News and events, September 2022

Family Leadership Night: Dinner & Activities

Save the date ACES Families! You are all invited for a free meal sponsored by our PTO as well as many math, reading, and leadership opportunities on Thursday, September 22, 2022 from 5:30-7:00 PM. Your family will take home activities to support your child's learning at home. We will focus on Habit #1 Be Proactive and provide ideas on how to practice this habit at home too! We look forward to hosting your family as we kick-off this exciting school year together!

It has been a wonderful week at University Avenue! This year our theme is "Committed to Greatness Together" and we have kicked off the year committed to serving YOU, our students and families.

Students have been getting acclimated to being back at school, learning new structures and systems and developing new communities in their classrooms. As a Leader in Me School, students are taking on new leadership roles, and learning about the 8 Habits during morning meetings and integrated throughout the school day. We are can't wait to share more about the Habits at our Family night Kick off on September 22 from 5:30-7:00 pm. Please join us for a free family meal, too!

We are excited to embark on a new school year in partnership with you. Thank you for sharing your student with us each day. It's going to be a great year.

Diedre Bloemers, Principal

Luke Riesgraf, Assistant Principal

Student reporters attend #AHSchools back-to-school press conference

Staff and students from across the Anoka-Hennepin School District are eager to kick off the new school year. Student reporters gathered for a back-to-school press conference with Interim Superintendent Dr. Kate Maguire, with hard-hitting questions prepared to gather the information needed to have a great year ahead.

Special thanks to CTN Studios and Sportsnight anchors Howie Shapiro and Joe Yund; the Champlin Park High School Rebel Reporter, Aubrey Bryant; and student reporters from Sunrise Elementary School, Ramsey Elementary School and University Avenue Elementary School. In addition, staff members representing just a handful of employee groups joined Maguire at the “press conference,” teaming up to effectively educate each of our students for success.

Watch the video.

Students are encouraged to turn in their Summer Express books and Summer Calendars for prizes!

Parents - Please tell us what you thought of your child's summer learning materials by filling out this 3 QUESTION SURVEY

ALL families are asked to fill out the free & reduced lunch documents, even if you have not in past years. Visit ahschools.us/freereduced to apply for free and reduced priced meals. If you need support with filling out the form, or need to confirm if you qualify, please contact us 763-506-4500.

Prices of school meals this year:

Breakfast: $1.50

Lunch: $2.55

Watch the video to learn more about the free breakfast & lunch benefits that are available to you:
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Espanol

This year, students are using scan cards instead of putting their pin numbers in the pin pad for hot lunch. This saves time, resulting in a longer time to sit, eat and visit with classmates. A scan card was attached to your student's backpack and will be used if they decide to have breakfast. Please DO NOT remove the scan card from your student's backpack. The classroom teacher keeps an additional scan card in the classroom to use when purchasing lunch. Please reach out if you have any questions!

Welcome to a new school year! I am so happy to see so many of last year’s volunteers returning to volunteer again, and I look forward to meeting new volunteers. You are all appreciated and help make a difference in the lives of our students and staff. If you plan on volunteering for field trips or in any other way this year and have not completed the volunteer forms, please use this link to access the forms. Volunteer Forms link

Do you have questions about the Volunteer Application forms and Criminal Background check forms? You are not the only one. Here are frequently asked questions.

• If I filled both of them out last year, do I have to fill them out again? The forms need to be filled out each school year. Also, you need to have a form on file with the Volunteer Coordinator at each school where you volunteer.

• Why do I have to fill out a Criminal Background check? Anoka-Hennepin requires them in order to help protect our volunteers and students.
• I work for Anoka-Hennepin… I do day care… I drive a school bus for the district, do I still need to fill it out? Yes, this form is applicable to your volunteer status, not your employment status.

Links to current volunteer opportunities:

• Help students in the lunchroom the first few weeks of school. Lunchroom Signup Link
  
• Help students check out books from classroom libraries at 9:20 once per week. Baggie Books Signup Link
• Work on projects (cutting, stapling, sorting, gluing, etc.) for students and staff, make copies and/or hang art. Workroom Signup Link Volunteers typically come Tuesday and/or Thursday mornings and socialize while working, but Mondays and Fridays work as well.
• Work one-on-one with Kindergarten students once a week at 9:20 to improve reading and math skills. Skillbuilders Signup Link
• Work on math activities in small groups with K-2 students. Math Plus Signup Link

If you have any questions please contact me at debbie.blatz@ahschools.us

Debbie Blatz, Volunteer Services Coordinator

Bus Procedure

Thank you for your partnership!

WE NEED YOU! Our hope is to grow our PTO this year and increase fun events and activities for our families. We are in search of families who want to learn more about University, build a strong community and support our students, staff and families. Please consider joining us to share your thoughts and ideas. YOU are important and we would love to hear from YOU.

Please Join us at our First PTO Meeting on September 15th at 6:30pm. We will be offering a "hybrid"option this year. We will be meeting in person AND offer a link for you to join us virtually if that works better for you.

See you on September 15th!