Where in the World?

At the end of the 2011-12 school year the departing sixth graders chose to make a long lasting impact on Sioux Trail.  I am hopeful that their time and experiences at Sioux Trail will have a positive long lasting impact on them as well.

The photos features one of their projects.  The sixth graders and their families chose a service project and left this behind for Sioux Trail students to enjoy.  I think it is fair to say they chose to have a "global" impact on Sioux Trail with their map of the world.  The photos feature our custodian, Mark Glende, in the final step of the installation process.

1. The first part of the process was finding and purchasing a very large stencil, 
2. Then Mark blocked and painted the black rectangle so that the map was visible
3. The third step involved laying out the stencil and painting the outline
4. The final step is featured in the photos as Mark is working his way across the world

This was the first service project that a sixth grade grade class has done in recent years and with advance planning I hope to have future students have an increasingly active role in completing the service project. 

 

The class of 2018 also left Sioux Trail a framed poem and photograph of the class as well as establishing an award that recognizes a member of the staff.  "The Gaitley" is named after the student who started the award and recognizes a member of the staff who has gone above an beyond to make Sioux Trail the wonderful place that it is. 

Safe Routes to School

One of our most important missions at Sioux Trail is safety.  An important project between Sioux Trail Elementary School, the State of Minnesota; Department of Transportation and the city of Burnsville was finished this week.

The is project is focused on creating safe ways for students to get to Sioux Trail.  Over the summer a trail from the Highway 13 pathway was added that made it easier to ride "wheels" (bikes, roller blades, scooters etc) or walk to Sioux Trail.  With this new connecting pathway riders can stay off of River Hills Drive and stay on paths and sidewalks.  The final step of the project was done on Wednesday when two LED pedestrian signs were added along River Hills Drive.  The signs and the trail were completed with funding from a grant through the State of Minnesota; Department of Transportation.

The signs are reminders to drivers that students may be out in the crosswalks and to be extra careful.  The solar powered signs are programmed to have the yellow LED lights flash before and after school only on school days.  By doing this we hope to draw extra attention to the the fact that students may be out along the roadway and that drivers need to slow down and pay extra attention.

Safe Routes to School

Shadow and the construction crew from Barber construction have been hard at work increasing options for students to safely travel to and from Sioux Trail.  This week there have been construction crews working on three improvements to Sioux Trail.

When they are finished we will have a new path that connects Sioux Trail with the path that parallels Highway 13.  This will create a safe route for students and families to use that keeps people off of roadways.  Sioux Trail staff will be working with students and families to make them aware of this resource.

The second project is less visible, but it will be noticeable in the spring. A drainage tube was added underneath the blacktop with drains that will pull water way from the bike rack area.  In previous springs this area would have large puddles of water and it was difficult to navigate this area with bicycles.

The third project will be along River Hills Drive.  New cross walk signs with LED lights will be installed.  The signs will remind drivers along River Hills Drive to watch for pedestrians and we are hopeful that the yellow LED lights draw extra attention to the crosswalks.

All of these projects are made possible through a Safe routes to School grant from the State of Minnesota.  Staff from the City of Burnsville have partnered with us and have facilitated all of the behind-the-scenes work that is making this possible and we are thankful for their support and guidance.

Naming the Halls!

Calling all creative thinkers!


In a continued attempt to personalize Sioux Trail we are going to name each hallway in the school and this is your opportunity to add ideas.

Following the name of our school (Sioux Trail is named after a street) the hallways will be named like streets.  Name ideas need to have the following characteristics:
1. Name ideas need to directly connect with Sioux Trail.  An example would be using PRIDE, Shadow, Panthers or another idea directly connected with life at Sioux Trail.
2. Ideas need to be designed around a street; suggestions might include street, road, boulevard etc.
3. Names ideas need to use alliteration.  Alliteration is using the same first letter for both words.  A final example would be "Panther Path".

Directions for sharing your ideas:

Share ideas here!or post an idea in the comments section of the blog.

Weekend Visitors

Unfortunately, someone chose to visit Sioux Trail over the weekend and use Sioux Trail as a canvas for their artwork.  As you can see from the photos graffiti was spray painted on the back of Sioux Trail.  I believe the vandalism was done on Sunday night.

I filed a police report and our crack custodial team dealt with the problem right away.  The graffiti was painted over removed by 10 am today (Monday, July 23).

If you are in the area of Sioux Trail at any time please watch for and report any suspicious activity.

Welcome to Sioux Trail Elementary!

In addition to new Kindergarten students, new students at other grade levels, and their wonderful families we have three new staff members joining the Sioux Trail community in September.  Please join me in welcoming these staff members.

