News and events

October 4, 2026

Our Character Strong trait for September is RESPONSIBILITY. Check out what each grade level is working on:

• Kindergarten

• First Grade

• Second Grade

• Third Grade

• Fourth Grade

• Fifth Grade

Hello Hoover Families,

Welcome to October! The weather is cooler (though we may still get those warm summer days here and there), and our students and staff are focused and intentional in our learning and in doing our school jobs. A change for this school year: Starting this month, I will send monthly Smore Hoover Family Updates (instead of weekly ones).

What does that mean?

• The monthly newsletter may be longer and include more information that covers the whole month.
• Please take some time to review the content.
• Important updates or special event reminders may go out throughout the month.
• You can always return to the monthly newsletter to review the information shared.
• Classroom teachers will still share their weekly peeks with information pertaining to their class/grade level.

Best,

Mrs. Strusz

P.S. - Did you know that you can access all of our Hoover Family Updates Smore Newsletter on our school website at https://hoover.ahschools.us/about-us/news? Scroll down to the bottom and locate the E-newsletter archive for this year and previous years' newsletters.

• Monday, October 5 - CRFD Fire Safety Assemblies
• Tuesday, October 6 - PTO Dining Night @ Chipotle (4-8pm)
• Thursday, October 8 - Trapper, Therapy Dog, Onsite
• Thursday, October 8 - Gr 2 & 3 Family Welcome Night
• Monday, October 12 - Indigenous Peoples' Day
• Tuesday, October 13 - PTO Meeting (in-person or virtual option - meet.google.com/akx-bbpm-vbj)
• Wednesday, October 14 - Last Day for PTO Fall Fundraiser
• Thursday, October 15 - Friday, October 16 - NO SCHOOL - MEA
• Monday, October 19 - Playworks/Coach T Onsite
• Wednesday, October 21 - Trapper, Therapy Dog, Onsite
• Thursday, October 22 - Trapper, Therapy Dog, Onsite
• Thursday, October 22 - Fall Conferences (4:30-8:30 - more info will be shared)
• Friday, October 23 - PTO Fall Family Dance
• Monday, October 26 - NO SCHOOL for Elementary Students - Staff PD Day and Fall Conferences
• Tuesday, October 27 - PTO Dining Night @ Noodles & Company
• Friday, October 30 - Fall Celebration/Parties - In classrooms

We sent copies of the RSVP forms home with our 2nd and 3rd grade students. If you would still like to attend, please complete the form and send it back or email your student's teacher to let them know. We hope to see as many of our 2nd & 3rd grade families in attendance for a night of learning, fun activities, and food!

Fall conferences are coming up. Information and directions will be sent out via paper with students soon. You can also view the directions below. Fall conferences this year take place on the following days:

• Thursday, October 22nd from 4:30-8:30 pm
• Virtual Option from 7:30-8:30 pm
• Monday, October 26th from 2:00-4:00 pm and 4:30-8:30 pm
• Virtual Option from 7:30-8:30 pm

DIRECTIONS TO SIGN UP (Will be open to sign up on Wednesday, October 7th)

1. Go to www.Myconferencetime.com/Hoover
2. Click on the name of your student's teacher (if you need multiple conferences, click on the link 'Register for Multiple Time Slots')
3. Select the desired date/time for your conference by clicking ‘Sign Up’
4. All conferences are in-person EXCEPT FOR what is stated above.
5. Click ‘Sign Up’
6. After you schedule a conference on-line, the date and time are reserved for you. If you entered your email address correctly, you will receive an email reminder a few days prior to your conference.

Please reach out to your student's teacher with questions.

• Elementary Contest Rules
• Contest Rules Video

Hoover Elementary & Hoover PTO are excited for our fall fundraiser!

We’re raising funds to create an Indoor Recess Cart stocked with games, puzzles, books, crafts, STEM activities, and other fun resources for our students. Your support will help give kids engaging ways to play, create, explore, and connect when outdoor recess isn’t an option. Every donation brings us closer to making indoor recess fun for everyone!

Event Kickoff: Thursday, September 24, at our Back-to-School Bingo Event.

Event Close: October 14

Hoover Elementary would like to honor our Veterans. We invite any family members who have served to attend our Veterans Day Celebration. Save the date - Wednesday, November 11th. More information will be shared soon.

8.26.26 - This summer Hoover Elementary tried something new. We invited our students who applied (and were chosen) to be Junior Recess Coaches to a mini camp in August. This camp was co-hosted by Coach Travis from Playworks and Ms. Watson. The students learned recess leadership strategies, games, and were celebrated for their active leadership at Hoover. Click here for pictures.

9.8.26 Our first day back to school for the 2026-2027 school year welcomed back all of our students, staff and families. AND some special guests as well. Governor Walz and Commissioner of Education Jett, along with many district leaders, state leaders and the press all got to see our amazing Hoover students showing off how to do school #thehooverway. Click here for pictures.

9.8.26-9.11.26 - In Explorations, first graders kicked off their plant unit with hands-on observations of plants outside and planting their own seeds in the Explorations room. Click here for pictures.

9.14.26 - Our Junior Coaches are off to a strong start supporting younger grades in engaged play and recess joy! It was rainy day, so there was additional coaching support for rainy/cold days where it has to be indoor recess.

