Elternbrief, February 15th, 2013

Today TCGIS held the lottery for next year's incoming students. We had more students than ever before apply to TCGIS. Welcome to the new parents and guardians that are receiving their very first Elternbrief!

Article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Monday, February 11, 2012

Mila Koumpilova wrote a wonderful article about the school with pictures from our Carnival of Cultures event. Please read more here.

POSTPONED, TCGIS Como site meeting NOW Wednesday, March 13, 6:30-8:30

The design committee has been meeting weekly to work with the architect on updated plans to present to the TCGIS community based on member feedback. To allow complete consideration of various stakeholders, the meeting for Feb. 20 is cancelled. The new date is Wednesday, March 13, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm. Not only will TCGIS be updated on the new site plans, but TCGIS will also present the "State of the School". Please mark your calendars!

Visit from Harald Leibrecht, the German Coordinator for Transatlantic Relations

TCGIS administration, teachers and stakeholders met with Herr Leibrecht to discuss the development of our school and potential future support the German state might offer the school. We look forward to expanding our relationships with Germany to promote German language and culture throughout Minnesota and the United States.

Immersion Day at the Capitol, February 19, 2013

Mitch Gale (5b), William Blackwell-Kinney (5b), Eva Riautschnig (8) and Emily Schoonover (8) will present Tuesday at the State Capitol as part of MAIN's Immersion Day. Legislators will see presentations in German (and English) on German culture, song and religion.

MCA IMPORTANT DATE CHANGES!

The school is changing the MCA reading, math and science exams to later in the spring. The change is happening due to the many field trips and spring break scheduled in March. TCGIS wants to make the most of school days prior to the MCA tests so students have the greatest chance for success.

Reading tests grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 will be the week of April 22-26

Math tests grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 will be the week of April 29-May 3

Science tests grades 5 and 8 ONLY will be the week of May 6-10

EARLY RELEASE, SITE MEETING AND SPRING CONFERENCES COMING UP!

Wednesday, February 20-EARLY RELEASE! (Pick up at 12:45)***

Wednesday, March 13, 6:30-8:30pm-TCGIS facility update and "State of the School"

Thursday, March 14, 400-7:00pm-Spring Conference

Friday, March 15, 8:10-3:20pm-Spring Conferences

***Please remember, late pick up results in a $50 late fee.

Vielen Dank!

Ann Jurewicz

Director

TCGIS

February Early Release is Wednesday February 20th!

Pickup time on Early Release Day is

12:45 PM.

Sixth Grade Field Trip

The sixth graders will be visiting the Concordia language Village's Biohaus. The Biohaus is one of the first houses in the USA to passively produce it's own energy. Students will be doing science experiments in this great building, and also have fun with sports and outdoors activities.

Carnival of Cultures Questionnaire

Whew! Carnival of Cultures has come and gone and we want to know how you feel about how it went this year. Please fill out the following brief (4 questions!) survey about the Carnival of Cultures and help us to keep improving.

Maskenball Update

Hello TCGIS community!

Nine days until Maskenball! Have you figured out your 80s persona yet? Tickets are on sale now - thanks to everybody who has already purchased theirs! Today is the last day that tickets are $25 here. After today, they are $35.

We also would still very much appreciate your wine donation for our wine pull at the party. In a wine pull, everyone is a winner. It is very easy to play. $10 gets you a bottle randomly selected from the pile. The fun is that you never know if you will get a more elegant wine or a wonderful table wine.

And now, let's talk about staff, baby! Like at previous Maskenball events, we will have our staff raffle again. For $2, buy a raffle ticket for your favorite teacher or staff member, at school or at the event. The lucky winner will get 2 tickets to the Park Square Theatre (a total value of $80) and a $100 gift certificate for the Great Waters Brewery in Downtown St Paul!

Read about Herr Stephenson's staff raffle experience, one of the previous winners:

"I was thrilled to be the first winner of the TCGIS PTO Maskenball raffle. My wife and I spent a wonderful weekend in New Ulm at a lovely bed and breakfast. We had dinner at a few nice restaurants, enjoyed the shopping, and went bowling. It was such a nice treat, and we would never have splurged for something like that just for ourselves. It was great to feel lucky as a winner, but even better to think of all the people who bought raffle tickets for me and increased my chances.Thanks TCGIS PTO, and thanks parents who participated. It was great!"