Oluwatoni Adedji will be joining the Sioux Trail team as our music specialist.  Last year Toni was teaching music at Goodman Elementary School in Houston, Texas.  I anticipate that he'll find Sioux Trail a little cozier as Goodman has over 900 students.  Mr. Adedji also has teaching experience in the Twin Cities are and a strong reputation for building great relationships and strong connections with students.

Jess Batterman will be teaching fourth grade at Sioux Trail in the 2012-13 school year.  Jess is a veteran ISD 191 teacher with 13 years of experience, and strong reputation for student success. Mrs. Batterman chose to move to Sioux Trail from Edward Neill elementary where she has been teaching fourth, fifth and sixth grade.  I am very excited to add her to our team and Jess is eager to meet Sioux Trail families and start another successful school year.

Mackenzie Oakes will serving Sioux Trail students in two roles during the 2012-13 school year.  Mrs. Oakes will be teaching third grade and working as our reading specialist.  Mackenzie comes to Sioux Trail from the Breck School in Minneapolis with experience teaching third grade and working with first grade students.  In the newly created position of Reading Specialist (funded with district-wide Title I funds) Mrs. Oakes will work with students who are below grade level in reading and need additional support and instruction to read at grade level. For the 2012-13 school year, we will have three classrooms in third grade and Mackenzie will be partnering to teach third grade with Jeff Gallus in Room 206.

Please join me in welcoming these three teachers to the Sioux Trail community.

Looking Great!

One of the things that is important to us is keeping our schools looking great so that they are safe and exciting places to learn.  Sioux Trail is getting a face-lift this summer and crews have been hard at work keeping Sioux Trail looking wonderful.

As you can see in the photos, Shadow was out working with the crew from Midwest Masonry today.  Shadow was doing some of the painting, but before he woke up from one of his many naps the crews had done some concrete repair work around the windows and in other areas around our building.

Shadow and Dale (crew leader from Midwest Masonry) got set up on the lift and Shadow is checking out the surroundings from his new perch.

Dale is teaching Shadow the art of painting and get him set up to apply a new coat of paint on Sioux Trail.

After a lesson and a little practice Shadow is at work keeping Sioux Trail looking great! Swing on by and check out how great your neighborhood elementary school looks. 

Student Council collects items for PawPADs

Check out this video with some of our students and a Sioux Trail volunteer.

Sioux Trail LipDub

This is the debut of the Sioux Trail LipDub.  Sioux Trail staff and students are excited to show off Sioux Trail, celebrate our hard work, show off our work with PRIDE and model our awesome PRIDE t-shirts!

The Music is ABC" by Kids bop Kids and we owe special thanks to Thomas Lindolm and Noura Elmanssy from Burnsville High School for all of their work turning a fun idea into a great celebration.

If the video doesn't work please try this link: http://youtu.be/hFMuzf61vW4 

Nice try . . .

 As members of the Sioux Trail community may recall, we regularly try to send home all of the items that we have collected in our lost and found boxes.  Before each break we take the opportunity to make the extra effort to get the word out about all of the items and try to match the owner with the lost item. All of the items that don't make it home are donated to local charity.  We made a nice try with this, but I had to chuckle when, after Gary and Lisa cleaned the hallways over the Spring Break, the lost and found boxes were already overflowing!  


Now you have to imagine me bellowing in my best salesperson voice - "Step right up and check out our specials! We have lots of boots, some shoes, snow-pants, sweatshirts along with mismatched gloves and a lunch box or two!"


Unfortunately all of these found items have left our lost and found overflowing.  Because we don't have the space to store these items we will set out items in front of the gym for the week of April 2.  We will donate all of the remaining items on Friday, April 6.

Minnesota Reading and Math Corps

Sioux Trail Elementary School won two grants! With the receipt of these grants we two full time tutor positions. We have one Minnesota Reading Corps literacy tutor and one Minnesota Math Tutor and we need your help recruiting candidates for both of these positions.

Experience life-changing growth.

Become a Minnesota Reading Corps literacy tutor or Minnesota Math Corps tutor.

You’re ready for growth. Whether you’re looking to explore a new career in education, reenter the workforce or simply want to work with kids, you’re ready. So what are you waiting for? Become a Minnesota Reading Corps literacy tutor or a Minnesota Math Corps tutor at Sioux Trail Elementary School and start creating meaningful growth.

We are looking for

• 1 full time literacy tutor
• 1 full time math tutor

You can be one of hundreds of trained tutors placed in schools across the state, who guide students toward working at grade level in math or reading. With Minnesota Reading Corps you will guide K-3 students to becoming successful readers by third grade. Minnesota Math Corps tutors provide research-based strategies and tools, monitor progress and ultimately, guide students who need extra support toward becoming successful in math by the end of eighth grade.

Tutors are parents, grandparents, recent college grads, and mid-career professionals. With Minnesota Reading Corps or Math Corps, you can see real results and make a lasting impact in our students’ lives, as well as in your own career. During your eleven months of service, you’ll receive training in proven strategies and support from Sioux Trail staff. You’ll not only tutor students who need extra support; you’ll also make a meaningful connection with your school and our community.

