Weekly Newsletter, April 16, 2021

Important Dates

• April 13-29 - MCA Testing for In-Person Students
  • Reading and Math for third, fourth and fifth-grade students
  • Science for all fifth-grade students
  • Make sure your child's Chromebook is at STEM to use it for testing
• April 20 - RMS Incoming Family Virtual Orientation Session
  Please click on the link above to register for one of the following presentations:
  • 6-6:30 p.m. - Presentation in English
  • 6:45-7:15 p.m. - Dual Language Students Information
    • Parents of DLI students: must also attend either the English or Spanish presentation 
  • 7:30-8 p.m. - Presentation En Español
     
• April 22 - Earth Day
  Visit https://mnearthday.org/ or https://www.earthday.org/ to learn how you can contribute to keep Earth clean and to join Earth Day activities!
   
• April 30 - Arbor Day - https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/ 

MCA Testing

All of our third, fourth and fifth-grade Sparks will take the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in Reading and Math. Fifth-graders will also take the Science MCA.  

These tests will be administered to ALL third, fourth and fifth-grade IN-PERSON students at different days and times beginning April 13-29. 

You can call the Main Office if you have any questions. 612-798-6600

Mental Health Resources

A free Webinar is available to all families: "Good Enough Parenting in Pretty Bad Times" on Thursday, April 29 from 6-7:30 p.m. You can register online to attend the webinar. 

Dr. Bohlinger is a well-regarded speaker and trainer on family strengths, resilience, and parenting, especially in the context of profound challenges and struggles. In this talk, she’ll discuss the concepts of family resilience, self-compassion, and parenting resources and strategies to support parents in meeting the ordinary developmental needs of their children and families in extraordinary times. 

Online Chess Tournament

April 24 from 10 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Join Afterschool Enrichment Solutions for their upcoming virtual chess tournament. Students will be paired with peers in their respective grade level. New and returning students are welcomed. You can register here using the course code FBDT.

This is NOT an elimination tournament. Students will be allowed to play as many games as possible during the scheduled times.

Top two finishers in each group will be awarded a 1st place chess trophy.

• K-2 Section will run from 10 a.m.-noon
• 3-8 Section will run from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

It will be live on Zoom to help students get started beginning at 9 a.m. (one hour before the start of the tournament). An after-party with game analysis and tactical review will take place from 1-1:45 p.m.

An email with details pertaining to the tournament will be provided to all paid participants. This will include links to the Tournament and Zoom.  

For questions please call at 847.482.9999 or email info@LearningMeansFun.com 

Kindergarten Egg Drop Challenge

Yesterday, Thursday April 15, our Kindergarteners tested their Egg Drop Challenge projects. Their creativity and ingenuity were put to the test. We had parachutes, cardboard containers, and many other materials, including food! Some eggs survived, some didn’t.