Back-to-school

September, 2026

Welcome back to the 2026-27 school year. The first week of school was successful and filled with classroom community building activities, learning new systems and structures, and getting to know each other. Students have been taking beginning of the year assessments to help us guide our instruction and give students what they need to grow academically.

Mr. Fester, our curriculum integrator has been busy teaching mission patch lessons in classrooms. This lesson is an integrated experience for each individual classroom that focuses on creating a "class mission". Students synergize and share their voice as they develop a mssion statement that represents each student and the class as a whole community. Watch for some class mission statements in our next newsletter.

Kindergartners had their first FULL class - FULL day yesterday and they were amazing! As you can imagine, it takes time to get to know all the structures and systems. We are proud of how well they did on their first day.

We have a our first PTO meeting tonight and really NEED you there! Our PTO is slowly growing but we want to hear from you. Please join us tonight at 6:30 in the UAE Media center. Let's make this a great year together!

Finally, thank you. We truly appreciate your partnership while working through some of the challenges with transportation, registration and the beginning of the year hiccups. Please reach out with any concerns or suggestions. This is OUR school and we are always BETTER together.

Diedre Bloemers, Principal

Derek Williamson, Assistant Principal

Mark your calendars for:

Date: Thursday, September 24, 2026

Time: 5:30 pm-7:00 pm

All ACES leaders and families are invited to our Fall Kickoff and BBQ:

Launch into Leadership & Learning!

Families will visit stations around the building to learn about grade-level specific curriculum, Leader in Me and other important information.

This family event will take place from 5:30-7pm, and to reduce crowding in the cafeteria, the BBQ dinner plan is as follows:

• Families with last names A-K: Dinner 5:30 pm- 6:10 pm

• Families with last names L-Z: Dinner 6:10 pm- 6:40 pm

Families will visit the stations throughout the building during their non-dinner time!

Looking forward to seeing you there!!!

If you have a student enrolled in our preschool program or intersted on how to register in the future, please click here!

The mobile app for Anoka-Hennepin Schools parents and students has changed due to a software update. Families know the app as “ParentVUE,” students know the app as “StudentVUE,” and most district staff refer to it as Synergy.

The updated versions of the apps are available to use and access now. Some families may no longer be able to login using the current or discontinued legacy version of the apps. Please click on this link for more information.

Did you know that in addition to being a magnet school, we are a Leader in Me School? We learn the 8 habits starting in kindergarten. A big part of learning the habits is understanding HOW to apply them in our everyday lives. That's what we learn at University. We learn to Be Proactive, Begin With the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think WIn-Win, Synergize, Sharpen the Saw & Find Your Voice.

All students will have a Leadership folder with a math and reading WIG (wildly important goal) that they set to document and celebrate their growth. Each month we will highlight exciting leadership opportunities, leaders in action and coming soon will be our 2026-27 University Student Leadership Lighthouse Team.

Is my child well enough to go to school?

• If a student has an oral temperature of 100 degrees or higher indicating a fever, the student must stay home for a minimum of 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal WITHOUT fever reducing medication.
  
• Vomiting. The student must stay home until a minimum of 24 hours after the last episode.
  
• Diarrhea that causes ‘accidents’, is bloody, or results in greater than two bowel movements above what the child normally experiences in a 24-hour period. The student must stay home until a minimum of 24 hours after the last episode.
  
• If a student has had any rash that may be disease-related or the cause is unknown, check with a family physician before sending the student to school.
  
• Respiratory virus symptoms that are worsening or not improving and not better explained by another cause such as seasonal allergies
  

If a student is ill, please call the school daily to report illness. University Avenue attendance line is 763-506-45

If you have any questions regarding the above information or your child’s illness, please call us at 763-506-4504

Medications: Students are NOT allowed to self-medicate or carry any prescription medication or over-the-counter medication. All prescription and over-the-counter medication must be signed in to the nurse to be administered in the health office. Medications include inhalers and Epi-pens. All prescription medication must have the pharmacy label on it. If you do not have the pharmacy label you can contact your pharmacy and they will print out a label. Please contact the health office at 763-506-4504 or email melissa.brysonrivera@ahschools.us or robin.broen@ahschools.us if you have any questions. If your student takes a prescription medication will need a doctor's order or emergency action plan. Every year a new doctor's order is needed.

Please send an extra pair of clothes with your student in case of an accident. Accidents include going outside during the winter and getting their clothes wet from snow. The health office is very limited on clothes. If you have any gently used pants you can donate it to the health office it will be greatly appreciated.

Robin Broen, BSN, RN, LSN, PHN

763-506-4524

Melissa Bryson-Rivera, LPN

763-506-4504

Hello ACES families! Welcome to the 2026-27 school year. We’re so excited to be back. If you’re not familiar with us, here is some information about what we do at University Avenue.

How we support students:

• Mental Health Crisis Interventions

• Mental Health Support

• Behavior interventions to support classroom learning

• Social Skills/Emotional Regulation

• Whole group

• Small group

• Individual

• Family transitions

• 504 Plans

Not sure where to go or where to get help? Give us a call, email or text!

