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| Elternbrief |
Weekly Newsletter for TCGIS Families January 19, 2012 | |
 | | Annika Fjelstad, TCGIS Director |
Dear Families,
The Germanic American Institute (GAI) has been approved as an authorizer for Charter Schools. This is huge and important news for the Twin Cities German Immersion School. The GAI has been our sponsor since the beginning and has done enormous amounts of work to enable us to be an official school. It has taken one year and four months of advocacy and hard work to get to this point. Huge, huge thanks to Jeana Anderson, Mary-Fred Bausman-Watkins, Nancy Bostrom, Colleen Monahan and Christian Englebrecht for their work.
Please put February 16th, 6:30 PM on your calendar. We are excited to host "Carnival of Cultures: An American Collage," a performance celebrating the work done in Performing Arts class in our Elementary Program. Performing students will need to be there at 6:00. For more information on recent projects in Performing Arts and ways to be involved, click here. Thanks to Valentin Solakau for planning and preparing.
We are also proud to be participating in a national movement of bullying prevention by participating in No Name-Calling Week next week, January 23 - 27. To help our students focus on some of the themes of the week we've designated each day with a special way to dress. Click here for the schedule and for info on some of the themes. TCGIS anti-bullying policy can be found here. Thanks to Mandi Rosenthal and Anne Kile for planning this important week.
We're also excited to be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair the week of February 6th. Please see below for more information. Thanks to Michelle Wallace for planning our first annual book fair!
We've had great turnouts at recent Information Sessions for prospective Kindergartners. It's the season to get applications in. We need your enrollment forms by February 15th in order for siblings to get preference. Tell your neighbors and acquaintances about our Information Sessions and Tours--schedules can be found on our website.
There will be no school meetings scheduled on February 7th to facilitate participation in precinct caucuses. The Minnesota Association of Charter Schools invites you to get involved in the democratic process of choosing our government, which is so crucially involved in funding and shaping our schools. Information on caucuses can be found below.
Congratulations to Martin Kocher who won the TCGIS Middle School Geography Bee.
Thank you for all you do for our school,
Annika Fjelstad
Director, TCGIS
651-492-7106, ext. 103
afjelstad@tcgis.org
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 Upcoming Dates
Save the Date  JANUARY 23 - 27 - No Name-Calling Week 26 - 6:30 PM, School Board meeting 27 - 8 AM, Kaffeklatsch 29 - 2 PM, Info session for prospective families FEBRUARY 4 - 7 PM, Maskenball 6-10 - Scholastic Book Fair 6 - 6:30 PM, PTO Meeting 7- 6:30 PM, Info session for prospective families 10 - 8 AM, Kaffeeklatsch 15 - Sibling enrollment forms due 16 - 6:30 PM, Carnival of Cultures performance 17 - NO SCHOOL - Teacher work day 20 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day 23 - 6:30 PM, Board Meeting 24 - 8 AM, Kaffeklatsch For the complete school calendar, click here. |
Once Upon a Time
Maskenball 2012
This year's Maskenball Gala takes us long ago and far far away to the land of fairy tales, where we promise an enchanted evening of charm and delight. Please join us! Tickets are on sale now. Watch your email for updates or like the PTO Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.
Timelines and deadlines
Maskenball has many dates to keep track of. Here are a few to help you plan: - January 24, Online auction opens
- January 28, Ticket price goes to $55
- January 31, Online auction closes
- February 2, Deadline to order tickets
- February 2 & 3, Auction check-out at TCGIS (more details to follow)
- February 4, Maskenball Gala
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You're Invited to Our
Scholastic Book Fair (M-F) & Family Fun Night (Thursday)
It's a Reading Celebration! February 6 to February 10
Our first annual Book Fair is this February! The Scholastic Book Fair will be open February 6th-10th. On Thursday, February 9th bring the whole family for Family Night! We will be having a luau, so dress the part!
Location : TCGIS cafeteria
Hours and themes:
Mon, Feb 6: 3:00-4:00Clothing Theme - tacky tourist / floral shirts
Tue, Feb 7: 7:50-8:20, 3:00-4:00Clothing Theme - beach / summer HAT dayWed, Feb 8: 7:50-8:20, Student Shopping Day 2:10 - 3:10 (open different hours due to early release)Clothing Theme - summer clothes
Thurs, Feb 9: 7:50-8:20, Family Night 5:00 - 8:00Clothing Theme - Let's have a LuauFri, Feb 10: 7:50-8:20, Last Chance Day 3:00-4:00 Family Fun Night Agenda- Lets' Have a Luau!
