December 2014

Independent School District 279 does not discriminate on the basis of disability. If you need auxiliary aids or services in order to participate in or attend a District activity, please provide the school district with

seventy-two (72) hours advanced notice. You can call 763/561-9768 or TDD763/391-7250. Examples of auxiliary aids or services may include: sign language, interpreter, assistive listening kit, accessible meeting

location, etc.

Greetings Garden City Families! I want to give you an update on the great teaching and learning that is happening at Garden City. I want you to know that it takes a team of caring, committed, and quality teachers to help make Garden City a great place to work and learn. We know that we are community of committed students, teachers, and families focused on continuous improvement of both academic learning and social – emotional learning. Our goal is to the best elementary school in District 279. Here’s a quick update on the key strategies we are using to make GC a great place to teach and learn.

8 Key Strategies to Help Us Be The Best in District 279!

Phone: 763-561-9768

Fax: 763-549-2360

3501 65th Ave. No.,

Brooklyn Center, MN 55429

For the remainder of the school year we will highlight some of the strategies listed above in the Newsletter and on our webpage. If you have any questions about these great strategies that are helping focus on excellence please let me know! Thanks for trusting us with the education of your child,

DECEMBER WALL OF FAME In addition to recognizing students daily and weekly, we have created a monthly “Wall

of Fame” that highlights one student from each classroom who has shown

outstanding effort, consistency, quality work, academic or behavioral improvement, or

outstanding character. Teachers write several sentences about the students, and these

tributes are on display with the students’ photos.

The following students are recognized for their outstanding character during

November. Their tributes will be on display on the Wall of Fame throughout

December:

Teacher Room Student

Reiman 3 Keeley Xiong

Thompson 2 Ryu Lee

Williams 4 Kaomi Collins

Jeffcoat 32 Aliya Phaviseth

Heuer 28 Joannie Garcia Castellanos

Knutson 30 Ally Dawodu

Erdman 47 Devin Syhavong

Huggett 46 Aolani Xiong

Wieser 45 Hanan Ahmed

Havlik 38 Litzy Marin-Villegas

Thao 44 Emily Thao

Mueller 42 Musa Swaray

Eernisse 6 Damon Spearmon

White 7 Ismael Ayala-Arrendondo

Wiinanen 5 Nurelhuda Dawoud

Bottolene 8 Edwin Wences Sanchez

Preiner 9 Rose Lee

Frame 36 Kaliyah Richmond

Braasch 34 Brigly Aguilar

Garden City

Points of Pride

At Garden City, we recognize and celebrate the goodness we see in children each day!

As part of our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, we

recognize students who display the BLUE expectations:

Be respectful

Learn responsibly

Use self-control, so

Everyone achieves!

Each day, when staff members see students showing positive behaviors, they give the

students a blue slip as recognition. One student from the classroom takes these slips to a

special jar in the office where they are collected for the week. At the end of each week,

two students’ slips are drawn from the jar. These students take the traveling

trophies to their rooms for the week as special recognition. Their photos are taken and

are mounted on the “Garden City Dolphins Making A Splash” display in the front hall.

The following students received the traveling trophies during November:

Kathy Jalloh (Mrs. Havlik) Alex Vang (Ms. Braasch)

Funmi Olabiyi (Mrs. Mueller) Stephanie Covarrubius Gutierrrez (Ms. Braasch)

Edwin Kargbo (Mrs. Preiner) Trazya Witteveen (Ms. Wiinanen)

Leela Yang (Mrs. Mueller) David Xiong (Mrs. Bottolene)

Thank you to staff, parents and community volunteers for a successful Turkey Bingo on November 20th. We

earned just over $1,200 for Garden City! A special thank you to the Brooklyn Center Women’s Auxiliary for donating $300 for prizes.

Garden City welcomes volunteers no matter how much time you have to give.

