In the Know - February 12, 2024
February 12, 2024
FOCUS on Anoka-Hennepin
📪 Check your mailbox this week for the Anoka-Hennepin Schools’ quarterly "Focus" newsletter, which is mailed to all homes and businesses in the community as a report on services and updates from the school district. Extra copies are also sent to each school to be available for visitors and staff to read.
🗞️ What's inside: Read about a school recognized with the Minnesota's Future Award from the Minnesota Business Partnership, students named AP scholars, College Now - a partnership giving students a head start on college, a student author, Minnesota State High School League Triple "A" Award winners, demographic projections for the district and more.
🖱️Dig deeper: Read the electronic version of the Focus newsletter at ahschools.us/focus.
CPHS English teacher's book named a finalist for 2024 Minnesota Book Awards
📘 Champlin Park High School English teacher Nicole Kronzer's latest book titled "The Roof Over Our Heads" was named a finalist for the 2024 Minnesota Book Awards in the category of Young Adult Literature.
🎥 Watch this news story by CCX Media to learn more.
W-2s now available for printing
Employee 2023 W-2s are now available to print within Skyward Employee Access. Follow the instructions below to view/print the W-2.
Please contact Payroll at 506-1050 or email Payroll.Help@AHSchools.us with questions.
- Click on the Lock and Key, enter your username and password.
- Select the Skyward icon and go to Employee Access.
- Click on the W2/W2-C Forms icon within Employee Access.
- Under the W2 Forms heading, click the down arrow icon next to the W-2 year you wish to print a W-2 form for.
- Select one of the options to print your W-2 form from the menu.
- Print - Masked SSN: Selecting this option generates a PDF copy of the W-2 form that masks the first five digits of your Social Security Number.
- Print - Full SSN: Selecting this option generates a PDF copy of the W-2 form that includes your social security numbe
- Print the PDF.
Applications open for the AHEF's first round of grants for 2024-25 school year
The Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation (AHEF) has opened the spring round of grants for the 2024-25 school year. Apply for a grant for next school year at ahef.us.
Any teacher or Anoka-Hennepin employee is able to submit a grant that cultivates innovative and equitable experiences for district students.
“It is because of our generous donors, that these funds are available to teachers and staff to benefit students,” said Tess DeGeest, Executive Director of the AHEF. “Donors make this possible because they care about kids, and they care about education.”
All grant recipients commit to submitting a report on the impact of the grant-funded project along with photos, videos and/or testimonials of the grant’s impact on students. Applications close on Friday, March 29, 2024 with funds available in August for the 2024-25 school year.
📲 Questions about the grant process should be directed to Tess DeGeest at 763-506-1107 or via email at theresa.degeest@ahschools.us.
Apply now for summer school positions
☀️Anoka-Hennepin is currently seeking teachers and paraeducators for early childhood, elementary and secondary Extended School Year and Targeted Services summer positions.
Paraeducators and teachers who are not available for working the entirety of the summer schedule are encouraged to still apply and reach out to the appropriate supervisor indicating your availability. Sub coverage is still needed in the summer and your availability may help to fill that need.
💻 Visit ahschools.us/jobs to browse positions and apply online.
District to begin budget reduction and realignment process this spring
Overall goal: The district is pursuing an informed, thoughtful, planned process to reduce and realign the budget over the next two years to provide time and input from stakeholders to ensure the best decisions are being made to maintain the quality of education in our schools.
Students earning top gains in the district honored at Academic Growth Award recognition event
What does it feel like to be one of the top five percent for increased academic achievement in your school? Students and families answered that question at an Academic Growth Award recognition event held Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Anoka High School.
🌟More “wins” for students: Schools have traditionally recognized the high honors in academics, athletics and artistic accomplishments of students. The Anoka-Hennepin School Board developed the Academic Growth Award program to celebrate additional “wins” for students in the areas of math, reading and language acquisition.
📏 Measuring progress with data: The district found ways to gather data using the existing tests such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA), CogAT and ACCESS tests. Growth was measured by comparing performance on two of the same assessments in any of the three examined areas.
📚 3,000 successful stories: Approximately 3,000 students meet the criteria each year, receiving a certificate at the school level. The top students from each school are recognized in-person by the School Board and district leaders at the Academic Growth Award recognition events.
“We know that gathering this data and organizing these recognition events are time consuming and sometimes difficult, but as a board we are very grateful for the participation by students and families and the results of these efforts,” said Cory McIntyre, superintendent of Anoka-Hennepin Schools.
