Elternbrief
Issue: 180
December 4, 2014
In This Issue
Enrollment is Open for the 2015-2016 School Year!
Calling for After School Activities Instructors!
Snow/Cold Day, and Recess Cancellation Policies
Say Hello to Officer McGinn
Vision and Hearing Screening
OLPA
1st Grade Cookie Baking Fun
Community Social Hour
Minneapolis Holiday Market
5th Grade Potluck
Something Got Stolen
T-Shirts for Sale
PTO Announcement
GAI Announcement
Volunteer Opportunities!

Quick Links
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Dec 6-7: GAI Holiday Open House & Nikolaustag Celebration

Dec 9: PTO meeting

Dec 10-11: Vision & Hearing Screening

Dec 11: K-4 Social Hour

Dec 12: PTO Kaffeeklatsch

Dec 14: Minneapolis Holiday Market with TCGIS & Blumenkranz

Dec 13: GAI Christmas Dinner & Program

Dec 14: Minneapolis Holiday Market

Dec 16: 5th Graders Potluck

Dec 17: Middle School Social Hour / Early Release / Registrations OPENS for Session 2 After-school Activities

Dec 18: School Board Meeting

Dec 19: PTO Staff Appreciation Luncheon / Session 1 After-school Activities END

Dec 22- Jan 2: Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

 

If you are a current volunteer or would like to become one, please visit our volunteer page, read the instructions and fill out the online application.
Click HERE!

Administrative Information
Enrollment is Open for the 2015-2016 School Year!

Enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year is open. Please send us the application for your younger sibling preferably before the winter breakClick here for the application form.

All families with new students joining the 2015-2016 school year must have turned in their application the latest by Thursday, February 12 - the day before the lottery. Preference is given to siblings, but the applications must still be turned in. Thank you!
Calling for After School Activities Instructors!

Session two of after school activities will be starting soon! If you would like to offer a class please fill out the form here and hand it in to the office by Tuesday, December 16. Session two of After School Activities will be starting the week of January 12. If you have any questions about teaching a class, please email Molly at mkalda@tcgis.org. Thanks!
Snow/Cold Day, and Recess Cancellation Policies

 

TCGIS Snow Day and Cold Day Policy

  • In an effort to clarify TCGIS' Snow Day and Cold Day policy, the TCGIS School Board decided on the criteria here for canceling school. 
 

TCGIS Recess Cancellation Policy

  • Recess will be indoors if the wind-chill drops below the 30 minute threshold for frostbite as determined by the National Weather Service Wind-chill chart. Forecasts from the National Weather Service will be used to make the determination. This policy is to protect students and staff from extreme conditions and ensure their safety.
  • In the event of heat indexes above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, recess will be inside. Additional water will be provided at recess when the heat index exceeds 90 degrees. Forecasts from the National Weather Service will be used to make the determination. This policy is to protect students and staff from extreme conditions and ensure their safety.
  • Heavy Rain, lighting, local flooding, and other severe weather will result in moving recess indoors. Lightning will result in recess moving indoors for 30 minutes past the last lightning strike. Forecasts from the National Weather Service and staff observations will be used to make the determination. This practice is to protect students and staff from extreme conditions and ensure their safety.
  • Administration reserves the right to cancel recess for any and all students.
Say Hello to Officer McGinn 

Because snow increases the challenges of drop off and pick up, Officer McGinn will be back periodically in December and January to monitor traffic flow and help TCGIS as well as the local community. This is a great opportunity to introduce yourself to him and say hello. We encourage you to introduce other family members as well. It can be a fun experience for young ones to meet a police officer!

Here are a few drop off and pick up reminders
  1. Please pull up as close to the curb as possible. We will work extra hard to make sure there is not a lot of snow or ice. When we don't do this, we narrow the road for traffic.
  2. Please make sure your green signs are visible with the students full name and grade (ex. Jane Doe 3A) in the passenger side window.
  3. Staff will help students enter and exit the vehicles. Please say in your vehicles to keep the line moving for everyone.
  4. Review the drop off and pick up routes and parking areas on the school website  https://www.tcgis.org/index.php/resources/drop-off-pick-up-guide.
Thanks for making drop off and pick up easy for everyone!
Vision and Hearing Screening 
December 10 - 11


The Sight and Hearing Association will once again be offering screenings for students in grades Kindergarten, First and Fifth. All students in those grades will receive a screening. If you would prefer your child not be screened and would like to opt out, please contact Molly Kalda at mkalda@tcgis.org. Thank you!
OLPA Results Helping to Drive Student Learning and Differentiation for All Learners!

The OLPA gives schools instant feedback on students math and reading scores! Staff will be going through the data over the next week and discussing it with students. At that time, students will be given test results and relevant information to share with families. Teachers will handout a score report that will go home with students on Friday, December 19. 
Join the 1st Grade Cookie Baking Fun
Friday, December 5

The 1st Grade teachers, Frau Krug, Frau Bledsoe, and Frau Kulhanek invite you cordially to their annual cookie baking fund on Friday, December 5th. This is the Friday before the Nikolaus weekend.

We will start cutting the cookies in the morning from 8:15-9:30am. In the previous years we always had a neighboring family baking the cookies at their home and we're hoping to do the same thing this year. In the afternoon we'll decorate the cookies and at the end of the school day we're hoping to see many parents stopping by for a 'Kaffeklatsch' (coffee and cookies). 

Parents are more than welcome to volunteer with the cookie baking and/or to enjoy Kaffeeklatch in the afternoon. 

