February 2026
Holton Families,
Each year, I like to take time to review our Standard Response Protocol with our families so you can, if you choose, review the information at home with your child to reinforce our efforts at school. What we don't want is for students to be taken off guard or worried about how we handle various incidents at school.
First, let me explain some of the terminology we use. We have a Standard Response Protocol that we use district wide (please see below). There are five parts to the protocol that we use depending on the issue. We start with “Hold”. This simply means that students and staff stay in their rooms and don’t leave until we announce an “All Clear”. We would use this action if we were looking for someone or something, for example. When I was the principal at Neveln, we actually used this action because a dog entered the building during recess. We had to keep everyone in their rooms until we could safely remove the dog from the building.
However, the action that I get the most questions about is the “Lockdown” protocol. We would use this protocol if there was a threat in the building. All doors would be locked, lights would be out, and students would be out of sight. So, the question would be, “when do you use the different protocols?” The answer is: it depends. If we have a verifiable threat, we will Lockdown. Your child’s safety is our primary concern, and we will not hesitate to do what is necessary to protect our students. However, we often get rumors or third-hand information, and that is something we would investigate to verify the rumor. We aren’t willing to cause panic or disrupt the day because of poor information. When we do have a “Hold” or a “Lockdown” we will send out a portal push to our families to let them know why. If you hear information from your child and have concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Please review the protocol below with your child and make sure to ask us questions if they arise.
Sincerely,
Mr. Schara
Mr. Malo's Shout Out
Dear Families,
I hope you are all doing well. We are grateful for your ongoing partnership and support — it makes a real difference for our students each day. Below are a few important updates, celebrations, and reminders to keep you informed and involved.
Important Announcements
- Summer School Letters for students who were recommended will be sent home on Friday, February 6th. Please sign and return the letter asap.
- If you do not receive a letter but would like your child to participate, please contact the main office at 460-1524 as soon as possible.
- STAR Winter Benchmark student reports will be sent home on Feb. 6th, please contact your teacher if you have any questions.
- Band and Orchestra Solo & Ensemble Contest (for those who signed up): Good luck on February 7th.
- Band/Orchestra/Choir Showcase (5th–8th grades, for those who signed up): February 10th, 6:00–8:00 PM.
- If you have questions, please check with your child’s music teacher.
- No school on Monday, February 16th, Teacher Professional Development Day. Please plan accordingly.
Celebrations from the Week
- Groundhog Day — the forecast says about six more weeks of winter, so please continue to send your child dressed for the weather. We appreciate families helping students arrive ready for the day.
- Congratulations to Mrs. Terrazas’s and Ms. Uphus’s classes! They earned a pizza party on January 30th for excellent behavior during transitions around the building. Other teachers recognized and awarded points for meeting expectations — great teamwork by students and staff!
Additional Information
- If you ever need assistance with permissions, sign-ups, or transportation questions, the main office is happy to help (call 460-1524).
- Reminders and event details will continue to come home via student folders and our school messaging system. Please check those regularly so you don’t miss anything.
- We welcome family involvement at school events — your presence supports students and builds community. If you’d like to volunteer or learn about upcoming opportunities, reach out to the front office. You can fill out a volunteer form online through ISD 492 website. The link is listed below. (Release Authorization)
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our students feel safe, respected, and ready to learn. We are grateful for your partnership.
Welcome to February, Holton Hawks!
Boy, Mother Nature has not been our friend lately. Here’s hoping that February is a little more forgiving. Speaking of weather, this is my monthly reminder to make sure that your child is dressing appropriately for the day. This includes inside and outside attire. As I sit here on this chilly afternoon, the temperature outside is 1° with a windchill of -12°. We had recess inside today because of the windchill. We were 3 windchill degrees away from being outside. Yet, I saw at least two students wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Being cool around friends is one thing, putting the student in danger is entirely different. Please speak to your child about making smart weather decisions. Remember, we go outside of the air temperature is above zero and the windchill is above -10.
