M AY 2016
D EERWOOD N EWSLET TER
1480 D EERWOOD D RIVE
*
E AGAN , M INNESOTA 55122
P HONE : (651) 683-6801 * F AX : (651) 683-6808 * W EBSITE : WWW . DISTRICT 196. ORG /DW
D EERWOOD A FTER S CHOOL D OUBLE D UTCH C LUB H UGE S UCCESS !
By: Amy Fischer & Rachel Campion; PE Specialists and DD Coaches
For months, Deerwood students had been asking for a Double Dutch Club to be offered after school. Mrs. Fischer, in working
with District 196 Community Education, in a short amount of time put together a highly successful double dutch jump roping
club consisting of 37 students! There was an overwhelming response and interest.
This was inspired by the Artist-in-Residency experience with Kathi Engebretson back in early February, supported through our
Deerwood Booster Club.
This spring, students met every Tuesday and Thursday after school in the gym to work with short-ropes, long-ropes,
double-dutch ropes and adding in tricks and other equipment such as basketballs, cartwheels, and other fun moves.
Mrs. Fischer, Mrs. Campion, along with the help of two Rosemount High School Double Dutch Athletes and Mrs. Schoen made
this opportunity possible and fun. On the last day of class, all of the participants performed for their friends and family. It was a
great way to showcase all of the skills and talent they worked on throughout the after school classes.
In addition some of the students were invited to attend the National SHAPE (PE) Conference at the Minneapolis Convention
Center on April, 8. They met at Deerwood at 7AM and arrived downtown to practice, then to perform on a large auditorium
stage in front of 2,000 spectators and return to school. We look forward to continuing this opportunity next school year.
Thank you to all who helped support your child to attend and have a successful experience.
(Additional Photos
on Page 5)
I CE C REAM S OCIAL IS C OMING !
Friday, May 20th
- 6:00-7:30 p.m.
(More information can be found on page 2 of the May Newsletter)
~ E DUCATING O UR S TUDENTS T O R EACH T HEIR F ULL P OTENTIAL ~
D EERWOOD N EWSLETTER
P AGE 2
V OLUNTEERING AT D EERWOOD
J ENNY W ILLIAMS , V OLUNTEER C OORDINATOR
P HONE : 651-485-7357
E- MAIL : JENNYWILLIAMS @ COMCAST . NET
Thank you to all of our dedicated parents and grandparents who volunteer in their child’s classroom! There have been many
events throughout the year that could not have happened without your continued support. We are all looking forward to the Ice
Cream Social in a few weeks ~ always a fun event at Deerwood.
K OWALSKI ’ S U PDATE
We appreciate your continued support of the Kowalski’s Groceries for Good Causes fundraiser. By simply putting your
Kowalski’s receipts in the Deerwood box, we have earned over $1,000 this year for our school!
Please encourage your friends and neighbors to support us and place their receipts in Deerwood’s box. Remember, even the
receipts from the Starbucks located inside the store are accepted!
N EEDING H ELP W ITH D EERWOOD L ANDSCAPE OVER THE S UMMER !
During the summer months, we would like to try having families help keep the plant beds in front of Deerwood
weeded. If you would be willing to take a two-week period starting June 9th through August31st, please email Jen
Williams at jennywilliams@comcast.net
SOLOS PIZZA NIGHT ~ M AY 17 - 4:00-9:00 P . M .
Our pizza nights have been a big success this year and we've raised more than $1,500! Enjoy delicious pizza with other
Deerwood families. Bring in your flyer (sent home the day before) and our school will receive 30% of the sales. Remember
to write your teacher's name on the flyer because all students in the classroom with the most kids attending will win the pizza
trophy.
Money raised from April pizza night: $326
Winning classroom: Mrs. Schwartz....again! Her class has one just about every month all year long.
Can your classroom be the one to get the pizza trophy this time?
*Solos now offers a gluten free crust
I CE C REAM S OCIAL
Friday, May 20th
- 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Join us for our final social event of the year and eat some delicious ice cream with friends and family.
The Pink Cow ice cream truck will be selling treats and we will also have a "Build your own Sundae"
station in the gym. Our 5th graders will be helping with this event as a final send off before they go to
middle school.
New this year: Open Mic at the DW Ice Cream Social!
A team of fifth graders will soon be promoting the opportunity to read original works at this year’s Ice Cream Social. Students
in grades 2-5 will be encouraged to bring a favorite piece of writing they’ve done to read to our Deerwood
Community! Students will receive a flyer of information, but—so you know—sign-ups will be that evening. We hope
families will join us in celebrating some of the wonderful writing Deerwood students have done this year!
M AY 2016
P AGE 3
S PRING P LANT F UNDRAISER P ICK U P - M AY 13 - 2:30-5:30 P . M .
