Important Upcoming Dates: 2010 School Year

Spring Conference nights:
Thursday February 4, 2010
Tuesday February 11, 2010

General PTSO Meetings
PTSO meetings start at 6:30 p.m. and officially go to 8:30 p.m. They are an excellent way to engage in the various activities that happen year-round. They are also an opportunity to meet teachers, other parents, and learn about the school and district.

Note these dates in your calendar!
1/19/10
2/18/10
3/23/10
4/22/10
5/18/10

Childcare is available (from our fabulous LAs) for a nominal fee.

First, a reminder that we CANCELLED the 11/19 PTSO meeting!!!! This meeting
has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 8th at 6:30, so please make plans
to join us for important discussions!

The reason we cancelled the 11/19 meeting is that we're asking families to
attend the School Board meeting that evening. The district Superintendent,
Mark Porter, will address Middle School plans for Spanish Immersion, and
it's important to have a strong contingent of SI families to make clear that
WE ARE PAYING ATTENTION to how they handle these processes and decisions!

. The School Board meeting begins at 7:00pm and we're asking
everyone to arrive a little early. NOTE that there's a separate board
"Workshop" that begins at 5:45 (part is a closed session). It will likely
break slightly before the 7:00 "Meeting" so they can re-set for the
"Meeting," and that's when we'll enter and take our seats with other
observers. We want to be polite and respectful and not disrupt the board's
business!

. Wear Spirit Wear, bring your NFSI water bottle or bag! We want to
be identifiable as NFSI supporters!

. There are 2 main subjects that will be relevant to us. See
agenda at: http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/Departments/SchoolBoard/agenda.asp

1. First will be the discussion surrounding Agenda Item 5.2, Approval
of the 2010-11 Intradistrict Transfer Process. It has to do with upcoming
changes in the high schools, particularly the introduction of various
programs (IB, Project Lead the Way, and others) that will attract students
to attend an 833 HS that is different than their assigned school. As 833
evolves to host more of these "choice programs," the district must adjust
their policies. And, as it happens, SI is a choice program, and these
changes will bring opportunities for our students. It's a good idea for us
to pay attention.

2. Second, and most directly, Supt. Porter will make his report to the
board toward the end of the meeting, and we have been notified that he will
announce the district's plans for SI in Middle School, as well as the
process for making plans for High School.

This is something that our parent community, NFSI teachers, principal and
assistant principals have worked on for about 2 years. We look forward to
continuing a positive discussion with district leaders and implementing
plans for a solid and effective continuation of Immersion education for our
students.

I really do want to take a minute to thank Principal Rich Romano, former
Assistant Principal Jodi Husting, and current Assistant Principal Eric Skow
for their work to ensure our students continue on a strong SI path. As
elementary school leaders, MS technically falls outside their jurisdiction,
but because they're committed to our students' long-term success, they have
really gone above-and-beyond. Thank them when you see them!!!

We hope to have some discussion on 12/8 about new research on Immersion
education, and some of the findings directly address the importance of
maintaining an adequate level of Spanish to maintain their fluency and to
maximize the benefits of the K-5 education.

Thanks for bearing with us through a lot of this process - we look forward
to hearing an official announcement on Thursday and looking forward to
exciting opportunities for future Spanish Immersion middle schoolers!

~Susan Kent

NFSI PTSO Co-president

Important upcoming dates!

Fall Conference nights:

Thursday October 8 and Tuesday October 13

Spring Conference nights:

Thursday February 4 and Tuesday February 11

PTSO Meetings

General PTSO meetings start at 6:30 p.m. and officially go to 8:30 p.m. They are an excellent way to engage in the various activities that happen year-round. They are also an opportunity to meet teachers, other parents, and learn about the school and district.

Note these dates in your calendar!

9/24/09
10/20/09
11/19/09
1/19/10
2/18/10
3/23/10
4/22/10
5/18/10

Childcare is available (from our fabulous LAs) for a nominal fee.

Spring flowers are available for sale at Nuevas Fronteras. Simply print off an order form and return the form with payment to school by Monday, May 11th. All proceeds will benefit our PTSO. You can see examples of the flower types on the "Spring Flower example" sheet. Flowers will be ready for pick up on Friday, May 15th from 3pm-7pm at the following location:

Amy Schurhamer's House
7291 Newbury Draw
Woodbury, MN 55125
(651)730-7900

Feliz Primavera!

Dear Students and Parents,

We’re going to a Twins game! Your entire family is invited to take advantage of the great discount on tickets and concessions being offer to families of Nuevas Fronteras and Crestview.

Purchasing your tickets through Nuevas Fronteras and Crestview is one of the most affordable ways to see a Twins game. Students and family members can purchase Twins tickets for the discounted price of only $12.00 (for a $22 reserved seat!) Plus, you also have the option to receive over 40% off at the concession stand.

A family of four purchasing tickets and food & beverage coupons saves over 50%!* So if you and your family attend only one Twins game this year, make it this one, and we’ll all enjoy a game at the ballpark together!  

Nuevas Fronteras/Crestview night at the Metrodome will be on Sunday, May 24th, 7:05 PM when the Twins play the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s the Twins’ final season at the Metrodome, so let’s all take this great opportunity for our community to get together outside of the classroom,
have fun, meet other Nuevas Fronteras and Crestview families, and cheer for the Minnesota Twins!