As I have mentioned in previous updates, PBIS is very much a part of what we do at IJ Holton. Recently, we had our January Celebration. Some months we go all out, like when we had Snake Center come for a visit or when we travel to the Packer Dome. Other times our celebrations are more about providing opportunities for our students to be their best. We’ve done this in the past by writing notes to residents of Senior Living housing or as we did in January, we had a competition among classrooms to see which classes followed school expectations the best. The winning classes received a pizza party for their efforts. Congratulations to Ms. Uphus (Gr. 5) and Mrs. Terrazas’ (Gr. 6) classes for setting a great example and winning this month’s challenge.
In February, our celebration will be School-wide Bingo. Students will be participating in team and class Bingo games. We have many great prizes for the students to win. I look forward to a great day.
Speaking of Bingo, I hope you were able to attend one of our Family Fun Nights. Lots of fun was had by all. Thank you to Mrs. Meinecke, Mrs. Dunbar, and their team for their work arranging it.
If you don’t follow IJ Holton Intermediate School on any of the socials, may I take a second to recommend it. Our pages show the weekly winners of our Character Counts awards. You also get to see pictures and videos of various events, activities and celebrations that go on at Holton. Plus, school event notices are posted and kept up to date. Anything you need to know is usually posted on one or all of our sites.
At IJ Holton, we encourage our students to be Respectful, Responsible, Safe, and to Do Their Best! If at any time you have any questions or concerns, please email me david.brown@austin.k12.mn.us or call me at 460-1525. Stay warm!
David Brown
IJ Holton Dean of Students
IJ Holton Families,
One of the BARR strategies is to engage families in student learning. IJ Holton staff work to reach out to families to share what is happening in the classroom. When we meet in teams, we recognize that working together with families is the best way to ensure a successful learning environment for our students. Karen Dunbar, IJ Holton & Ellis BARR Coordinator
BARR Strategies
Focus on the whole student.
Provide professional development for teachers, counselors, and administration.
Use BARR’s U-Time Curriculum to foster a climate for learning.
Create a cohort of students.
Hold regular meetings of the cohort teacher teams.
Conduct community connect meetings.
Engage families in student learning.
Engage administrators.
Review of U-Time Sessions in January
1/8/26
Grade 5 I Am Students identified positive relationships, self-worth, and self-acceptance. The book, I Am Enough by Grace Byers, was read. Students also drew a picture illustrating the quality of themselves that they wanted to celebrate.
Grade 6 Effective Communication Students learned specific communication methods to achieve a task and to practice methods that promote effective communication. They learned this through a class activity that required effective communication and a partner activity where pairs developed I-messages.
1/15/26
Grade 5 The Power of Yet Students learned to recognize the importance of maintaining hope during times of struggle. The book, The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi, was read as part of this lesson.
Grade 6 Learning to Listen Students learned to recognize the qualities of a good listener. They also learned to recognize how individuals can hear the same information yet process it differently and arrive at different conclusions. They did this through an activity involving following very specific instructions that would not be repeated.
1/22/26
Grade 5 Being a Good Sport Students learned how to recognize the skills and behavior of being a good sport in both the instances that we win and the instances that we lose. As part of this lesson, the students listened to a reading of Sally Sore Loser by Frank J. Sileo.
Grade 6 What’s on Your Plate Students identified different activities in their lives and discussed the balance of responsibilities and free-time activities. They split a paper plate in half with a section for each of these categories.
1/29/26
Grade 5 STEP STEP is an acronym that students learned that stands for Stop, Think, Examine, and Proceed. Through this lesson, students learned how to self-regulate when their emotions feel out of control.Grade 6 Do You Know You? This lesson focused on helping students identify strengths in their classmates. They also had the chance to realize and reflect on how others see them. This was done by focusing on the compliment and how beneficial this can be when offered truthfully and sincerely.
BARR Center | Same Students. Same Teachers. Better Results.
