Thankful Hearts, Growing Minds

Dear Minto School Families and Community,

As we enter November, I am reminded of how much there is to be thankful for at Minto Public School. The fall months have been filled with learning, activities, achievements, and opportunities for our students to grow both inside and outside the classroom. I am proud of the hard work our students demonstrate each day and grateful for our teachers, staff, and families who help make our school such a special place.

As we approach Veterans Day, we also take time to recognize and thank the men and women who have served our country. Their courage, sacrifice, and commitment remind us of the importance of service and the freedoms we enjoy.

November brings the transition toward winter and the busy holiday season. As the weather changes, please remember to ensure students come to school dressed appropriately for colder temperatures. We want all students to be safe, comfortable, and ready to learn throughout the school day.

From our school family to yours, I wish you a wonderful November filled with gratitude, happiness, and time spent with those who matter most.

Sincerely,

Shane Robinson

🎒 Every Day Counts!

Regular attendance is one of the most important things families can do to support their child’s success. Being at school each day gives students the opportunity to learn new skills, participate in classroom activities, build friendships, and stay connected with their teachers and classmates. Even missing a few days can make it more difficult for students to keep up with learning and classroom routines.

We understand that children will occasionally be sick or need to be absent for other important reasons. When your child is going to be absent, please contact the school as soon as possible and follow our school’s attendance procedures for reporting the absence. Prompt communication helps us keep accurate attendance records and ensures we know that your child is safe.

We also encourage families to make being on time a priority. Arriving on time allows students to start their day calmly, be prepared to learn, and avoid missing important morning instruction and classroom routines.

Thank you for making school attendance a priority and partnering with us to help every student have a successful school year! ❤️

Every Day. Every Student. Every Opportunity to Learn.

For upcoming events, please visit the following tab for our event calendar. This link is up-to-date and will have any changes from the picture above.

For Individual Class Field Trips - Teachers will share with parents through Seesaw.

Dear Families,

We know technology plays a growing role in students’ lives — whether it’s A.I., texting, gaming, or simply hearing about social media and devices from friends or siblings. That’s why we take a thoughtful, age-appropriate approach to helping students build healthy, high-character habits they can carry into any situation, both online and offline.

We are excited to announce that our district has launched a partnership with The Social Institute (TSI), a leader in empowering students, families, and educators to navigate their learning and well-being – including A.I., social media, and devices – in healthy ways.

No matter your child’s current tech use — whether they use devices and apps regularly or are just beginning to ask questions — the resources offered through this partnership are designed to be flexible and family-friendly.

As your child’s school, we’re honored to be your partner on this journey. We understand that each household has its own values and approach to technology — and we fully respect that. This program is not about prescribing rules or parenting strategies. It’s about offering ideas and tools that you can use in whatever way fits your family best.

How Your Family Can Participate:

• Register your free account for The Toolkit. Many families refer to this as the CliffsNotes of social media and technology! Go to the Toolkit, click Activate Account, and enter our school code: 31e44D987DCC68

• Continue the conversation at home: Each month, Family Huddle questions may be emailed to you as a follow-up to student lessons. These short, optional prompts can spark meaningful conversations and reinforce your family’s values.

• Encourage your child to become a Student Ambassador. Ambassadors serve as positive role models and build leadership skills by inspiring future lessons that encourage peers to make healthy choices. Learn more here.

Click here for more information on how The Social Institute supports families.

We’re grateful to offer this timely education to our school community. If you have any questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

Andrew Mondry and Stephanie Collette

Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade will visit the library twice each week. They will check out books on their second library day each week.

Books may be kept at home for up to two weeks before they become overdue. Please help remind students to return their library books on time and to keep them in a safe place so they don't become lost or damaged.

Preschool students will visit the library once each week to enjoy stories and library activities, but they will not check out books.

We're looking forward to a wonderful year filled with great books, exciting stories, and a love of reading!

🚌 Transportation & Safety: Keeping Our Students Safe

As we begin a new school year, we want to remind everyone that student safety is one of our top priorities! Establishing safe routines takes all of us working together, and we appreciate our families' partnership in helping make each school day safe and successful.