If you have any questions about volunteering, contact Julie Linder

(763) 549-2365 or email linderj@district279.org

DECEMBER EVENTS

1 Tri II begins

3 Picture Retakes

Progress Reports go home

6:00-8:00 PM 6th gr Orch. Pizza Concert

5 2:45-3:45 End of Tri celebration in the gym

11 3:30-6:00 Meals for Minds

12 4:10-6:10 Funsquad pool party

19 1:00-3:00 2nd grade make gingerbread houses

22 & 23 RIF book distribution

23 3:00-3:45 All school sing-a-long

24-Jan 2 No school-Winter break

At 763-561-9768

No school

December 24-January 2

No hay clases 24-31 de

diciembre y 1-2 de janero

Winter Break

Your child might qualify as “homeless” even if they have a place to sleep at night. There are many ways

that the law defines homelessness. Many of us think of homeless people as those who live in a car, park,

public space, or similar setting. People living in those situations are certainly homeless.

You might not realize, though, that it also includes children who:

-are sharing someone else’s residence due to loss of housing for certain reasons;

-are living in a public or private place not normally used for sleeping; or

-are migrants and living in conditions similar to those described above.

Homeless children have important rights related to their education

Under federal law, children in homeless situations have the right to:

-Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there

-Attend either the local school or their school of origin

-Receive transportation to and from the school of origin

-Enroll in school right away, even if some records are missing or incomplete

-Participate in all school activities while records are being transferred between schools

-Have access to the same programs and services available to other students

-Attend school with children not experiencing homelessness

Call the Osseo Area Schools Enrollment Center: 763-585-7350 (Interpreter help available in spoken

Spanish, Hmong, Vietnamese, Laotian, Thai and Liberian English).

Community Resources:

Community Emergency Assistance Program Inc. 763-466-9600 www.ceap.org

First Call for Help: 612-335-5000/or 211

Metro Shelter Hotline: 1-888-234-1329

News from the office

If you are having someone else pick up your child from school during

the day or at the end of the day, please send us a note or call the

office. We will not release your child to anyone except you unless we

have a note or call from you. Please do not be offended if we ask

you for your identification. Your child’s safety is our first concern.

If you have moved, we need you to go to the enrollment center to fill

out some paperwork, or if have a new work or cell number, please

give us a call with the new information. In case of emergencies, we

need to know how to contact you during the day.

Office hours are from 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

OASIS Osseo Area Source of Information and Support

These programs are open to all parents, caregivers, and staff.

CHILDCARE: Free, thanks to Maple Grove High School NHS Volunteers! Child care will close promptly at 8:30pm.

Weaver Lake Elementary School – Media Center

15900 Weaver Lake Rd. Maple Grove

Welcome to OASIS 2014-‘15

Presentations are from 6:30 – 8:00 pm,

stay until 8:30 to continue the conversation

12/16/14 “Suicide Prevention” by: Deb Link, MA, LMFT, LPCC of Ascend Family Institute Information about the prevalence of mental health issues, suicide, warning signs and action steps that parents can take to help their children/adolescents get help when it is needed.

For full 2014-15 OASIS schedule please see www.prairie-care.com/education/OASIS Certificates of Attendance available at all sessions for 1.5 contact hours

If you have questions please contact: Jen Holper – jholper@prairie-care.com, or 952-334-7755

Connie Posl – poslc@district279.org, or 763-315-7363

OASIS is sponsored by PrairieCare, Weaver Lake Elem. School, ISD 279 Dept. of Social Work, The 279 Foundation, and District 279

Community Education. These programs are open to all parents, caregivers, and

Hello from the Garden City Media Center!

December is an incredible Month for the GC Media Center/Library! Maud Hart Lovelace We will introduce of the Maud Hart Lovelace children’s choice award, Students in grades 3-5 must read three (3) books to be able to vote for their favorite book of the twelve (12). The votes of all the students in the state of Minnesota will determine the winner. We will vote in March 2015. Star of the North choice award for students in grade kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. Student will have an opportunity. I will introduce the books and give students a preview of six. Reading is Fundamental Book giveaway is scheduled for Monday - Friday, December 15th to 19th. During their regularly scheduled library time students will have an opportunity to choose a book to keep. All types of books have been donated to Garden City for our students. Book Swap Students can return their book to school to swap for another one! Only books that students are in the RIF giveaway are eligible! Books must be returned in good condition: no torn pages or ripped covers will be allowed! Book swap will take in January 2015. Technology News All grades at Garden City have learn how to use the school set of iPads. These were a gift from Target in our library makeover. The iPads currently have a number apps for, reading, math, handwriting and sketch apps; they span our seven grade levels. Hour of coding December 8th - 12th classrooms have been invited to spend 30 minutes in the computer lab for an introduction to the world of computer programming! The is a unique opportunity for Garden City to try programming--very simple games that students will try. Computer programming, or coding, is an exciting career choice. GC students will have opportunity to “taste” this great career path. Sally Mays and Bev Wehe

