Breakfast and Lunch Menu:
Included with this letter is the breakfast and lunch menu for the month of September. Our food service is Halal.  Our school Wellness Policy states that we must serve a nutritionally balanced meal.  We do not allow students to have soda pop, candy, chips or any other non-nutritional foods on campus.  Please do not send children to school with a birthday treat to share with other class students that do not meet these nutritional standards. 

Food and nutrition guidelines incorporate state and federal mandates governing public schools and we therefore cannot allow anyone to bring and distribute home-made foods to school for students or staff.

Teacher Training/Staff Development Days:
Teachers participated in eight days of staff development prior to the start of the 08-09 school year. These trainings focused on a variety of topics including new and existing curriculums, state and local assessments, and student progress monitoring.  In addition, teachers learned a variety of instructional strategies, including test preparation strategies, and classroom management techniques.  In addition, Wednesday, Sept 17 2008 students will be dismissed at 12:00 noon to allow teachers an additional three hours of staff development for analyzing student academic data and preparing individualized learning plans. 

Student Uniforms:
All students should receive uniforms during the week of September 15.  All students will be expected to wear uniforms to school beginning the week of Sept 22.  Parents may note that one uniform will be issued to each student at the expense of the school. If you wish to purchase additional uniforms you my contact Ms. Nasro at 612-821-6470.  School uniforms for boys consist of navy blue pants and light blue, collard shirt, for girls, a navy blue skirt and coordinating light blue top.

Busing:
This year our schools chose to purchase contracted bus services from Monarch Bus Company.  Since Monarch currently uses busses from other companies in addition to their own buses, different names sometimes appear on side of the bus.  Please look for the white with black letters TWIES sign on the side of the bus along with the Ties sign and route number in the side window.

Special thanks go out from me, school board members and teachers, to those parents and students who have been patiently waiting on corners for buses that have been arriving late.  We have had many meetings with the bus company to correct mistakes and improve service for you, our families and students.  Much improvement continues to take place daily.  Safety for our children is our number one priority and consideration.  As bus drivers and families get more acquainted with their routes and stops, the timeline issues are also improving at rapid rate.

If you need to pick your child up at the end of the day, or if your child needs to ride a different bus, please call the office before 2:00 pm so that we can ensure that your child does not get on their regularly assigned bus.   If you need to pick your child up please plan to arrive at school before 2:25.  After this time, attempting to remove students as we are loading busses becomes a safety issue. 

School Expectation for Student Progress:
The goal of the school and all staff members is to help and encourage all students in making progress toward academic goals set by both teachers and students.  Parent input on these goals will be shared, and additional suggestions sought from parents will occur during the November parent conferences. If parents would like information on student goals prior to the November conferences they should contact their child’s teacher. 

New this year is the development and implementation of an enrichment class for all students’ grades 1-4 called Discovery.  Students in need of additional academic support in the areas of math and reading will be invited and strongly encouraged to attend the after school program which will begin sometime in November.

Open House:
We had a successful open house evening on Thursday August 28, 2008. Many students’ families and parents were able to meet their teachers and become familiar with the location of their child’s classroom.

Emergence Drills:
The state of Minnesota requires each school to hold a minimum of five fire drills, five lockdown drills, and one tornado drill each school year.  TIES has an extensive emergency plan.  In order to be proactive with regard to any foreseeable or possible emergencies that may arise throughout the school year.  A crisis/emergency team is in place and emergency drills will begin taking place next week and throughout the school year.  Please make sure to keep the school up-dated on contact phone numbers and addresses in case of an emergency.

Back Packs and Labeling:
Many parents and student purchase their own back packs.  The school issues back packs to students who don’t already have a back pack of their own. Some parents have requested that we write important information on backpacks.  We put the student name and room number on each back packs that the school issues.  Any further information such as addresses and phone numbers is a protected, data privacy issues and the school is not allowed to give out that information.

Student Picture Day:
You are not required to purchase pictures; however, the school takes each child’s picture for our records and student safety.

Student picture day is Monday October 6.  Picture day envelopes will be sent home the week of Sept 29th.  We cannot make change for monies sent for picture packages.  You are not required to make picture purchases; however, students must have their order form and money before pictures are taken in order to receive a package for your household.

It is my goal and intention that every child has a safe, successful and very academically progressive and rewarding school year.

Sincerely,

Randal Eckart, Ed.D.
Director, TIES