As the weather gets colder and the snow starts falling, please send your student to school with everything they will need to play outside at recess. Students go outside for recess if the temperature is above 0° Fahrenheit, and if the wind chill is above -10° Fahrenheit. Fresh air is great for learning! If your child has a medical condition that prevents them from going outside for recess, the school will need a doctor’s note. Please make sure the doctor’s note includes the specific dates and/or the temperature at which the student can’t go outside. When there is snow on the ground, students need to wear snow pants and boots to play in the snow. If they don't have boots or snow pants, they will have to stay on the blacktop area of the playground. Remember those hats and mittens too! Please label all winter outerwear.

The North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District has established procedures regarding delays in school opening, early dismissal or emergency school closings. All delays in school opening, early dismissal of school, or emergency school closings are announced via the School District’s emergency calling system and over local radio and television stations. The emergency calling system allows the district to notify all parents by phone in the event of an emergency, such as a school closing. When the emergency calling feature is used, all phone numbers listed as contact numbers for a family will be called. Please ensure that your phone numbers are accurate. In the event of a delay in school opening or emergency school closing, local radio and television stations will be contacted as early as possible.

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.

January 16 - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

January 18 - Food In-A-Box Mobile Market; 4-6 PM

February 9 - Music Concert; 3rd and 4th grades 6PM (Students arrive at 5:30)

February 20 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day

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 the following link: FORM 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.

7. ACT! Program - This year we will be partnering with Ashland Productions to put on Giants in the Sky. We are so excited to get started with rehearsals! Rehearsals will be BEFORE school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting January 4th, 2023. There are scholarships available if needed! Feel free to look at the attached flyer for more detailed

information or reach out to me at KThompson@isd622.org if you have any further questions or concerns.