News and events

September 13, 2026

Our Character Strong trait for September is RESPECT. Check out what each grade level is working on:

• Kindergarten

• First Grade

• Second Grade

• Third Grade

• Fourth Grade

• Fifth Grade

Hello Hoover Families,

Thank you to all our parents/guardians/families for your support in making our first week of school a success. Thank you for your patience as students learn the systems to transition from arrival to dismissal. We truly appreciate your patience and reinforcement at home.

Buses ran a little behind schedule this past week, which typically happens the first week of school. We hope this will happen less as each week progresses. Anoka-Hennepin families can check where their bus is — live — through a transportation app called Versatrans My Stop. The app tracks regular school bus routes in real time. Best of all, it’s free for parents/guardians and students to use. For more information about the app, please visit https://www.ahschools.us/transportation.

We would also like your help at the end of the day/dismissal time. Our school playground is closed to the public during school hours (9:30-4:00) but also during the time before and after school for our A+ program. We ask that families who arrive before the school day or are waiting for dismissal at the end of the day keep younger students/siblings off the playground. We appreciate your support with this.

We are seeking donations for snacks to build our reserve for students who need nutritious snacks at school. If you are able and willing to donate, please send a box or bag of nonperishable, individually wrapped healthy snacks to school with your student. Thank you for supporting our community of learners!

• Suggested Items: Crackers, Goldfish, veggie straws, granola bars, pretzels, Cheez-Its, Nutri-grain bars, and pre-popped popcorn.

Thank you for your partnership with our Hoover staff to make this the best year yet for our Hoover Community!

Best,

Mrs. Strusz

P.S. - Did you know that you can access all of our Hoover Family Updates Smore Newsletter on our school website at https://hoover.ahschools.us/about-us/news? Scroll down to the bottom and locate the E-newsletter archive for this year and previous years' newsletters.

• August 18, 2026 Hoover Family Updates Smore Newsletter
• September 1, 2026 Hoover Family Updates Smore Newsletter
• September 7, 2026 Hoover Family Updates Smore Newsletter

• Monday, September 14th - ALL Kindergarten students attend school
• Monday, September 14th, 6:45-7:30 pm - PTO Meeting (in-person or virtual available - meet.google.com/akx-bbpm-vbj )
• Tuesday, September 15th - 3:00-10:00 pm - PTO Dining Night - Texas Roadhouse
• Tuesday, September 15th, 5:30-7:00 pm - Gr 4 & 5 Family Welcome Night
• Friday, September 18th - Last Day to Order Hoover Grade Level T-shirts and Spiritwear - click here to order
• Thursday, September 24th - PTO Back-to-School Bingo Night
• Wednesday, September 30th - Fall School Pictures (a flyer will be sent home with more info)

• Please say your goodbyes and give hugs before dropping off at school or at the main door. Staff will be available to help students walk into school and escort them to their classrooms.
• All guests to Hoover must have an ID and be scanned in before entering the building.
• Parents/Guardians picking up students during the school day will be asked to present ID and wait in the vestibule until the student meets them there.
• 3:30 p.m. is the cut-off for students to be picked up/dismissed from school by a parent/guardian. Please plan accordingly and communicate with the teacher or the main office about this change.
• NEW PROCEDURE - When students leave the building early and are signed out by a parent/guardian, there will be an iPad in the vestibule for parents/guardians to enter the info to sign their student out. We appreciate your willingness to follow this new procedure and your patience as we work through the learning curve.
• If you have questions about bus transportation for your student(s), please call the district transportation office at 763.506.1125.
• Absence Reporting - Please call our Attendance Line at 763.506.2806 to report any absences that your child(ren) will be out of school every day.
• Don't forget to return your Summer Express Activity Book completed certificates to your teacher to receive a special reward!

Coming Back to Hoover This Year:

• Take Home Folders
• All Hoover students/families received their Take-Home Folders at Open House. We use them to establish a strong, effective communication process with our families. Please review the folders with your student(s) nightly and ensure they are returned to school daily.
• Replacement folders are available for purchase for $3.00.
• Student/Family Handbook
• During the first week or two of school, our teachers will spend some time reviewing our Hoover Rules and Expectations. Please also review it with your child(ren) at home. A copy of the Student/Family Handbook was included in the Take Home Holders that all families received at Open House.
• You can also access our Hoover Student/Family Handbook here (and moving forward, it will be linked in each week's Hoover Family Updates. Please review the following items this year at Hoover (aligned with the district's guidelines).
• Cell Phones, Smartwatches, and Electronic Devices (pg. 19)
• Toys (pg. 20)
• Classroom and Birthday Celebrations (pg. 21)
• Schoolwide Behavior Plan (pg. 21)

• Stay in your car and keep pulling forward - follow the staff's direction.
• Have students exit/enter your vehicles on the passenger/sidewalk side to avoid walking in the parking lot. I know this part is not easy because of many factors (other children in the car/car seats, etc.), but it is very important for safety.
• Please park first in the parking lot if you want to walk your student to/from the main door. Do not exit your car while in the drop-off/pick-up line. Do not have your student cross traffic to walk to you in the parking lot.
• When exiting the parking lot during arrival/dismissal times, please ONLY TURN RIGHT. This keeps traffic flowing smoothly and allows staff to direct traffic safely.
• THANK YOU for your help with this process and for keeping our students and staff safe!

