April 28: School Board Meeting

April 29: Social Hour/Kaffeekleatsch

May 2-6: Scholastic Book Fair

May 2-6: Staff Appreciation Week

May 5-8: Festival of Nations

May 11: TCGIS Band Concert

May 15: TCGIS 8th Grade Graduation

May 18: Early Release Wednesday

May 26: School Board Meeting

May 27: Teacher Grading Day - No School

May 30: Memorial Day

June 3: After School Activities End

June 9: Last Day of School & End of Year Picnic

Volunteer at TCGIS!

Take a look at current volunteer opportunities! If you are not yet a volunteer, but are interested in becoming one - please fill out an application here. Vielen Dank!

Administrative Information

Important South Bus Change Announcement

Due to the Franklin Bridge construction the south bus route will be re-routed to I-94 and Huron and go through the southeast neighborhood for the rest of the school year. This change will take effect Monday, May 5th. Please click here to read about how these changes will affect you.

Join Us Tomorrow for the K-8 Social Hour and Kaffeeklatsch!

Join us tomorrow, Friday, April 29 for our combined K-8 Social Hour and PTO Kaffeeklatsch!

7:50-8:15am - parents/guardians gather in classrooms to visit with teachers and interns

8:15-8:30am - adults quietly observe Morning Circle

8:30-9:30am - gather in the Commons for coffee and socializing!

We hope to see you there!

Spring Book Fair Next Week

Details for the book fair:

Dates: May 2 - May 6

Times: Mon. - Thurs. : 3:30 - 5:30

Fri.: 3:30 - 5:00

Place: Room 112

In addition to being able to purchase amazing new books at the scholastic book fair, we will be conducting a Book Drive to help out a less fortunate school. We will be collecting gently used or new picture books to donate to a kindergarten class in need. Please drop them off at the Book Fair in room 112. Those who donate will receive a fun, bright, "Read" bracelet!

We are offering online ordering this year as well! Keep your eye out for our 8th graders - they will be selling treats in the hall as a fundraiser for their upcoming Capstone trip!

Upcoming Sight and Hearing Testing

On May 5, 6, and 9, the Sight and Hearing Association will be coming in to perform hearing and vision screenings for grades 1, 3, and 5. Parents will be notified if their child does not pass the screening. If you wish to opt out of this, please send our nurse, Kayla Challes, an email by May 4 stating that you do not wish for your child to participate. In the subject line, please write "Hearing and Vision opt out".

Help Us Keep TCGIS Germ-Free

Even though spring is here, illness season is not quite over. We are still hearing about new strep cases, as well as unidentified stomach bugs. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the best way to prevent the spread of strep throat is with thorough hand washing, as well as staying home when sick. Please read this page for more detailed information on how to treat and prevent the spread of strep, as well as this page for information on the Norovirus - also known as "the stomach flu"!

Looking for Morning Volunteers!

We are looking for some parent volunteers (1-2 per day) to do supervision on the playground for our students in the morning before school! This would be from 7:30 - 8:15am. At 8:15 the kids head up to their classroom for Morgenkreis. Please sign up here if you're interested! If you're not already signed up to be a volunteer with TCGIS, please do so here.

Join the Rubik's Cube Team

The Student Life Group Rubik's Cube Team is looking for members! We are competing on May 14th in Waconia. This group is led by 8th grader Ben Schneider and meets with Mrs. Morrissey on Fridays.
Email mmorrissey@germanschool-mn.org for more information or click here.

Call for Applications for TCGIS School Board

The TCGIS School Board is seeking individuals to serve the school community. This is a very exciting time to be on the board and our work can be a very rewarding experience. The work we do helps ensure that our school is able to provide a meaningful experience for our students.

We will be electing three board members this year to serve three year terms. We are seeking any interested person, especially those with experience in board governance, financial compliance, legal matters or education. Any TCGIS teacher, parent/guardian or community member unaffiliated with TCGIS is eligible to serve.

If you are interested in serving, please fill out the attached application. If you would like to nominate someone to serve, please use the attached nomination form. More specific details are and applications are attached in the links below.

Important Dates

April 29: All nominations and applications due by 4:45 pm

May 12: Meet the Candidates Forum, 6:30-8:00 pm

May 15-20: Board elections, drop off all ballots by 4:45 pm on Friday, May 20.

Call for Nominations (detailed version)

Nomination Form

Application Form

Board Elections FAQ 2016 (including detailed timeline)

The School Growth & Access Task Force - Still Looking for Members

The SGA Task Force was proposed at the board level to start looking into how the school has been growing, and how it might continue to grow. The group will be tasked with considering data and eventually even potential strategies for ensuring current and future TCGIS students have access to a quality education.

