Clara Barton Open School

Among Prairie Dogs and Meerkats

Jane Spicer's class took a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo earlier in September. They were joined by a number of parents from the class.

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District Community Engagement Process Update

There's an article in today's Star Tribune about the Community District Engagement Process that was highlighted at the Parent's Night and in recent editions of the bugle. Read the article here.

Here's a statement from the School Board about the process and remaining meetings:

Community Engagement Collaborative Announces Final Community Meetings

The Community Engagement Collaborative (CEC), hired by the Minneapolis Public School (MPS) Board, has set dates, times and locations for final meetings of its community-wide listening and learning process. Following a series of 40 + meetings that began in mid-August, the multiple stakeholder meetings will welcome all groups to discuss differing views and reconcile competing values. The CEC and KKE Facilities Utilization Taskforce, which MPS asked to conduct separate meetings on the issue of school closings, will host a final round of large forum meetings asking these groups to set priority values to be used in decision-making. After these meetings, the CEC will analyze community feedback and submit a report of its findings to the MPS Board Tuesday, Oct. 12, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. (807 Broadway NE) – KKE also will report its findings to the MPS Board in a separate meeting (additional details TBD). Please see the attached schedule (below) for meeting details.

--
Sincerely,
Board of Education
Minneapolis Public Schools
807 NE Broadway
Minneapolis, MN 55413
mpsboard@mpls.k12.mn.us

Final Community Meeting ScheduleMultiple Stakeholder Meetings To Reconcile
Competing Values

9/27 – Monday, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Urban League
2100 Plymouth Ave. N.

9/27 – Monday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Bottineau Park Gym
2000 2nd St. N.E.

9/29 – Wednesday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Bethune Park Gym
919 Fremont Ave. N.

9/30 – Thursday, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Education Building on 26th St.
between Chicago & 10th Aves.

9/30 – Thursday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Central Gym
3400 4th Ave. S.

Large Forum Meetings To Set Priority Values

10/4 – Monday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
North High School Auditorium
1500 James Ave. N.

10/5 – Tuesday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Patrick Henry High School Auditorium
4320 Newton Ave. N.

10/6 – Wednesday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Washburn High School Auditorium
201 W. 49th St.

10/7 – Thursday, 6 – 8 p.m. All – MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Southwest High School Auditorium
3414 W 47th St

10/9 – Saturday, 10 a.m. – Noon All - MPS Educators/Staff,
Parents/Families/Students,
Business/Civic/Community/Public
Edison High School Auditorium
700 22nd Ave. N.E.

NOTE: Complete information on meeting locations/purposes can be found on the MPS Web site at
http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Community_Engagement_Process.
CEC PUBLIC CONTACT: Deanna Mills, M.P.H. / CEC Member / 612-204-4106 / dmills@halleland.com
KKE PUBLIC CONTACT: Kevin Halbach / KKE Facilities Utilization Taskforce / KHALBACH@kke.com
LILJA INC. Contacts: Mary Lilja and Alex Cook / 952-893-7140

School Calendar Alert!!!

Please take special note of the following student release days:

Thursday, September 30
No School for AM & PM Kindergartners in Room 108

Friday, October 1
No School for Students Grades K-8

Thursday, October 7
School starts at 9:30 AM. Bus pickup times will be exactly two hours later than normal. An abbreviated AM kindergarten class will be held.

Group to Hold Series of Education House Parties this Wednesday, September 22

A coalition of organizations under the name The National Mobilization for Great Public Schools is holding a series of "house parties" to organize parents to advocate for public schools.

State Representatives Paul Thissen and Frank Hornstein (a Barton parent) will be guests at one of the events to be held on this Wednesday, September 22, 7:30 pm, 5128 Colfax Avenue South.

To find out more about this event, or to search for other nearby house parties, go to www.greatpublicschools.org to search and register, and to find more information about the organization.

District Community Engagement Process Web Links

Here are several links to help you participate in the District's Community Engagement Process, which will be discussed at Parent Information Night this week and in the Bugle next week.

Learn more about the process.
View the schedule of meetings.
Download the survey to fill out and return (can be sent back to school with your child).
You can also share your values/comments by email at mpsvalues@halleland.com.

Parent Information Night this Thursday

Parents - don't miss this popular way to kick off the new school year this Thursday, September 9. Parent information night begins with a general meeting in the commons at 7 pm, followed by a chance to hear from classroom teachers about their learning goals and curriculum for the new school year. Details in the latest Barton Bugle. Note! The event is for parents, not students. See the Bugle for child care options.

Barton Welcomes New Teachers

By Brian Milavitz

Between retirements, sabbaticals, and forced realignments, this is a year of significant change in the teaching staff. However, we have been fortunate to get a group of new team members who come with experience, a diversity of backgrounds, and a passion for teaching.

Dawn White is new to the primary staff (grades 1-2). Dawn spent the last 11 years at Bancroft teaching first, second, and fifth grades. In her spare time she enjoys crafts, sports, and teaching aerobics. She and her husband Clarence have a ten month old future Barton student named Jake. Dawn comes to Barton as a result of the realignment of dually licensed teachers and replaces Marilynn O’Donnell who is now teaching special education at Lake Harriet.

Jesse Moyer joins the upper primary (grades 3-4). Jesse formerly spent six years at Ann Sullivan teaching grades two through five. He is especially interested in math, sports, and animals. Jesse replaces Scott Slocum who was sent to South High School as a special education teacher.

New to the Middles (grades 5-6) team are Lisa Lange and Katrina Belding. Prior to coming to Barton, Lisa was at Whittier Elementary for six years as a reading support teacher. She was also previously a regular classroom teacher at Marcy Open. Lisa loves books, has a passion for the arts, and is a modern dancer. She and her husband have two children, a 3rd and a 4th grader, who attend Lake Harriet School. Lisa replaces Lee Fabel who retired.

Katrina Belding replaces Rebecca Till who moved to grades 3-4 to take the place of retiring Mary Ann Fabel. An experienced open school teacher, Katrina spent the last twelve years at Webster Open where she taught grades four through eight. She likes math, drama, geography, and music. She plays the piano and flute.

Sara Van Der Werf is a new uppers (grades 7-8) math teacher. For the past 13 years, Sara taught math at Patrick Henry High School. Sara is passionate about math. She is nationally board certified math teacher who has been an adjunct professor of math education, an instructional leader for professional development, and a math mentor. Sara takes over for Helene Perry who left at the end of last term. This year she will be teaching geometry, CMP math, and an elective course this fall on math and elections. Ask Sara about the planned celebration of PI day.

Kris Shaban has a one year appointment to teach uppers math and social studies this year while Allison Rubin Forester is on sabbatical. He has previously taught at Franklin and Northeast Middle Schools. He is especially interested in history and biographies and is a very serious basketball player.

Picnic Kicks Off School Year

The First Barton back-to-school picnic was a joyful event on a beautiful late summer evening. Families of children in lower grades began and strengthened relationships. Uppers parents looked back with bittersweet appreciation for the wonderful role Barton has played in the lives and friendships of their kids.