YOU ARE INVITED!
SAP Luminary Walk: Saturday, February 26th from 5:30-7PM
Please join us for a special evening where we will light over 800 luminaries to create a path through Langford Park. Families can gather and let kids play starting at 5:30PM on the school blacktop. When the sun sets around 6PM, it will be time to get a cup of cocoa and stroll through the park during twilight. And then (DRUMROLL) . . . . . . . . . . at 6:40PM we will gather near the bandstand for some thrilling fire & light entertainment by the artists from Embrace the Light!
We will be sending flyers home next week with more details about public transportation, parking and ways to help make the evening a fun, meaningful and safe event for everyone. This event is free; extended family and close friends are welcome to join you. We will ask families to RSVP next week so we can have the right amount of hot cocoa and snacks on hand. In the meantime, please mark your calendars! Thank you.
Here are the Embrace the Light Artists in action! WOW!
Volunteers Needed
As you can imagine, we will need volunteers on the afternoon of the 26th to help create the luminary path. Do you think you can help? You can sign-up yourself or bring a buddy. Kid-sized buddies are great and will be entirely capable of helping with this afternoon project and are very welcome! The tasks are 90 and 60 minutes. Please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084DA4AC2DA0FA7-luminary
恭喜發財 / Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Happy Lunar New Year! Our Second Grade classes had their marvelous parade last week! Each year, they design their own dragons and other festive art, then parade them through the school. It is one of the real delights of our year at St. Anthony Park Elementary. We wish you all a prosperous New Year.
Meeting Recaps & Minutes
SAPSA Meeting, 2/8/22
Summary: This month we reviewed our recent activities, discussed upcoming board elections, received updates from our chairs/board members and discussed plans for the Luminary Walk.
Read-a-Thon. We raised a staggering $23,280 for our Read-a-Thon (almost TRIPLE our goal!) and our kiddos read an astonishing 341,000+ minutes and each child received a free book for their efforts.
A big thank you to Sara Shepard for leading this event, to our minute-counting volunteers for giving us time on their weekend to tally minutes, to Julie MacGregor Farris for coordinating the book purchase, to Lauren Renner for library support, to Dr. Duke for being game to wear a superhero outfit, to our teachers who got kids jazzed and helped them stay on task, to all the families and friends from near and far who supported our kids' efforts, and to our kids for giving it their all. And a big shout-out to Word Girl for her encouraging message! We are so grateful to you all.
Blanket Drive. Our blanket drive brought in 60 blankets to support Project Reach! The blanket kits were super fun and a welcome activity during winter break. Thank you to Lara Bollweg and Cara Melvin for coordinating this effort! Lara and Cara lead our Service Projects; if you would like to be more involved in these projects, please email president@sapsamn.org and we will put you in touch with them! Looking ahead to March, they will be organizing a drive to support Afghan (and other) newly arrived families to Minnesota.
SAPSA Board Positions. This year, a number of terms are up for the SAPSA board: Vice President, Treasurer, Volunteer Coordinator, Secretary, Advisory Council Chair. Serving on the board is a great way to meet people, dedicate your time to creating community and make a real impact on very local decisions. If you are interested or would like to know more, please reach out to vicepresident@sapsamn.org
Chair Updates. Our board members gave recaps of how we are doing and then we discussed plans for the Luminary Walk on February 26th. Please read the minutes for more information about our SAPSA budget, upcoming volunteer needs and events.
Advisory Council Meeting 2/8/22
Summary: this month we received an update from Principal Duke about SAP, discussed the various budgets that will impact SAP and Saint Paul, and heard an update on SPFE (St. Paul Federation of Educators) / SPPS teacher contract negotiations.
Principal Update. This month, Principal Duke shared with us encouraging decreases in Covid at our school and in the city/county. Staff absences are also significantly down. Additionally, SPPS quarantine guidelines have changed to shorter periods with fewer people having to quarantine due to vaccinations.
We have also increased our enrollment to 496 students. In addition to students returning to in-person from Virtual School, we often see new families in January due to other factors like moving, new jobs, etc. A warm welcome to our new and returning families! We hope you find St. Anthony Park a welcoming and nurturing environment for your child(ren).
2022 WK # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Cases | 21 | 21 | 16 | 6 | 2 |
Budgets. This year, the Minnesota state budget has a surplus. There is hope some of the surplus will go to education. However, the Saint Paul Public School (SPPS) District is anticipating a significant deficit this year due to a decline in enrollment city-wide. Additionally, there are emergency Federal funds which are temporary in nature and currently being used to primarily support staffing. Our school budget (which most notably impacts our staffing) is based, in large part, on enrollment. Projected enrollment is anticipated by early March and Principal Duke will most likely receive our budget in April. At that point, there will be information sessions to present/discuss these numbers.