Absence Line

763-549-2363

We encourage you to call

Jenn Ebert, the School

Nurse’s direct line to report

an absence. It is available any

time, day or night.

COLD WEATHER REMINDERS! During the winter months, we often receive requests to keep children in the

classroom during noon recess. Students will have indoor recess when the

wind chill is 5 degrees below zero or worse. On days when the

temperature and wind chills are fluctuating, we continue to check the

weather reports throughout the morning and during the lunch times to

make sure we are following the guidelines.

Students need to be dressed for the variable Minnesota climate. Please

make sure your student has proper winter clothing because they will be

expected to go outside for recess. Our students enjoy their recess more

when they are equipped with boots and snow pants.

School closing announcements will be broadcast on radio and TV. A

district-wide school closure will be broadcast as “Osseo District 279.”

During boot season, students tend to

forget to pack their tennis shoes for

Phy. Ed. class. Please help them to

remember to bring the correct shoes

for Phy. Ed. It is always a good idea to

pack an extra pair of socks in case a

pair of wet socks need to be replaced.

Nurse Jenn

SCHOOLVIEW District 279 provides parent access to SchoolView as a means to further promote educational

excellence and to enhance communications with parents. SchoolView allows parents to view their

child’s schedule, attendance and academic performance on the web. We now offer an easy and

secure feature in the SchoolView parent portal which allows you to pay for student meals online with

a credit card for electronic transfer from your checking or savings account. Osseo Area Schools is

using the TIES online payment system.

SchoolView is available to every parent or guardian of a student enrolled in selected District 279

schools. Please see Donna Peavey in the school office for instructions to access this program.

The Dolphin Café would like to wish all the Garden

City students and their families

Happy Holiday.

Any questions about accounts please call.

Jenn, Vandella and Melinda

Does your student have adequate health/accident insurance coverage?

If you have insufficient accidental injury insurance coverage for your students, ISD 279 — Osseo Area Schools does not

provide any type of health or accident insurance for injuries incurred bv your child at school.

Supplemental accident insurance can be purchase through Student Assurance Services, Inc.

Online enrollment through the website is:www.sas-mn.com.

Please note: There is a $5 processing fee to enroll online.

Contact the Garden City office if you need hard copies of the application.

BLUE Corner

Students in 4th

-6th

grade had an opportunity to apply for the

student leadership team called The BLUE Crew. Starting in December

the BLUE Crew will meet and be given opportunities to be positive

leaders in the school and work with students in grades K-3rd

as one-to-

one mentors. We look forward to the skills that these student leaders

will help pass on to help make Garden City Elementary a great place of

learning!

Congratulations BLUE Crew members!

New MyOsseoBus online service provides student bus status

MyOsseoBus is a web-based service and mobile app that allows you to view the status of your students' buses. This is a new service we are offering to help communicate about bus delays efficiently and conveniently. MyOsseoBus updates can accessed

from:

The school district website homepage

Each school’s website; or A free app available for Apple and Android mobile devices (search for Osseo)

MyOsseoBus allows users to see if a bus is on time or delayed by 10 minutes or more. Whichever webpage it is viewed from

requires manual refreshing on a regular basis in order to see the most up-to-date information.

Music Notes from Mrs. Sagmoe

D – rums, xylophones, jingle bells and more,

E – xciting instrument are added to songs and folk-

lore.

C – reating new verses to old holiday songs,

E – veryone will gather for our annual sing-along!