🚌 Bus Safety: Please remind students to follow the bus driver's directions, remain seated while the bus is moving, use appropriate voices, and treat others with respect. Students should also wait for the bus in a safe location and never walk in front of or behind a bus unless directed to do so.

🚗 Pick-Up & Drop-Off: Please follow our designated pick-up and drop-off procedures and use extra caution in the school parking lot. Watch for students and pedestrians, drive slowly, and avoid using cell phones while driving. If your child's regular transportation plans change, please make sure the school is notified.

🏫 Visitor Check-In: For the safety of all students and staff, all visitors should enter through Door 1 and check in at the office before entering other areas of the building. We appreciate your cooperation as we work to maintain a safe and secure school environment.

🛝 Playground & School Safety: Students are reminded to follow playground rules, use equipment appropriately, and listen to staff directions. Throughout the school year, we will continue to review safety expectations with students and encourage them to make safe and responsible choices.

❄️ Weather & School Communication: North Dakota weather can change quickly! In the event of severe weather or a school schedule change, families will be notified through our alert systems. Please make sure your contact information is current so you receive important announcements and updates.

Thank you for helping us create a school community where being safe, responsible, and respectful is part of everything we do. When school and families work together, we can help ensure our students arrive safely, learn confidently, and head home safely each day!

Thank you for helping us keep Minto students safe! 💙

After the positive feedback from family’s last year, 8th – 12th grade students will again be participating in student led conferences on November 5th, 2026. This is designed to empower students, build responsibility and advocacy, and create more meaningful conferences for families.

How it will work:

8th-12th grade students will be provided with time during the school day to create a 5-10 minute presentation highlighting academic progress, assessment data, strengths, and goals for the rest of the school year as well as personal and academic goals. Below are those assignments. The PT coordinating teachers will be contacting families to set up a time to meet on November 5th between 2:15 pm – 8:15 pm. Students will lead these conversations and go through their slide show with you. Incentives will be provided to students who complete and present their presentations.

The rest of the time will be a regular open house setting where families have an opportunity to talk to teachers of their choosing. 6th and 7th grade students will still follow our regular open house parent teacher conference schedule.

We appreciate your support as we work together to help students grow academically and personally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school. We look forward to seeing you on November 5th!

Sincerely,

Andrew Mondry

High School Principal

Dear Families,

As we welcome November, We are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for at Minto School! We are grateful for our wonderful students, dedicated staff, and supportive families who work together to make our school such a special place. As the weather gets colder, please remember to send students with coats, hats, mittens, and appropriate footwear so they can enjoy outdoor recess when conditions allow. November is also a great time to reinforce the importance of daily attendance and arriving at school on time, as every day provides valuable opportunities for learning and growth.

As we head into the Thanksgiving season, we encourage everyone to take time to enjoy family, make memories, and reflect on the many things we are thankful for. Thank you for your continued partnership and support. From our school family to yours, have a wonderful November and a Happy Thanksgiving!

🍂🍗🥧

Sincerely,

Mrs. Collette and Mr. Mondry

Front - L to R: Julius Garza, Ruby Gomez, Brielle Riskey, Galillea Villenueva, Amelia Halliday, Rose Nice, Beatrice Montonye.

Back - L to R: Luke Soblik, Moxin Solem, Ava Dauksavage, Preston Maney, Jack Kennedy, Hannah Plutowski.

Not Pictured: Jack Lane

⛳Girls Golf - The 2026 Minto Girls' golf season has come to an end. This years participants were seniors Mila Falcon and Brynan Medbery and 7th grader Macy Sitzer. The girls competed in meets throughout August and September. All the girls improved as the season progressed. Our season ended on a great note with Mila finishing 4th at the Region 2 meet and qualifying for state. Mila competed at the state meet in Carrington and faired well in the two day tournament.

🏈Junior High Football -

I'd like to start out by talking numbers. We started out with 13 players and due to some injuries and other factors we ended our season with just 10. Doable but not ideal.

For this reason I want to encourage all boys going into 7th and 8th grade to give football a try. I would rather you try and find out it's not for you, which is fine, than to miss out on a chance to succeed at this sport.