Spring is here and it is almost time to pick up your beautiful flowers and plants from our Gerten's fundraiser. As a reminder,
our plant sale pick up is Friday, May 13 and you may pick up your orders any time between 2:30-5:30 outside on the circle
sidewalk in front of the school weather permitting. If you are unable to pick up your order during this time, please make
arrangements for someone to pick up for you. It is impossible for us to store and care for your plants after the pick-up time.
V OLUNTEER I NFORMATION N EEDED FOR N EXT Y EAR
We are currently looking for names and email addresses for parents who will be willing to volunteer next year. There are
several events at Deerwood including book fairs, teacher buffets, winter and ice cream socials, family fun night and more and
they can't happen without parent participation.
If you would be willing to help at one event for one hour next year please contact Jen Williams at
jennywilliams@comcast.net so you can be added to a contact list and notified of volunteer opportunities starting next fall!
Thank you for your help!
2016-2017 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Listed below are the dates reserved for the 2016-2017 school year.
September 6
October 7
October 20-21
November 2
November 3
November 4
November 24-25
December 2
Dec. 26-January 2
January 16
January 20
February 8
February 8-9
February 9
February 10
February 20
March 10
March 27-31
April 21
May 29
June 6
First Day of School
Data Analysis Day for Teachers - NO SCHOOL
Teachers’ Convention - NO SCHOOL
Parent/Teacher Conferences (3:30-8:00 p.m.)
Parent/Teacher Conferences - (12:30-8:00 p.m.) NO SCHOOL
NO SCHOOL
Thanksgiving Break
Staff Development Day - NO SCHOOL
Winter Break - NO SCHOOL
The Deerwood Calendar/
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - NO SCHOOL
Handbook is published in the
Data Analysis Day for Teachers - NO SCHOOL
summer and parents will receive a
Parent/Teacher Conferences
copy on the first day of school.
Kindergarten Registration
Parent/Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL
NO SCHOOL
President’s Day - NO SCHOOL
Staff Development - NO SCHOOL
Spring Break - NO SCHOOL
Data Analysis Day for Teachers - NO SCHOOL
Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
Last Day of School for Elementary Students
P ARENT I NFORMATION M EETING T OPIC : “D EERWOOD D OUBLE D UTCH J UMP R OPING C LUB ”
Please join us for a parent information meeting on Tuesday, May 17, at 5:00, in the Deerwood Library. It’s fun, free, and full
of information! We will be highlighting our Deerwood Double Dutch Jump Roping Club that started this spring. Mrs.
Fischer will share with parents about our wonderful artist in residency experience as well. Come on out and see for yourself
what an amazing experience it was for the 37 students who participated in our first ever Double Dutch Jump Roping Club.
D EERWOOD N EWSLETTER
P AGE 4
T ESTING D ATES FOR 2016-2017 S CHOOL Y EAR
The following table details the testing initiatives many Deerwood students will be involved in during the 2015-2016 school
year. If you are scheduling a family vacation for next year, please try to schedule your trip around the following dates:
TEST
Summer Assessments
MAP (Fall Administration)
NNAT 2
CogAT:
MCA Reading
MCA Math
MCA Science
WHO
Grades K-5
Grades 2-5
Grades 1
Grades 3 & 5
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Grade 5
DATES
August 23-24
September-October
December
December
April-May
April-May
April-May
Definitions
MAP:
CogAT:
MCA:
Stands for Measures of Academic Progress. These computerized tests show academic growth in
reading and math over time.
A norm-referenced aptitude test, CogAT measures a student's inductive and deductive reasoning
abilities and capacities in verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative tasks. Scores on this assessment reflect a student's ability to identify relationships and demonstrate flexible thinking.
Stands for Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. These state mandated tests measure student
performance relative to state-defined standards in reading, mathematics, and science.
NNAT 2:
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (second edition)—NNAT2 uses progressive matrices to allow
for a culturally neutral evaluation of students’ nonverbal reasoning and general problem-solving
ability, regardless of the individual student’s primary language, education, culture or socioeco-
2016-2017 S CHOOL Y EAR
As we move closer to the end of the school year, staffing plans are being made for the 2016-2017 school year. Though many
of the grade levels and support services will look much the same for next year, there will possibly be some new faces placed at
different grade levels or departments at Deerwood. There still could be changes made over the summer months so it is
difficult to make any official announcements at this time.
It is always challenging to predict how many students will be moving in or out of the Deerwood attendance area by next fall.
For this reason, there still could be some changes made over the summer months. With anticipated changes, preparing class
lists will be difficult and it will be impossible to honor all student placement requests.
