Eagles Newsletter

April, 2025

Greetings Woodland Families,

Spring is upon us, even with the recent snow! I hope your spring break was a perfect balance of rejuvenation, fun adventures, and rest.

Reflecting on these past months, I can’t express enough my gratitude for the tremendous partnership and incredible support you have provided this school year. As your principal, I am grateful for your grace, patience, flexibility, and understanding. Most importantly, thank you for believing in us and trusting us with your child’s education. I look forward to finishing out this year strong, focused on staying engaged in learning, and continuing to make both academic and social-emotional growth.

April will be another busy and exciting month! Students in grades 3-5 will be taking their MCA tests. (Please see the detailed schedule and important reminders in the next section of this newsletter.) To support your child’s success, please ensure they are well-rested and present at school during the testing window whenever possible. Thank you for your partnership!

The PTO sponsored Carnival will take place on Friday, April 11th. We look forward to a fun-filled night with food and friends. Monday, April 21st, will be an Asynchronous Learning Day for all students. Our Kindergarten Orientation takes place the evening of April 24th. If you have a child registered to enter kindergarten this fall (September 2025), please plan to attend and bring your almost-kindergartner.

As always, we appreciate your continued support and partnership!

Thank you,

Terri Jackson

Principal

Woodland MCA READING, MATH and SCIENCE TESTING schedule for Grades 3-5:

It is very important that your child is at school for these assessments. Please look for information from your student’s classroom teacher for the exact days/time your student will test and avoid appointments or conflicts. Tentative schedule on testing days:

• 4th grade 9:45-10:40
• 3rd grade 10:45-11:30
• 5th grade 11:30-12:30

**If you know of a conflict now, please reach out to your child’s teacher or notify Krysta Wahl (testing coordinator) wahlk@district279.org

How can I help my child be successful?

• Practice the test tools using the SRT on the Pearson Test Site https://srt.testnav.com/mn/mn-srt.html. Students will be doing this in class, but they can always go back again and interact with the tools.
• Make sure they get plenty of sleep the night before testing
• Eat a good breakfast the day of testing
• Encourage your child to do their very BEST
• Prepare a note of encouragement to send with your child on the day of testing
• Both you and your student could write out all the strengths they have in the subject area and share your thoughts with each other

Results of this test will be mailed to you from the district office at the beginning of the 25-26 school year.

Our school library (Media Center) is being remodeled this summer. In order to meet construction timelines, all library books are due on May 9. Thank you!

For students entering

Kindergarten next fall at Woodland:

Woodland Elementary

KINDERGARTEN

ORIENTATION

Thursday, April 24th

5:00 PM

PRE-PROGRAM

TALK WITH: FOOD SERVICE -

KIDSTOP - PTO -

HEALTH SERVICES AND MORE

5:30 - 6:30 PM

PROGRAM

MEET THE TEACHERS, RIDE A BUS, TALK

WITH THE PRINCIPAL, VISIT THE

KINDERGARTEN ROOMS

To enroll your future kindergarten student, please visit the Enrollment Center website at: https://www.district279.org/enrollment/enrollment-services, or go to the Enrollment Center at: 7051 Brooklyn Blvd. You may also contact Terry Derksen in our school office at 763-315-6400 or derksent@district279.org.

Our 2nd graders recently visited the MN Science Museum. They learned a lot and had a great time.

Who loves a trip to The MN Children's Theatre? Our 1st graders do!!

Our 4th graders enjoyed their recent visit to Orchestra Hall.

STEAM Night

Thank you to all of the families and staff that attended our STEAM Night. It was great to see so many smiling faces experiencing the stations provided by The Works Museum and local businesses.

Carnival, April 11th

Our next PTO event is the annual Woodland Carnival! Come play games, win prizes and enjoy time with Woodland friends. There are a couple new games this year and new food. Nothing Bundt Cakes will be onsite selling cakes (20% will be donated back to Woodland). You can pre-order an unlimited game wristband online and get a free cotton candy here: tinyurl.com/wdcarnivalpresale

We NEED volunteers to make this event a success. Please consider volunteering yourself or sharing with your network: https://shorturl.at/vp8nB

Staff Appreciation Week

The week where we celebrate all of our Woodland staff is coming up May 5-9. You can find some of the Staff’s Favorite things here: https://sites.google.com/view/woodlandpto/get-to-know-the-staffwishlists

PTO Needs You

We have important upcoming meetings and we want to HEAR from YOU! Reminder that you do need to attend 3 meetings in order to vote for PTO Officers and Committee Members.

April Meeting: Budget planning for the 2025-2026 school year. Where do you want PTO money allocated?

May Meeting: Board Elections and Budget vote

OPEN Positions: Treasurer Elect, President Elect, Fundraising/Events, Communications, Marketing

The PTO runs on volunteers and we need new volunteers to continue to backfill those that are moving to middle school. Please check out our key need areas here: tinyurl.com/wdvolunteers. Feel free to attend a meeting and learn about board positions or send us an email at wdptomn@gmail.com. We need volunteers to continue to offer events and further support Woodland.

Upcoming Events:

April 11: Woodland Carnival, 5:30pm-8pm

April 15: PTO Meeting, Media Center, 6:30pm

May 5-9: Staff Appreciation Week

May 15: PTO Meeting, Media Center, 6:30pm

May 21: Family Dance+Food Trucks, 5pm-7pm

We would also love to CONNECT with you in whatever format works best. We send out regular emails, have an active Facebook page, and post on our website (woodlandpto.org).

2024-2025 Board

President: Jenna Maurer

President Elect: OPEN- Seeking Volunteer

Secretary: Megan Fordice

Communications Chair: Rachel Johnson

Marketing Chair: Jennifer Broden

Fundraising/Event Chair: Michelle Scott

Treasurer : Brianna Johnston

Treasurer Elect: Christine Haglund

Teacher Reps: Scott Lund, Jody Levy, Meghan Booke & Gail Huggins