CPA Tiger Talk Newsletter

Thursday, March 5: Facility, Health & Safety Committee Meeting 3pm-4pm

Friday, March 6: Early Release Day. Students dismissed at 12:30pm.

Monday, March 9: Board of Directors Meeting 6pm-8pm

Wednesday, March 11: PreK-12 Evening Conferences

Thursday, March 12: No School for PreK-4 ONLY. PreK-4 Daytime Conferences (Grades 5-12 have a normal school day).

Thursday, March 12: Grades 5-12 Evening Conferences (virtual)

Friday, March 13: No School for Students/Staff

Thursday, March 19: Mission & Policy Committee Meeting 3pm-4pm

Tuesday, March 24: ACT Test for Grade 11/Digital Learning Day for Grades 9, 10, and 12

Thursday, March 26: Finance Committee Meeting 3pm-4pm

Friday, March 27: MS Quarter 3 Ends

Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 3: No School - Spring Break

March Testing:

• 4-5: Grade 8 MCA Science Test

• 24: ACT Test: Grade 11

Monday, April 6: MS Quarter 4 Begins

Monday, April 13: Board of Directors Meeting 6pm-7pm

Thursday, April 16: Mission & Policy Meeting (virtual) 3pm-4pm

Thursday, April 30: Finance Committee Meeting 3pm-4pm

April Testing:

• 21-23: Grades 3-4 MCA Math

• 21-22: Grade 10 MCA Reading, Grades 5-8 and 11 MCA Math

• 28-29: Grades 5 and 10 MCA Science

During the months of March, April, and May, students at Community of Peace Academy will participate in Minnesota Assessments. These are state-required tests that measure the academic performance of all public-school students in Minnesota.

Students and staff have worked very hard to be prepared for spring testing. You can help by encouraging your child to do their best on the tests, making sure your child gets plenty of rest, and reminding your child to eat a healthy breakfast on the day of their test. A more detailed testing schedule is available on the CPA website: 2025-2026 Testing Calendar

If you have any questions about the Minnesota Assessments, please talk to your child’s teacher, or contact District Assessment Coordinator Aaron Tepp by phone at 651-280-4575, or email at aaront@cpapk12.org.

This coming Friday, March 6, is an Early Release Day. Students will be dismissed at 12:30pm. Please plan accordingly to help us ensure a smooth dismissal and afternoon commute for all students. Thank you!

Dear CPA Families,

Get ready—the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! This is a great opportunity to build your child’s home library with new books they’ll dive into again and again.

The easiest way to let your child shop the Fair independently is by creating an eWallet. It’s easy to set up and easy for others to add funds.

Create an eWallet, and you’ll also have the opportunity to contribute to Share the Fair - the giving

program that supports students at our school who need help buying books. Consider participating so that no child leaves the Fair empty-handed!

Here’s everything else you need to know about the Book Fair:

Dates: March 9-12

Family Event schedule and location: During Parent/Teacher Conferences

For full details, and to create an eWallet, visit our school’s Book Fair homepage.

More than ever, we need to get students reading. Studies prove* that children with more books at

home have higher-level reading skills, and attain more years of education overall.

Happy reading,

Molly Huml

Elementary Principal

Eating a school breakfast provides a healthy and energizing start to the day for students. Studies show that students who eat school breakfast are more likely to:

• Reach higher levels of achievement in reading and math

• Score higher on standardized tests

• Have better concentration and memory

• Be more alert

• Maintain a healthy weight

During National School Breakfast Week we also honor our dedicated CKC food service professionals who make these meals possible, while reminding us that breakfast is the first step towards a successful day.

CPA uses SchoolPay to facilitate school breakfast & lunches. Staff who choose to eat the school breakfast and/or lunches can create an account in order to deposit funds and manage their account using the online SchoolPay system.

Free Breakfast is available to all students 7:40-8:30am every day.

Please encourage your students to arrive on time and eat a free breakfast!

All Minnesota students are able to receive a free lunch every day. Students who wish to purchase a second lunch may do so. Students can add money to their lunch account using the SchoolPay system.

Our core mission is to ensure that every child at CPA feels safe, protected, and ready to learn. We want you to know that we are continually monitoring the activities of ICE agents throughout our community and state. Please be assured that CPA remains a safe haven for all students, and we are committed to providing a secure environment for learning regardless of immigration status. For more information, please view this document.

The safety and well-being of students and staff is Community of Peace Academy’s top priority. The decision to close school, delay the start of school, or dismiss school early due to winter weather is based on several factors: the ability to safely operate school buses, total predicted snowfall, predicted temperature, and predicted wind chill factor.

School Closure due to Snow and/or Icy Conditions

School will be canceled if heavy snow and/or icy conditions make it extremely hazardous or impossible for school buses to travel their routes and for employees to get to work safely. The decision to close school due to snow and/or ice will be made by 6:00 a.m. the morning of a cancellation, and earlier when possible.

School Closure due to Cold

School will be canceled if the wind chill is forecast to reach -40°F or colder at 6:30 a.m.; and in other instances where predicted temperatures or wind chill presents a danger to students waiting outdoors for school buses. The decision to close school due to cold temperatures will be made by 6:30 p.m. the evening prior.