In addition to hands-on experience, you’ll receive a living allowance of about $500 biweekly (full-time), an education award of up to $5,550 and may be eligible to receive health insurance. All necessary training is provided and no licensure is necessary.

Pass the word on to a friend or family member! Positions for the 2012-2013 program year begin in August. Learn more and apply at:

• www.MinnesotaReadingCorps.org or
• www.MinnesotaMathCorps.org

Send questions to recruitment@mnedc.org or call or 866-859-2825 with questions.

The Jugloo!

Sioux Trail was home to a giant jugloo!  A jugloo is an igloo shaped building made out of empty one gallon milk (or water) jugs. The jugloo was built as a collaborative effort between students, staff and volunteers.  The project started in November with our student council and the collection of empty milk jugs. The goal was to collect 1500 empty jugs and in the end we had over 2200 containers.

Over the weekend of February 11 construction of the giant julgoo began and was mostly complete by Saturday night. Unfortunately, the roof dropped on Saturday night and then the entire roof collapsed on Sunday night.  On Monday some of the walls started falling in.  With the help of several fifth and sixth graders the entire giant jugloo was disassembled by Monday evening.   The giant jugloo was over 25 feet across at the base, took over 41 man hours to build, and used over 1600 plastic jugs. It also took 4 pizzas, 18 cans of Mountain Dew and I bottle of water. 

  

On Tuesday morning Sioux Trail staff and student were greeted by a new medium sized jugloo.  This one is set up on the stage and will be up as a reading station during I Love to Read month (February).This jugloo is featured in the brief video with the choreographed lights and holiday music.  The lights and music were set up for effect, but do not remain in the jugloo when students are reading in it.

Martha Glende is responsible for the idea and Mark Glende gets credit for a large portion of the engineering and construction.  If you like this wonderful creation please send thanks their way!

Happy Reading Happy Feet

Yikes!  I looked at the Panther Pages blog and saw two scary things!
1. The last post was in November
2. It was about lice!

I need to get caught up and the blog post needs to be about positive things that are happening at Sioux Trail (please no more blog posts about lice!).

Instead of writing about lice I've chosen to write about the invasion of penguins into our main hallway.  With the help of may staff and students the main hallway has been transformed into a winter wonderland for I Love to Read Month (February).  There are snowbanks to read on, a pond to ice fish from (the fish have jokes on them) and a jugloo (an igloo made out of all those one gallon milk jugs that you sent in) to curl up in and read.

When you find snowbanks and igloos you sometimes find penguins and this is true at Sioux Trail.  On random mornings a small group of penguins can be found dancing around on the snowbanks.  Mr. Popper has even come in to visit with the students and his penguins.

The next big happening in the rumored construction of another milk jug creation.  Stay tuned for more information that will be coming soon!

Cases of Head Lice

This post is to follow-up on a School Reach call that was made to all families on November 29, 2011. 

Additional information is available at: www.health.state.mn.us  (search "head lice").

Health Office News,

Please remember that head lice are a nuisance and do not cause disease.  Anyone can get head lice, and it is not a sign of poor hygiene. If your child brings home a notification indicating lice in the classroom, please take the moment to read and check your child’s head.  If your child has head lice please contact the health office. 

Throughout the year I encourage you to continue to be diligent in checking your child’s hair for lice.  This is a crucial component in preventing the spread of lice to other family members and within the community.  A delay in identification and subsequent treatment may allow the transmission of lice to others.  Head lice are very small (less than 1/8” long), brownish-colored insects that live on human heads and lay their eggs (nits) close to the scalp.  The eggs are white or gray and the size of an eye of a needle.

I also encourage you to take this time to have a family discussion on prevention habits. Sleepovers are a common setting in which head lice are spread. When your child returns from a sleepover, check his or her hair for signs of lice and lauder any bedding that they brought home.  Remind them of the importance of not sharing hair and grooming products along with hats and head gear.

Feel free to contact the Health Office with questions.

PRIDE Video #2

Sioux Trail staff and students are proud to share our second PRIDE video.  This video introduces PRIDE MAN (yes, we have our own super hero!) and reinforces what the hallways should look like.

Enjoy!

The video is also available at this link: PRIDE Video #2

PRIDE T-Shirt Design Contest

PRIDE T-Shirt Design Contest
Shadow and PRIDE Man would like to see all staff and students in a Sioux Trail PRIDE t-shirt, but we don't have a PRIDE shirt - yet!
Each member of the Sioux Trail community is invited to submit a design for a Sioux Trail PRIDE t-shirt.
 
