Friendly reminder, there will be no school for Fall Break from Wednesday, November 23 through Friday, November 25th.

Enjoy this time with friends and family.

Key Dates for Families

• Wednesday, November 23 - Friday, November 25 ~ No School/Fall Break

• Friday, December 2 ~ No School (District-wide PD Day)

• Thursday, December 22 - January 2 ~ No School/Winter Break

Our K-3 students were treated to an amazing experience, Ms. Cynthia and Chaqura (our very own Susan Lindgren Kindergarten student) shared their knowledge surrounding Native American Regalia and traditional dancing, and answered thoughtful questions from the audience.

Thank you again to Chaqura and Ms. Cynthia!

I also want to share a BIG THANK YOU to parent Jean Mountain who helped make this opportunity come to life for our learners. Thank you to Ali Dvorak, Elizabeth Guzman, Becky Phelan, Jen Baumgarten, Robin Nelson, Jody Stefonowicz and Lisa Jergenson for working together as a team.

November is Native American Heritage Month

St. Louis Park Public Schools exist on the land of the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples. We acknowledge the Dakota and Ojibwe community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. We acknowledge that our school district was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous Peoples, including those on whose land our school district is located. We commit to dismantling the ongoing legacies of colonial power and the district’s desire to support the ongoing work of local Indigenous communities to thrive in our schools. Especially this month, we celebrate Native American Heritage Month and honor the Indigenous students and families we serve in St. Louis Park Public Schools.

At Susan Lindgren each and every student and team member are important to our community, and we strive to be an inclusive community that celebrates and honors your full humanity.

Susan Lindgren Elementary School Mission

Collectively, we nurture and inspire all learners to thrive socially, emotionally and academically in an equitable and inclusive community.

Congratulations to the Susan Lindgren GOTR team on their outstanding season. 

The final 5K run was a great success!  

Thank you to all the coaches, parents, and running buddies for making the run a positive experience for our girls.

Girls On the Run is SO Much Fun!

Thank You to Ms. Schauer, the Kindergarten Teachers, Mr. Polk and Mr. Miller, High School Science Teachers along with Ms. Runke-Jones, Grades 3-5 TD Teacher. It was a fun night for all that could attend!

A huge thank you to the Jivanjee family for this beautiful bulletin board in our main entrance! Thank you to Zainab, Sarah and their mother Shabnam for their time and creativity!

Education Support Professionals Day

ESPs hold a special place in the hearts of everyone in our school communities. If you ask any student about their day, they will likely have a story to share about the bus driver who gets them to and from school safely, the secretary who greets them every morning with a smile, the cafeteria worker who feeds them healthy meals at lunch, or the paraeducator who provides them with the space to learn and grow every day. These ESPs, and more, work alongside other caring adults to help our students get what they need to succeed.

Other recognition days this week:

• November 17 - National Parent Involvement Day
• November 18 - Substitute Educators Day

Important PTO News and Updates

PTO Meeting Recap

Thank you to all who attended our first hybrid PTO meeting of the year on Tuesday! It was great to see so many in-person and virtual attendees; thank you all for your patience as we navigated new technology. Ingrid Culp joined us to share information on the Park Public Schools & Community Foundation Board. Event chairs shared updates on SLP Read$, the Directory, Spirit Wear, and Festival of Nations. Mr. Pollock and Colin Cox, Susan Lindgren school board liaison, also shared school updates. We had a wonderful discussion with Michele Edwins, Arsenio Richardson, and Principal Pollock around Restorative Practices. Lead Teacher Updates can be read HERE. 

A special thank you to Droolin’ Moose and Hold the Wheat for donating prizes for attendees at our first two meetings of the year. We have exciting things coming in 2023 - join us at our next meeting on January 17, 2023 to hear more!

