meeting for the year (Virtual! Link coming soon)  *We will have voting on next year's executive committee as well as a brainstorming session on what 2020-2021 might look like. Please join us!*

Open Positions for 2020-2021 School Year

We need you! The PTO executive committee is seeking new, fresh faces to join our team! It is a great way and fun to get involved with the school!
Open Positions Include: Secretary, Fundraising, Treasurer
Community Events: Updates 
GAI: Virtual Music and Summer Classes

Summer Language Classes: Take advantage of your stay-cation!
Continue your German language learning this summer! Topics include conversation, pronunciation, literature, and grammar. Online and in-person (if possible) options are available. More information and registration at  gai-mn.org/Summer-2020



Virtual Musik im Mai
Since we can't come together in-person this year to celebrate the GAI's annual Musik im Mai concert series, our team has put together some suggestions for great listening at home. Find it at  gai-mn.org/Musik


Deutsche Tage 2020: A new kind of celebration!   

From June 8 through June 13, Deutsche Tage activities will include an on-your-own Fahrradtour, a German grammar class, online trivia, and live-streame d music. End the week with an at-home Deutsche Tage Haus party! Details coming soon.