Como Park Senior High Newsletter

Prefer a language other than English? You can open the newsletter link and click the button on the top to have it translated into many different languages. Please know that the translation function may be inaccurate or incomplete. If you have any questions, please call us at 651-293-8800.

For Karen, Somali, Hmong, and Spanish, click here.

March

21-Late work is due

25- CIS Writing Studio Field Day @ U of M 8:30-2:30

26-29-10,000 Lakes Robotics Tournament

28- End of Quarter 3

30-Apr 1- HOSA State Leadership Conference

31-Apr 4- Spring Break

April

2-5- Granite City Robotics Tournament

7- Family Engagement Meeting 6:00

8- Booster Club Meeting- 6:30-8:00

10- Incoming Freshmen Night- 5:00-7:00

14- Education Pathway Field Trip 8:30-3:00

15- SPPS Honors Concert @ Ordway

16- College and Career Trade Fair 9:00-12:00

17- Vertical Endeavors Climbing Field Trip 8:55-12:15

18- No School (Professional Development)

Please check out our upcoming athletic events: https://sppscomoparkhighschool.rschoolteams.com/

Family Engagement Meeting

Monday, April 7th

6:00 PM

Virtual through Google Meet

Google Meet joining info

https://meet.google.com/fyk-fddn-tiy

Or dial: +​1​ ​7​2​7​-​9​9​9​-​4​7​6​1 PIN: 3​5​0​ ​5​3​4​ ​3​5​6​#

Join us for a meeting with parents and our principal and assistant principals. Our agenda will include:

- Budget for school year 2025-2026

- AP Testing

- Bilingual Seals Test

- 3DE this year and next year

- Family Fun Night

- Parent feedback, suggestions, comments, and concerns

Our annual Family Fun Night event is approaching and we need volunteers to help make it a success! Please consider volunteering for a shift. You can enjoy the activities, participate in the raffles, and take advantage of the FREE food. Your help is appreciated. Please sign up here.

Are you interested in traveling with Como in 2026 or 2027? Come to the Parent Interest Meeting on April 25th from 6:00-7:00 in room 1224 - during Family Fun Night. We will talk about safety, pricing, and our upcoming tours: Language, Art and Architecture in Spain, Service Learning in Thailand, Shakespeare's England/Paris, and Soccer in Italy.

JUNIORS AND SENIORS

Sign up and pay for your prom tickets using the QR code or link:

Como Park High School Prom 2025 - Class Registration v3.0 - Saint Paul Public Schools

ATTENTION SENIORS!

Please make sure that your first and last names are spelled correctly in Campus as that will be the name put on your diploma. THE DEADLINE FOR NAME CHANGES ON SENIOR DIPLOMAS IS APRIL 7TH, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Contact Maria Silva at maria.silva@spps.org if there are any misspellings.Thank you.

GRADUATION TICKET REQUEST AND GRADUATION POLICIES

PLEASE COMPLETE GRADUATION TICKET FORM BY MARCH 27, 2025: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSTBZZ3D3KjJ9syj9eLR_rMSU5eYgwP9wuc6W_wEhvrIcH3w/viewform?usp=header

SPPS Graduation Policies and Guidance

Help provide great memories for our seniors!

Link also provided: https://www.givemn.org/story/Comoseniors

If you have any questions or need support, please contact your student’s counselor:

9th-12th (Alphabetical by last name):

A-Fr Holly Moser, holly.moser@spps.org, 651-744-4664, (https://calendly.com/holly-moser)

Fu-Ma Kia Thao, kia.thao@spps.org, 651-744-8170 (https://calendly.com/msthao)

Mc-Reh Farah Abuqalbeen, farah.abuqalbeen@spps.org, 651-744-1141 (https://calendly.com/farah1)

Rei-Z Choua Vang, choua2.vang@spps.org, (https://calendly.com/choua2-vang)

The CPC is Open! The Career Pathway Center (CPC) at Como is open Monday-Thursday from 9:00am-4:00pm in room 1304 (across from the Counselor’s Office). Students can email Ms. Aisha (amohamed.ach@spps.org), check out the Career Pathway Center website, drop into the CPC, or sign up for an appointment! for information on student career opportunities, college planning, and scholarships and check out the Como Park page under “Student” and then “Career Pathway Center”.

For the latest updates from the counseling department and the Como Career Pathway Center, click here.

U of M Twin Cities PSEO Virtual Information Session

• Wednesday, March 26: 5:30–6:30 p.m. (Zoom)

• Session info and registration: z.umn.edu/pseoinfo

• Join via Zoom to hear from current students and program staff about the U of M Twin Cities PSEO program and the 2025-26 academic year admissions process.

Get Ready Student Success Scholarship

Parents/Guardians,

Get Ready, a federally funded program through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, is providing 1-year scholarships ranging from $1000 - $2,000 to students that are graduating in the spring of 2025, and are enrolled in a Minnesota 4-year or 2-year college or a certification program.

The purpose of the Get Ready Student Success Scholarship is to support our students while they pursue their postsecondary pathway after graduating high school, and persist in their program.