SLP Read$ Assembly

Students will attend an all-school SLP Read$ assembly this Tuesday, November 22nd to celebrate their reading and fundraising efforts and draw winners of the Grand prizes; generously donated by Hoigaards! Grade-level prizes were announced during school on Wednesday - including SLP t-shirts & hats donated by Park Prints, donated MN United sweatshirts, free recess for their class, and a chance to throw a pie in Mr. Pollock’s face at the assembly Tuesday!

AmazonSmile Donations

The gift giving season is upon us!  AmazonSmile is a simple and no-cost way to donate to Susan Lindgren Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and is now available on the Amazon Shopping app for iPhone and Android. Through AmazonSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to Susan Lindgren PTO — at no cost to you! 

How to activate AmazonSmile on your iPhone or Android

*Note: if you share an Amazon account, you still need to activate AmazonSmile on every mobile device*

Step 1: Join AmazonSmile

• If you aren’t yet an AmazonSmile member, sign up at smile.amazon.com using a web browser (mobile or desktop). You’ll sign in with your Amazon credentials, and the site will walk you through the process.
• Amazon will ask you to choose your favorite charity. This is where you search for and choose “Susan Lindgren Parent Teacher Organization.”

Step 2: Open the Amazon Shopping app on your phone

• If you don’t have the app already, download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Step 3: Open Settings within the app

• Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.

Step 4: Make note of your renewal date

• Amazon asks that you renew your AmazonSmile donation every six months. This is easy but required. When six months are up, you’ll have to choose your favorite charity again. If you don’t, purchases made until you do will not count.

Step 5: Confirm that AmazonSmile is active before your next purchase

• Look for AmazonSmile at the top of the app as you browse. You’ll also see your chosen charity on the confirmation screen.

Save The Date! Adults Night Out - Tues, Dec 6, 6:30 p.m. 

Did you know that Tuesday is the new Friday?! Join us for the first Susan Lindgren Adults Night Out at Park Tavern on Tuesday, December 6, 6:30 p.m. We can’t wait to enjoy a night out together and a chance to make new connections. More details to follow and we hope to see you there! 

Susan Lindgren’s Online Student Directory is Here!

We hope you’ve had a chance to download the Student Directory App (details below). It makes playdates and birthday parties SO much easier! There’s still time to update your information & make the directory accurate. Please create or login to your account to verify your family information and choose your publishing preferences (middle names, home address, phone numbers, email addresses). The directory is only accessible to Susan Lindgren families. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Register for an Account

1. Login to or create your directory account on the PTO website. Membership Toolkit is the host of both the PTO website and the Online Student Directory. (If you are creating a new account, you must use the email address on file with the school district, otherwise your family record will not be found.)

2. Make sure your family contact information is correct.

3. Decide what contact info you'd like to publish. That’s it!

Step 2: Download the Free Mobile App!   

Download the ‘Membership Toolkit’ App in the Apple App Store or in Google Play Store.  

No app? No problem! You can also access the directory from your computer at:

https://susanlindgrenpto.org. If you wish to opt-out of the directory entirely, please let us know by sending an email to susanlindgrenpto@gmail.com. Be sure to include parent/guardian and student name(s).  

The Student Directory is a benefit funded by the PTO; thanks to Susan Lindgren family and community donations

Winter Youth Enrichment Clubs and Classes

Engineering for Kids Jr Engineering/STEM Club (click to register)

The Engineering For Kids Jr Engineering/STEM Club brings fun, hands-on lessons every week to introduce engineering concepts at a young age.

Wednesdays, January 11-February 15

2:15-3:15 pm

$149

Chibi Art Drawing Class (click to register)

The students will learn how to draw kawaii (cute), Japanese-inspired chibi characters! 

Fridays, Jan. 6-February 10 

2:15-3:45 pm 

$99

LEGO Club (click to register)

Join us to spend the afternoon immersed in your own LEGO land.

Tuesdays, January 17-March 21

2:15-3:30 pm 

Sliding Scale Pricing: $29/$39/$49/$59

Cooking Club (no bake edition) (click to register)

Learn how to make new no-bake recipes each week while learning the basics of cooking, ingredients, and baking. 