Students identified at Andover, Anoka and Champlin Park-area elementary and middle schools, and River Trail Learning Center were recognized Feb. 6. 📺 Watch the archived live stream of the event. (45 minutes.)
A second event will be held at Blaine High School on Wednesday Feb. 28, honoring students from Blaine and Coon Rapids-area elementary and middle schools.
Dental Health Month brings smiles to elementary schools across the district
First grade students at Adams Elementary School are one of the 19 Anoka-Hennepin elementary schools to receive a dental health kit and educational materials in honor of Dental Health Month through the Smiles@School program, thanks to Delta Dental. The program aims to provide oral health education and resources to young children, and visited Adams Elementary Feb. 5.
🪥 Brushing up: Each dental health kit contains critical oral health resources, including a toothbrush, fluoridated toothpaste, floss, a timer, a water bottle, an oral health educational booklet, and a calendar to help children track their brushing habits.
Students also watched an educational video on the importance of oral health featuring Dr. Crespo.
Why it matters: “We see students come to the health office with tooth pain and they are either not followed by a dentist visit or in some cases have never been to a dentist,” said Julie Henderson, licensed school nurse at Adams and Hamilton Elementary schools. “Mouth pain from tooth decay can impact a student’s ability to focus and learn while at school.”
Delta Dental will deliver over 50,000 dental health kits and educational materials to Minnesota first graders in February 2024, which was proclaimed Dental Health Month in Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz.
📸 View photos of students discovering their new dental health kits.
Middle school students challenged to have everyday courage
Seventh graders at Roosevelt Middle School (RMS) engaged in a “Courage Retreat” in January with the goal of strengthening friendships and relationships to make their school community a better place.
🦁 A bit of courage: The event was led by Youth Frontiers, an organization with the mission to inspire young people to live lives of character. The day-long “Courage Retreat” featured high-energy and interactive activities to engage students to participate together, while small group discussions prompted students to get to know each other better. Additionally, short presentations challenged students to commit one act of everyday courage. 📸 View photos from the RMS “Courage Retreat."
🗣️ A student’s reaction: “It was fun and I really enjoyed playing the games,” said one seventh grade student. “I got to talk about real life situations and I learned I need to take more time to listen to others.” 🗞️ Read more about the retreat.
🤝 A little history: Anoka-Hennepin has a long-standing relationship with Youth Frontiers, coordinating a variety of staff and student retreats across the district. In the fall, Youth Frontiers visited seventh graders at Northdale Middle School.
McKinley Elementary - School Spotlight
As the only public school in Ham Lake, McKinley Elementary has a strong sense of community where the students and staff have created a positive and welcoming environment. Check out the McKinley school spotlight to learn more about McKinley, home of the Bulldogs.
“Synchronized” enrollment allows #AHSchools student to represent Team USA internationally on the ice
⛸️ Olivia Romo is a senior concurrently enrolled at Blaine High School and Anoka-Hennepin Online. The flexible learning environment has allowed Romo to participate as a member of Team USA in synchronized figure skating.
🇺🇸 For the third time, Romo is representing Team USA, as her “synchro” team, the Northernettes Junior, not only donned the red, white and blue in the junior division of the Challenger Series Synchronized Skating Competition at the Mozart Cup in Salzburg, Austria Jan. 18-20 – but also earned a bronze medal.
📺 Prior to the trip to Austria, Romo was interviewed on FOX-9 about the team’s success.
Next up: Romo and the Northernettes are also skating for Team USA Feb. 10-11 at the Marie Lundmark Cup in Helsinki, Finland, and have qualified to compete at the U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas on Feb. 21-25.
💻 Providing educational flexibility: Anoka-Hennepin Online is a credentialed learning provider through the state of Minnesota that uses the approved Anoka-Hennepin curriculum supporting students in grades 9-12.
Cooking up college and career aspirations for students with partnerships and school resources
👨🍳 District college and career staff are always cooking up opportunities for students - and last week added a new recipe that blended college and career exploration geared toward the kitchen. Approximately 25 students from Anoka-Hennepin high schools across the district participated in a "Culinary Career Day" field trip on Tuesday, Jan. 30 - touring the culinary programs at St. Paul Community College and Hennepin Technical College, before visiting and seeing a real industry kitchen in action at Margie’s Restaurant in Andover, Minn.
🥘 Food for thought: High school is a pivotal time for students honing in on their interest ideas and determining what college and career path they want to pursue. “We set up career days to help students clarify educational and career pathways, and to see the industry first hand,” explained Colleen Neary, college and career specialist at Anoka High School. Students participating in the field trip expressed a high level of prior interest in pursuing a career in the culinary arts.