T-shirts designs should:
    ·   Be focused on promoting Sioux Trail PRIDE (Prepared, Respectful, Involved, Determined and Excellent)
    ·   Use school colors (Red, White and Black)
    ·   Use the words "Sioux Trail" in the design
    ·   Use the acronym "PRIDE" in the design
    ·   Be simple and easily understood
    ·   Be on 8 1/2" X 11" paper with the designer's first and last name

T-shirt designs are due to the office by December 7, 2011

Burnsville Tree Lighting Ceremony

District 191 music groups will perform at holiday lighting ceremony

Two student musical groups from Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 will participate in the annual Winter Lighting Ceremony in Burnsville at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, in Nicollet Commons Park, 12600 Nicollet Avenue.

The FreeStyle choir from Burnsville High School will perform under the direction of Bryan Fisher. The Sioux Trail Elementary School Choir, under the direction of Kristen Longanecker, will also perform.

During the ceremony, over 200,000 mini-lights and 225 streetlight snowflakes will be turned on along with lights on a 30-foot tree. Holiday treats will be provided by Jo Jo's Rise & Wine, Cub Foods and Chianti Grill.

Free parking is located at the Park and Ride Ramp located on Pillsbury Avenue and the Heart of the City Ramp located on Travelers Trail.

The lighting program is sponsored by the non-profit Burnsville Community Foundation with donations from area businesses and residents.

PBIS PRIDE Video

This is a video that Sioux Trail staff and students created to remind everyone about showing Sioux Trail PRIDE around the sinks.  Enjoy!

If the video isn't working on this page you may see it here: PBIS PRIDE Video #1

School Choice Letters

All Sioux Trail families recently received (or will soon receive) a letter from ISD 191 regarding the AYP status of Sioux Trail.  Here is the most important message: Sioux Trail is MAKING Adequately Yearly Progress!

Adequate Yearly Progress is part of the No Child Left Behind legislation (the Re-Authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) that was put in place by George W Bush.  The legislation sets targets that schools must meet on an annual basis and consequences if schools do not achieve the target.  The end goal is that 100% of students are proficient (according to the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) by 2013-14.

The AYP system evaluates multiple areas within reading and math including: all students, ESL students, Special Education students and five different ethnic subgroups.  The process evaluates participation and proficiency on the assessment and attendance at the school.  At the end of the 2008-09 school year Sioux Trail was found to not be making AYP in six different areas within the proficiency area. At the end of the 2009-10 school year Sioux Trail demonstrated progress and was found to not be making AYP in one area; Reading for Special Education students.  Based on 2010-11 Minnesota Accountability Tests Sioux Trail is making AYP in ALL areas.

This is terrific news for Sioux Trail and recognizes the hard work of Sioux Trail staff, students and parents.  Despite making AYP in all areas Sioux Trail remains on the Not Making AYP List because the process requires schools to make AYP two years in a row before being removed from the list.  Sioux Trail is in stage 1.2  meaning that Sioux Trail parents have school choice and can take their children to another ISD 191 school choice site.  Sioux Trail families will have more information on this soon.

Being identified as "Making Adequately Yearly Progress" by the Minnesota Department of Education doesn't stop our continued hard work towards moving each student forward and providing high quality instruction that facilitates personal and academic growth.   We have a lot of very important work to do and Sioux Trail staff are the right team to do this work.

The "School Choice letter that was included in the letter indicates that parents can choose to send their child to another ISD 191 school.  These two "choice" schools are Rahn and Gideon Pond Elementary Schools. The letter provides information on the overall percentage of students that are proficient on the Minnesota Accountability Tests, but it does not include Sioux Trail on this chart.  This is misleading, because it creates the perception that we are a lower performing school and this in not entirely true.  I have included a more inclusive chart below.

	Reading Percent Proficient	Math Percent Proficient
Gideon Pond	81.54%	66.25%
Rahn	75.35%	69.62%
Sioux Trail	83.11%	63.27%

As you can see we our performance in the area of reading is stronger than math and we are working hard to raise scores in both areas and keep  each one of our students moving forward.  We are committed to increased student success and to meeting the needs of each child.

A small, mighty crew!

Saturday, October 8, was the annual Sioux Trail Fall clean up event!  We had a crew of  23 people who worked really hard and got Sioux Trail cleaned up and ready for winter.  Our work included cutting down all of the perennials , weeding, and spreading mulch on each landscaping bed.  Our crew started small with me and a Burnsville High School student and then grew over time.  The end result was a smaller team than I had hoped for, but everyone worked really hard and we kept Sioux Trail looking great.

 If you have feedback on this event, like how we can increase participation, please let me know.

Special thanks to the following people:
The Sickman Family
The Chromcsak Family
The Miller Family
The Schaefers
The Kirchoffner Family

Ethan J
An P (BHS Student)
Mr. Kern
Mrs. Tushie
Mrs. Stalock
Mr. Tofte
Mrs. Condon