Newsletter Archive

I want to wish everyone a wonderful spring break. I’m personally hoping for a change in this weather, including some warmer temperatures and melting of all this snow! Although I won’t look back at our winter with great fondness, I do enjoy reflecting on our school year thus far. Our students have made me proud with the kindness they demonstrate, the school pride they exhibit and their academic progress. I have really enjoyed seeing our students collaborate with one another as they tackle math questions, design solutions to STEM problems and debate points of view on ideas they have read. Our goal is to create learning opportunities and work that our children find valuable and compelling. As we continue to learn with our students as they share with us their interests, strengths, and need, plus how they best learn, we can personalize opportunities for children. I look forward to seeing everyone after break and having a great third trimester!

Calendar

March 7 - End of Trimester 2

March 8 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

March 11-15 - NO SCHOOL/Spring Break

March 18 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

March 22 - Trimester 2 Report Cards Sent Home

March 28 - Spring Picture Day

April 8 - NP PTO Meeting - 6:30 p.m. in the NP Media Center

April 12 - NP PTO Sponsored Spring Carnival

April 19 - NO SCHOOL

April 22 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day 

PTO Volunteer Opportunities

The PTO has some very exciting volunteer positions that they would like to fill quickly. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at nppto.volunteer@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer or have any questions. Or please sign up for our PTO volunteer opportunities here.

Westwood Intermediate Parent Input Forms

Parent Input forms for students entering Grade 5 for the 2019-2020 school year are now available in the Northpoint office. You may also download a parent input form here. Please call the Northpoint office at 763-600-5700 with any questions. 

Dismissal Reminders

To ensure the safety of students at dismissal, parents who are picking up their student at Walk-Up should pick-up on the school side and not on the parking lot side. Students also may not be picked up in vehicles from the parking lot, only the Car Line. Students must be escorted across the cross walk by an adult at all times.  

Lost and Found

Please check the Lost and Found before Friday, March 8 for any missing items. All items will be donated after Spring Break.  

Guest Wireless Network Update

To improve the overall experience for users on our guest wireless network, the Technology Services Department will be making some changes to the PantherGuest network. These changes will allow visitors to more easily connect to and use our guest network, while still protecting our staff, students and community users. 

The new PantherGuest network will only be accessible to guests of Spring Lake Park Schools by obtaining a username and password. During school hours, visitors will need to ask for a temporary username and password in the main office at each building. Before and after school hours and on weekends a default username (Guest) and password (agree) will be set and the login information will be displayed on the login page, which is visible in an internet browser upon connecting to the PantherGuest network.

Another major change is that students will no longer be able to access the guest network during the school day. After school hours, the PantherGuest network will be open to all visitors, including personal student devices. It is important to note that the filters on the PantherGuest network are less restrictive than the Wi-Fi networks available to students during the school day. 

Within the next couple of weeks, the new setup will be piloted at the District Services Center, followed by other buildings. More information will be shared with staff, families and the community as Technology Services continues to roll out the changes.

These past couple of weeks have been busy at Northpoint Elementary! We recently completed winter conferences, thanks to all of our parents and caregivers for attending. We enjoy and learn so much as we partner with families. Our staff appreciates the opportunity to learn more about our students and to share successes and next steps for each child’s continued growth. A shout out to our amazing PTO for providing teachers with meals and for hosting the book fair, we so value this support!

Our staff was recently engaged in professional learning and planning, led by educational leader Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Heidi helped us understand and reflect on our practices, considering which of those are antiquated and can leave the system, which are classic and supported by evidence, and what contemporary practices we need to add in order to prepare our students for the ever-changing world ahead of them. Based on this learning, our teams designed work based on inquiring questions and real-world application. Students will be creating solutions to health care needs, designing museums to showcase ancient civilizations and creating solutions in response to problems caused by Minnesota weather. I look forward to seeing these learning experiences in action this coming spring!

Dismissal Reminders

To ensure the safety of students at dismissal, parents who are picking up their student at Walk-Up should pick-up on the school side and not on the parking lot side. Students also may not be picked up in vehicles from the parking lot, only the Car Line. Students must be escorted across the cross walk by an adult at all times.  

Lost and Found

Please check the Lost and Found before March 8 for any missing items. All items will be donated after Spring Break.  

2018-2019 Yearbook Orders

The Northpoint Yearbook is available for online ordering by visiting Lifetouch. School ID code: 10047719. Orders are due by March 1, 2019.

Westwood Information 

Please visit the Westwood Intermediate and Middle School registration page if you are a parent or family member that was unable to attend Information Night at Westwood for incoming 5thgraders for the 2019-2020 school year. The video in the registration page will share information about grades 5-6 programming.

Winter Weather Clothing

Winter weather with cold temperatures, snow and the frigid wind is upon us. All students are expected to wear a coat, hat, mittens, snow pants and boots so they can play outside at recess safely. Recess will be outside unless the temperature is 0 degrees F. or the windchill is -10 degree F.  Also, remember to label clothing.