This work starts with collecting and compiling data, which may include past and present enrollment, past and present waitlists, demographics of past and present students, as well as other topics. From there, the group will work with the board to find out what information might be important for the future of TCGIS. Find out more in the SGA Task Force Charter.

Individuals with experience and interest in quantitative and/or qualitative data collection or analysis are preferred. The board would like to appoint members soon, so this important strategic work can begin. Please fill out this application , and return it to Hunter Goetzman or in the main office.

Pay for a Yearbook Through Order Lunches!

This is a reminder that you can still pay for and order a yearbook through Order Lunches! Yearbooks are $15 and will be available for pick up during the End of Year Picnic! Ready to place an order? Head over to https://tcgis.orderlunches.com to make your payment now!

If you have not yet registered for a parent account yet, please use the school password TCGIS1 when you register.

Biohaus Informational Meeting

There will be a Biohaus information session for families of 6th graders in room 300 on Tuesday May 10 from 5:30-6:15. We will have a slideshow and answer questions you may have about the packing list, accommodations, pocket money, food, the science activities, etc. There will be hotdogs and fruit for 50� to benefit the General Scholarship Fund. The PTO Meeting will take place after at 6:30 in Room 100.

Our New Community Board

Did you know that in our foyer we have a community board? If you have a business, a summer camp, an upcoming event, etc. that you would like to let our community know about, email or hand in a poster to the front office. We can post it on the board to share the wonderful opportunities we have going on in our community.

Final Days to Sign Up to Host an Intern

Now is the time to apply to become a host family for the next school year. Options are available for short-term hosting, 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 find out more about our intern program! Have any questions? Contact Tina Haarbusch. Already sold and excited to host? Click here to sign up by April 30, 2015!

Box Tops Popcorn Party!

Congratulations to Frau Krug's 1st grade class for winning a Box Tops popcorn party! They 're the first class to collect 500 Box Tops and have our new popcorn machine brought to the classroom to celebrate.

Every class has a chance to win by working together to collect 500 Box Tops. So ask your friends and neighbors to save their Box Tops too and turn them in to win!

Curriculum & Instruction Corner

Literacy Groups in Kindergarten and 2nd Grade

H�schen and M�uschen groups are well under way, providing German literacy group support in grades K and 2 for another three weeks. Curious about how these groups came to be? Click here to read about screening and immersion learning from our Literacy Specialist, Gesa Zinn.

PTO

PTO Announcement

Strudel and Plant Sale

The Spring Strudel and Plant Sale ends May 1 at 9:00pm.More information can be found here. You can access the auction website here.

PTO Retreat

PTO Afternoon Retreat, Sunday May 1, 2016, 1-4 pm, at TCGIS
"The report of my death was an exaggeration." ~Mark Twain, 1897; TCGIS PTO, 2016

The 2015-16 school year has yielded an active PTO through auction fundraising, numerous community events, teacher appreciation activities, and grants to the school. Please join us at our annual half-day retreat to review our successes and challenges, and to look strategically at ways we can strengthen the PTO in the coming year.

The entire community is encouraged to join, whether active with the PTO in the past or just interested in learning more. Stay for part of the afternoon or longer. Childcare will be provided and there will be snacks and drinks on hand. Please sign up here.

PTO Meeting

Our next meeting will be May 10, from 6:30pm-8:00pm at TCGIS (Please use the staff entrance). Here are the draft May Agenda and draft April Minutes. Please register here to ensure enough child care and meeting supplies are provided.

GAI

GAI Announcement

New Seasonal Community Choir: Liederkranz

Rehearsals held Tuesdays, May 17, 24, 31, and June 7

7-9pm at the GAI

The first performance will be at Deutsche Tage on Sunday, June 12.

This spring, we welcome conductor Dr. John Hoffacker, renown local vocal conductor for Chorus Polaris, as leader of the GAI's new German community mixed choir, Liederkranz. This choir welcomes all singers, from beginners to native speakers, and will help everyone learn to sing beautifully in German. Our goal is to have shorter rehearsal time frames so that busy professionals and families can participate, perform, and rehearse on a seasonal basis. This is also a great opportunity for German students to increase fluency and build their language skills.

Interested in joining? Dr. Hoffacker will be meeting with each new choir member prior to rehearsals to determine experience and which part/vocal range would be most comfortable for the singer. These meetings will be 10 minutes each and can be scheduled as an individual or as a family.

New singer meetings will be held Tuesday, May 10 between 7pm and 9pm as well as from 6pm-7pm before rehearsal on May 17. To schedule a meeting time, contact the GAI office at office@gai-mn.org or by calling 651-222-7027.