9.15.26 - The teachers are loving getting to know all of our fourth and fifth graders, and it has been a great start to the school year! It was great to see so many families at welcome night! We enjoyed watching students have fun playing games, and we are thankful to everyone who listened to our presentations full of important details about 4th grade and 5th grade. Click here for pictures. If you weren’t able to attend:

• Gr 4 Slides Presentations
• Gr 5 Slides Presentations

9.24.26 - Once again, we had another amazing turn out for our first PTO event and fundraiser kick-off. Thank you to our wonderful PTO crew for working so hard to bring these opportunities to our school. Please consider volunteering and helping out where you are able to so we can continue with these fun events. Click here for pictures.

9.28.26-10.2.26

• Twinning Day
• CRHS Varsity Football Guest Readers
• Dress for the Wrong Occasion

9.30.26 - Hoover Elementary in partnership with North Star Therapy Animals, will be participating in reading activities throughout the school year. This first visit was with Ms. Green's classroom. Click here for pictures.

• Trapper the Therapy Dog Parent Information

As the school year gets underway, we want to share a couple of quick reminders to help us keep our students safe, healthy, and supported.

• Injury Notifications If your student is injured off school grounds—whether before/after school or over the weekend—please reach out to our health office and their classroom teacher via phone, email, or Reach My Teach. Young students aren't always able to fully explain what happened or what hurts, so hearing directly from you helps our staff document the injury and provide the right support throughout the day.

• Illness & Staying Home With cold and flu season starting, please keep your student home if they have a fever or have vomited. Students must be fever-free and symptom-free (without vomiting) for 24 hours—without the use of fever-reducing medication—before returning to school.
• Wondering if your child is well enough to come to school? Click here for more information.
• If your child goes to the doctor or dentist, please request a doctor's note and send it with your child for attendance purposes.

Please send an extra pair of pants and underwear for your child in case there is an accident (bathroom, breakfast/lunch spill, etc.). The health office loves donations of gently used sweatpants and leggings sizes 5-10. We also appreciate new packs of underwear for boys and girls sizes 5-10.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep our school community safe and healthy! If you have any questions, you can reach out to:

• Dar Anderson, Health Office Para, at Darlene.Anderson@ahschools.us
• Michelle Erickson, School Nurse at Michelle.Erickson@ahschools.us

Hello from your Volunteer Services Coordinator! We are thankful for the 79 volunteers registered into our database. We had 268 last year, and are hoping TODAY is the day you join us! For the month of September, we had 22 volunteers that gifted Hoover over 165 hours, and that means the world to us.

When you complete the Volunteer Application and consent for a criminal background check, it makes you eligible to engage with the school on a more personal level by being able to volunteer in classrooms, chaperone field trips, work with the PTO (think Back to School Bingo, Fall Dance, Carnival, and Track and Field Day), or volunteer to help teachers by doing work room projects, or reshelving library books. Volunteering is a great way to get to know Hoover better, get to know your child and their teachers better as well. Getting your application early reduces barriers for not being able to join.

Thanks again to the PTO for leading Back to School Bingo! It was great to fill our gym with families, and start the kick off to fundraising $10,000 for indoor recess supplies. Thank you to our young adults that have been volunteering with Back to School Bingo, and the members of the Coon Rapids Cardinals Football team. It is the greatest gift to give back, and it brings us joy to see you here and giving back. Its #thehooverway Thank you to our volunteers that helped School Picture Day run smoothly.

It takes less than 2 minutes to complete the application: https://app.betterimpact.com/Application?OrganizationGuid=dea213fd-f64a-4f91-a11e-927011a8f073&ApplicationFormNumber=1

Book Fair 10/22 & 10/26 (need two more volunteers)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-65758613-book

October 23rd School Dance (need many volunteers)
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-65914786-hoover

As always, reach out with any questions. Beth Berzelius at Beth.Berzelius@ahschools.us.

Hoover PTO would love to increase participation! ALL parents/guardians are welcome to join our PTO. Please check them out on the Hoover PTO Facebook page and like/follow them to learn more about what's going on! PTO also has a website with additional information. Please bookmark our PTO's website and check it for updates.

Also, please like/follow our Hoover Elementary Facebook page too!

• Stay in your car and keep pulling forward - follow the staff's direction.
• Have students exit/enter your vehicles on the passenger/sidewalk side to avoid walking in the parking lot. I know this part is not easy because of many factors (other children in the car/car seats, etc.), but it is very important for safety.
• Please park first in the parking lot if you want to walk your student to/from the main door. Do not exit your car while in the drop-off/pick-up line. Do not have your student cross traffic to walk to you in the parking lot.
• When exiting the parking lot during arrival/dismissal times, please ONLY TURN RIGHT. This keeps traffic flowing smoothly and allows staff to direct traffic safely.
• THANK YOU for your help with this process and for keeping our students and staff safe!

For our families who access our before/afterschool childcare program, Adventures Plus (A+), please review the following procedures and inform friends/family members that may be dropping off/picking up for you throughout the school year:

• Park in the provided parking lot spaces when dropping off or picking up your student
• DO NOT park along the curb and peninsula; these are fire lanes (painted yellow), and vehicles can not park here unattended
• A+ families have their own access to enter the building provided by A+; if friends/families are picking up students at the end of the day, they need your access
• Our office staff will not be able to let them in
• A+ staff will have to come check in to ensure there's been communication for the pick-up

Another option is to go to https://www.boxtops4education.com/ to learn more about downloading the app to scan receipts for box tops for Hoover Elementary.