PTO Volunteer Opportunities

The PTO has some very exciting volunteer positions that they would like to fill quickly. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at nppto.volunteer@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer or have any questions. Or please sign up for our PTO volunteer opportunities here. Information regarding positions available is below.

Calendar

March 7 - End of Trimester 2

March 8 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

March 11-15 - NO SCHOOL/Spring Break

March 18 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

April 8 - NP PTO Meeting - 6:30 p.m. in the NP Media Center

April 12 - NP PTO Sponsored Spring Carnival

April 19 - NO SCHOOL

April 22 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day 

Westwood Grades 7-8 Theatre Presents- Annie Jr.

Based on the popular comic strip, Annie Jr., features everyone’s favorite little redhead in her very first adventure. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Annie is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations, finding a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

Performances dates:

• Thursday, February 28, 7 p.m.
• Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 2, 2 p.m.

All performances will be held at the Spring Lake Park High School Fine Arts Center. Purchase your Annie Jr. tickets today

This past Monday, the Woodcrest PTO hosted a speaker from the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. Alison Feigh, Program Manager, spoke with families about online safety. Her presentation was very valuable and informative. A few highlights I took from her message included the need to start to talk to your children at an early age about your family’s rules. What things are OK with us as a family and what gives us that “uh oh” feeling; these are important to identify. She shared we can start conversations with young children by discussing “what if” situations. She advised not to lecture our children, but rather to create the opportunity to talk with kids about what they would do in specific situations. Ms. Feigh also talked about the importance of helping your children identify five adults in their safety net. These would be five people they know they can also talk to, no matter what the situation. 

These are just a few of the take-aways from this workshop.  For further information about online safety, you may access the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center website here.

Calendar

February 14-18 - NO SCHOOL

February 15 - Day Conferences, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

February 15 - Usborne Book Fair 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

February 19 and 21 - Evening Conferences, 5-8 p.m.

February 19 and 21 - Usborne Book Fair 5-8 p.m.

March 8 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

March 11-15 - NO SCHOOL/Spring Break

March 18 - NO SCHOOL/Staff Work Day

PTO Volunteer Opportunities

The PTO has some very exciting volunteer positions that they would like to fill quickly. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at nppto.volunteer@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer or have any questions. Or please sign up for our PTO volunteer opportunities here. Information regarding positions available is below.

Usborne Book Fair

The PTO will be hosting the Usborne Book Fair during conferences. Please stop by on February 15 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. or February 19 and 20 from 5-8 p.m. to shop from an exciting selection of books for both kids and adults! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

You may now sign up for your student’s conference time here. Day conferences will be held February 15 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.  Evening conferences will be held February 19 and 21 from 5-8 p.m. We look forward to seeing all of our Northpoint families during this time. Please contact the Northpoint office if you have any questions at 763-600-5700.

Winter Weather Clothing

Winter weather with cold temperatures, snow and the frigid wind is upon us. All students are expected to wear a coat, hat, mittens, snow pants and boots so they can play outside at recess safely. Recess will be outside unless the temperature is 0 degrees F. or the windchill is -10 degree F.  Also, remember to label clothing.

Arrival/Dismissal Reminders

Students should not be dropped off prior to 9 a.m. unless they are enrolled in Learning Ventures Child Care, before-school programs or when previous arrangements have been made. Due to safety reasons, we are unable to have students wait without parents prior to 9 a.m. At 9 a.m., the breakfast bell will ring and students eating breakfast can enter at that time. Students not eating breakfast will wait outside until the school bell rings at 9:10. In inclement weather, students will be allowed to wait indoors. 

• For arrival, if your student needs extra assistance to get in or out of the vehicle/car seat, please use the Walk-up option and not the Car Line
• Please have your student exit curbside when using the Car Line 
• For dismissal, parents that are picking your students up at Walk-up, please pick up students on the school side and not on the parking lot side.  Students must be escorted across the cross walk by an adult at all times.  

 2018-2019 Yearbook Orders

The Northpoint Yearbook is available for online ordering by visiting Lifetouch. School ID code: 10047719. Orders are due by March 1, 2019.

You may have heard from your child some of the fun activities we will be doing in the month of February for “I Love to Read” month. At our all school meeting last Friday, February 1, we kicked off these activities, including Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) time in which everyone read for a few minutes at our gathering. We also shared some of the upcoming events, including:

Upcoming DEAR time each week

• February 8: read around the school
• February 22: EPIC reading, on our iPads
• March 1: Dr. Suess Birthday Celebration

Each grade level will decorate their pod to go along with a genre of reading

• Kindergarten-Fairy Tales
• First Grade-Mysteries
• Second Grade-Science Fiction
• Third Grade-Graphic Novels
• Fourth Grade-Biographies

Dress Like your Favorite Book Character 

Dress Like your Favorite Book Character will take place on Friday, February 22.

Book Drive

The Book Drive will take place during the upcoming spring conferences. Stayed tuned for more information about this event. 

Reading Challenge

Our Reading Challenge goal is 50,000 minutes of reading in the month of February. We will keep track of this by grade level; look for updates on our main hallway!

We will continue to provide reminders as these dates get closer! Thanks for joining us in supporting reading in February and every month!