Welcome to December!

Greetings and Happy December!

What a great fall season we had in Minneota!  I enjoyed watching our students compete at the state level in both Volleyball and Football!  Our students represented our school and community well and served as excellent role models for our younger Vikings!  

Here are some news and notes for the high school as we approach the home stretch of the first semester:  

• We are making progress on our school website.  There are many pages to be finished yet but we are making definite progress!  Check out our Special Education, ECFE, and Testing pages...they were recently completed.

• Soon, we'll be surveying high school students to see if there are electives they'd like to see offered here at Minneota High School.  We are working to compile a list for them to look at and will be sending that out to them very soon.  As a school, I feel its important to get their opinion before planning begins for the 2018-2019 school year. 

• With having one-to-one technology here at school comes the responsibility of our teachers, tech department, and administration to make sure students are using it correctly and ultimately staying on task.  We use LanSchool here in Minneota (many districts do) to make sure students are staying engaged and on task during school hours.  You can check it out here: https://www.lenovosoftware.com/lanschool All teachers have this program loaded onto their computers and are supposed to be checking on their students from time to time to ensure students aren't playing games/watching movies, etc.  It really has become part of a teacher's classroom management responsibility.  Once students leave the building, they've left our server, which means that students have the ability to play games, watch Netflix, etc.  It also means all the sites we have blocked here are NOT blocked on the school-issued device when it is off campus.  Monitoring computer usage responsibilities fall to the parents after school hours.  Students are required to stay off of inappropriate websites (think R-Rated) even when outside of school when using a school-issued device, however, we can't actually block those sites when the computer is off campus.  You can always refer to the One-to-One Handbook for more details or contact me if you have questions.  It's good to check in on what your child is doing online from time to time to make sure they are making good decisions.  

• Our High School Announcements can be found on the front of our school website.  They are "real time" which means they are updated as information is given to us!  If you are interested , check-in frequently to stay up to date! 

• Junior Parents:  Please look for information regarding our upcoming ACT prep course (to be sent out in January)

• If you've attended a home girls' basketball game, you've noticed that the Pep Band has moved.  Mr. Voit, Mr. Myrvik, and myself met and decided to try it for the winter sports season.  There are several advantages: 1) Parents can actually watch their children participate in pep band 2) All students are together (band/non band) to create a bigger student section 3) There is more room for parents/Minneota adults to sit.  So far the change has worked well! 

• One of the new trends in education is to use Twitter for professional development.  Our teachers will be learning more about it in the near future.  It's a great way to get new ideas or to stay current with best practices! 

• Is there a teacher who you feel is doing a fantastic job with your child?  Take a moment to call or e-mail them a "thanks" for the work they do!  It will mean a lot to them.  

Some Important Dates/Events:

• December 6 - Scheduled Grade Check
• December 7 - High School Concert
• December 8 - Hats for Helping
• December 21 - Last day of Semester 1

I want to wish all of our Minneota Viking parents and community a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  It's been a great first half of the school year!  Enjoy your holiday season!