April 2026
Holton Families,
April is the month when we administer the state‑wide MCA assessments. These tests provide our schools with important feedback on how students are progressing in reading, math, and science. While individual student scores are shared with parents at the beginning of each school year, the MCA assessments are primarily designed to give school and district leaders a broader view of overall progress.
Because the MCA reflects only one snapshot in time, it is not always the most useful measure of an individual child’s learning for families. As you know, a student’s performance on any given day can be influenced by many factors. However, for our schools, MCA results are an important tool for evaluating the effectiveness of our instruction. We use this data to guide staff development, instructional practices, and site improvement plans at both the building and district levels. For these reasons, it is important to us that every student does their best. We work carefully to create a testing schedule and environment that gives each child the best opportunity for success.
Our STAR assessments (formerly Scantron) are a better measure of your child’s academic growth over time. These assessments help us make instructional, professional development, and curriculum adjustments throughout the school year. As a parent, you also have access to your child’s classroom assessments and daily practice through the Campus Portal if you would like to stay informed about their ongoing progress.
Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
Have a great month,
Mr. Schara
Mr. Malo's Shout Out
Dear IJ Holton Families,
We hope you and your children are doing well. We are grateful for your continued partnership and support in helping our students grow and thrive.
Important Announcements
- MCA Testing Dates:
- Reading MCA: April 7 and 8 — please ensure students arrive rested and on time.
- Math MCA: April 14 and 15 — encourage a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast.
- 5th Grade Science MCA: April 22 and 23.
- 6th grade does not take the Science MCA.
- As MCA testing starts, please remind students to:
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Eat a healthy breakfast
- Be to school on time
- Congratulations to our IJ Poetry winners — we are so proud of their work!
- Robert Cardenas (5)
- Else Christianson (6)
- Nora Ferch (5)
- They will be recognized at the Austin Night of Poetry on April 15 at 6:30 PM at the McPhail Recital Hall.
We are grateful for how families and staff came together to make these events positive and successful for our students.
Action items: mark testing dates on your family calendar, ensure students arrive on time, and plan for the April 15 poetry recognition if you’d like to attend.
Celebrations from the Week
- MCA preparation is going well — thank you to families for supporting practice and study routines at home.
- Our school dance on March 20 was well attended — the kids had a wonderful time!
- As MCA testing starts, please remind students to:
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Eat a healthy breakfast
- Be to school on time
We are grateful for how families and staff came together to make these events positive and successful for our students.
Additional Information —
April Weather & Indoor Recess
- April often brings changing weather. On rainy days we will have indoor recess. This can lead to extra built-up energy.
- Please remind your student to continue following school expectations during indoor recess so everyone stays safe and has fun.
- This is an exciting time of year — with spring activities and important assessments — and your reminders at home help keep routines steady.
Thank you for your ongoing support in preparing students for testing, celebrating achievements, and reinforcing positive behavior.
We appreciate your partnership and look forward to continued success together. If you have questions or need support, please reach out to the school office or your child’s teacher.
Best Regards,
Mr. Malo
Holton Friends and Families-
It is unbelievable to think, but we have reached the 4th Quarter. The end is near! As the days grow longer, the weather improves, and students begin to spend more time outside, please remind your child that while they can see light at the end of the tunnel, there is still much to accomplish at school. Please continue to prioritize your child’s academic success. Please make sure they stay focused while in class and are getting plenty of rest while at home. Even an old man like me tends to find myself staying awake much later as the days get longer-- Then I pay for it the next day.
Speaking of the weather improving, let’s not forget to make sure our students follow the district established dress code. According to Policy 504 “Student Dress and Appearance” Appropriate clothing includes, but is not limited to, the following: Students must wear opaque (non-see-through) clothing including both a shirt or equivalent top, a skirt, pants, shorts, or equivalent bottom, and/or a dress. A student’s clothing must cover the front, back, and sides including the student’s private parts and abdomen.
I hope your child had the chance to attend at least one of our IJ Holton school dances. Our final dance was held last Friday, March 20th. What an incredible time the students had. I hope you had a chance to see some of the pictures or videos posted on social media. Thank you to the IJ Holton Student Council for sponsoring and putting on these fun, safe, and memorable events for our students. Keep up the great work!
Once again, our “Dome Day” at the Wescott Field Dome was a huge success! I hope your child shared with you some of the fun they had while they were there. I am excited to announce that our April PBIS Celebration will be another community service event. In recognition of Earth Day, the students will be assisting Austin Park and Rec by helping to clean up at a couple of our bigger park areas: Todd Park, The Bandshell Park, Lafayette Park near Marcussen, and others. While there, the students will have a chance to hang out with friends, play on the equipment, but most importantly, give back to our community that provides us so much.
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. 4th Quarter, Here we come!!
David Brown
IJ Holton Dean of Students
IJ Holton Families,
At the end of April, eight educators from Austin Public Schools will be travelling to Palm Springs, California to attend the BARR National Conference. This will include four teachers from IJ Holton, two teachers from Ellis, one school counselor from Ellis, and the BARR Coordinator. This is an incredible learning experience as we attend sessions about each of the BARR strategies. Some are led by BARR Center employees while others are led by educators from BARR schools all over the United States. I will be presenting on the implementation of I-Time and U-Time lessons at IJ Holton and Ellis.
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 March
3/5/26
Grade 5 Together We Can Build Something Extraordinary The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand that accomplishing extraordinary things requires a variety of skills, talents, and strengths. Students worked in small groups to brainstorm about places that need a team for things to go well.
Grade 6 Groupthink This lesson introduced the concept of groupthink and how it can affect people in different situations. Students were put in groups and given tasks. Later, they reflected on who the major decision-makers were and why others chose to follow their lead.
3/19/26
Grade 5 Friendship The lesson helped students identify different qualities they look for in a friendship and what qualities they bring to a friendship. The lesson started with a reading of the book, The Same but Different Too by Karl Newson.
Grade 6 I Am Students had the opportunity to reflect on and share their family traditions and customs. They created “I Am” statements and later shared them with a classmate.
3/26/26
Grade 5 “Sorry” Is Just a Word Students learned why apologizing is important and how to do it. The book, Zach Apologizes by William Mulcahy, helped this idea come to life. Students learned that sincere apologies have two parts: an acknowledgment of what they did, and an offer to make things right now and in the future.
Grade 6 It Depends on the View Students recognized that their perceptions (what they think and believe) about other people may change, depending on how they look at people or what they pay attention to.
BARR Center | Same Students. Same Teachers. Better Results.
- 4/3-4/6 - No School
- 4/7 - School Resumes
- 4/7-4/8 - MCA Reading
- 4/14-4/15 - MCA Math
- 4/20 - No School for Students, Staff Development Day
- 4/22-4/23 - Science MCA (5th Gr)
- 4/23 - 5th Gr Math Masters Competition