One thing you may want to know about for this year:

University Avenue Elementary participates in the Every Meal Weekend Food Program. Every Meal is a non-profit that provides free food bags to families in our school. Families can sign up to receive one food bag per student who attends University Avenue Elementary. The bags are discretely placed in your student’s backpack at the end of the week, usually Fridays, by our volunteers. Families can choose from different types of food bags that cater to your dietary preferences.

If you are interested in learning more about what types of food bags there are please follow the link to the Every Meal Electronic Enrollment Form. There are no enrollment requirements for the program, all you need to do is fill out the enrollment form.

You can enroll, un-enroll and change your bag color at any time throughout the school year.

If you have any questions about the program, want to un-enroll or change your bag color you can contact Caitlin Morris

Darcy Nelson, MSW, LICSW

School Social Worker

University Avenue ACES

Google Voice- 612.305.8266 (voice or text)

Office - 763.506.4566 (voice only)

Fax- 763.506.4503

Our amazing specialists have put together one-page flyers for you to read that detail who they are and what they do in their classes.

We LOVE Our UAE Volunteers!

Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered at University this school year. You make a huge difference and I can't thank you enough.

If you have not already turned in a Volunteer Application form and completed the Criminal History form on-line this school year, and plan on chaperoning a field trip, helping with classroom parties or plan to volunteer in any other way this year, please complete those forms and return them as soon as possible. They should be turned in at least 2 weeks before you plan on volunteering.

If there are grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc. that would like to volunteer, please let us know and I'll send them an email with the link to the forms or you can forward this link to them. Click here to complete or update your Volunteer Application

Sign in procedures: All volunteers need to stop in my office, Room 107 and sign in the volunteer book. Volunteer nametags should be worn whenever you are at school to volunteer and are available in the basket by the sign in book.

Wondering why you have to record your volunteer hours?

• Volunteers are not insured unless they have completed the forms and have signed in as a volunteer before each event.

• I am required to track all volunteer hours for further reporting to the District Parent Involvement Office. These hours are then reported to Anoka-Hennepin School Board and to the State and can affect future funding.

• We really appreciate our volunteers and want to thank you for all your efforts with cards and tokens of appreciation. We can’t do that if we don’t know you are volunteers.

Links to current volunteer opportunities:

• Weekly Volunteer Signup Link Volunteers are needed who can come in once a week for any of the following activities.

• Lunchroom approx. 11-2 on Tuesdays

• Baggie Books 9:20 - approximately 10:15. Baggie Books are classroom libraries. Volunteers help students pick a new book each day to take home.

• Workroom Tuesday or Thursday mornings. Prepare projects for students and staff as needed.

• If you are interested in helping at the beginning of the school year, but do not want to commit to coming every week, please email to let me know when you are available.

• Picture Day Signup Link We are looking for volunteers to help with Picture Day on Wednesday, September 30th. Children are not allowed to stay with parent during this event.

• 26-27 PTO Signup Link There are many opportunities to help the school by coordinating events or helping out behind the scenes and the PTO Board Members would love your help. Whether you want to help out 1 hour a month or many, there is some way for you to contribute.

• Fall Festival Signup Link Many volunteers are needed to make our Fall Festival a success. Our greatest need is for people to hand out candy. If you (or your friends and family) are interested in helping, please use the link above. You must have completed a volunteer application and a Criminal History Release form since July 1st, 2026 in order to help.

Click here to complete or update your Volunteer Application

If you have any questions please contact me at debbie.blatz@ahschools.us

Debbie Blatz, Volunteer Services Coordinator

Hours: Mon., Tue., Thurs., and Fri. 8-1

Hello ACES Families!

I am excited to be returning this year to support the magnet activities being planned by our amazing teachers for all of your University Avenue ACES (Aerospace and Children's Engineering Specialists) If you're interested in getting more involved, here are three easy ways to support our magnet learning!

1) Sign up to chaperone a field experience - we are able to take many off site excursions thanks to our district's support of magnet activities, but we can't do it without chaperones. If you'd like to get a better idea of what it means to be a magnet learner, please connect with your learner's teacher about opportunities.

2) Bring your expertise to our school - there are several events every year focused on connecting the world of STEM to what students are learning in the classroom. If you are employed in a STEM field, i'd love to connect with you about finding opportunities to get involved in our programs!

3) Share your experiences - if you know other families who might be interested in joining our school community, please connect them with me. We regularly provide school tours to showcase what our school and its amazing educator offer.

And PLEASE sign up for our Facebook!

James Fester M.Ed

Curriculum Integration Coordinator

james.fester@ahschools.us

Subscribe to our school Facebook page!

Hello University Avenue Families,

We are so excited for this year with PTO! We have a few things on the calendar and are eager to hear your ideas for our school, events, fundraising opportunities, and more!

We cannot wait to connect with you at our first PTO meeting of the year:

Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30pm at school. We will also have a virtual option for those who want to join on Google Meets.

First meeting agenda:

• Introductions for new and existing members
• Principal updates
• Fall festival planning
• Volunteers updates