Applications will be accepted from March 3 – April 18, 2025.

For more information or apply, visit the scholarship website at: https://www.getready.state.mn.us/gPg.cfm?pageID=2561

Students from Ms. Myhre's CIS 1301 University Writing class visited Mrs. Halvorson's third grade class at Como Elementary on Monday, March 10th. The students were paired up and exchanged pieces they wrote. The high school students wrote about a lesson they learned, and the third graders wrote about what they thought high school was like. It was a great experience for everyone!

On Friday, March 14, Education Pathway students from the Multicultural Approaches to Education course volunteered with 5th graders from Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy and L'Etoile du Nord French Immersion School at their BizTown experience at Junior Achievement. Como Park High School volunteers helped the 5th graders as they ran their businesses, perfected their personal finance skills, and worked hard at being excellent BizTown citizens. We are looking forward to our upcoming field trips to visit the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato and to volunteer in classrooms at Como Park Elementary School.

The Como Park Athletic Department is excited to announce our 2025 Athena Award winner, Ava Lopez! The St. Paul Area Athena Awards program honors outstanding female high school senior student-athletes from St. Paul and suburban public and independent high schools for their athletic achievements. The award is based on excellence in individual sports or for participation and accomplishments in team sports. Below are a few of Ava's accomplishments during her sports career as a Cougar.

Girls Soccer

• 5-Time Varsity Letter Recipient

• 2-Time All-Conference Award

• All Conference Honorable Mention

• All State Award

• 2-Time Team Captain

• 2-Time Team MVP

• 2-Time Stars of the Cities All Star Game Participant

• Senior Classic Participant

Girls Basketball

• Varsity Letter Recipient

• 3rd Place Finisher in the Class AAA State Tournament

Last week, Como had a three-day visit from music faculty at CAYO - an organization whose mission is to support, educate, and empower students, teachers, and audiences in the US and Cuba through music. They visited Ms. Deiman's class to talk about Cuban culture and taught a salsa dancing lesson. They also taught some traditional Cuban music to Ms. Miller's orchestra class and performed a brief concert as a string quartet. The students found it to be an insightful and eye-opening experience!

We hosted our first ever, Como Career Trades Showcase on March 3rd!!

Representatives from Kraus Anderson, MN Trades Academy, the Finishing Trades, Carpenters and the Pipefitters-Steamfitters were here to give our students firsthand knowledge of various careers, as well as hands-on activities!

Winter Cadet Leadership Camp. Amongst everything else happening, Sixty-Eight (68) of our cadets embarked upon our annual Minneswota Winter Cadet Leadership Camp up North, don't ya know, on Camp Ripley's National Guard Base. Miles of day and night rigorous ruck hikes, Raider Training, Miniature Obstacle Course Challenge, Armed Drill, Unarmed Drill, Core Knowledge, Both Active Duty and Veteran guest speakers, fire watch, winter skills training, winter overnight bivouacked training, MRE's, and finally our Combat Tubing event at Mt. Ski Gull. Remarkably all of it was envisioned, planned, and orchestrated by Thirteen (13) Cadet Senior Staff Members. So well-orchestrated, you'd think it was a real Active-Duty Marine Corps unit training side by side the thousands of other service members aboard Ripley this past weekend. Remember that classic moment on slip-n-slide hamburger hill at night on our Night Hike alongside the Canadians. Ooh Rah! Semper Fidelis.

Hmong American Partnership – HAP (March 2025)

Main Arcade office

1075 Arcade Street (Arcade and Magnolia – a few blocks south of Maryland)

Saint Paul, MN 55106

(also have an office in the Hmong Village) Contact us at 651-495-9160 or by email askHAP@hmong.org.

HAP opened in 1990 to help provide basic needs to the Hmong community. Since then, it has grown to offer all sorts of services to the broader SE Asian community (and beyond) in three main program areas:

Community Impact

· Navigation and Access Services (connecting with health insurance, SNAP benefits and other county services, Covid 19 information and supports)

· Empowerment Services (supports around chemical health, health and wellness, sexual violence)

o Sexual violence curriculum based around establishing safe relationships, safety planning, goal setting

· Educational Services (currently mostly through the Community School of Excellence BUT interested in discussing other opportunities)

· Small basic needs pantry

OIC Training (Opportunities Industrialization Centers)

· Customize Job Training (health care, transportation, manufacturing, information technology)

· Employment Services (placement services through MN Family Investment Program, career success classes)

· Courses offered on a semester schedule; information sessions held frequently; fees are based on sliding scale; open to all; 16 and up (depending on field)

Economic Prosperity

· Business Development

· Lending and Financial Services

· Wealth Management

Upcoming events/activities

Thursday, May 8th, 2025, 4 – 7pm

Radiate: A Wellbeing Fair in Celebration of APIA Heritage Month

Free Family Event

HAP (1075 Arcade St., St. Paul, MN 55106)

· Prizes

· Reiki sessions

· COVID vaccination

· Heart screenings and more!

For program services and opportunities, click here.

Also in Karen and Spanish.