Minnesota Legislature Passes Funding for Full-Day Kindergarten Beginning 2014-2015
Recently, Governor Dayton signed into law funding that would provide free, full-day kindergarten for families beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. In order to receive the funding, school districts must offer the full-day kindergarten option to every family in the district that has an incoming kindergarten student for 2014-2015. This is exciting news for Robbinsdale Area Schools, and we are committed to making full-day kindergarten a reality for all families who wish to have their child in a full-day kindergarten program. The district has begun to look at facilities and projected enrollment, and have begun discussions with elementary principals as well. Please note: full-day kindergarten will begin with the 2014-2015 school year. The existing kindergarten programs in all districts will remain as is for the 2013-2014 school year.
Relay for Life Proves Successful
Armstrong and Cooper High Schools joined together to plan the 4th annual Robbinsdale Area School's Relay For Life event on Saturday, May 18. Students, staff and community members raised over $43,000 and that number is still growing! If you weren't able to participate but would like to donate, you have until August 31 to donate here. What a successful event! Can't wait for next year!
Photo: Cooper student Katelynn Oleson (left) and Cooper teacher Carol Zaudtke (second from right) march with cancer survivors.
District Receives Energy Efficiency Award
Robbinsdale Area Schools has been named a Top Performer with Energy Star and is proud to join EPA's list of ENERGY STAR Leaders.
"Robbinsdale Area Schools is excited to be named an EPA ENERGY STAR Leader," said Aldo Sicoli, Superintendent. "Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental stewardship while also lowering our energy costs, money that can then be put back into the classroom for learning."
To be named a Top Performer, Robbinsdale Area Schools needed to meet two energy efficiency improvement milestones. The first milestone requires a ten percent improvement in energy performance across their entire building portfolio, and subsequent recognition is given for each 10 percent improvement thereafter. The second milestone requires the buildings in an organization's portfolio, on average, to perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide.
We're excited to have this honor!
District to Offer Multiple Pathways to Accelerated Math Placement
We know that not all kids learn to walk at the same age; some walk before six months, others begin after 18 months. A kindergartener's ability to walk to school is not related to when that child began to walk as an infant. So it is with math; not everyone is ready to accelerate their math learning at the same age or grade. One of the goals of Robbinsdale Area Schools is to provide multiple pathways for all students to have access to high school math courses where they can earn college credit (i.e. AP-Calculus). Some families, however, are concerned that their child will not be prepared to take college-credit math courses while still in high school without taking accelerated math in the middle school.
To read more about our accelerated math options, click here.
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Armstrong Rugby Receives 2nd Place at National Tournament
Congratulations to Armstrong High School's girls Rugby team for receiving 2nd place at the National High School Rugby tournament in Division 2!
Photo: Senior Megan Kennedy carries the ball during the national tournament in Racine, Wis.
New Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion Principal Named
 Elaine Mehdizadeh, longtime staff member and principal in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district, will be recommended to the School Board on June 3 to be named the new principal of Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School (RSIS) beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. She has served the last five years as the principal of Rahn Elementary School of Arts and Technology Magnet School in the Burnsville district, leading efforts to transition that school from a neighborhood school into a neighborhood and magnet school.
Ms. Mehdizadeh has had a long and impressive career in Burnsville, serving in various positions there for 24 years. Prior to working in Burnsville, Ms. Mehdizadeh was a regional coordinator for a before- and after-school program in Bloomington, and taught English as a Second Language overseas.
Noble Uses iPads to Accelerate Reading and Math Achievement
Seven Dreams Education Foundation awarded two grants for the 2012-2013 school year at Noble Elementary, to Melissa Kivi's grant "Using iPads to Accelerate Reading Achievement" and Deanna Hanks' grant "To Infinity and Beyond." From these grants, four classrooms have integrated iPads into their learning. Two first grade classes used applications to accelerate reading achievement and one second grade class used iPad apps for individual practice in reading, math and science. A third grade class used iPads to increase basic math skills. Through carefully selected applications, the iPads have provided our lowest achieving readers access to a wide variety of meaningful literacy tasks in the area of phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Thank you to Melissa Kivi, Deanna Hanks and the Seven Dreams Education Foundation for providing these opportunities!
Neill Films a Music Video
Students at Neill Elementary were excited to have The Bazillions at school to perform in their new music video about reading! We can't wait to see the final product! We'll be sure to share the music video in our weekly e-newsletter and on Facebook. And of course, it will be posted on YouTube!
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Partner with Marketing and Communications
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New District Website Launching this Summer
On or about Aug. 1, Robbinsdale Area Schools will launch a new website. From now until then, marketing is working with information systems to make the transition as smooth as possible. Together, we'll meet with groups who currently administer website pages and walk them through the updates. We're very excited to introduce everyone to the cleaner and simpler website!
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Commencement
Armstrong students eligible for graduation will walk at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 6 on Armstrong's patio lawn, weather permitting, and Cooper students will walk at 7 p.m. the same night at Cooper's stadium, weather permitting. The last day of school for seniors is Friday, May 31. Click to view the letter that went home to Armstrong families and Cooper families. |
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Elementary Math on iPads
Many students in our district have started using iPads to learn and one classroom recorded their activities online! Each student in Ms. Levitt's kindergarten classroom at Zachary Lane uploaded videos of their math problems. Here's Charlie's video where he shows math problems he knows how to solve. |
KSTP.com
Sun ThisWeek
Patch.com
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'We Are the Movement' Movie Premiere
A group of 18 students from our district forfeited their spring break to travel to historic Civil Rights museums and cities to learn more about the history of the Civil Rights Movement. They documented their travels and made a movie called "We Are the Movement." The free movie premiere is Tuesday, June 4 from 6-8 p.m. at Armstrong High School. Click here for more information. |
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Family Literacy Students Perform Like the Animals
Four- and five-year olds in the family literacy program learned about their animals in class and at the Minnesota Zoo to prep for their Animal Performance last week. Students selected their favorite animal and recited one fact to the audience. |
Wanted: Robbinsdale Whiz Bang
Days Ambassadors
The Ambassadors are goodwill representatives for Robbinsdale Whiz Bang Days and the City of Robbinsdale. Ambassadors learn how to conduct themselves in front of an audience, gain confidence and poise and have the opportunity to build lasting friendships and create precious memories. The one year commitment runs from July 2013 to July 2014 with the scholarship awarded at the end of the term. Deadline for applications is June 4 2013.
To find out more or to apply, visit Whiz Bang Days or email robbinsdaleambassadors@gmail.com for questions.
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Robbinsdale Area School Board Meetings
The School Board will meet on June 3 for a business meeting and work session.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get important votes and other news live during the regular and business meetings. For more School Board news, click on Minutes, Podcast and Webcast below.
School Board Resources:
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