M – any winter celebration to learn about each day

B – rings us together as we read, sing and play.

E – njoy family traditions, and make some that are

new.

R – est and relaxation, peace and goodwill to you!

P.E. NEWS

Rhythms are the word for the month of

December.

Kindergarten will do more movement

songs. First and second will learn folk

dances. Third grade learns line

dances. Fourth graders will master

square dancing, while fifth grade

performs a two-step and the Schottische

dance. Sixth will demonstrate the Lindy

Swing. Don’t forget to bring your

dancing (tennis) shoes.

December Elementary Orchestra News

The 5th grade students have been getting skilled at using the bow!! If you are watching your child practice at home, please watch to make sure the bow is being pulled straight across the string and not at an angle. We talk about being parallel to the bridge. We are busy preparing for our concert on January 28 – look for a note to come home with more information.

I am anticipating a great concert from the 6th graders on Dec. 3. The students have been sounding wonderful. In the weeks following the concert, we will be learning some new skills for our Spring Concert.

As the holiday season is upon us, many parents and guardians are looking for good gift ideas for their children. You may consider an adjustable shoulder pad. Some name brands are Kun, Everest, and Viva. These are durable and adjust to each individual instrument and player. The benefit of the adjustable shoulder pad is it encourages better posture. You may also consider a tuner/metronome which could substantially help your child’s practicing.

Another item to consider would be a holiday song book. One we have had good luck with is Christmas Kaleidoscope. It has familiar tunes in parts so students can play with other family members and friends.

Ms. Gagnon Gagnonm@district279.org (763) 569-7600, mailbox 88969

Grade Level News

Subject

Area Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade

Language

Arts

Letters

Letter Sounds

Sight Words

Sequencing

Decodable books

Summarizing and

Analyzing Story Elements

Writing Personal

Narratives

Sequencing events and determining what’s

important

In Unit 3, we will focus on identifying sequence of events and the importance of

texts.

Math

Addition

Story problems

Shapes

Groupings of tens

Represent 2 digit numbers

Add a 2 digit and a 1

digit number

Add tens and ones

Solve story problems

Triangles and

Quadrilaterals/

Addition to 200

For Unit 5, we will focus on applying knowledge of adding and subtracting in

various ways.

Social

Studies

Celebrations around

the world

Holiday celebrations

around the world;

Where we live/Community

People and Places

We will dig into the worlds of various historical figures such as U.S. presidents and

the first man on the moon.

Science/

Health Pebbles, Sand and Silt Air and Weather

We will begin to explore our second science unit: Sun,

Moon, and Stars.

Art

7 kinds of lines

Gingerbread stories and

art projects

Lines

We will address principles of art through seasonal art

projects.

Computer

Literacy

Logging on and logging

off the

Computer

NA

We are beginning our Type to Learn computer program to understand basic typing skills.

Grade Level News

Subject Area Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

Language

Arts

During reader’s workshop students will be using fix-up monitoring strategies and summarizing information. Students will also work on

describing text structures.

Students can summarize what

they read.

Students can understand and identify the features of an

Informational Report.

Sixth Grade has been studying inferences in WIN time. In Guided Reading, students are reading for details in a text as

well as reviewing sequencing.

Math

Fractions will be our whole group unit. In Math W.I.N., we will learn about area and perimeter,

angles, and ordered pairs.

Students can order fractions.

Students can find equivalent

fractions.

Students can add and

subtract fractions.

We just finished Chapter 4 in Math, which focused on

decimals.

Social Studies The West region of the United States is our focus region for

December.

Social Studies is integrated into all Language Arts

lessons.

In Social Studies, students learned what a primary source is as well as learning about the

branches of government.

Science/

Health

Bus safety will be reviewed this

month.

Science is integrated into all

Language Arts Lessons.

The Light, Sight, And Color unit

will be taught.

Art Three dimensional snowflakes will

be created in December.

In Art, students are going to

make a Turkey in Disguise!

Computer

Literacy

Computer programming/coding will be introduced.

Students can use an Ipad responsibly.

Sixth graders practiced checking their Osseo Apps email.