The winner will be announced the night of Maskenball, Feb 23 2013.

Yearbook Updates

Now accepting photos!

The Yearbook class is in full swing working on the 2nd annual yearbook. However, we need more photos to fill it up! If you have any photos from class field trips, school performances, special occasions or candid classroom pics, please share them with us. If you have pictures to submit, please send them to Molly Kalda at mkalda@tcgis.org.

The Yearbook class is holding a contest for the book cover art. All grades are encouraged to submit their artwork to Molly Kalda by March 1st. The yearbook team will be voting on which pictures should be on which cover. First place gets the front cover, and second place gets the back cover. The first place winner will receive a free yearbook! We are also collecting additional pictures for the inside of the book.

Kaffeeklatsch

Next Week!

Our next Kaffeeklatsch is next Friday, Feb. 22! We usually start serving coffee by 8:05am in the Front Lobby entrance. A suggested donation for a cup of coffee is $1.00 if you bring your own cup, or $1.25 if we provide you with a cup. We are also serving tea! Now also selling Coffee Cards for your convenience: $8 (with cup), $10 (w/o cup)!! No more searching for dollar bills necessary!

Parking Lot Lock-ups

Recently, piled snow next to the parking lot has made the drive around lane especially narrow. Cars are unable to pass vehicles left idling or parked in this area. Please remember that other parents are trying to access the same area, and be courteous to other drivers.

Transportation Survey

As we gear up to

move to our new location next year, many of you may be wondering just how you will transport your children to and from the Como Park area each day. Many families currently depend on carpooling to ease the stress of getting to school each day. The facilities committee has created a survey in order to gauge parents' position on carpooling, busing, and other methods of transport from around the Twin Cities to our new location. Please fill out this survey to help our school determine our transportation needs for our future location.

Intern Host Families Wanted

Fall 2013

TCGIS is searching for families who would like to host interns next fall. We need lots of families to ensure that all of our interns have homes, so write to Nicole Grentz or Darcy Deboer to find out more information if you are interested.

2nd Gr. Mother/Daughter Book Club

The book club will meet Sunday, April 6th from 2-4pm, at Elsa Johnson's home. The book is "Peter and the Starcatchers," by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. For more information and to RSVP, please contact Krista at monk2miles@comcast.net.

Fourth Graders Read to Feed

Help them raise money for Heifer International

The Fourth Grade English class is participating in the second annual Read to Feed program and we'd like to invite you to help us! Read to Feed is a program of Heifer International that encourages children to be a part of Heifer's mission to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Last year our fourth graders raised over $2500!!

Since 1944, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in 40 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities, become more self-reliant.

The Read to Feed program encourages reading skills while teaching students how they can empower families around the world with the gift of livestock. Children are recruiting sponsors for their reading goals from January 7th to March 2nd. At the end of the program, the fourth graders will pool, calculate, and donate the funds to Heifer International to assist families around the world.

If you wish to help us in our efforts, please visit our "Team" page to donate with a credit card or leave a check with Molly at the front desk! Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our students and the lives of countless others!!

Organizer: Michelle Wallace, 3/4 English Teacher

Teen Student Seeking Summer Hosts

A couple from Germany are looking for a host family for their son (Sönke,16) who would like to spent the coming summer here in the US. They are looking for a place/family where he could stay from July 7/8th until August 16/17th 2013. Whoever would like to come to Germany in exchange or after this time could stay at their place as long as he/she would like and would be more than welcome. Our friends have hosted foreign students in the past. See attached some information I received from Sönke. Thank you for letting me know if you know anyone or whom we could contact. You might have a student/family who could be interested.

Thank you very much in advance! Let me know if you would like to contact Sönke's family directly. This is also possible.

Kind regards.

Valerie Penners

Medtronic Translations

Educating Children for Informed and Active World Citizenship

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.