Mar 5: Middle School Parent Meeting

Mar 5: Grade 5/6 Entrepreneurs' Day

Mar 13: Morning PTO Kaffeeklatsch

Mar 14: PTO Annual Retreat

Mar 17: German University Presentation

Mar 18: Grade 7/8 Science Museum Field Trip

Mar 18: Registration Opens for ASA

Mar 18: Early Release

Mar 19/20: Parent Teacher Conferences

Interested in Volunteering at our 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

Danke Sch�n PTO!

Maskenball was a huge success! Thank you for a wonderful evening filled with delicious food, great company, and creative costumes. Thank you, PTO, for organizing all of the auction items, and making sure the event ran smoothly. A special shout-out to Kelly Huxmann for her countless hours planning the ins and outs of such a successful evening!

February Board Recap

Click here for the recap from the February 26 board meeting. The next board meeting will be held on Thursday, March 26.

Wir Sprechen Deutsch in der Schule

At this week's staff meeting, the teachers gathered to discuss ways we can all work as a team to role model for students rigorous use of German and raise our German level overall as a school. We are proud to say we agreed to have all hallways and common spaces in the school as "Nur Deutsch!", or German only. We will continue to ask students who begin speaking in English, "Wie, Bitte?" in an effort to get them to speak German with us and with each other. If teachers and staff need to speak English with each other, or if students need to speak English to their non-German speaking teachers, these conversations will happen in designated English classrooms, or for staff, in staff designated areas. We truly believe in our mission and are committed to speaking as much German as possible!

Register Now for Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday, March 19, 4pm-7:30pm
Friday, March 20, 8:10am-3:20pm

Sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences is still open! If you are interested in participating and have not yet signed up, please sign do so here! If you have any questions, please email Lauren Kalish.

Registration will close Friday, March 13 at 7am. Late registration will not be accepted.

Traffic Flow Safety Cones at Corner of Van Slyke & Como Ave.

As part of our effort to keep traffic flowing smoothly and avoid slow downs for carpools, TCGIS will resume putting cones out on the corner of Van Slyke Ave. and Como Ave. on Friday, March 6. This will eliminate access between the two roads. K-1 car pools should exit via Chatsworth. Car pools for students in grades 2-8 should enter from Chatsworth St. to Jessamine Ave. and line up down Argyle Ave. For more drop-off and pick-up details, please look here. Thanks you for your support in making TCGIS safe!

Host Families for 2015-2016 School Year

Now is the time to apply to become a host family for the next school year. Options are available for Fall semester, Spring semester or for full-year arrangements. Hosting a TCGIS intern from Germany, Austria or Switzerland can be a valuable experience for your family and expand the horizons of your children forever!

Click here to learn more, ask questions, and to request a conversation with a current or past host family about their own experiences. Applications can be found here and are due to Isabel Vollenweider by April 30, 2015.

Lost and Found Clean Out!

It's that time of the year again! Please come check out the lost and found to claim your items! Click here to view a list of labeled found items. In addition to these items, there are also many unnamed items! Please stop by between now and Friday, April 10 to claim your lost items. Starting Monday, April 13, we will begin donating lost items to a charity, so please stop by today!

A huge thank you to Katheryn Mueller who has created this spreadsheet and who organizes our lost and found!

State of the School Address 2015

Thursday, March 26, 6:30-7:30pm

TCGIS welcomes the entire community to the next School Board meeting for our 2015 "State of the School" address. The presentation will cover our successes and look to our future goals. The regularly scheduled School Board meeting will immediately follow. Child care services will be provided.

Calling for After School Activities Instructors

Session three 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, March 17th. Session three of After School Activities will be starting the week of April 6th. If you have any questions about teaching a class, please email Molly at mkalda@tcgis.org. Thanks!

School Board Nominations

This year's school board elections will take place May 11-15. Three seats are up for election: one teacher member seat and two parent/community member seats.

If you are interested in nominating someone, please complete this form. If you would like to apply, please fill out this form. Please submit all forms to Michelle Wallace (mwallace@tcgis.org) by March 16.

Thanks for your consideration.

Food Drive Going on Now!

The Middle School Service Learners are collecting non-perishable food items throughout March for a food drive for Second Harvest Heartland. The food donations will be distributed to people who are facing hunger and homelessness in the Twin Cities. We will have two collection box drop-off locations: one at the main entrance (commons area) and one at the Van Slyke side entrance (elevator area) for younger grades.

