First of all, I want to thank you for the enormous level of support over the last week. Your encouragement and especially your assistance in monitoring the school and the grounds are greatly appreciated. Vigilance is the key to ensuring the students’ safety.

Our school district safety and security personnel are highly trained by experts who work with agencies like the Secret Service, FBI, and Homeland Security. They have worked with nationally renowned experts and state and local agencies to develop our safety procedures. This fall Dan Gorman, Maria Spann, Mike Holleran and I attended a two-day training on safety and security. We created an updated, revised safety plan approved by Site Council. We followed this plan to react to last week’s threat.

Given the information we had, the staff and I followed district and building safety procedures. The Saint Paul Police Department and the Director of the District’s Office of Safety and Security were here that day to support and assist. Multiple measures were taken. All of this was precautionary. 

Threats are evaluated based on both contextual and situational factors. Ultimately, it is the principal who makes the final decision on a response with advice and support from the SPPD and the District Office. Our staff members are trained on safety procedures and we conduct drills with staff and students. We will continue to provide training and conduct drills as we implement our newly revised School Safety Plan.

I welcome anyone who has a concern or questions about the recent incident. My door is open. Please know that I will share as much as possible about the threat and our response, but I may not be able to provide the level of detail that everyone would like. The school district does not want to educate the public on what it takes to move the district to a certain response.  Hoaxes are an issue the district faces.  Keeping some information private ultimately helps keep the school safer.

My first priority is student and staff safety. My second priority is communication. I will make every effort to communicate as quickly and efficiently as possible and with the most information I can. In the event of another incident, our response will take into account everything that has happened in the past. We will respond at the appropriate level. We take every event seriously. Again, thank you for your support and please contact me if you would like.

Sincerely,

Jim Litwin, Principal

View from the Top: Exciting Tidbits to Anticipate for 5^th/6^th Grade You may have seen the January 13 article in the Star Tribune, “Junior Achievement: Not all business”, by Jean Hopfensperger. I am excited to say that our 5^th and 6^th grade students are preparing to participate in the experience the story described. I was fortunate to arrive last year early enough to drop in on the field trip. It is a tremendous learning opportunity, combining real and practical information with classroom learning. Here are a few highlights from the article.

“About 130 students are “working” at businesses in a mock village called Biz Town inside the Maplewood headquarters. The staff is preparing for an equal number of children to descend on “Finance Park,” where they'll be assigned a job and required to run a household based on their income…A construction company manager in a hardhat was taking bids from a client. The city attorney was investigating a theft at a restaurant. Marketers were designing simple business Web pages. A DJ was spinning discs at the radio station…The children were clearly having fun…“It offers a chance for kids to see what businesses actually do,” Cris Town, principal of the Pinewood Community School in Eagan said. "And it gives businesses a chance to see what school is about."

Free events planned to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, January 21. The Minnesota Commission Honoring Dr. King's birthday is planning a youth rally at Central High School from 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. In addition, a two-block march will begin at Central High School and conclude at Ganglehoff Auditorium at Concordia University (corner of Marshall and Hamline) from 10:35 a.m.-10:55 a.m. The main program will be at Ganglehoff Auditorium beginning at 11:00 a.m. and ending at 1:00 p.m. Students, youth, and families are particularly encouraged to participate in the Rally and March.

6^th Grade to Hold Eagle Bluff ELC Field Trip Orientation Pat Meuwissen and Rick Olson will hold an orientation night for families of 6^th grade students on Thursday, January 31 at 6:00 p.m. in Mrs. Meuwissen’s room. This will be an important meeting to begin preparations for the week-long field trip in May.

Gifted and Talented Support Group Chooses Book Study The next support group meeting will be Monday, February 11. The group will gather at 6:00 p.m. and begin the book discussion at 6:15 p.m. Copies of The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Children are still available.

Geography Bee Fourth, fifth and sixth graders participated in the National Geography Bee this week. Each classroom held a preliminary Bee consisting of 7 rounds of questions.  The top 10 students from 4^th (Aedan, Annie, Devin, & Cole), 5^th (Corey, Annika, Zakaria, & John), and 6th grade (Yahye & David) then participated in the Championship Round.  All the students did a fantastic job answering very difficult geography questions.  Yahye came in 1st place, Annika took 2nd place, and Devin came in 3rd place.  Following the competition, Yahye completed a 60-minute, 70-question written examination.  His answers were sent to the National Geographic Society.  If he is one of the top 100 scorers in the state of Minnesota on this exam, he will represent Horace Mann at the State Competition in April.  Congratulations Yahye and good luck on qualifying for the State Geography Bee!

