Sanford Family Newsletter

January 9, 2026

Good People,

While these are undeniably unprecedented times, I remain steadfast and courageous in my commitment to our school community. I am guided by the words of Nelson Mandela: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." As educators these challenging times are an opportunity to live out the values that we share in Minneapolis and at Maria Sanford Middle School. I have full confidence in our staff's unwavering dedication to our students. We will be ready to receive your students on Monday.

The recent tragic events in our community weighs heavily on all of us. We acknowledge the fear, grief and stress many are feeling. To provide stability for our students, we remain committed to:

Consistency: Keeping the school day as regular as possible.
Safety: Continuing our established safety practices in close collaboration with Emergency Management Services(EMSS). Please visit the EMSS webpage for more specifics about our practices. See below for some additional temporary safety practices during this time.
Support: Providing access to our dedicated care team. Our students can connect with our nurse, counselor and social workers by visiting the nurses' office or filling out the google form located in the advisory google classroom.

Intentionality: We will move slowly and predictably to maintain a calm, supportive environment.

If you need anything, please call me: 612-730-1803.

In Partnership,

Naida Grussing-Neitzel, Ed.S.

Principal

Maria Sanford Middle School

Sanford has created temporary additional practices during these unprecedented times:

Recess: students will not be required to go outside for recess, some will continue to go out and some will stay in the cafeteria. While we believe fresh air is essential for middle schoolers, we don't want students to have fear about going outside during this time so they will have choice.
Emergency Staggered Dismissal Plan: if needed, we will dismiss students differently than normal. It is important that everyone remains calm and patient during a staggered dismissal.

Students will stay in their regular classroom until their bus/vehicle/group is dismissed.
Students will be dismissed by loud speaker in a slowly that ensures student safety. This will allow us to get students from school onto bus in a controlled manner.
We will communicate with families if we need to do a staggered dismissal.
Parents or guardians will wait until their student is dismissed by loudspeaker as we will not be able to call your student out of class.

Late Buses: we have created new talking points groups by bus so that we can communicate by text with families when buses arrive late and when they depart from school.

MPS will be offering a temporary online instruction option for K-12 students. Caregivers will receive a form and have the option to opt-in to temporary online instruction. It will begin Monday, January 12 for secondary students.

The secondary model will include students staying in their same classes and continuing their same schedule. Teachers would use Google Meet to live stream their daily lessons. Students who have opted into temporary online learning will access the class virtually and materials in Google Classroom.

It is important to note that we believe that the best education is in person here at Sanford. As you may already know, temporary online instruction is not the same as what we provide in person. This will not be like COVID times either - there are no office hours and no support. Our teachers have had very little time to prepare to teach your student online and they are doing the best they possibly can shifting to provide this opportunity.

Attendance for students who opt in to the temporary online learning will be taken when the student shows up in the google meet at the regular class time or they submit the required work by the end of the school day.

Students with an Individualized Education Plan will have additional steps to ensuring their needs are met in the temporary online learning. Please reach out to your students' case manager if you have questions.

Please reach out to our School Counselor Jeremy Mattson or our Social Workers Becky Wessman and Parker Holmboe if you would like assistance in completing the form to sign up for temporary online instruction or if you need help with your school issued device or a hotspot.

MCA / ACCESS testing is coming up in the next few months. Here is the information you need if you want to Test Opt Out - Parent/Guardian Participation Guide and Refusal Information

Before opting your student out of state tests, please read here how MCAs help families, students and Maria Sanford Middle School as well as the consequences of not participating in statewide assessments.
Opt-out forms must be handed in by the student or parent to Mr. Quentin Marshall in the Main office. They cannot be faxed or emailed, and must be in original, hard-copy form.
Be sure to fill in all fields (including reason for refusal) and select all the tests that you intend for your student to opt out of.

Parent Education Night

Monday, January 26th

6:30p - 8:00p

Sanford cafeteria

The Sanford PTA is proud to present a free parent information evening with Master Certified Life Coach (and Sanford parent) Sarah Cowan.

From Chaos to Connected with your Middle Schooler - How to be an empathetic and steady presence.

Please join us for an informational parent evening out. We'll provide the snacks, you bring your curiosity and questions.

Parkway Pizza Fundraiser

Parkway Pizza will be donating 20% of dine in orders on Monday, January 12th. Bring your friends and family and support Sanford with a fun night out!

Our next meeting is January 20th from 6:00p-7:30p in the media center at Sanford. Enter through the main entrance - Door 12. All are welcome!

To sign up for our email communications contact: sanfordmspta@gmail.com

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Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) is now accepting applications for its summer sessions. The high school program, Expand Your Mind, offers academic enrichment, the opportunity to experience life on a college campus, and a way to connect with peers from across the Twin Cities and beyond who share common interests. Students select from over 20 STEM, humanities, and fine arts courses and can stay in the dorms at Macalester College or attend as a day student. Need-based financial aid is available. This is a great opportunity for bright and motivated young people to explore their passions and meet their people.