Como Park Senior High Newsletter
February 13, 2026
- Students should be in their classes to ensure safety and learning.
- Students who are not in class and caught in a hall sweep will have their cell phone taken for the remainder of the day.
- Cell phones can only be used before and after school, during passing time, and during lunch.
Como Community,
CPHS's Robotics Team BEASTBOT is expanding, improving and getting more and better tools and equipment for its shop. We need some medium to small metal or wooden shelves to store parts on. Imagine a shelf in a car parts store. If you are cleaning out your garage or basement and found the shelves that grandpa stored nuts and bolts on and would like to donate this to Como Robotics please email michael.fischer@spps.org or call 651-744-1919 to arrange for us to pick up the shelves. Looking for smaller shelves not the large shelving to store storage bins. Thank you.
February Question of the Month
What would help your child do better in school? Please help us gather feedback by completing this form: https://forms.gle/9MHGM5VNXArzRQeAA
Parent Engagement Meeting
When: Monday March 2nd
Time: 6:00 PM
Where: Como Park Senior High School room 1208
Agenda:
-SCIP (School Continuous Improvement Plan)
-Mutual Aid at Como
-Question of the Month: What can we do to engage more families from our community?
Parent meetings are open to all parents. Please bring any topics, questions, or concerns to the meeting or email Jamie.hoffman@spps.org. Thank you.
Your Adventure Awaits—Don’t Miss Out!
We’d love for you to be part of this incredible journey! But here’s something important: tour prices will increase on January 1st. Enrolling now means:
- Locking in the current lower price before the increase
- More time to pay, making monthly payments easier
- Utilize the holidays to help pay off your tour balance!
The holidays are the perfect time to make this happen—share your fundraising page with family and friends and let them help you give yourself the ultimate gift: travel and adventure. Instead of physical presents, invite loved ones to contribute toward your dream trip!
Don’t wait—prices go up soon, and spots are filling fast. Enroll today!
Spain 2026: www.eftours.com/2786073EZ
The Alps and the Mediterranean Coast 2027: www.eftours.com/2945484TC
PSEO WORKSHOP
Students are you interested in learning more about PSEO and how you can earn free college credit? Please join the counselors on February 18th during club in the library for a PSEO workshop.
Advanced Placement (AP) Exams May 4- May 15
Remember...
Arrive on time
No leaving early
NO PHONES OR YOUR SCORE WILL BE CANCELLED
Direct any questions you have to your student's AP teacher or the AP coordinator (amelia.feest@spps.org)
Minnesota Teacher of the Year Candidates
Eight teachers from SPPS are candidates for Minnesota Teacher of the Year and two of them are at Como Park Senior High School!
-Eric Erickson (Social Studies Teacher)
-Allison Hartzell (English Teacher)
Our school community is honored to have both of you at Como Park! Congratulations!
‘Teaching as You’re Feeling’: St. Paul Teachers Share Their Classroom Realities
An elementary and a HS educator on who's in school and who isn't, online learning, the value of friends and routine, kids' fears — and their own.
Check out this article featuring our own social studies teacher, Mr. Erickson.
Como Park Grad Has No Regrets
In her freshman season at Wisconsin, 5’2” guard Ronnie Porter from St. Paul scored her season-high seven points against the Gophers. Last season as a senior she poured in a career-high 23 points vs. Minnesota.
For the full article about our Como alumna Ronnie Porter (daughter of our very own Girls' Basketball Coach Olonda England) can be found here: https://spokesman-recorder.com/2026/02/01/ronnie-porter-williams-arena/
MCJROTC NEWS
MCJROTC Fellowship. Young cadet men growing up in the United States today confront an untiring array of threats and temptations which undermine their identity, confidence, masculinity, and perseverance in accomplishing worthy mission(s). The social and political climate of our country is also plagued with confusion and division. Today our Como Park MCJROTC male cadets spent a few hours together, asking hard questions, confessing weaknesses, casting a vision, finding common ground, which inspired us to become authentic. Today guest adult Mentors convened a young men’s fellowship/symposium at Como Park Senior High School that strives to encourage young men to pursue a life of integrity, adventure, mission, and relational wisdom in order to enrich our neighborhoods and nation. Our Mentors refined 45-minute workshops inside several schools break out rooms that focused on many young man topics through our Mentors wisdom about sacrifice, setting boundaries, relationships with women, overcoming hardship, and what makes men different from women. Prizes and delicious chow rounded off a great day for all. OOH RAH!
MCJROTC Food Drive🍞. Juniors developed and orchestrated a plan to help those fellow cadet families who may be in need from our program during these uncertain times in our city. Purchased, packed, and delivered bags of grocery n goods they needed. Pure sign of unselfishness. Thank you.
In honor of the upcoming winter Olympics and cheer on American athletes, cadets are out training in the frigid outdoor Minneswota weather. Outdoor pugil stick training for our Cross decker/Reserve cadets. Snow shoe races for the freshman Delta Company Cadets. OOH RAH & Get Some!
Thank you, CDH Army JROTC, for hosting the annual Saint Paul Upper Midwest JROTC Competition again this school year. The UMJC encourages the maximum integration of 9th grade cadets in the competitor-friendly nature of the UMJC. Cadets Unit Leaders John Yang, Walter Banos, and Joshua Klett from Como Park were able to fair well competing in Color Guard, Academics, and Physical Fitness events this year. OOH RAH.
Free Summer Camp Program for Children Impacted by a Parent’s Cancer
Our camp will run from August 9th-August 14th. Camp will be held at Camp Koronis (15752 Co Rd 181, Paynesville MN 56362) which is located about an hour and a half northwest of the Twin Cities. Camp is staffed and managed by student volunteers from the University of Minnesota along with nurses, mental health professionals, and a representative from our national organization.
Our camper registration opened to the public on December 16th, and we want to be sure that any families you know of that could benefit from our program have a chance to register. All of our applications are available online, and the instructions on how to sign up for camp can be found below. Please note that our application is available in both English and Spanish, and we would be happy to also provide you with a hard copy paper application if you work with families who prefer that to online.
Registration information:
To apply, families can simply visit our website using this link. There, they can find more information about camp dates, locations, and activities under the University of Minnesota drop down. To apply, they simply need to click the blue “Register for Kesem Programs” button in the top right corner of the drop down and fill out the online form. The form takes about 20 minutes to complete, and must be finished in one sitting. This link will also take you directly to the registration website if there is any trouble with the national website.
Also, we are having an event soon that new/interested families are encouraged to join!
Our Friends and Family day events are an amazing time for new families to come check out University of Minnesota Kesem, see what we are all about, and chat with some of our student leaders to see if Kesem is a good fit for them. This spring, our friends and family day event is being held on February 28th from 1:30-3:30 at Dave and Buster's in Edina. Families are able to register through the same links as camp registration, and if they have any questions or would like more information about this event, please send them our email (minnesota.outreach@kesem.org).