Horace Mann Earns 8^th Award Horace Mann School, and therefore student, staff, and parent hard work, were honored by a new superintendent's banner. Our school received the banner at the January 15 Board of Education Meeting. The Superintendent’s Academic Award for School Improvement Banner is an important way for the district to recognize the schools which are meeting or exceeding district expectations.  The indicators that were used to determine which schools would receive awards for 2006-07 were:

• MCA-II Apples to Apples (percent of students at or above peers statewide)
• MCA-II Growth (percent meeting district growth expectations)
• Percent of students absent less than 11 days

Results for each of the NCLB student groups (African American, American Indian, Asian American, Caucasian, English Language Learner, Latino, Low Income, and Special Education) were averaged to determine the overall status of each school.  Our school scored high overall averages on these three indicators, which are a subset of the indicators in the SPPS Strategic Plan for 2006-2011.

Enrollment Changes Announced for 2008-2009 The School Board has made a decision regarding our attendance area next year. "BF2744 Motion: Mr Conlon moved, seconded by Ms. Carroll, that the Board of Education eliminate attendance boundaries for Homecroft Elementary School and that it establish new attendance areas for Horace Mann and Groveland Elementary schools such that (1) Horace Mann Elementary School receive the portion west of Davern street currently assigned to Homecroft; and (2) Groveland Elementary School receive the portion east of Davern Street currently assigned to Homecroft. The motion passed 5 to 2."

Later in the discussion area the minutes state, "The question was raised whether the Homecroft attendance area could be reestablished. The Superintendent responded the current area would be made a preference area for current families of Homecroft so they would have preference for that school as a benefit to the local community."

I will be working with Student Placement and District Administration to determine the ramifications and next steps for our building. The good news is that we have time to create an appropriate and measured action plan for any necessary changes. I will continue to provide information as it becomes available. We will discuss our plans at Site Council.

I would strongly suggest that families residing outside the attendance area research their options and complete a magnet application just in case. The priority for enrollment has been and continues to be:

1. Attendance area students,
2. Reassignment area siblings,
3. New reassignment area students,
4. Daycare transfer siblings,
5. New daycare transfers,
6. Elementary transfer siblings, and
7. New elementary transfers.

Why Does Family Service Matter?  

• Inspires kids to care. In a society that so often appears to reward materialism and greed, volunteering together can be a powerful way to pass on the values of caring, compassion and social responsibility to children.
• Promotes healthy lifestyle choices among youth. Studies show that children who volunteer just one hour per week are less likely than other kids to get involved in destructive behaviors, such as smoking or drug and alcohol abuse. They are also more likely to do well in school, graduate, vote and be philanthropic.
• Provides the opportunity to interact with culturally and economically diverse people, breaking down stereotypes.
• Empowers them to believe they can make a difference and increases self esteem.
• Cultivates a lifelong commitment to service and justice. According to researchers, adults who volunteered as children and whose parents volunteered were three times more likely to be involved in community service as adults who didn’t.
• Teaches lessons and skills that they might not learn otherwise. For example, working on a project to save the rainforest can teach children about ecology and biodiversity, and hosting an exchange student provides a new perspective on other cultures.
• Allows busy parents and kids an oasis of meaningful time together to express shared values.  This is critical because children gain essential emotional support and develop socially and intellectually by spending quality time with their parents.
• Brings parents and children closer together by inspiring important conversations about values.
• Increases children’s appreciation and respect for their parents as they see them caring for their community.
• Bonds families and makes them more of a team. Plus it strengthens communication patterns in families.
• Responds to a common interest among families. Most parents indicate they would like to volunteer with their children, even if they never have.
• Can inspire students to get more involved in school life.  And it promotes loyalty and commitment to the school among families.

Take advantage of the FREE Family Service Project event next Friday, January 25, from 6:30-8:30, to tackle 1-4 service projects with opportunities to discuss values and to connect as a busy family.  If you'd like to volunteer for a short 45-minute shift, please email chrisbillaerts@comcast.net or smillerjohnson@hotmail.com.

Friends of Orphans Troop 50259 is collecting school supplies for “Friends of Orphans”. Friends is a 501c3 organization that raises funds to service orphanages in 5 different Central and South American countries and Haiti. Our supplies will be brought down by a Horace Mann parent and will benefit the 913 children aged infant to 18. Please donate new pencils, pens, paper, notebooks, crayons, or markers. We will collect supplies Wednesday, January 23 to Wednesday, January 30. Thank you.

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