Please bring in the "super six" items: cereal, peanut butter, canned tuna, canned fruits and vegetables, canned stews and soup, and pasta/rice/beans. Our goal is to collect 500 pounds of food! We need your help and support to reach this goal. Anything helps!

Click here to find a log of all of the service learner group updates and to read about our ongoing fundraisers!

Yearbook Ad Sales

Support the 8th grade Capstone Trip!

Want to promote your business? Want to honor your 2015 TCGIS graduate? Want to recognize your favorite teacher? The possibilities are endless!

If you are interested, please fill out this form and send your ad in .jpg form to the yearbook committee. Checks can be made payable to TCGIS and dropped off at the main office.

Ad rates:

1 Page: $125

1/2 Page: $70

1/4 Page: $40

All profits go to the 8th Grade Capstone Fund!

German Testing in March

March 10 & March 17-18

On March 10 and March 17-18 the 8th graders will take their final German Exams (Das Deutsche Sprachdiplom 1). The DSD 1 is an exam designed by the State of Germany and is considered as the first step into German University entrance level. We are all excited and optimistic that our students will be successful. The 5th graders will take the written part of the A2 exams on March 11 and are preparing themselves with Frau Fritz.

German Summer Camp Opportunities

GAI Summer Camps

Camps are offered beginning June 15 and ending one week prior to the first week of the 2015/16 school year. Our weekly camps will be offered to children entering 1st-3rd grades only. We will also offer separate, more advanced camps to children entering 4th-6th grades during the weeks of July 6 and August 3. Incoming Kindergarteners (TCGIS only) will once again have the opportunity to attend a special week-long German Safari camp starting August 17.

Guarantee your child's place by registering this month! Themes will be announced in March.

Concordia Language Villages Scholarships Available

Spend your

summer at Waldsee, a German language village, to continue your German Immersion until the 2015-2016 school year!

Click here to find out about all of the scholarship possibilities that Waldsee is offering. Deadlines are quickly approaching so don't wait! Der Sommer kommt - sei dabei!

PTO

PTO Announcement

Find out what's going on in the PTO. Click HERE to read more about:

THANK YOU!
March PTO Meeting - Tuesday, March 10 - Guest speaker from Family Tree Clinic
Save the Date - PTO Retreat - March 14
Maskenball Auction Re-opens!
Pump-It-Up party, sponsored by the PTO Executive Committee - Friday, April 10

For the latest information, be sure to like our Facebook page

Maskenball Update

Thanks to all who came to the Maskenball party on Saturday! And what a great night it was! The creative costumes, fabulous food, and palpable sense of community made it a night to remember. And thanks to the generosity of our party guests, we raised even more money for TCGIS! Lucky 7, indeed!

Due to popular demand, we have decided to re-open many of the sign-up events on the Maskenball auction. A few events have even added more spaces. Some events have very limited availability left, so be sure to act soon! To view now, click the Auction button below. Auction closes again on Sunday, March 15 at 9:00 pm.

Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you who volunteered your time to help make this year's Maskenball party and auction happen! Without you all, it just wouldn't have been possible! Thanks, also, to those who bid in the auction, donated their resources to host an event, or took part in some other way -- and, of course, thank you to our very generous sponsors! Please take another look at all the businesses who contributed to our event, and be sure to thank them next time you stop by.

GAI

GAI Announcement

Save the Date: Beginning Germanic Genealogy

Saturday, April 11, 11am

Come to the GAI for an introduction on best practices in researching your Germanic family heritage. Lois Hemmeter Edwards, author of Beginner's Guide to Germanic Genealogy and past president of the Germanic Genealogy Society, joins us for this fun, interactive event. Free and open to the public.

New! AP German Exams Prep Classes at the GAI

For the first time, the GAI is pleased to offer a preparatory course for high school students planning to take the Advanced Placement German Language and Culture exam this spring. Offered on the four Saturdays leading up to the exam (which is Friday, May 8), these classes will provide an overview of what students may expect, as well as practice questions from each section of the exam. This course is designed for high school students who already have advanced German language skills and are specifically looking to prepare for the AP exam. Classes run April 11-May 2. Registration is available online or by calling GAI Language Services at 651-222-2979.

Are you a GAI member? Then we want to show our appreciation for your support!

Join us this Friday, March 6th, from 7-10pm for Feierabend: Member Night Happy Hour. The evening will feature live music by Dr. Orhan Ucer (back from last summer's Turkish Night), Turkish treats, and drinks from out Ratskeller.

Not a member yet? Join today at http://www.gai-mn.org/membership