After the Parent-Teacher Conferences: Making Sure It is Successful Hopefully the conferences went well for you and your child. The key thing to a successful conference is communication—keeping the lines open and continuing to communicate with the teacher and with your child. After the conference, you can:

• Talk to your child. If your child was not at the conference, sit down and tell him or her what you and the teacher discussed. Emphasize the positive things the teacher said. Remember that it’s important for your child to feel positive about learning, the teacher, and the school.
• Follow up. If there were important issues that need to be dealt with, such as finding a tutor or getting counseling for your child, make sure to follow up in writing with the teacher soon after the conference. Specify exactly what you discussed with the teacher, what steps will be taken, what your responsibilities and the school’s responsibilities will be, and what the timetable is for action.
• Remember the principal. If, after meeting with your child’s teacher, you still feel like you have serious issues that weren’t adequately addressed, set up a time to talk to the principal to see what other options are available.
• Follow through. Once you know what you can do at home to help your child succeed in school, make sure to actually do it. It’s understandable that finding the time might be difficult, but remember—your child needs you.

PTA Meeting and Rescheduled Budget Meeting to be Held Together The parent input meeting for next year’s budget will be rescheduled for Thursday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. to provide information on the potential changes for next year’s budgets. Our district will be cutting about $7.5 million. Horace Mann’s portion of the cut will depend on our enrollment, but we are facing a budget shortfall. I will have to make changes and want to make choices that will keep the best school for students. Your priorities are important information as I decide what to do. Please come and give me your input. RSVP to Judy at 293-8965 so I can plan an appropriate space. The PTA meeting will be held in conjunction with the budget input meeting. After the budget information concludes, the PTA meeting will begin.

Food Drive Update The 6^th Grade Student Council would like to thank you for donating food to our Horace Mann/Highland Park Senior High Food Drive. We received over 300 items ranging from canned fruit to boxes of rice and even cereal! We did a wonderful job, helping people who do not have enough food for dinner. Thanks!

Get ready to… Go Green…  Plant sale order forms are due to your child's teacher or directly to the office by Tuesday, April 8. Reach out to neighbors, family and friends to order.  Flowers arrive in time for Mother Day!

March BoxTops Numbers are Here Congratulations to Mrs. Dixon's second graders for collecting the largest number of box tops during March totaling $26.90!  Mr. Nelson's sixth graders and Ms. Meuwissen's fifth graders tied for second place with contributing box tops worth $18.80.  Thanks to all who participated.

Photos Needed! Thanks much to the families who have already put family photos on our 150th birthday card to Minnesota--we've got Lake Superior, a favorite resort, the Mississippi river, an apple orchard and the State Fair to name a few.  Add your photo to the mix soon.  Don't have one with a fabulous Minnesota backdrop yet?  Just "do it" during spring break!  The card will be presented at the May 7 concert.

Speaking of Photos Do you have a good photo from the March 5 vocal music concert?  Be sure to email it to margy.peterson@spps.org for inclusion in a web link.

Horace Mann Poem By:  Rosannah

Horace Mann School is really great

I like it so much, I will never be late.

Markers and chalk, pens and ink

Horace Mann is really the place to think!

Horace Mann School is really fun

It’s really the place to get your work done.

Tons of questions, easy and hard

Horace Mann is the place to make you smart!

Horace Mann School is the place to learn

And get all the Mann bucks we earn.

I hope that we are here every day

Horace Mann is the place to get an A!

Horace Mann School is the best

I hope we have good scores on the test!

On the way to school, I always run

Horace Mann School, here we come!

Wellness Committee Meeting Notes The district has identified 4 areas that the School Wellness Committee should address for Horace Mann’s wellness action plan.  They are:

1. Establish a School Wellness Committee that is representative of the diversity of the student population ( any ideas for possible parents who would like to participate let us know)
2. Require that every student enrolled in K-6 receives skill-based instruction on healthy eating and physical activity as part of a dedicated comprehensive health education program  ( PE already addresses physical activity. The Wellness Committee plans to investigate what education in the area of healthy eating habits Mann teachers are already doing (i.e. food pyramid).
3. Conduct a staff needs assessment on school employee wellness.
4. Develop a school employee wellness action plan that at a minimum includes opportunities related to physical activity and healthy eating

The committee will confirm a time for the Hip Hop Program on April 9.  This will be broken down into 3 levels.  More information will be coming. The next meeting is April  16 at 7:30 a.m.

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