Thursday, February 9, 5-8PM: Wear your Luau-themed outfit (prizes for 3 costumed contestants)! We will be serving mini tropical smoothies while we enjoy visiting and listening to Luau music! Games: We'll have a book walk, hula hoop contest, do the limbo, reveal the winner for the guessing jar, and more... Prizes: books (of course), Chinese yo-yos, spinners, fun bandz, flying discs, bookmarks, stickers, and more... To order books online, visit our Book Fair Homepage anytime February 1 -17. |
January Art News
Update from Frau Lenburg
Click here for the January Art News newsletter! Please contact Frau Lenburg at alenburg@tcgis.org with any questions or concerns about art class.
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No Name-Calling Week
Dress up next week to support No Name-Calling Week
TCGIS is proud to announce that we will join schools throughout the United States in participating in No Name-Calling Week next week, January 23-27. By participating, we are making an effort to educate our children about bullying, to work on prevention, and to enhance our social climate as a school community. During the week classes will address different topics with short lessons and school-wide activities, such as public displays of student work and thematic dress-up days. All kids are encouraged to participate in dress-up activities according to the following themes: Monday, 1/23: United we stand, divided we fall. -Wear red, white, and blue. Tuesday, 1/24: Walking a mile in another's shoes can be difficult and eye-opening. -Wear two mis-matched shoes. Wednesday, 1/25: We are all different and should appreciate our differences. -Wear mismatched clothing. Thursday, 1/26: Words can hurt and you can't take them back, AND a good person always has another's back. -Wear your clothing backward. Friday, 1/27: We are all good sports if we treat each other like we are on the same team. -Wear sports team regalia. For more information about No Name-Calling Week, please click here. |
Performing Arts Update
"Carnival of Cultures" coming up on February 16!
This week we are working hard on the "Carnival of Cultures." It will take place on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6pm, and is located in the concert hall at St. Thomas More School. About the "Carnival of Cultures": -The "Carnival of Cultures" is more than a performing arts showcase. Its purpose is not only to give students the opportunity to recall the German tradition of Carnival, but also to celebrate our cultural diversity and community. Please join us and celebrate with us.
Volunteers needed (kids and adults)!
- We are looking for a picture, drawing or painting created by kids that could serve as the "Carnival of Cultures" official logo and be used on the program. Please submit your pictures at the front desk. - The middle school will not be participating in the Carnival, but there are still some jobs for volunteers. We are looking for self-confident moderators who can present the event. We are also looking for dancers who are willing to sacrifice their recess time on Tuesday and Friday to learn some new dances for the "Carnival of Cultures". Last week in Performing Arts Update from Valentin Solakhau Last week was a busy and festive week with a lot of performances:
- 4th grade performed the musical "Ritter Rost" on Wednesday & Thursday.
- 3rd grade presented German fairy tales by acting in puppet theater on Thursday. I'm glad to tell you that the Puppet Theater has been a successful interdisciplinary project: children read fairy tales, wrote scripts, made puppets in art class and worked on on acting in Performing Arts.
- Last but not least, the middle school students successfully finished Quarter II by submitting PowerPoint presentations where they retold the stories of "Rübezahl," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Crazy Horse."
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Democracy Needs You!
A message from the MN Association of Charter Schools
On Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 7:00PM, five of Minnesota's political parties--Constitution, Democratic- Farmer-Labor (DFL), Green, Independence and Republican--will hold precinct caucuses to begin the process of selecting legislative candidates and shaping public policy issues for this year's elections. It is an especially important year as 67 state senators and 134 state legislators, as well as members of the U.S. House and one U.S. Senate seat, are up for election. Every person eligible to vote in the general election on November 6th and who resides in the precinct in which he or she is eligible to vote can attend and vote in precinct caucuses. Precinct caucuses are grassroots democracy at the most elemental level - it is you and your neighbors discussing candidates and policies that will shape the future of our state and nation. For more information about precinct caucuses and the location of your precinct caucus of the political party of your choice, visit the MN Caucus Finder web page. Remember - we cannot have a "Government of the people, by the people and for the people," as President Lincoln eloquently described our nation over 150 years ago, if individuals do not get involved in the process of choosing the government. |
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Educating Children for Informed and Active World Citizenship
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The Elternbrief is published electronically Thursdays throughout the school-year and on an as needed basis at other times. Submissions are due by 3 PM on Tuesdays. Content printed at the discretion of the TCGIS administration.
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