School will remain in session whenever safely possible. School buildings are warm and comfortable, and a nourishing breakfast and lunch is available for students on winter days.

Family and Staff Notification

If school is canceled, delayed or dismissed early due to severe weather, CPA families and staff will be informed via the following:

• SchoolNow text, voice, and email notification

• Television and Radio announcements on the following local media stations:

• WCCO Radio 830

• WCCO TV

• KSTP 5 TV

• Kare 11 TV

• Fox 9 KMSP TV

• Website listing on the following media outlets:

• http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/school-closings/

• https://kstp.com/school-alert/

• http://www.kare11.com/closings

• http://www.fox9.com/closings

• The CPA website

School closures will be announced under Community of Peace Academy. CPA is independent of the St. Paul Public Schools and is not impacted by SPPS closure decisions.

CPA partners with a transportation management company called 4MATIV. Please call or text the transportation hotline at 651-478-2482 if you have any of the following:

• Daily transportation changes (cutoff 12pm)
• Questions about pickup or drop off
• Questions about the current location of your vehicle
• Transportation concerns

If you are planning on picking up your student early from school, you must notify the office by 2:00pm.

• PreK-8th Grade: 651-776-5151
• 9-12th Grade: 651-280-4589

To change your student's bus arrangements (either from bus to pick-up OR from pick-up to bus) you must call 651-280-4588 by 1:30pm.

After 1:30pm, staff are attending to students for end-of-day procedures and are unavailable to deliver messages to students.

We discourage students from picking up their children ten or fifteen minutes before dismissal time. This is a valuable time when teachers are putting closure to the day and it is very distracting to the children when the classroom is receiving phone calls to have a student sent to the office. We want ALL of our students to receive the optimum learning environment and appreciate your understanding in this matter.

We are in need of gently used uniform shirts and/or uniform sweatshirts for our students. If you have extras your children have outgrown, please drop them in the school office. Thank you!

Make sure you are following CPA on social media to see all the amazing things that are happening at our school!

Follow CPATigers on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to Rusty the CPA Tiger on Youtube!

CPA partners with SchoolNow for mass communications. Urgent situations, such as snow days, reminders about planned school closures, and unexpected incidents will communicate with phone calls or texts (you can choose your preferred method). For general communications, such as the weekly Tiger Talk newsletter and invitations for special events, we will communicate via email (you can choose to opt out of this service).

Visit the SchoolNow page to update your phone number and email address or adding additional phone numbers as desired. If students have their own phone and/or email address and wish to receive communications, their families can add those by logging into SchoolNow.

CPA students are expected to in uniform every day for school. Families, please help ensure your children are wearing proper uniform clothing each day.

All students must wear:

• A CPA shirt as the outermost layer
• Blue, Black, Khaki or Gray Solid Color Pants or Shorts
• OR Navy Uniform Jumper, Skirt or Skort (elementary only)

Please review the full uniform policy in our Family Handbook for further details. Thank you!

Students may wear spirit wear purchased from our CPA Spirit Store. Names on all apparel purchased from our CPA Spirit Store must be the student's LAST NAME ONLY. If the name on the apparel in not the student's LAST NAME, the item is considered out of uniform and the student will not be allowed to wear the item during the school day.

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/minnesota/saintpaul/community-of-peace-academy

CPA is again partnering with the Every Meal program to provide free weekend food bags for interested families.

All participants need to re-enroll in the Every Meal program to receive support during the 2025-2026 school year. Students should have received a paper registration form from their teacher. Additional paper forms are available in the office. Families can also sign up electronically by completing this form.

To learn more about the Every Meal program or to make a donation to support their work, please visit the Every Meal website.

https://helpmeconnect.web.health.state.mn.us/HelpMeConnect/

CPA parents and guardians are encouraged to sign up to be a field trip chaperone or classroom volunteer. Everyone who works in our classrooms must complete an application and background check each year.

If you are interested in getting involved, please read the Volunteer Handbook and complete the application found at the back of it. Turn in your application along with a photo of a federal or state-issued ID to TimM@cpapk12.org or the school office.

Please let us know if your child is absent from school. Families can report absences in any of the following ways:

• Elementary School Attendance Line: 651-280-4534
• Middle School Attendance Line: 651-289-3740
• High School Attendance Line: 651-280-4535
• Email: CPAAttendance@cpapk12.org
• Attendance Online Form: Available through the CPA Website

The schoolwide Lost & Found is located in the cafeteria. Please encourage your students to check for any missing items as soon as they are lost. All items that remain in the Lost and Found on the first day of each month will be discarded or donated. Thank you!

This newsletter can be auto-translated using the buttons on the top right of the page.

If you prefer, our liaisons will be happy to translate or explain any announcements in Tiger Talk or answer any questions you have about CPA. Contact Maikao Lee at 651-280-4545 (Hmong), Mariana Majil at 651-289-3742 (Spanish), or Paw Nay Bu at 651-280-4591 (Karen) for support.

Teaching Peace. Building Community. Developing Character.

Website: cpapk12.org
Location: 471 Magnolia Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-776-5151
Facebook: facebook.com/CPATigers