For our families who access our before/afterschool childcare program, Adventures Plus (A+), please review the following procedures and inform friends/family members that may be dropping off/picking up for you throughout the school year:

• Park in the provided parking lot spaces when dropping off or picking up your student
• DO NOT park along the curb and peninsula; these are fire lanes (painted yellow), and vehicles can not park here unattended
• A+ families have their own access to enter the building provided by A+; if friends/families are picking up students at the end of the day, they need your access
• Our office staff will not be able to let them in
• A+ staff will have to come check in to ensure there's been communication for the pick-up

Our Hoover Spiritwear online ordering site is open and ready for staff, students/families to order! Stock up as a family or purchase for gifts and spread the Hoover Spirit.

Continuing this year, families can also order grade-level T-shirts for students to wear to field trips/experiences, school assemblies, and Track & Field Day! A T-shirt costs $7.00.

All orders will come to Hoover and will be distributed to students to take home the week of October 14th.

The last day to order will be Friday, September 18th!

Every student may receive one breakfast and one lunch at no cost during the school year. The state’s Free School Meals program will cover the cost of one breakfast meal and one lunch meal for every student daily, however the cost of a la carte items, such as milk, other drinks, or extra meal items will not be covered. Students will need to have funds in their meal accounts to purchase any additional food items.

If your family needs access to any other educational benefits available to your student, please visit ahschools.us/freereduced to complete an application. If you don't know if you would qualify or not, apply anyway! You may receive additional benefits that you are not aware of.

The enrollment window for the 2026 Applications for Educational Benefits begins Aug. 1, 2026.

Anoka-Hennepin asks that ALL families complete an online application to provide additional school funding to support all students in the district. By filling out this application, your school can earn funding and you can save money.

Educational benefits include:

• Athletics fees: Eligible students may qualify for fees to be waived or reduced.

• SAT, ACT, AP Fees: Students may be eligible for discounted fees for academic tests

  and some lab fees.

• Other high school activities: Students may qualify for discounts on speech, debate,

  theater, band and others.

• Additional benefits and cost savings: Chromebook device protection, Comcast Internet

  Essentials discount, Amazon Prime membership discounts, discounted bus fares with Metro Transit, Xcel Energy account assistance, discounts at museums and theaters

Please send an extra pair of pants and underwear for your child in case there is an accident (bathroom, breakfast/lunch spill, etc.). The health office loves donations of gently used sweatpants and leggings sizes 5-10. We also appreciate new packs of underwear for boys and girls sizes 5-10.

Wondering if your child is well enough to come to school? Click here for more information.

If your child goes to the doctor or dentist, please request a doctor's note and send it with your child for attendance purposes.

Thank you to the first 50 volunteers that have applied in our system through Better Impact, and completing your background check. We want you to complete yours as soon as possible via our Volunteer Homepage: https://hoover.ahschools.us/involvement/volunteer

After the 2 minute application, we need you to authorize a simple background check (it does not affect your credit score): https://www.rhris.com/ApplyNowV3/ApplyNowV3.cfm?MgmtCoIDParm=299&SiteID=10299s&PNbr=1&OriginalURL=

Once you are approved and in our volunteer pipeline, I will send you a welcome email, and then you may sign up to help with one time events, or you can be a regular volunteer.

Last year, we had 286 volunteers approved to help at Hoover Elementary, and they completed over 2,000 hours assisting with classroom help, school picture days, field trips and field experiences, Back to School Bingo, Carnival, Track and Field Day and more!

We are currently looking for help with our kindergarten and first grade breakfast and lunches. They need help learning how to go through the line, pick their choices, punch in their number. Also needs help with opening milk and other things that are tricky!

Breakfast Help Sept 8th - 18th
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-65504420-breakfast#/

Lunchroom Help Sept 8th - 18th
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-64401635-help#/

Back to School Bingo - Sept 24th
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-64418239-assist

School Photo Day - Sept 30th
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445ADAC29AAF9C07-64418239-assist

We have two Talent Development programs for reading and math that meet during the school day. They are to help develop lifelong literacy and math skills. They have some short training that you are able to do online at home. There is a list of students(kindergarten through 2nd grade) that would come in regularly to work 1:1 on the stage, and you would help them focus on either basic math, or basic reading skills. We need a consistent volunteer that is able to commit to being here regularly throughout the school year for this program to be successful.

You would help them learn to write their name, handle scissors, read aloud, tracing the alphabet, sorting and finding letters, listening to sounds, counting and building number recognition.

Here is an example of reading lessons:

https://communityed.ahschools.us/community/volunteer/individual/~board/ce-volunteer-skillbuilders/post/oral-language-reading

Here is an example of math lessons:
https://communityed.ahschools.us/community/volunteer/individual/~board/ce-volunteer-skillbuilders/post/math

Hope to see your Volunteer Application soon! As always, please feel welcome to reach out with any questions. beth.berzelius@ahschools.us

Hoover PTO would love to increase participation! ALL parents/guardians are welcome to join our PTO. Please check them out on the Hoover PTO Facebook page and like/follow them to learn more about what's going on! PTO also has a website with additional information. Please bookmark our PTO's website and check it for updates.

Also, please like/follow our Hoover Elementary Facebook page too!

Another option is to go to https://www.boxtops4education.com/ to learn more about downloading the app to scan receipts for box tops for Hoover Elementary.