For those of you who are interested in volunteering, please remember to sign up with our volunteer software Volgistics and to fill out the necessary volunteer application. Once you have turned in the volunteer paperwork, you will not need to do it again for the rest of your child's career at TCGIS. 

If you need assistance with the volunteer application, please contact Isabel at: ivollenweider@tcgis.org. Thank you!
Social Holiday Hour with Your Child(ren) at School
K-4: Thursday, December 11, 7:50-9:30am
Middle School: December 17, 12:20-12:45pm
  • The K-4 teachers are inviting parents/guardians to join their children at the Morning Circle on Thursday, December 11 from 7:50-8:30. After 8:30am TCGIS invites families to continue mingling with coffee and cookies in the main foyer. 
  • The Middle School teachers invite parents/guardians to the Middle School Streetball finals on December 17 from 12:20-12:45. On December 17 from 8:35 to the end of the Early Release school day, all 6th, 7th and 8th graders will be part of this school sports event. In the PE lessons with Frau Schmitt and Herr Schmidt, the students have practiced the required Basketball skills and learned the rules for this game. Each class can send a boys team and a girls team to compete with the teams of the other classes. In the morning, the kids play each other and after recess and lunch the winner teams can play the teachers/interns teams. The 7th grade will participate in planing and managing this big first run of this event and we hope that it'll be a big success so that it can become a new tradition at TCGIS. We are also expecting some fun entertainment in between the games. It'll be exciting! We would love to have more visitors and a bigger audience starting at 12:20 - the big finales - so we would like to invite parents/guardians to attend in the Aula!
Minneapolis Holiday Market
Sunday, December 14, 12-2pm
Looking for 2nd & 4rd Grade Singers and Middle School MC's

TCGIS is invited to perform at the Minneapolis Holiday Market on December 14. Our performance is announced as Noon German Performers, and will take place at Peavey Plaza stage from 12am to 2pm. Check online at http://www.minneapolisholidaymarket.com/events.

At the event on December 14, we will feature: 
  • Blumenkranz dancers, 
  • TCGIS Band,
  • Singers from 2nd & 4th grades.
At the performance, we will represent German culture and in particular German Christmas traditions. Christmas is a very special celebration in Germany. In the course of centuries, it absorbed multiple Christian, pagan, esoteric etc. symbols. Christmas shows a huge variety of customs, and has been transformed over the time, and yet it remains both a significant religious celebration and one of the most popular family holidays. As we are getting ready for this event, we'll focus on the cultural importance of Christmas regardless of our religious beliefs. 

The participation is voluntary. We are looking for committed singers from 2nd & 4th grades. We are also looking for volunteers, preferably from Middle School, who would like to MC the event. 

More details about the program will follow in the next Elternbrief. Children interested in being performers, please have families contact Herr Solakhau at vsolakhau@tcgis.org by Tuesday, December 9.

A big THANK YOU goes to our students for their incredible flexibility. They are real sports! 
5th Grade Potluck
Tuesday, December 16

Announcing the 5th Grade Potluck Holiday Breakfast on Tuesday, December 16, from 8:30-9:15! Both 5th grades will meet in Frau Fritz'  classroom, and the potluck will begin at 8:30am, after Morgenkreis. Please bring your own plates and utensils (we will have backup supplies, in case some people forget). Sign up at http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=JVFF8416.
Something Got Stolen But Was Luckily Found Again at the End!

On November 19 the Middle School went to the famous Children's Theater in Minneapolis to watch an amazing show about something valuable which got stolen but was returned at the end due to its own power. The Middle School students enjoyed the show which featured our very own Isadora Swann as one of the actresses. We are all very proud of having such talent among us and we are sure Izzy has a great future in acting. Thanks to Frau Wallace, Frau Schmitt, Frau Fritz, Frau Rentschler, Herr Lux, Frau Jacobs und Herr Schmidt for chaperoning and making this experience safe and enjoyable. Click here for more impressions.
T-Shirts for Sale!
Interested in buying a TCGIS T-shirt? 

Head over to the office and take a look at our spirit wear! Choose from multiple different colors for either a t-shirt or a v-neck style shirt. Youth and adult t-shirts cost $12 and the v-necks cost $14.50. Unfortunately we cannot accept credit cards, but we do accept cash or checks made out to TCGIS. Stop by today and proudly represent our school by wearing a t-shirt!
PTO

PTO Announcement

 

Kaffeeklatsch - November 21Find out what's going on in the PTO. Click here to read more about:

  • PTO Meeting - December 9
  • Volunteers Needs - Staff Appreciation Luncheon - December 19
  • Strudel Pick-Up - December 11

Be sure to like the TCGIS PTO page on Facebook!

GAI
GAI Announcement

Holiday Open Haus and Nikolaustag: Saturday & Sunday, December 6 & 7, 2014Join us for a taste of traditional Germanic Weihnachtsm�rkte at the GAI's annual Holiday Open Haus and Nikolaustag. 


Community Christmas Dinner & Program: Saturday, December 13, 5-9pmIt's Christmas Dinner at the GAI with traditional beef Rouladen, Haussuppe, red cabbage, Sp�tzle, and dessert. After dinner the Twin Cities M�nnerchor will lead a community sing-along.
Volunteering
Volunteer Opportunities!

Every week, TCGIS offers diverse opportunities to volunteer. Right now we have the following openings:
  • Performing Arts Volunteers
  • Library Volunteers
  • Green Team Volunteers
Please check out our Volunteer Opportunity Directory here

If you are a current volunteer or would like to become one, please visit our volunteer page on the website, read the instructions and fill out the online application. 

If you need assistance with the application or have any questions, please contact Isabel at ivollenweider@tcgis.orgThank you!