-Cedar Island- Welcome Back!

Dear Cedar Island Families,

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year at Cedar Island! I hope you are enjoying a fun, rejuvenating, and memorable summer. Our staff have made the most of these past couple of summer months, as well, but are increasingly energized to kick off another terrific school year that promises to be full of growth, learning, joy, and partnership with you, our valued Bobcat community.

I am particularly excited for you to see our most recent remodel project. This summer our media center was entirely renovated, and it looks incredible – being equal parts modern, accessible, cozy, and cool. Admittedly, I might be biased about this, but I think you’re going to love it. I will include some photos that show the current progress.

Below you will find some important information to help ensure a smooth start to the school year. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Open House. Wednesday, August 27, 5:00 – 6:30 PM. Students and families will have the opportunity to meet their teachers and check out their new classrooms. Sweet treats will be available courtesy of PTO. Please stop by and have one before leaving.
The 1st Day of School. Tuesday, September 2. First bell will ring at 9:20 AM with class beginning at 9:30 AM. The school day ends at 4:00 PM. Parents who pick up their children at dismissal are asked to arrive at the school between 3:55 and 4:05 PM. Be prepared…the Parent-Pick Up area will be crowded, but trust me, it flows pretty smoothly when everyone follows the procedure. Buses leave the parking lot at approximately 4:05 PM.
Kindergarten & New Family 1st Day Welcome. Tuesday, September 2. Parents of Kindergarten students and families new to our school are invited to walk their students to their classrooms at 9:20 AM and then attend a brief reception in the Media Center hosted by PTO leadership and myself.

Have an amazing final few weeks of summer. We can’t wait to see you at Open House on Wednesday, August 27th or on the first day of school on September 2nd. Go Bobcats!

Alex Berg

Principal

Cedar Island Elementary School

Media Center check-out desk and small group areas

Maker's Space classroom

Looking down the 5th grade hallway

Media Center large group area

Small group areas within the Media Center

New Media Center entrance

School Information Sheet - School contact information, hours, lunch/recess times
School Calendar - Pro tip...save all the asynchronous and no-school days in your phone with reminders!
Cedar Island FAQ's - Have a question? The answer is likely here!
Parking Lot Procedures - Please be sure to follow the rules during student drop-off and pick-up!
School Supply List – Mostly purchased by PTO this year! Donations accepted at Open House. More info to come!

Teacher assignments will be posted in ParentVue after 4:00pm on Monday, August 25. Staff and administration work hard to create balanced and healthy classrooms. For this reason, please respect that we do not make changes to classroom assignments.

New families, please click the button below to create a ParentVue account.

Returning families, all back to school forms MUST be completed and/or verified to enter ParentVue for the first time each school year. ParentVue will prompt you to do this when you login. You will have to verify ALL CHILDREN in your home, even young siblings! Your ParentVue account is the same as last year and will work for all of your students in the district. Use the button below to access more information about ParentVue

ParentVUE Login and Activation

There is a new app for bus tracking! If you have the old one, please delete it and download the new one. All the information you need is below....

Bus information (Bus number, bus stop location, pick-up and drop-off times) will be available in ParentVue on Thursday, August 21. Transportation information will also be emailed to families from the District Transportation Department on Friday, August 22.

Cedar Island will not have access to transportation information before Friday, August 22. Please wait for the Transportation Department communication.

If your child's bus information is not posted in ParentVUE on Friday August 22, please inquire with the transportation department.

As a reminder, transportation is only available to students who live within the Cedar Island attendance boundaries. To find out if your address, daycare address, etc. is in our boundaries, please click here.

If you have further transportation questions, need to make changes to your student's bus information, etc. please visit https://www.district279.org/services/transportation or email transportation at BusQuestions@district279.org.

One breakfast and one lunch per day are free for all students in Minnesota.

If students bring a lunch from home and wish to have school milk, they must purchase one for 50 cents using their online lunch account. Once you’ve created this account, you can log in and add money to your child’s meal account. Balances are shared by all students in a household.

To load your student’s lunch account, view menus, apply for free/reduced lunch, etc., please visit www.district279.org/services/nutrition-services.

Click the button below to create a school lunch account.

School Lunch Account

It is important that all families fill out the Educational Benefits Application every year. Families who qualify may be eligible for a variety of benefits, which may include free or discounted prices for the following:

Field trips
Some Community Education programs
Clubs, activities, and athletics
Instrument rentals
Fees, including for AP testing, graduation and more
Device protection plans on school-provided devices
Comcast internet for home
Xcel Energy account assistance for electricity bills

Additionally, the state of Minnesota uses a school district’s percentage of qualifying students from applications completed and approved prior to October 1 each year to calculate each district’s funding level. School district funding impacts every student:

Class sizes
The number of support staff the district hire to help students (i.e. counselors & social workers)
Extra programming opportunities

Please fill out the Educational Benefits Application today to make sure your family can take advantage of these and other benefits!

Education Benefit Application

PTO is once again proud to sponsor a spirit wear store for our school! The store will remain open all year, shipping goes directly to your home, and a link to the store will be at the bottom of every What's Up Wednesday.

If you need to stock up on your Cedar Island swag, now is the time!