Intermediate School ready for smiling faces, eager minds

By Joan M. Anderson, Principal

New Prague Intermediate School

Welcome to the 2004/2005 school year. We’re getting ready for the smiling faces and eager minds to return. We are anticipating getting to know about 40 students new to District 721, and we are excited to have four new teachers in the building this year.

Nichole Meyer joins the third grade team. She student taught in the building last year and did an outstanding job. Amy Mach is going to teach a looping classroom. She is a New Prague High School graduate and has experience with looping in Omaha, NE. Brian Triplett will be on the fourth grade team. He has a background working in a remedial program as well as a gifted program. Mary Kay Bachel will be working with special education students. We also want to welcome Colleen Cardenuto as the elementary curriculum coordinator. Her experiences in a variety of subjects will benefit our growing staff.

In the area of curriculum, we will be implementing the Big 6 Research Strategies as a consistent way to research and write papers. The math committee will investigate more strategies to teach math computation skills and we will continue to implement the new reading series from last year. We will again enjoy the sounds of beginning band students in our building as the fifth grade students take up the challenges of the instruments. It will be an exciting year.

Open House: The New Prague Intermediate School Open House is scheduled for Thursday, August 26. Those families that are new to the district are invited to meet in the gym at 5:30 p.m. for a welcome by Mrs. Anderson, meeting of the specialists and special ed. personnel and an overview of Open House. Teachers will be in their classrooms from 6 to 8 p.m. to meet the parents and the students. I suggest that those whose last names begin A-M come at 6 and N-Z come at 7. This is my effort to contain the congestion both in the building and for parking purposes. However, if this creates a conflict for you (or you cannot contain the excitement), please come at your convenience. The school social worker, Mrs. Hennen, and the school nurse, Connie Zabel, will be in the office area should you want to visit with them about individual concerns.

While you are at Open House, please plan to register for Parent Teacher Conferences. Those dates are Monday, Oct. 18, and Tuesday, Oct. 19. Registration will be set up in the gym area. Also in the gym, you can purchase a calculator, put money into your lunch account, sign up for Kids’ Company—our school age before and after day care, and get literature from community organizations.

School Supplies: Various community groups or members have generously donated school supplies. If you need assistance in acquiring your child’s supplies, please contact Amy Hennen, Intermediate School Social Worker, at 952-758-1511. All requests are confidential. When you purchase supplies for school, save your receipts. Those now qualify for an exemption at tax time.