Connect-Sept. 30

Sept. 30, 2025

Drum roll! Our newest elementary school has a name - Aspen Ridge Elementary School! A big thank you to all who participated in this community-naming process, especially the committee members who sifted through the many suggestions and then researched the best direction for our district.

Here’s some of the reasoning behind the selection:

• Aspen Ridge was one of the community submissions shared alongside other Aspen-related suggestions.

• Meets community’s desire for a nature-inspired name with a geographic and/or historic tie.

• The Aspen tree species is the most common in Minnesota and is the first to grow in places of change. It’s also indigenous to the city of Maple Grove.

• The indigenous meaning of Aspen is unity and protection as the Aspen tree has several interconnected roots and is used for medicines, food and shelter.

• The design of the new elementary school is set to include tree imagery on its interior walls.

• Ridge connects to a road at the school location.

• Ridge also speaks to the elevation of the land and this school being our district’s first two-story elementary.

The school board unanimously approved the recommended name at their Sept. 23 meeting.

Stay tuned for Aspen Ridge’s logo/mascot. Updates will be shared at OsseoSchools.org/BetterFuture in a few weeks.

District 279 Foundation's Reading is Fun 5K is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 4 and registration is still open online. The event will start and end at the Maple Grove Crimson Stadium. View the course map to see the route for participants. The proceeds from this family-friendly event will be used by Osseo Area Schools media centers.

Garden City Elementary School students got their hands dirty while they learned about trees this month, thanks to a partnership with the non-profit organization Tree Trust. The organization came to the school in mid-September for a classroom education day, where students learned about the importance of trees for cooling, clean water and air, as homes for animals and more.

The group returned to Garden City on Sept. 24 to help each grade level to plant a tree of their own on school grounds. Each student helped to shovel dirt, spread compost and mulch and water the new trees.

More than 150 adults and children, staff and volunteers gathered on Sept. 24 at Arbor View Early Childhood Center for a playground playdate.

Families enjoyed the warm evening weather, played on the playground, explored the updated outdoor Nature Play Area and toured the newly remodeled building led by Osseo Area Schools’ Community Education Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) staff.

Learn more about the event.

Check out some highlights from PCSH's homecoming week!

Zanewood Community STEAM School hosted an Engineering Night on Sept. 25, with plentiful opportunities for the school’s scholars and their families to explore, create and enjoy themselves.

Sponsored by The Works Museum, the engineering night event also featured volunteers from Boston Scientific, who were there teaching attendees about STEM-related topics like tools used to treat clogged arteries and engineering-themed games and toys. Some of the other activities included in the evening’s events included kaleidoscope making, dynamic magnetic structures, color coding robots and opportunities to drive and learn about robots courtesy of Maple Grove and Park Center senior highs’ robotics teams.

Learn more about the event.

Edinbrook Elementary School invited parents and caregivers into the school the morning of Sept. 23. The visiting adults had a chance to see and participate in morning routines in their child's classroom before heading to the school's cafeteria, where they enjoyed breakfast items while learning more about the school's Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) programming.

Learn more about AVID at Edinbrook.

• Oct. 4: Reading is Fun 5K
• Oct. 7: School board policy committee meeting and work session
• Oct. 16-17: No school, conference release
• Oct. 21: School board regular business meeting