🎂 Icing on the cake: For Solomin Theisen, Anoka High School senior, he had already received his acceptance letter to the culinary arts program at St. Paul Community College and the experience solidified his decision to attend the school after graduation. “The trip was very helpful in understanding the college process and learning more about the program,” Theisen said. “Touring the kitchen was cool to see how it was run so efficiently.” Theisen hopes to explore the business side of culinary arts and own his own restaurant one day.
🎓 The big picture: Each Anoka-Hennepin high school offers a college and career center, with specialists who assist students with navigating high school, post-secondary preparation, career planning, interest assessments, ACT practice and test preparation, meetings with college representatives, financial aid and scholarship information, military resources and more.
📸 View more photos from the Culinary Career Day field trip.
District student-athletes celebrate signing letters of intent on National Signing Day
✍️ Student-athletes from four Anoka-Hennepin high schools (Andover, Blaine, Champlin Park and Coon Rapids) participated in events Feb. 7 marking National Signing Day. The regular signing period for NCAA Division I and II football began Feb. 7, while student-athletes outside of football began signing letters of intent Nov. 8, 2023, and can continue to sign until Aug. 1.
Congratulations to all of these student-athletes, and to those who will sign their letters of intent at a later time. Anoka-Hennepin is proud!
Coon Rapids High School hosts 22nd annual NWSC Music Festival Feb. 7-8
🎶 About the event: The event provides students the opportunity to pursue excellence in music performance, listen to music with understanding, and celebrate the artistic achievements of other student musicians. Each high school’s concert band, choir and orchestra ensembles perform for guest clinicians, who then critique and provide feedback on their performances. Students are also encouraged to complete critical listening forms as they attend various performances during the event.
💻 Learn more about the NWSC Music Festival.
🎥 Watch a replay of the NWSC Music Festival All-Conference performances.
Native American artist visits with CPHS students studying his work
Students at Champlin Park High School (CPHS) - International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme have been studying the work of Jonathan Thunder, an artist and member of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, as a part of the English 11 curriculum. The experience came to life Jan. 31, when Thunder visited the school to present, answer questions and meet with students in the American Indian Education program.
Why it matters: The IB curriculum at CPHS fulfills the state requirements of celebrating the works and voices of the Anishinabe people, where students study both non-literary bodies of work and literary works concerning common themes. CPHS students have been studying Thunder’s work, which is rich with symbolism and allusions to tribal and Western pop culture.
What they’re saying: “Analyzing texts such as these help to challenge the students to work through critical thinking strategies,” said Georgia Larson, English teacher and IB Career Program Coordinator at CPHS.
“I am surprised that my work eventually became something that could be used for teaching,” Thunder said. “It’s probably some of the questions that I ask in my work that are a part of critical thinking. When I create a piece that has socioeconomic or political commentary, I’m asking questions because there are things that I know and things that I don’t know and when you think critically, that’s what you have to do, see things from different perspectives.”
🗞️ Read more and view photos from Thunder’s visit to CPHS Jan. 31.
Bid now: Student-built luxury pet kennel up for auction
🔨 Students in the Anoka-Hennepin work experience program build items throughout the year to gain hands-on experience while participating in work-based learning. The sale of student-built items covers the cost of materials and supports future learning opportunities.
🐶 The latest project: A luxury pet kennel.
The pet kennel features Ruff Sawn exterior plywood siding with LP smart trim, treated plywood for the inside floor and composite decking for the outside.
Work-based learning is a structured academic program where students engage in real-world activities with instruction occurring both at school and in a community-based setting with an employer. 🗞️ Read more about work-based learning and STEP.
- UnitedHealthcare February engagement toolkit: Food and mental health.
- Results of December email phishing campaign.
- Next Parent Engage 360 event set for Thursday, Feb. 29.
- Parent Engage 360 Podcast Episode 40: One parent’s story on navigating special education services.
- Curriculum open house set for Feb. 21: Two Rivers Transition Program at Franklin.
- Action of the School Board, January 22, 2024.
- Contribute to a 403(b) retirement plan.
- Employee 2023 W-2 and 1095-C form will be available electronically.
- SupportingYoU an employee wellness podcast, has 34 episodes available.
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This e-newsletter is published by Anoka-Hennepin Schools. It's sent to all Anoka-Hennepin staff on a weekly basis during the school year, excluding breaks (and periodically during the summer). Questions, comments or concerns about In the Know e-newsletter? Contact us.