As far as our season, our won / loss record was not as good as we had hoped for. At this level I look at how we improve throughout the season, and these guys did a great job. We let some of our early games slip through our fingers. As the season progressed I saw improvement every day. Our last game, which we won, was as close to mistake free football as we played all season. That's a credit to this team for all the hard work they put in at practice.

I'd like to thank all parents for their support and the players that made this a fun and enjoyable season.

Already looking forward to next fall!

Kevin Durkin

🏐Varsity Volleyball - As a first-year head coach, this season has been a great learning experience not only for me but for the players as well. While our record may not show it, we have competed in many close games and challenged some tough teams throughout the season. My focus has been on building a culture of dedication, competition, and strong fundamentals. From the beginning of the season to the end, the team has shown a lot of growth, displaying more fight, grit, and competitiveness. One example of this growth is our ability to push matches from three sets to five. I look forward to continuing to build on what we have created in the seasons ahead!

🏈Varsity Football -

More Than the Game

This season reminded us that football is about much more than wins and losses. It is about showing up every day, committing to something bigger than yourself, and continuing to move forward when things get difficult. Our team faced challenges throughout the season, but those moments created opportunities to grow, build character, and learn the value of perseverance. Being part of a team means embracing adversity, standing beside your teammates, and facing challenges head-on rather than walking away when things get hard.

As a coach, I came into this season hoping to teach our players lessons about football, teamwork, and life. What I didn't expect was how much they would teach me in return. Through their willingness to keep showing up, their resilience through difficult moments, and their commitment to one another, these young men reminded me what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself. I am proud of the lessons we learned together and grateful for the opportunity to be part of their journey. The impact of this season will reach far beyond the football field, and the lessons learned will stay with us long after the final whistle.

Mike Bubeck

🏀Elementary Boys Basketball - This year for Elementary Boys' Basketball we have a pretty even split of boys out per grade. We have four 4th Graders, three 5th Graders, and five 6th Graders out for basketball this year. The success of this season was not based on the wins and losses, but rather the progression. It's a majority of these boys first time playing 5-on-5 in a functional setting, so the goal has been to get 1% better each day. We started the season learning the basics of basketball, with dribbling with our eyes up and how to play defense. Each day we have introduced a new step on the foundational knowledge. Right now, we are learning how to run our offense all the way through and communicating on defense (i.e. through screens and other matchup issues). The season has gone by fast, but we feel we accomplished the goal at the beginning of the season of getting 1% better every day.

I can’t believe that November is here already! This will be my final newsletter for a bit, as my due date is rapidly approaching! November 5th we have parent-teacher conferences, so I hope that you can all attend those to help us build upon our parent/student/school partnership. Assuming I have not had my baby prior to conferences, you are always welcome to meet and talk to me about any concerns or questions that you have about your child, as I am here to help support our students in the areas of personal/social development, academics, and post secondary career plans.

Elementary students will soon be starting their Character Strong lessons on Gratitude. I am hoping to do Social Institute lessons with the middle school students for November. I especially enjoyed carrying out a Social Institute lesson recently with my 6th grade class, as we talked about how music plays a role in managing our stress levels and ways it can help us in our learning.

For high school, our Sophomore class enjoyed the North Valley Career Expo Oct. 28 as they were able to meet with different vendors from businesses and colleges that hosted interactive activities, and they learned about specific career tracks that they showed interest in.

The big reminder I have is for senior parents. If you have not done so, please complete your FAFSA application with your senior child, as this can help your family determine if they qualify for any types of federal aid like a Pell Grant or Work Study. The free application is available online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. If your child is wanting to attend a post-secondary college or trade school, they should also be applying by now. Several seniors have come to me about scholarships, which is awesome! There are a lot of scholarships available on our school’s website: https://www.mintok12.org/page/scholarships-page.Your child is welcome to look through those to help determine what scholarships they are eligible to complete. They should also be applying to scholarships that the schools may offer as well. Deadlines will be rapidly approaching for those, so the upcoming breaks would be a good time for the students to apply.