Crimson Newsletter - Jan. 17, 2025
January 17, 2025
Student registration for 2025-26
We're off and running in 2025 – classrooms are busy, winter activities are going full blast, and it's student registration time at Maple Grove! By the end of the month, we'll already be at the midway point of the second trimester and looking ahead to mid-trimester conferences.
Families should have received a postcard in the mail and, last week, students in grades 9, 10, and 11 attended class meetings in the auditorium to review important graduation requirements and learn more about the registration process. This week, registration course cards were distributed in Foundations, and students began reviewing and making their course selections for next year in StudentVUE.
Families are strongly encouraged to review our registration website and to discuss with your Crimson student(s) the important decisions they have in front of them about their course options for 2025-26! Please choose courses wisely as it is extremely difficult, and often not possible, to make schedule changes once the process is complete.
Students are to work with their families, teachers and their counselor/case manager to make decisions about courses for next year, and to finalize course requests into StudentVUE. For more information and resources, including class presentations, required courses for graduation, and all elective options, please view the registration website.
All course requests are due at the end of day next Wednesday, January 22.
If you would like assistance in completing the registration process, please contact your student’s Foundations teacher.
Mid-trimester conferences will occur on Thursday, January 30, from 3:00–8:00 p.m., in which families may schedule 10-minute sessions and attend in-person, or by Google Meet. Our staff, as always, is eager to partner with families to support our students achieve their academic potential. I will have a follow-up communication when the window opens to begin scheduling conferences.
As always, thank you for your support and partnership. Feel free to contact me with any questions at beckerb@district279.org.
Yours very respectfully,
Bart Becker, Principal
Crimson students and families are invited to join our counselors to learn about post-secondary enrollment options (PSEO). PSEO allows students to attend college classes and earn FREE college credits during high school.
There are two meetings on the horizon, and students planning to register for PSEO are required to attend (returning PSEO students do not need to attend):
- Monday, January 27 at 2:45 p.m. (virtual)
- Thursday, January 30 at 5:00 p.m. (in the auditorium during mid-trimester conferences)
More information can be found on the counseling website.
The second spirit week of the school year, Snow Days, will occur the week of February 4-7, with our Snow Days dance on Saturday, February 8.
Crimson National Honor Society is hard at work planning a fantastic week of spirit themes, an incredible pepfest with the Crimson Cup up for grabs, and the dance to cap off the week. We look forward to class competitions, student performances, and celebrating our winter student activities from fine arts programs, student groups/clubs, and athletics!
Dance tickets will be available on EduTrak from January 22–February 5.
- Save the date! The CRC will host a virtual FAFSA Q&A session for families on Thursday, January 23 from 5:00–7:00 p.m. Join us on Google Meet at this link.
- Park Center will be hosting the annual Manufacturing, Skills Trades, and Construction Career Fair on Wednesday, January 29 from 1:00–3:00 p.m. This is an amazing opportunity for students to connect with companies that are hiring and who provide a living wage, good benefits including tuition assistance, and who are looking for students to fill roles in their organizations.
- Paying for college can be overwhelming, especially with recent changes to financial aid policies. Revolution Prep is hosting a virtual event on Wednesday, January 29 to give expert advice on FAFSA and CSS Profile updates, scholarships, grants, and strategies to finance higher education. We request that families register here.
- Scholarship “season” is in full swing! Don’t miss out on great opportunities to pay for college. Please have your student visit our scholarship page to learn more. These will be posted on a rolling basis until spring.
- The CRC is hosting our annual College Fair on Wednesday, February 26 during Foundations for sophomores and juniors. Last year there were over 110 colleges and universities in attendance!
- Senior Mock Interviews! The CRC is preparing to gather volunteers to conduct over 600 professional interviews for our seniors on April 4, 2025. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form.
- The ACT test day will occur on Tuesday, April 22. Juniors will take the ACT, while sophomores will take the PreACT. There are two virtual sessions offered by Revolution Prep: ACT 101 on February 27, and a practice test on March 15. Students MUST sign up to attend. In addition to the ACT prep sessions, get FREE online resources on the CRC website.
Visit the CRC website for more information!
The second annual Black History Month celebration, hosted by ISD 279 Family and Community Engagement, is coming up! The event promises to be a fun and vibrant celebration, featuring free food, a live DJ, BIPOC-owned businesses, and an exciting showcase.
When: Saturday, February 1, 2025
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Park Center Senior High School
Student attendance is critical for success in high school, and with that is the expectation to arrive to classes on time and ready to learn. In our class meetings to start the year, we shared with students a simple rule of high school: "Be where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there, doing what you're supposed to do."
Each year, trends emerge when some students form a pattern of choosing to take their time in the hallways and arrive fashionably late to their classes. This behavior, consequently, disrupts students from learning and teachers from teaching. We address this pattern in a variety of ways to change the behavior, but the most visible method is hall sweeps.
At random points of the day and week, an PA announcement will occur as the bell rings to begin a class period and teachers will be directed to close their doors and begin instruction. All remaining students will be directed to a tardy station where we collect names, identify patterns, and work to change the behavior.
Please check your student's attendance records in ParentVUE; if you see very few, if any, tardies, then this is a strong indication your student is among the 95% who have no issue with getting to class on time and will very likely be unimpacted by hall sweeps.
The Crimson Yearbook website is live!
You can visit www.MapleGroveYearbook.com to order a yearbook, submit a senior portrait, baby ad, or community photo. Seniors should view the senior flyer on the website for more detailed information on how to submit your senior photos and baby ads.
Issues or questions about the website or yearbook? Please email Ashley at ashley@maplegroveyearbook.com.
- January 17: Asynchronous learning / staff collaboration
- January 20: No school – Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- January 30: Mid-trimester conferences (3:00–8:00 p.m.)
- January 31: NWSC Preview concert
- February 3: No school – professional development workshop
- February 3: NWSC music festival
- February 4-7: Snow Days week
- February 8: Snow Days dance
- February 17: No school – Presidents Day
- February 24: Choir concert
- February 25: Orchestra concert
- February 26: College Fair
- March 3: Band concert
- March 6: Last day of the second trimester
- March 7: No school – mark reporting
Tri I Crimson Way Award Winners!
Eight Crimson students, nominated by staff members, were honored for their representation of the Crimson Way: Motivation, Gratitude, Scholarship, Honor!
Crimson AVID students visit the University of Minnesota!
Our Crimson freshmen and sophomores in AVID took a field trip into Gopher territory for a day of learning about everything the University of Minnesota!
