YOUR SCHOOL NAME HERE

Eagle Lake Families,

I hope everyone is settling nicely into the 2025-2026 school year. It has been a wonderful start, and I am enjoying getting to know our school community and seeing what makes Eagle Lake such a special place for students to learn and grow.

Partnering for a Successful Year A strong home-school partnership is essential for student success. If your child ever shares that they are struggling or that things are not going well, please make their classroom teacher your first point of contact. We are a team, and we want to work together to ensure every student has a great school year.

Staying Connected To keep you informed, we will send this family newsletter 1-2 times a month. Our goal is to fill it with key updates, important information, and details on upcoming events. We welcome your input! If you have suggestions for what to include, please don't hesitate to contact the office.

We are looking forward to a fantastic year together.

Sincerely,

Steve Johanson

Principal

Throughout the school year, our students and staff practice emergency drills, including fire, severe weather, and lock-down procedures, to ensure we are all prepared to act in an emergency. The safety of our students is our highest priority.

Our Approach to Drills Please be assured that all safety drills are conducted in a calm, supportive, and age-appropriate manner. Our primary goal is to familiarize students with our safety protocols without causing anxiety. During lock-down drills, our staff focuses on creating a quiet and orderly environment. We do not use loud noises or any other effects that could frighten students; the focus is always on calmly practicing our plan.

Upcoming Lockdown Drill & Parent Opt-Out Information Our first lock-down drill of the year is scheduled for this Friday, September 5, 2025 at 10:30 am. In accordance with a Minnesota state statute, we must notify families at least 24 hours prior to a lock-down drill. The statute also allows you to opt your child out of the drill. If you would like for your student to be excused, please notify the school office by phone or email before Friday morning. We would ask that any students opting out would be picked up before 10:15 and returned to school after 10:45.

For a more detailed explanation of lock-downs, please review this Parent Letter.

Interested in working at Eagle Lake or another ISD77 building? We have full time and part time positions open throughout the district. Many sites are flexible with days/hours worked. At Eagle Lake, we are hiring for lunchroom and/or playground supervisors. Reach out to Steve Johanson for more information. All district postings can be found at https://www.applitrack.com/isd77/onlineapp/jobpostings/view.asp

9/8/25 ~ PTO Meeting 5:30pm

9/10/25 ~ Early Release Day (dismissal time 12:30)

9/30/25 ~ Vision & Hearing Screening

9/30/25 ~ Deadline to order Eagle Lake apparel

10/10/25 ~ Fund Run - SAVE THE DATE!

Click the link below to view the list of Eagle Lake staff for 2025-2026.

Eagle Lake Staff

Also, each month our special area teachers will have the opportunity to share more about their subject areas. Please take a look at the updates from STEM, PE, Art, and Music below.

Hello Eagle Lake Families!
I’m excited to be your child’s STEM teacher this school year. This is my 10th year in the district, where I’ve taught both Kindergarten and First Grade. I can’t wait to dive into STEM learning with your students!

What is STEM?

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
It’s hands-on, creative, and encourages curiosity, problem-solving, and teamwork.

This Month in STEM

• Learning STEM room expectations & class rules
  
  

• Team challenges and experiments
  
  

• Practicing listening, respect, and collaboration
  
  

• Using the Engage–Explore–Explain engineering process
  
  

• Building a growth mindset and learning from mistakes
  
  

STEM Wishlist

If you’d like to support our classroom, check out our STEM Wishlist. I’ll add to it throughout the year as needs arise.

I’m looking forward to a year full of discovery, creativity, and fun in STEM!

Mrs. Udermann – STEM Teacher

This year, there are many fun activities planned in PE for Eagle Lake students! Coach Hanson is back and ready for a great year!

Physical Education is a vital part of a child’s educational, social, and emotional development. At Mankato Public Schools, our Physical Education staff offers a variety of games and activities to contribute to the total growth and development of each student.

Each grade level has a focus for the year in Physical Education:

• K- Start Smart

• 1st- Movement and Me

• 2nd- Coordination, Cooperation, and Confidence

• 3rd- Highway to Health

• 4th- Fitness Frenzy

• 5th- Lead, Engage, Assess, Perform

Also, if you have any tennis shoes that your student has outgrown and would like to donate, we’d love to have them. We are so excited for a fantastic year of PE at Eagle Lake!

Adam Hanson - ahanso4@isd77.org

Hello Eagles! My name is Ms.Wolff and I have had the pleasure of teaching art at Eagle Lake for the past 6 or so years. I am excited to share that we will be sharing our space with a student teacher from Bethany, Ms.Pfiefer, who will be with us until early December.

This year we will be starting out with a few weeks of stations where students can review and practice our all important Elements and Principles of Art. The Elements and Principles are the building blocks of every artwork and help us define why we find a piece of art aesthetically pleasing. The Elements of Art are: Line, Shape, Form, Color, Value, Texture and Space. The Principles of Art are: Balance, Unity, Variety, Proportion, Emphasis, Pattern and Movement. We will be using these words throughout the year as we practice different materials and techniques in our artmaking.

I can’t wait to share all of the amazing things our students will be working on throughout this school year. Let’s go Eagles!

In music class we sing, speak, move, and play to fully experience music in all ways.

Students use their voices, bodies, and instruments to fully experience music starting with the beat.

Students in 4th and 5th grade also have the opportunity to learn to play recorder. Recorders help students to learn the notes on the treble staff and act as a bridge between elementary school and middle school where students have the opportunity to play a band or orchestra instrument.

Each year students at Eagle Lake perform a concert to show some of their music learning from the year.

Here are the concert dates for 2025 - 2026:

Grades 1, 3, 5 - December 16, 2025

Grades K, 2, 4 - March 31, 2026

I can’t wait to see you at the concert!

Mrs. Goldmund

The Application for Educational Benefits takes just a few minutes, and it may unlock valuable support for your family all year long:

Filling out this quick, confidential form may help your family access:

● Summer grocery benefits (Sun Bucks)

● Discounted internet and utilities

● Lower college exam and AP test fees

● After-school and summer programs

● Tutoring and academic support

It also helps schools receive essential funding for programs that support students.

Not sure if you qualify? Have questions? Call Nutrition Services at (507)388-7442 and we’re happy to walk through it with you.

Looking for a way to connect to MAPS? We strive to connect our community to our district and schools. Subscribe to this newsletter to get the current information and links to events.

Follow MAPS Facebook and Instagram for student celebrations:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ISD77MAPS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isd77maps

MAPS Website: https://www.isd77.org