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Meet the Teacher Open House

We hope this message finds you well and enjoying your summer vacation and all of the flora and fauna that Minnesota has to offer. This year will be a very special Meet the Teacher Open House, as we welcome you all into the wonderful learning environment that will be our new home in Edina. Because of some minor delays in our building schedule, Meet the Teacher will be on September 8th, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. As a reminder to new and existing families, this is a casual, open house format where you can get a chance to see your child’s new classroom, to check out the renovations of the new building, and drop off your school supplies, pick up Spirit Wear and other information, and most importantly---meet your teacher!

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Calendar reminder

At our July 20th board meeting the Board of Directors approved an updated calendar for the 2021-2022 school year, with a new start date of September 8th for Pre-K, September 9th for grades 1-6, and September 10th for Kindergarten. It is worth noting that 8 out of 9 of our neighboring districts are starting after Labor day, and we are still well within our statutorily required instructional time for the school year.  In addition, we have an ample number of extra instructional days in case we need to cancel for inclement weather.

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HEALTH OFFICE INFORMATION

ISLA Families: Welcome to the start of another great school year! I just wanted to remind everyone of some important things before the school year begins. In order to provide the best possible care for our students, we ask that families turn in the following information to the Health Office on or before the first day of school:

• Immunization Record--MN law states that parents need to provide proof of complete immunizations or file a legal exemption for all incoming students. Incoming kindergarten students and students new to ISLA are asked to provide these records to the Health Office. It is also recommended that parents submit updated immunization records at any time their student receives a new vaccine dose or a booster shot. Students entering kindergarten need to show proof of receiving 5 doses of DTaP, 4 doses of Polio, 3 doses of Hepatitis B, 2 doses of MMR and 2 doses of Varicella. A medical or legal exemption can be filed using the following form: (https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/immunize/basics/imzform.pdf)
• Medication Orders and Emergency Action Plans--Plans for any Emergency Treatment (asthma, allergy, seizure, diabetes, or other) need to be reviewed, updated and signed by the child’s provider every year. If your student will need medication administered during the school day, we will need orders signed by the provider stating the medication, route, time of administration and end date before we can give your student meds. These orders must also be updated every year. Medication should be brought to school in a labeled pharmacy container (you can request a separate bottle for school use from the pharmacy). If your child needs OTC medication (Tylenol, Benadryl, etc) administered at any time during the school year, you will need to fill out the Parent Authorization Form (available on the ISLA website, under the Health section). Along with the authorization form, you will need to send in the medication in the original, labeled container.
• Student Health Information Form--Please make sure to update and turn in a Student Health Information form at the start of every school year. It is important to inform the Health Office if any previous health concerns such as food allergies or a medical diagnosis are no longer applicable. And of course, it is important to alert the Health Office of any new health concern for your student. (Student Health Information.docx). Any information disclosed is only shared with ISLA staff members who are responsible for the care and safety of your child.‍

Medications and forms can be brought to ISLA at the Open House on September 8 or on the first day of school. Forms can also be emailed to the School Nurse ahead of time.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Tanya Nelson, ISLA School Nurse, by email at tnelson@isla.school. Thank you!

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Adult Social Huge Success

Hello ISLA Friends and Families,

We are happy to report that with your involvement and generosity the first ever Summer Social was a huge success! Attendance was great and we couldn’t have asked for better weather to be outside at the beautiful Emerson Pavilion!

The raffle was a fun addition to the night and 10 lucky winners won prizes! Emails have been sent to those winners who could not attend.

Thank You again to the following companies for their donation and/or partnership on this event:

Rob Lind -Emerson
LTD brewing
The Vine Room
Lauren Damrow-United Soccer
Justin Elder-ChiroCenter Chiropractic
Anne Hodgdon-The Hair District
Katie Almquist-My Little Cakery
Dukes on Seven

We greatly appreciate LTD Brewing Co, The Vine Room, and Minnyrow Market for allowing us to bring a taste of Downtown Hopkins to the evening!

Until the next fun ISLA community event….