SPFE Negotiations. Negotiations and mediation are ongoing. Some smaller proposals have been agreed upon but things are not going great. The union has created a parent/community action team who would like to support educators in negotiations. Shared link: spfe28.org/the-time-is-now. Families can sign up and/or sign petition of support. Update: SPFE has since shared this message.
The Milk Situation. A reminder that while school lunch is free for all students, milk costs 50 cents as an a la carte item. This means that in order to get a free milk, students need to take two foods items they may not need or want. It is an head-scratching bureaucratic "huh?" kind of thing. It's a weird position to put our kids in -- we don't want them wasting food, but we also don't want them to not have milk that is essentially free. There is now a bit of a school balance for the cost of milk that kids who don't take the two items but didn't pay the 50 cents for the milk. Does this make your head spin a little? Ours, too! The long and short is that the school can likely cover the debts and SAPSA can help, but if your child is just getting milk and milk alone it costs 50 cents and you can put some money on their account in School Cafe.
Enrollment. We discussed online open house, tours and some additional plans for getting the word out about St. Anthony Park.
Enrollment
This is the message we are sharing with the world about our school. If you have friends with in-coming Kindergartners or who are impacted by school closures due to Envision or have maybe left SPPS during Distance Learning, please share with them. A fully enrolled, robust school is very important for funding and staffing. The more the merrier!
PLEASE SHARE BELOW.
It is time to choose a great school in Saint Paul! Enrollment in Saint Paul Public Schools for next year is now open (start here to enroll). We want to share some information about Saint Anthony Park Elementary School for families with children entering Kindergarten through 5th grade.
SAP Elementary is a community school in Area E with a 7:15-2:00 school day. The school serves a diverse community of approximately 500 students in 21 classrooms staffed by experienced, caring, and dedicated educators. SAP Elementary is located at one end of Langford Park, giving students access to abundant open space and our school forest during recess and outdoor time. Inside, the school was recently renovated and includes a beautiful, light-filled library. We also have dedicated, specialized spaces for art and music instruction, gender-neutral bathrooms, and spacious classrooms.
We are proud of the variety of instruction our students receive including a daily rotation of art, music, science, physical education, and technology instruction with weekly visits to the school library. After school hours also bubble with activity at SAP:
Our school is a hub location for Discovery Club.
Other afterschool enrichment opportunities include Extended Day Learning (free, 2X a week for grades 3-5) and Saint Paul Community Education.
Other childcare services include Langford Park Recreation Center which offers its free Rec Check program daily. SAP Kids (a paid after-school program) is just a block away.
St. Anthony Park School Association hosts events for the school community like our annual Read-a-Thon, Fall/Spring Festivals, speakers nights as well as providing support for our educators. You can get a sense of the great school community at their website: www.sapsamn.org
If you are interested in learning more about what makes SAP Elementary an excellent choice for your elementary school student, please attend one of our upcoming online open houses (more information here), or contact advisory@sapsamn.org with any questions. We hope to see you on the playground soon!
From Our Friends at Langford Park / Saint Paul Parks & Rec.
Registration for Summer Athletics begins March 1st. Please see below for information on early bird discounts!
Lost & Found
Anything look familiar? www.instagram.com/lostandfoundsap
What's For Lunch?
What's For Breakfast?
Coming soon! 100th Day is February 24th
Calendar
February 21st – Presidents’ Day (No School)
February 25th – School Spirit Day (Hat Day)
February 26th – St. Anthony Park Winter Festival
March 4th – Conference Prep Day (No School)
March 7-21st – Service Project to Welcome/Support Our New Neighbors
March 8th -- – SAPSA & AC Meetings
March 23-24 – Conferences 3-6PM
March 25th – Conferences AM & PM (No School)
April 1st – School Spirit Day (Pajama Day)
April 4-8th– Spring Break (No school)
April 12th – SAPSA & AC Meetings
April 15th – Digital Learning Day
May 10th – SAPSA & AC Meetings
May 10th – SAPSA Board Elections
May 10-12th – Plant Sale
May 13th – Spring Carnival (outside)
May 20th – Ninja Anywhere
May 30th – Memorial Day (No School)
May 31st – ***Tentative*** Fifth grade celebration
June 10th – Last Day of School
July 31st – End of 2021-2022 Fiscal Year and Current Board Positions
August 1st – Start of 2022-2023 Fiscal Year and New Board Assume Positions