Attention Choir members: Choir members who will be attending the game with their families can put their name into a drawing to be one of 10 Crestview/Nuevas Fronteras choir students who sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the 7th inning stretch!

To join us on this special night, please click here to download the order form, then return to your teacher along with payment.

Also, win a chance to help lead the singing of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game!” during the 7th inning stretch! If you would like to have the choir students in your family entered in the drawing, please click here to download the permission form, then return it to school along with your ticket order form by April 24th.

We look forward to seeing you at the game!

Sincerely,

Kim Bialka
Cassie Allen-Armstrong


* compared to a traditional Twins ticket order over the phone/web; your savings includes discounts on tickets, food & handling charges!

The Fiesta team wants your input!
 
Whether you attended OR NOT, we want to hear from everyone!  Fiesta is an important event for our community – not just as a fundraiser, but as a great opportunity for us to spend time together and get to know each other – and we want to keep making it better and better.  We want to hear concerns at least as much as the good stuff – it’s the only way we can continue to improve!
 
Please take about five minutes to complete the CONFIDENTIAL survey at this link:
 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=c63iGJBBOL5L1pNVMuQYqw_3d_3d

Thank you for your time and everything you do to support our school.

Best regards,

Susan Kent
Sharon Pawlyshyn
PTSO Co-presidents

Jen Nichols
Fiesta Chairperson

Final LA Donation Drive Update: We’ve reached our goal!
 
Congratulations and thank you to all of you who made it possible to reach our goal. Since we started this drive in mid-December, we’ve raised almost $12,300 – bringing us to a little over $19,700 in donations for the year! These donations will make it possible to bring six LAs at NFSI next school year – one per grade. (Please note that the fundraising information in the latest NFSI newsletter is incorrect.)
 
Still, more to be done…
We’ve reached one goal but there is still fundraising to be done. The PTSO has set an overall fundraising goal of $60,000 for the school year, of which we’ve raised $40,023. We’ve still got a few fundraising efforts going on to reach our ultimate goal. One big one is the Fiesta, where our goal is to raise $15,000 this year. The goal for other fundraisers and passive programs is $4,977.
 
Planned fundraisers
Fiesta – March 20. Tickets are $25 until February 27. Raffle tickets for the Wall of Wine are on sale now.
Movie "Bolt" February 28 at the Plaza Maplewood Theater
Pancake Breakfast April 18 at O'Malley's in Woodbury
Spring Flower Sale
School Supplies – May
Script Gift Cards – Available for purchase twice per month. Visit www.nfsi.us <http://www.nfsi.us/>  for more information.
Direct donation – Donations are always accepted.
 
As always, fundraisers are not meant to add pressure to families but instead are simply options for your family. You choose how you plan to contribute to the PTSO.
 
We are fortunate to be part of an active parent community who can raise money, even during challenging economic times, for the benefit of our children. Let us know if you have other questions.
 
Thanks for your support,
Amy Schurhamer
Jennifer Butler
Fundraising Co-Chairs, NFSI PTSO


Contribution Options (All donations to the PTSO are tax deductible, as allowable by law.):

___ www.nfsi.us—Donate <http://www.nfsi.us—donate/> via credit card in a lump sum or in installments $30, $50, $70 billed monthly (for 8 installments).
 
___Send a check, please send it to Nuevas Fronteras Spanish Immersion PTSO, 7830 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, MN 55016. Include your name, phone number and an email address so we can send you a receipt.
 
___ Company match. Many companies will match donations, so please check with your employer. Please let us know if your company will provide a match for tracking purposes.
 
___ United Way designation. Please let us know if you will contribute through the United Way for tracking purposes.

FROM THE SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:

Mark your calendars and plan to attend a family ice skating party and potluck on Friday evening, February 13th from 5:30-8:30pm. It will be held at the Stonemill Farms Community Center in Woodbury. To get to the community center, take Settlers Ridge Parkway South from Valley Creek Road, or north from Bailey Road and then turn east on Stonemill Farms Curve. The community center will be on your left.

The potluck will be from 5:30-7pm, skating from 7-8pm and then we will have a hot chocolate bar from 8-8:30 pm so everyone can warm up before heading
home. Plates, napkins, silverware and hot chocolate will be provided.

PLEASE BRING A BEVERAGE FOR YOUR FAMILY.

If your name starts with:
A-H --> Please bring an appetizer or salad
I-P --> Please bring a dessert
Q-Z --> Please bring a main dish

We are hoping the LAs will also be able to attend, so if you have any extra adult skates that they could borrow, please let us know via the website contact page.

Hope to see you on February 13th!

This year's Fiesta promises to be bigger and better than last year. We have some spectacular volunteers working hard to get
donations from businesses in our area for our silent auction, which helped us raise over $17,000 last year.? Along with businesses, we had
many donations from families and friends of NFSI.

The Fiesta and silent auction are a little earlier this year (March 20th), so we are planning and preparing now. One of the most important activities during this phase is the collection of donated items.

Please consider donating a new item, or a gift basket of items. Maybe your workplace would be willing to put something together. If you own or are part of a business, consider the Fiesta donation as part of your annual charitable giving plan.

If you would like someone to pick up a donation, want to drop a donation off, have questions, or suggestions we can follow up on,
please contact Jacquie Parzych using the website contact page.