Cheers,
Betsey and Katie
ISLA PTO Event Co-chairs

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ISLA will be partnering with Reading Corps tutors for the 2021-2022 school year to help our students succeed. By giving your time and talent as a tutor, you can help our students gain the confidence and skills they need to be successful learners. Tutoring isn’t just a meaningful way to give back to the community; it also helps create bright futures! Tutors work one-on-one or in small groups with students from kindergarten to grade 3. No experience? No problem! Reading Corps provides great training in strategies proven to help students build skills and become better readers. Part-time and full-time opportunities are available. Tutors commit to serving 35, 25, or 18 hours a week during the school year, and can choose to begin in August, October or January.

While you give your time as a tutor you’ll receive some great perks!

 Learn reading strategies to apply with your own children/grandchildren

 Receive a paid stipend every two weeks

 Earn up to $4,400 for college tuition or student loans. Tutors 55 and older may gift the award to their child, grandchild, stepchild or foster child.

 Free health insurance and child care assistance for those who qualify.

If you’re ready to be a change maker for kids in our community, visit Join.ReadingandMath.org to learn more. Questions? Contact join@servetogrow.org or call 866.859.2825. Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps are AmeriCorps programs (sometimes called the domestic Peace Corps). Thousands of kids in Minnesota need help in reading and math, and your time can make all the difference. Please share this email with others as we work to ensure there’s a tutor available for every child who needs one. Thank you!  

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2021-2022 ISLA School Lunches

The United States Department of Agriculture is allowing schools to provide meals for the 2021-22 school year through a provision of the National School Lunch Program called the Seamless Summer Option (SSO). A waiver has been issued in order to support access to nutritious meals while minimizing potential exposure to COVD-19.

Our school has chosen to use this waiver and operate the SSO which enables us to provide meals free of charge for all students.

Families will still need to pre order meals through Boonli.com to ensure our vendor provides enough meals for our students, but they will be free of cost to all families. Online Lunch Ordering Instructions and Setup

Those families that wish to purchase milk for their student can now do so for $0.65 per carton. Milk will be ordered through the Boonli.com site as well.

No application is required to receive this free meal benefit, however, your child(ren) may qualify additional benefits such as reduced fees or the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) which is a federal temporary emergency nutrition benefit that is loaded onto electronic cards for families to purchase food. Your application also helps the school qualify for education funds and fee discounts for field trips and Wolf Ridge, if you qualify.

‍Application for Educational Benefits 2021-22 (English)
Application for Educational Benefits 2021-22 (Spanish)

Special Diet Request Form

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‍School Age Care - Aventuras

We do have a few openings for families that are needing before/after school care and early release care. Please complete an application for enrollment if you are interested in care and send it to aventuras@isla.school. Applications can be found under the Current Families tab and then the School Age Care tab.

In the event that we reach our maximum enrollment, families will be put on a waitlist until a spot becomes available.

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Summer Playdates

• First Grade - Wednesday, August 25 at 5:30 PM at Oak Hill Park in St. Louis Park. This park has a playground and a small splash pad. Questions? Please contact Katie Carr at katie.e.carr@gmail.com.
• Kindergarten - Sunday August 22nd, 3-5pm - Burnes Park. Questions?  Please contact Amanda Smalling (smallingamanda@gmail.com) or Megan Wilder (mgn.wilder@gmail.com)
• Second Grade - Sunday, August 22nd, 5:30 - 7:30 at Burnes Park. Questions? Contact Rebecca Wright (beccalynn2@gmail.com) or Betsey Palmgren (betseypalmgren@gmail.com)
• Everyone is welcome for Beach Fridays at Bryant Lake Beach! The park is free, the swimming area is shallow and sandy, and there is a shady playground close to the beach. Come whenever you can and stay as long as you can! Most families arrive after lunch between noon and 1:00 pm and leave around 4:00 or 5:00 pm. Questions? Contact Clea Dezio (cleadezio@gmail.com) or Bethany Bradley (bethany.j.bradley@gmail.com).

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The PTO is set up with Mabel’s Labels for fundraising too. If you need labels, they’re a great brand. They have a huge variety of choices but I always liked this fundraising combo - fairly cheap and a decent amount of labels. Make sure to select International Spanish Language Academy under ‘Support A Fundraiser’. Click here to order.

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