 Dear Families,
Congratulations!
Leonie Jacobs placed second and Till Konzcak placed third in a competition of spoken presentation for students from German speaking schools in the Midwest Region in Chicago last Saturday, December 4th. Michelle and Tim Wallace's son, Wyatt, was born on December 4th.
Anti-bullying Policy The board recently passed an updated anti-bullying policy. It reflects two major changes from our previous policy. Firstly, it moves away from a punishment-based model to one which incorporates conflict resolution as a tool in the problem solving process. Key concepts include, "Conflict resolution is a mechanism for those targeted by harassment or bullying to be supported in communicating directly their request to stop to the perpetrator," and "Conflict resolution supplements, but does not replace disciplinary action. Effective and carefully managed implementation of conflict resolution can be empowering to those victimized by bullying and a voice more powerful than that of authority figures." We're implementing it on the ground here at school and it's exciting to see it work. Secondly, our current policy explicitly addresses bullying that is based on a student's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion or any other distinguishing characteristics that may be defined by the state or local educational agency. This also includes association with a person or group with one or more of the abovementioned characteristics, whether actual or perceived. Enumerating specific groups follows the trend recommended by Minnesota School Board Association. Enumeration is essential to protecting as many students as possible from bullying and harassment. The strength of an enumerated law or policy is that it underscores that those students who research shows are most likely to be bullied and harassed and least likely to be protected by non-enumerated anti-bullying and harassment laws and policies are in fact protected, as well as ALL other students. Supporting Language Education at a Legislative Level Congressmen Holt and Tonko have sponsored HR 6036 which will provide significant levels of funding at the national, state, and local levels for language education. Please help get co-sponsors for this bill so that Congress will realize how important this legislation is for students in the U.S. and for building our nation's language capacity! http://www.actfl.org/i4a/headlines/headlinedetails.cfm?id=299
Click and DO. We can make a difference. Please forward to other individuals you know would be interested. Recruiting new Kindergarten families Our most powerful advertising medium is word of mouth. Families choose this school based on the testament of their friends, neighbors and pre-school classmates. It is important to the school that we continue to get the word out about our school. Please let acquaintances of yours with upcoming Kindergartners know about our information sessions. The schedule is posted here.
Attendance Matters Winter weather always brings a new spate of late students. While none of us are immune to the extra time needed for car scraping and slow traffic, planning ahead can help your family stay on time. Children straggling in late to morning circle impacts both individual students and the community as a whole. Please help your child experience being in the classroom with coat off and supplies in hand by 8:15.
Host Families for Amities WE STILL NEED HOST FAMILIES FOR JANUARY! We have 5 new interns arriving in January. As all of you know, having interns is a crucial part or our classrooms and our childrens' educational experience. Without your help this program would no longer be supported and would end. If you have thought of hosting and have not done so, please email me and let me know what concerns you have or what variable is holding you back. We would love to talk to you. We have two great interns who need a home for the next semester! We also have a family that is able to host for half the semester. If you feel the time commitment is too much for your family, this may be an opportunity to host for the second half (April, May, June). For more information please email Darcy Rindelaub at darcydeboer@hotmail.com or call 651-324-4270. To all past and current hosting families, thank you! We need your continued support. Upcoming Dates December 15th 6:30 Middle School Meeting February 3rd 6:30 State of the School February 11th 6:30 Performing Arts Presentation at St. Thomas More Thanks for all you do for your students and the school as a whole.
Frau Annika Fjelstad
Director
Twin Cities German Immersion School
afjelstad@tcgis.org | 