Mondays, January 23-March 20

2:15-3:30 pm 

Sliding Scale Pricing: $49/$59/$69/$79

To view the Ultimate YEP Winter Guide with ALL the winter offerings, click here.

Questions? Contact Kelleen at obrion.kelleen@slpschools.org or 952-928-6399

High Rates of Illness at School



Masks are Highly Encouraged. Stay Home When Sick and Slow the Spread of Illness

We are seeing unusually high rates of illness in multiple SLP schools, in particular, influenza (flu) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). These viruses can be easily spread through close contact when people cough, sneeze, and talk. 

Please help partner with us in an effort to prevent the spread of illness by following our illness guidelines:

Situations when your child should stay home:

• Fever of 100 degrees or more. The student should stay home for 24 hours after their temperature returns to normal without the use of fever reducing medication.
• Vomiting or diarrhea. The student is to stay home until 24 hours after the last episode.
• Any uncontrolled cough.
• Rashes with unknown causes. Check with your family physician/clinic before your student returns to school.
• If feeling ill/unwell and the student is unable to fully participate in school activities.

If your child displays symptoms of influenza or RSV, you can reach out to your child’s health care provider to see if testing for these illnesses is recommended. For information about influenza and RSV please refer to the Parent Fact Sheets from Hennepin County Public Health:

• Influenza information can be found HERE
• RSV Information can be found HERE

Thank you for helping to prevent the spread of illness.

COVID-19 Dashboard

St. Louis Park Public Schools continues to report weekly positive COVID-19 cases on our website. While we won’t publish them every week in our school newsletter, you can view the dashboard at any time. Visit the COVID Updates and Information webpage for more information. The dashboard is updated each week on Wednesdays by the end of the day.

Reminder: COVID-19 Guidance

St. Louis Park Public Schools will continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) regarding COVID-19 during the 2022-23 school year. View the MDH Guidelines/Flowsheet and the CDC Isolation guidelines 



• Masks: Students and staff will be required to wear a face covering if 5% or more of the students and/or staff who attend or work at their school site test positive for COVID-19. Students and staff can choose to wear a mask at any time.

• What If I Test Positive? Stay home for at least five days, isolate yourself from others and wear a well-fitted mask if you must be around others in your home. Isolation may end after five days, and students and staff may return to school on day six if your illness symptoms have improved, you are fever-free without fever reducing medicine for 24 hours, and are able to wear a well fitted mask on days 6-10. If a person was asymptomatic and then developed symptoms after testing positive, the 5-day isolation period starts over, with the start of symptoms being day zero.
• 
  
• Guidance if Exposed: Students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 do not need to quarantine.
• 
  
• COVID-19 Dashboard: We publish COVID-19 infection rate data on a weekly basis – with the exception of Winter Break and Spring Break. The information will be published weekly on our website.

Visit the COVID-19 Information webpage for more information.

Get Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests at School

Free at-home COVID-19 tests are available to SLP students. If you need one, an adult or student may pick it up in the health office. 

St. Louis Park Public Schools will continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) regarding COVID-19 during the 2022-23 school year. View the MDH Guidelines/Flowsheet and the CDC Isolation guidelines 

Students and staff will be required to wear a face covering if 5% or more of the students and/or staff who attend or work at their school site test positive for COVID-19. Students and staff can choose to wear a mask at any time. 

View the COVID-19 webpage for more information on COVID-19 guidance.

We could not do the wonderful things we do at our school without all of you and your never-ending support. We are a village and family for all of our 425 learners! 



Your Proud Partner in Learning,

Clarence Pollock

Principal

Clarence Pollock, Principal

Arsenio Richardson, Elementary Support Supervisor

4801 West 41st Street

St. Louis Park, MN 55416

Phone: 952-928-6700

Fax: 952-928-6713

pollock.clarence@slpschools.org

https://sl.slpschools.org