Building a sense of community at a choice school like Normandale is critical for the success of our students and our school. During the month of May, Normandale staff, students and parents will be busy coming together and building community! These efforts started last week with the Normandale Carnival. What a great event! The highlight for me was getting dunked 20+ times by Normandale's ace pitchers! A big thank you to all the carnival volunteers and especially Lisa Ungerman and Beth Kehoe for coordinating these efforts.

Other fun community building events coming up in May at Normandale include:

• May 11 from 6-6:30pm: Grade 5 Band Concert
• May 18 from 7-7:30pm: Grade 5 Orchestra Concert
• May 14 from 5-7pm: Incoming Kindergarten Welcome with Normandale's specialist teachers
• May 19 from 6-7pm: What to Expect in Middle School with Valley View's counselors and former Normandale students. Even if you don't have a middle schooler next year, this is a great opportunity to find out more about middle school and the Extended French program at Valley View
• May 29: Grade 5 Graduation and All School Field Day

Chris Holden, Principal 

The Normandale Leadership Team (NLT) is looking for a Treasurer and a Vice-Treasurer to serve for the 2015-2016 school year. The Vice-Treasurer will serve as Treasurer for 2016-2017 (2-year commitment). The Treasurer, assisted by the Vice-Treasurer, will help with PTO financial affairs. Their duties, among others, include:

• Coordinate collection of field trip and room party dues.
• Assist PTO sub-committees with budgeting and review budgets periodically throughout the year.
• Assist on the day/night of fundraising events by collecting, counting, and depositing revenues.
• Attend NLT meetings and semi-annual General Membership meetings.

Basic accounting skills and knowledge of QuickBooks software are required. 

If you or someone within your household can serve Normandale in these capacities, please send an email to either Charles Amevo or John Conte to discuss.

  

ATTENTION PARENTS OF CURRENT 3rd AND 4th GRADERS

To succeed in school and life, children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months.

Did You Know?

• All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer (White, 1906; Heyns, 1978; Entwisle & Alexander 1992; Cooper, 1996; Downey et al, 2004).
   
• Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Low-income students also lose m
  ore than two months in reading achievement, despite the fact that their middle-class peers make slight gains (Cooper, 1996).
   
• Parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do (Duffett et al, 2004).

Many Americans have a wonderful image of summer as a carefree, happy time when "kids can be kids," and take for granted the prospect of enriching experiences such as summer camps, time with family, and trips to museums, parks, and libraries.

However enriching these activities may be, children also need specific activities to boost their reading comprehension and prevent the "summer slide" so when they return to school in August they feel confident in their abilities as a reader.

We have heard from many parents for the need of a "reading program" over the summer months to help them help their children in retaining the skills they learned over the school year. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a tailored program where parents received weekly updates with specific activities for their child to do?

If this is a question you have asked yourself and you would like to receive weekly reading activities and suggestions throughout the summer months, and you are a parent of a current 3rd or 4th grader, please send an email to Jennifer Johnson before May 15th. She, along with Laura Hanson, will tailor activities based on your child's grade level/reading level to help them keep up with comprehension skills over the summer months through reading fiction and non-fiction selections. These will include other activities that you can do with your child while reading to them every day, sent to you in a convenient weekly email update throughout the summer.

  

(Correction: Last week we also published a 2pm concert time. There will be limited space for parents/visitors at 2pm, so please plan to attend the 6pm time slot.)

Intercultural Student Experiences, which organizes the fifth grade trip to France, is also organizing a Family Immersion trip to Avignon, France for 3rd and 4th grade students and their parents. An informational parent meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 19th in the Helen Young room of the Southdale Library (7001 York Ave. S., Edina 55443) from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

A detailed itinerary and other information about the trip is  available via this link. If you have questions, please contact Normandale mom, Anca van der Linden. 

Tomorrow is the Normandale Carnival!
Jeux d'été (Field Day) Volunteers Needed
Summer Reading Program
PTO Treasurers Needed
• Spring Band Concerts
• From the District
• Health and Contact Information
• Happening in the Community
• Last Week's News

You can always view last week's newsletter on Normandale's PTO website or on the Newsletters page of the Normandale Website.