The staffing decisions made each year depend on the needs at each grade level. The goal is always to try and keep class size as
low as possible, however, with limited funds it can be a juggling act. Sometimes you have to prioritize your decisions based on
the age and numbers at each of the grade levels. Administrators often will try to keep primary class sizes (K-2) lower than
intermediate (3-5) classrooms.
Also, any financial support given to us through the Deerwood Booster Club is not targeted for any one particular grade level.
These funds are typically used towards the grade level with the greatest need at the time.
N O S CHOOL - M AY 30, 2016 - M EMORIAL D AY
M AY 2016
P AGE 5
D EERWOOD A FTER S CHOOL D OUBLE D UTCH C LUB P HOTOS !
S PRING T RACK AND F IELD D ATES
By Amy Fischer, Grades K-5 Phy. Ed.
Rachel Campion, Grades K-2 Phy. Ed.
Mark your calendars for the following Track and Field dates.
5th grade - Monday, May 9 - 9:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
This event is held at the Eagan High School Stadium.
(Alternate date, May 16)
Grade 2, 3 & 4 - Friday, May 27 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Grade K-1 - Friday, May 27 12:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Please mark your calendars for these Track and Field dates. Volunteers will be needed for all events and spectators are
always welcome! Please contact me at amy.fischer@district196.org, if interested. A letter will be sent home the second week
of May.
D EERWOOD N EWSLETTER
P AGE 6
2016 EAGAN ARBOR DAY POSTER CONTEST AND TREE PLANTING
Deerwood third graders participated in a City of Eagan Arbor Day poster contest during the month of April, and the winners
of the poster contest were announced on April 26.
1st place : Emma Matzek
2nd place: Addison Schafer
3rd place: Avery Thomsen
Gregg Hove, City of Eagan forester, visited with Deerwood third graders twice this spring. On his first visit, Mr. Hove talked
about the poster contest and about trying to control the Emerald Ash Borer’s presence in Eagan.
On his second visit, the poster contest winners were announced, and his team planted a maple tree on the Deerwood Campus
in recognition of Arbor Day. The staked tree can be found near the pond at the entrance of Deerwood’s driveway. Look to
your left as you drive onto the Deerwood campus.
All third grade and fourth students received small trees to take home in celebration of Arbor Day.
Thank you to the City of Eagan and Bachman’s for the beautiful maple tree!
District 196 School Board Members
Jackie Magnuson, Chairperson
Gary Huusko, Vice Chairperson
Joel Albright, Clerk
Bob Schutte, Treasurer
Mike Roseen, Director
Art Coulson, Director
M AY 2016
P AGE 7
DW W ORDMASTERS T EAM R ESULTS
Deerwood once again competed in WordMasters. The WordMasters Challenge™ is a vocabulary competition based on completing
analogies. Meets are held three times per year and our top ten scorers’ sum is our team’s score each meet. Students receive a list of 25
vocabulary words a few months before each meet. Those words are used in the analogies and the lists are cumulative; Meet 3 has 75
words to review! Our school registered a 5th Grade Blue Level team and opened up team membership to interested third, fourth or fifth
graders. Deerwood had NINETY-THREE students who signed up for our team! We are really proud of these students who chose to
take a risk and learn new words!
Below are our Top Ten Scorers for each meet. We congratulate them on their accomplishment! Awards will be presented to our over-all
Top Ten at Deerwood’s Awards Day in June.
In the end, though, all of us who learned are the winners. LEARNING IS WINNING
S UMMER C AMP P ROPEL P ROGRAM AT G LACIER H ILLS E LEMENTARY
Camp Propel, formerly known as our Summer Academy, is a three week program that will run from July 25 through
August 11. This year classes will be held at Glacier Hills Elementary.
The goal for Camp Propel is to improve student achievement by increasing attendance and moving the experience closer to the
school year. We want to strengthen programming and provide more consistency across the district. Aligning curriculum with
upcoming units of study in Science and Social Studies will essentially provide our students a jump-start to the school year,
hence the name Camp Propel.
The Camp Propel is designed for students needing extra assistance in math and/or reading in grades K-4. (5th grade classes
will be held at Black Hawk Middle School or other home middle school at a different time.) The classes will meet Monday
through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Busing is provided.
The goals of our summer program are:
~ to improve student reading, writing and math skills.
~ to increase student skill retention over the summer break.
Studies indicate that many students benefit from an extended school year. We will expect students who enroll in Camp
Propel to attend every day. If you are not able to commit to this, then this program may not be for you. Consistency is an
important component of learning.
We are targeting students whom the staff feels would most benefit from the experience. If you have questions regarding this
program, you may talk to your child's teacher or call the front office.
Other questions regarding our summer school program can be directed to JoAnn Jurgens at 651-683-6801.
P AGE 8
D EERWOOD N EWSLETTER