Woodland Elementary Newsletter

Dear Woodland Families,

Thank you so much to all of our volunteers who helped make Woodland’s Fun Run Fundraiser a huge success! We truly couldn’t have done it without you.

It was wonderful seeing so many family members join us throughout the day. We were blessed with perfect weather, encouraging cheers from parents, grandparents, and classmates, and outstanding leadership from our 5th graders! A special thank you to Mr.J and Mrs. Gilbertson for keeping the event running smoothly.

Thanks to your generosity, Woodland officially exceeded our $20,000 goal, raising a grand total of $21,656! These funds will be used to support field trip experiences, along with other school wide student celebrations and experiences. (i.e. new playground equipment, games for indoor recess, special celebrations for students and classes)

I am excited to connect with you during Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 8th, 12th, and 14th. These meetings are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child’s progress and set goals together for the year ahead.

I also hope to see many of you at one of our Muffins in the Morning on October 21 or 22! Scroll down for more information. Daisy and the Food Nutrition Service crew will be ready with a variety of muffin options, coffee and juice on both days!

In partnership,

Heather Timm

We certainly hope you take advantage of the great opportunity to find out how your child is doing in school. Your child will be able to share what he/she is learning and talk about the celebrations of their progress.

To start the process:

• Parent should log into ParentVUE on a desktop computer, or on the ParentVUE app.
• Select the student for whom you are scheduling a conference (upper left corner)
• If you have more than one student, look for the black arrow by the photo of the student you are looking at. Click that arrow to take you to your student(s) .
• Select Conference (7th icon down the list)
• Mark your calendar!

On Wednesday Oct 21st OR Thursday October 22nd we would love for you to stop in the cafeteria between 7:15am-7:45am to have a muffin with your student(s) before they start their school day! The students really enjoy this quick morning time at school with their parents. We hope to see you there!!

Our next parent connection time for “PAC” will occur on Tuesday, October 20th at 5:00pm in the Media Center. This year, Stephanie Gilbertson has arranged to have high school students be with children who need care while we meet. This is an opportunity for families to contribute ideas for experiences at Woodland and to learn more about events occurring in the building. Your participation is valued and there is not a long term commitment required. Hope you can join us!

Alexandria Public Schools uses a system called “Visitor Aware”. This system has some new features that we will be trying with our pick-up processes on very cold days this winter. It will enable us to keep students in the building until family arrival, and will allow us to “scan your arrival” so you don’t need to open your window.

To register with a photograph, you can choose to stop in the office with your driver’s license at your convenience. The system will also work without a license photograph, if this is your preference.

The Families READ toolkit helps Minnesota teachers give families ideas and tools to help their kids learn to read. This resource is designed for flexible implementation, allowing educators to adapt its content to the unique needs of children, families, and partnership settings. Toolkit materials are aligned with Minnesota's developmental standards and assessments for early language, literacy, and reading.

The Cardinal Community Plan

On November 3, district voters will consider an operating levy to stabilize our budget and support the essential curriculum, programming, and staff that keep our schools strong. If approved, the levy would allow our district to leverage a new state aid program to bring seasonal recreation property tax dollars back into our district. It would provide $3.7 million annually to help protect the neighborhood schools that make Alexandria Public Schools a place where every learner can thrive.

On Monday, October 12, Superintendent Rick Sansted will share information on the “why and what” behind the operating levy request. The 30 minute presentation will begin at 7pm in the District Office, Oak Conference Room, 1410 S McKay Ave., Ste. 201. There will be time at the end for questions.

The district is also partnering with the Echo Press on a five-part series around the need, the opportunity, what happens if it passes, what happens if it fails, and voting information. Part I on the need establishes key financial information on the need for a new operating levy. The article was published in the Echo Press on Friday, September 18. You can read the article here.

Without new funding, the district will be forced to make tough decisions that will threaten the quality of education, which could include:

• Cuts to academics, electives, unique community programming, and essential student support services

• Reducing 15-20 staff positions

• Eliminating or greatly reducing middle school activities

• Significant changes to our neighborhood elementary school model, which could include closing one or more schools, and would impact students, families, and staff

If the referendum is not approved, district leaders will create a detailed plan to determine where budget reductions will be made.

Having the facts will help you decide on this important vote. You can also learn more about the referendum and early voting options at CardinalCommunityPlan.org.

Woodland Elementary implements a "community model" for school supplies. We have found this model provides a convenience and cost savings for parents.

We will provide school supplies to ALL students, so the only items you need to pick up include:

• backpack
• tennis shoes (for Phy Ed)
• a box of tissues
• pencil box or bag
• 
  

To help offset our costs for all of the other items, a suggested donation of $30.00 per student may be brought to the school during open house, dropped off in the school office or mailed to the school. This can be in cash or check form.

Follow this link to Support Students and Teachers.

• October 8 - PM Conferences
• October 12 - PM Conferences
• October 14 - Daytime Conferences
• October 14-16 - No School
• October 21 or 22 - Muffins in the Morning 7:15 am-7:45 am
• November 5 - Picture Retakes
• November 26-27 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
• December 23-31 - No School - Christmas Break

Click here to view our updated

Student Handbook

Elementary Schools

2026-2027.

Please take a moment to review.

Woodland Elementary School

Main Number: 320-762-3300

Absences/Health Office: Ext. 4

Pickup Changes: Ext. 0