News and events

September 7, 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,

"Spark. Pulse. Radiate." We are thrilled to welcome our Hoover students back for another amazing year of learning and to continue fostering a sense of curiosity and creative thinking among our students and staff! We saw many smiling faces and enthusiastic students and families at Open House last week. Our halls were filled with laughter and energy, a perfect way to kick-start our 2026-2027 school year.

Don't worry if your busy schedule kept you from Open House, we completely understand. Life gets busy. Rest assured that all our students will be greeted by wonderful staff to help them reach their classrooms and meet their new teachers.

Important Reminders:

• Please say your goodbyes and give hugs before dropping off at school or at the main door. We will have staff available to assist students in walking into school and escorting 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 to communicate with the teacher or the main office about this change.
• 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 these to establish a strong and 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 will be available to 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. We ask that you 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 make sure to specifically review the following items this year at Hoover (aligned with the district's guidelines).
• Cell Phone, Smart Watches, and Electronic Devices (pg. 19)
• Toys (pg. 20)
• Classroom and Birthday Celebrations (pg. 21)
• Schoolwide Behavior Plan (pg. 21)

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

• Tuesday, September 8th - First Day of School for 1st-5th Grade Students
• Tuesday, September 8th & Wednesday, September 9th - Individually Scheduled Kindergarten Conferences (Kindergarten families received a separate email to sign up)
• Thursday, September 10th - Kindergarten students with last names starting with A-L attend school
• Friday, September 11th - Kindergarten students with last names starting with M-Z attend school
• Monday, September 14th - ALL Kindergarten students attend school
• Monday, September 14th, 6:45-7:30 pm - PTO Meeting (in-person or virtual available)
• 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
• Thursday, September 24th - PTO Back-to-School Bingo Night
• Wednesday, September 30th - Fall School Pictures (a flyer will be sent home with more info)

• 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 due to many factors (other children in the car/carseats, etc), but this is very important for safety reasons.
• 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 is to keep the traffic flow moving smoothly and to keep staff directing traffic safely.
• THANK YOU for your help with this process to keep 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 your student off
• 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

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

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! The cost for a t-shirt is $7.00.

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

Last day to order will be Friday, September 18th!

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.

The health office has free at home Covid tests. Email Darlene.Anderson@ahschools.us and we can send them home with your child.

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.

I hope you have all had an amazing summer! Can you believe school is just around the corner?! With school starting in about a week, we have a lot happening at Hoover that staff is looking for help to prepare for the new school year. If you are available to help at all before school and the first couple weeks of school, your help would be greatly appreciated! We have the following volunteer requests starting the week of August 25th going into the first couple weeks of the school year. Don't forget to complete you new volunteer application and background check release for the 25/26 school year! These forms must be completed each school year and do not roll over year to year.

Workroom Project Requests

The start of the year means lots of project requests to help our teachers and staff prepare for the new school year. Requests include copying, laminating, sorting documents, hanging artwork, etc. This can be done anytime between 9:30am and 4pm on school days. Simply email tina.fletcher@ahschools.us the times that work for you. Whether it’s 3 hours or just an hour, your help is greatly appreciated!

Lunch Room Help

We are looking for help in our lunchroom as younger students learn for the first time or need a refresher with lunchroom rules for the first 2 weeks of school. We are hoping to get help with our Kindergarten and 1st grade lunch times.

Recess Help

We are looking for volunteers to assist at recess with refreshers of playground rules during recess times for all grades the first 2 weeks of school.

PTO Meeting Daycare

We are looking for 1-2 high school students to come watch kids during the PTO meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 5:45pm to 7:30pm.

Every Meal Food Distribution

We are looking for 1 to 2 people to come in and help place food bags in students backpacks that are signed up for the Every Meal program. This occurs weekly but you can sign up for 1 slot, multiple slots or every week. This takes about an hour. We ask volunteers to come in between the hours of 10am and 1pm to distribute bags.

Back to School Bingo

Our Title 1 and PTO sponsored Bingo Night is happening on Thursday, September 25th. We are looking for volunteers to assist with serving pizza and to help with various duties for Bingo such as the prize table, bingo verifying, etc.

As always, you can find all the volunteer opportunities listed HERE.

As of July 1, 2024, all volunteers, including those who volunteered last school year, will need to complete a new volunteer application and background check in order to volunteer for the 2025-2026 school year.

Please reach out Tina Fletcher, Volunteer Service Coordinator, at Tina.Fletcher@ahschools.us or 763.506.2830 with any questions.

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.