Cowern PAWPRINTS

April 3, 2023

"Paws" for news from the principal:

Greetings, Cowern Families.

Welcome to April. This month marks the beginning of our Spring Assessment Window. Over the next 6 weeks, our students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will engage in the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, known as the MCAs. The MCAs include reading and math for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Additionally, 5th graders engage in a Science assessment. The families of our students in MCA testing grade levels will receive an email notice next week about Test Security.

Individual results from the MCAs are typically sent out the following October. Results are designed to help school systems assess the efficacy of their instructional practices and curricular resources.

In addition to our MCA assessments, we will also engage our students in our Universal Screener Assessment called FASTBridge. This is an assessment we provide our students 3 times a year to help us track progress toward our grade level standards. This information also helps us determine skills we identify for additional support during our What I Need (WIN) Time. This is a 30 minute block of time each day for students in grades K-5 to work on identified needs. Students may receive extra practice on grade level skills and concepts. Other students may receive extra practice on grade level skills or concepts that are below their grade level. And other students may receive specialized curriculum, English language support, Special Education support, or enrichment.

While we know that no single assessments defines a student, we do use a combination of formative and summative assessments to help us create a personal learning plan for each and every student in our school. Thank you for your continued support of this work.

Upcoming Events

April 4th - Cowern Family Night 6:00-7:30pm

April 7th - NO SCHOOL

April 18th - Culver's Night 4-7pm

April 19th - Mobile Market 4-6pm

April 27th - KG and 5th Grade Music Concert

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SUMMER ADVENTURE CONNECTION

Adventure Connection is now accepting registrations for the Summer. Adventure Connection is the district program for providing full day care for students going into grades K-5 during the Summer. Students going into sixth grade can sign up for our EPIC Connection program that serves middle school students. Each week of summer is built around a different theme and packed with choice-based enriching, recreational, educational, and engaging experiences for your kids to grow their passions and discover new ones! Pick your days or weeks or join us for the whole summer. Morning and afternoon snacks provided. Space is limited, so register right away!


To register, or for more information for Adventure Connection, go to isd622.org/ac and for information about EPIC Connection go to isd622.org/epic

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Cowern Music Concert

Please mark your calendars for your child’s concert date listed below!


Students must arrive by 5:30 p.m. and report to their classrooms.


Kindergarten and 5th Grade: “Taking Flight” Thursday, April 27 at 6:00 p.m.

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Contact Information Update

A reminder to update Campus Parent with any address, phone number(s), email or emergency contact changes.

Attendance Procedure

Please be sure to call in your child’s absence OR if they are going to be late for any reason call our attendance line at: 651-748-6824 (please call by 8:45 a.m.).


Is my child well enough to go to school? Click the link to learn more.


Attention: When calling in your child’s absence, please do not leave a message saying “they are sick” or “not feeling well.” Be more specific about the absence. Let us know the type of illness your child has (i.e., flu, vomiting, stomach ache, etc.). The Health Office needs to know this information to help keep our school safe and healthy.


If a phone call is not received, the absence remains unexcused. If a child has 3 unexcused absences or 10 out-of-building tardies, the school will send written notification to the family and report the situation to the appropriate county agency. The county agency will exercise progressive steps, if the unexcused absences and/or tardies continue.

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Discounted At-Home Internet

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) provides eligible households a discount of up to $30 per month off their internet bills (or up to $75 per month for households living on Tribal lands), as well as a one-time discount of up to $100 off an eligible connected device like a laptop, desktop computer or tablet. In many cases, households can get high-speed internet without paying a dime by choosing a fully covered internet plan.

This announcement serves as a reminder that a household is eligible to participate in the ACP if a child in the household receives free or reduced-price school meals. Therefore, under the ACP rules, every household with a child attending a school participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program is eligible for ACP benefits.

Households can learn more and apply for the ACP at GetInternet.gov.

While this reminder is specific to schools that are participating in CEP, additional information about eligibility for CEP discount benefits can be found in the School Outreach Toolkit PDF (English) and School Outreach Toolkit PDF (Spanish). The toolkit provides information about ways households can qualify for the ACP, including through an individual student’s participation in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program providing free or reduced-price meals; through a household member’s participation in a wide range of other federal assistance programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and many others; or based on the household’s income (up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level).
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Culver's Fundraising Night!

Who: EVERYONE!

What: Cowern Elementary Fundraising Event

Where: Culver's Location: 3202 White Bear Avenue White Bear Lake, MN 55110

When: Tuesday, April 18th, 2023 from 4-7pm

How: Grab Dinner or dessert at Culver's from 4-7pm and 10% of drive-thru, dine-in and to-go orders will go towards Cowern Elementary! If you order online, 20% of the order will be donated! It is that simple! No flyer, code, or information needs to be given in order for Cowern to receive proceeds.

Thank you for supporting our Cowern Community!

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Resources For Students And Families

Below are some resources that will be helpful during this school year:

1. Weekly Food Bags through the EveryMeal - After September 23rd! Bags that are provided with foods structured around USDA MyPlate with options that also cater to different dietary needs and restrictions. Bags will be placed in student backpacks every Friday. There is no eligibility requirements! ANY student can participate. Please sign up here.

2. “Food In-A-Box Pop-Up Market at Cowern” - This is a project that will be done in collaboration with Good in the Hood, a program dedicated to “changing lives through simple acts of kindness.” Their goal is to provide fresh produce, meat, and dairy products to communities once a month to the surrounding communities. We will be setting up a drive-thru mobile market where families can pick up these items in a socially distanced manner. This opportunity is open to ANY and ALL FAMILIES and will happen every third Wednesday from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Click here to get to Food Shelf-In-A-Box link. If you would like to participate, please complete the form by clicking on one of the following links: Form in English, Form in Spanish or Form in Somali and send a copy to KThompson@isd622.org. I am also looking for volunteers to help at distribution. Time slots are open from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Volunteers can come and go as they please. If you are interested in volunteering on November 23rd, contact Kyliah Thompson via email at KThompson@isd622.org or at 314-312-1097.

3. Minnesota COVID Hotlines for Immigrants and Refugees - There is now a MN COVID hotline specifically dedicated to our families that are immigrants or refugees to get help with COVID questions and one-on-one navigation support (i.e., getting appointments scheduled, finding testing sites and vaccination sites for those eligible, dealing with employers, accessing COVID rental assistance, etc.). It is available to undocumented immigrants, too. The number to call is 651-318-0989, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

4. COVID-19 Resources - The Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative put together a massive list of resources related to housing, employment, financial support, unemployment, mental and physical health resources, and so many more for people living in Ramsey County. This is just a list to have at your disposal, but if you need help connecting to resources, please do not hesitate to reach out! Here’s the link: .

5. COVID-19 Vaccine Connector - ISD 622 put together a webpage to find out when and where vaccination sites are in the community. Please visit isd622.org/covidvaccine if you are interested in resources regarding COVID-19 vaccination availability.

6. Housing Resources - Please call Kyliah Thompson, School Social Worker, at 314-312-1097 or email KThompson@isd622.org if you need any assistance. Click Here .

7. Rent Help MN - This is a program for eligible renter s to get caught up on overdue rent and utilities or if you may not be able to pay for next month’s rent due to a COVID-19 related hardship. Here is the link.

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Cowern Elementary School

Cowern Elementary's mission is to create a safe, engaging, and welcoming community for all learners to grow academically, emotionally, and socially.

The school day is from 8:50-3:20.


Adventure Connection: 651-748-6898

Attendance Line: 651-748-6800

Cowern Health Office: 651-748-6815