February 5, 2025

Six Anoka-Hennepin magnet schools earned Magnet Schools of America (MSA) national recognition in 2025 for their academic excellence, commitment to diversity and community engagement.

2025 Top Magnet School of Excellence

• Hoover Elementary School - Biomedical, Health Sciences and Engineering was named as one of 94 schools nationwide.

2025 Merit Schools of Excellence

• Anoka Middle School for the Arts.
• Champlin-Brooklyn Park Academy for Mathematics and Environmental Science.
• Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts.

2025 Merit Schools of Distinction

• Monroe Elementary School: Mathematics, Science and Children’s Engineering.
• University Avenue Elementary School - Aerospace, Children’s Engineering and Science.

Learn more about Magnet Schools of America awards.

🎉 Candidates for the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award have been announced and Anoka-Hennepin has five educators who were nominated.

The teachers are:

• Andrea Puder, Kindergarten, Sunrise Elementary School.
• Katie Hauser, Music, Roosevelt Middle School.
• Kate Tverberg, Math, Andover High School.
• Rebecca Thomas, World Language, Blaine High School.
• Ted Erickson, Special Education, Blaine High School.

The five Anoka-Hennepin teachers are among 142 candidates for the award statewide. Read more about the Minnesota Teacher of the Year award.

Families with three-, four- or five-year-old children at home can prepare for preschool and kindergarten now, if they are considering a start in the fall. While school doesn’t start until September, preschool and elementary school teams are working now to ensure that your child’s school experience is positive.

• If your family is thinking about starting preschool or kindergarten in the fall, view three easy steps to get started!
• Save the date: Find your school to see when the Kindergarten Information Night is scheduled.

Verify eligibility and enroll online today! - So we can notify you about upcoming welcome events scheduled this spring at your child's new school.

The appeals window for Nebula, a school-within-a-school program for third through fifth grade gifted and talented students at Eisenhower Elementary School, opens Monday, Feb. 10.

📕 📏 The program: Nebula is a full-time gifted program that provides students with a differentiated curriculum by altering pace, depth, and complexity of academic content. This specialized program is designed to accelerate learning in the areas of mathematics and reading, while also fostering curiosity and exploration.

💻 Learn more about the Nebula program and the appeals process.

Action of the School Board provides brief summaries of Anoka-Hennepin School Board meetings. View the latest Action of the School Board from the January 27, 2025 meeting.

For agendas, meetings and minutes visit ahschools.us/schoolboard.

🎨Ten students from across the school district were recognized at the Jan. 27 School Board meeting for their winning posters. This year's theme was "Kindness Takes All of Us." Watch the video below to hear from some of the winners.

Champlin Park High School (CPHS) has been named a Special Olympics Unified Champion School demonstrating commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 standards of excellence. The Unified team was recognized during halftime at the boys varsity basketball game Feb. 3.

CPHS was one of four schools in Minnesota to receive national banner recognition by the Special Olympics as a Unified Champion School in 2024. Read more about the national honor.

Kate Gladdin, one of Australia’s Top 100 Women of Influence, visited with students at Sandburg Regional High School and Coon Rapids High School January 16 and 17 to share her inspiring message on teen resiliency.

About the speaker: Gladdin is a Youth Resilience Expert and International Motivational Speaker and has spoken to over 200,000 teens about building the resilience to overcome adversity. She teaches students the power of “response-ability” which is the ability to choose a response to any situation based on your perspective.

This opportunity was sponsored and made possible through a partnership with Thumbs Up, a non-profit organization that embraces all those who are struggling and breaking the stigma around mental health. Read more about this experience.

Seventh- and eighth-graders recently explored how color can evoke emotions and how words can enhance artwork to bring joy. Using these new skills, the students created greeting cards for the residents of Walker Plaza Senior Center in downtown Anoka, understanding that a colorful card and a kind note can brighten one’s day. Approximately 60 cards were distributed to the residents, who expressed their appreciation for the uplifting messages and beautiful artwork created by the middle school students.

In their words: Students reflected on the project and offered feedback on the impact made:

• “I think the most valuable part of this project was the writing to the senior. You never know what they need to hear most, and maybe what you wrote, could've been what cheered them up."
• “This project was a lot of fun, and it brought joy and good spirit to the Anoka community."

📚💗 Schools across the district are celebrating "I love to read" month with visits from guest readers and various activities. Check in with your student's school to see how you can support literacy and a love for reading at home.

• Super Reads: Champlin Brooklyn Park Academy (CBPA) is tackling a big game when it comes to reading. The media specialist is featuring sports reads and taking predictions on who will win the big game next week. 🏈
  
  
• The "Battle of the Books" districtwide competition 🏆 will be held Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. The event will be streamed live on the district website at ahschools.us. Teams of middle school students first compete within their school , with the winners advancing to a district-level competition, which promotes reading and comprehension of literature in a fun and engaging format. Teams representing all six middle schools will battle to prove they learned key concepts from 25 books.

Families considering preschool for their children will have an opportunity to get their questions answered during Preschool Information Night. The free event is scheduled for Thursday, March 20 from 4:30 – 6 p.m. or 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Educational Service Center in Anoka.

• Talk to teaching staff about preschool, the curriculum and the classrooms.
• Receive information about Early Childhood Screening.
• Get support with the registration process.

Preschool Information Night is for families with children that will be three or four years old by September 1, 2025. There are two times to choose from. Again, there is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

• February 17, 2025 - Holiday - district closed.
• February 18, 2025 - No students - staff development.

📆 View the district calendar online.

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