NOVA NEWS - November 2024

As we move into November, I’m excited to share that we’re nearing the conclusion of our data-gathering “grammar” phase in our planning for the land to the north of our school. With your patience and support, we’ve gained valuable insights, and I’m excited to update you on our progress.

Grammar Phase

This past month, soil boring results provided essential insights into land stability, and an attorney clarified zoning and covenant restrictions. With this groundwork laid, we’re now entering the 'logic' phase, moving toward a clear vision for our future facilities.

Logic Phase

The schematic design process, approved by the Board last spring and developed over the summer, is well underway. Our architect, incorporating findings from the Facilities Needs Analysis, zoning and code requirements, and committee feedback, is now finalizing a design to outline the scope and layout of the potential expansion. At the heart of these plans is a commitment to enhancing opportunities, safety, and academic support for Nova Classical students.

Rhetoric Phase: Board Approval

The schematic design and funding overview will be presented to the Board of Directors at a special meeting on Monday, November 18, at 6:00 PM. The Board will assess the project’s potential and consider advancing it in principle, though a final decision is expected no earlier than the end of January.

Stay Informed on Progress

We’re grateful for the community’s support and look forward to keeping you informed as this exciting project unfolds. Keeping our students, families, staff, and the entire Nova Classical community informed is a priority, and we welcome all feedback. Alongside our monthly newsletters, we’re creating a dedicated landing page with project schematics, a timeline, and an inquiry form for questions or concerns.

Still have questions? As always, feel free to reach out via email or call my office—I’m here to help.

It’s a Great Day to Be a Knight!

Dr. Brett Wedlund

We invite our community members and students to share their stories, achievements, and upcoming events for a chance to be featured in Nova News and/or Social Media! Whether it's highlighting a student group, activity, or special event, we welcome your submissions.

To ensure a smooth process, we've developed some guidelines for coaches, advisors, teachers, staff, students, and parent volunteers. These guidelines are designed to help streamline submissions and ensure we capture the best of what Nova Classical has to offer.

Please see the attached guidelines for more details on how to submit your items. Remember, you can also have your events or activities considered for our social media channels by emailing them to socialmedia@novaclassical.org and contact@novaclassical.org.

We look forward to showcasing the amazing things happening in our community!

The Nova Classical Lower School is participating in a plastic film recycling drive with the company Ridwell and Nova's Green Team! Ridwell is a local company that picks up a variety of materials that can’t be recycled in your regular bin at home. This includes light bulbs, batteries, certain types of plastic, and more! In an opportunity to bring this company to Nova Classical for free, we need 10 families or friends to sign up for a subscription before December 15. This means you would pay for Ridwell collection at home, and help Nova Classical get plastic collection for free! If you would like more information about how to sign up please see our poster or visit our Ridwell website.

• Thursday, November 21, 2024, 4:30-8:00 PM, in person only. Stop by the NPTO-Sponsored Parent Lounge in the Great Room between conferences for refreshments!

• Monday, November 25, 2024, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM, virtual only (Google Meet)

• Please note that all Special Education conferences will be virtual

• All conference slots are 12 minutes long and are booked through PickATime

Question? Visit the Parent Directions for Conferences for assistance.

Directions were emailed to all families on Monday, November 4. If you did not receive the emailed instructions, please reach out to contact@novaclassical.org for assistance with any contact information issues.

Give to the Max is Minnesota's day of giving! It is coming up on November 21, the same day as evening Parent-Teacher conferences. We are raising funds this year for our general fund and are excited to expand our network of support for our school.

Give to the Max Day will be a day of fun with hourly challenges and exciting incentives for giving or just spreading the news! Please connect on our social media channels and help get the word out about our successful public charter school. The schedule for the day will be out soon!

If you have any questions or concerns about images or ordering, please contact Slow Road directly at hello@slowroadphoto.com or (612) 293-6327.

Libraries open doors for reading, research, and resources! Nova Classical Student ID's double as Library Cards again this year! Through our LibraryGo partnership with the St. Paul Public Library (SPPL), all students have active library cards that can be used to check out up to 5 books and materials, and to access their online databases. Help your student use their account online or at checkout at one of the 14 SPPL branches.

• Account number: Nova Classical’s school number (2209190300) + (the scholar's 4-digit lunch PIN number)
• Password: Your child’s birthday written MMDDYY, for example, January 26, 2012 would be 01262012

If you have questions about this program, contact Ms. Gabor at vgabor@novaclassical.org.

Help us give the gift of warmth! With the support of the NPTO, we are collecting new and gently used winter clothing to be distributed to families within our Nova Classical community. From October 22 through November 9, donations of hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, coats, snow pants, and boots can be dropped off at Miss Stella’s office, Room 402, in the main office.

If your student is in need of winter clothing, please fill out this form. Donations will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. While we cannot guarantee that we will be able to fulfill all requests completely, we will do our best to help as many families as possible!

With the temperature dropping, please label all of your scholar’s cold weather gear that they brings to school! Personalized labels through namebubbles.com or www.mabelslabels.com work great.

Unlabeled uniform and cold weather items may be difficult to find because they look alike and are often the same brand & size as one’s classmates. Thank you for helping us keep unlabeled, unclaimed Lost & Found items out of landfills!

The cost for a set of labels is usually less than replacing one lost item. If not using personalized labels, please write your scholar’s first name (or initial) & complete last name clearly on all items. There is often a designated “This Item Belongs To:” spot inside items for this purpose. When items are clearly labeled, we can get them back to your scholar quickly. If not, your scholar will need to look through the many items that end up in the Lost & Found.

Enrollment application for the 2025-2026 school year is open. Please visit our website for information. All applications submitted by January 31, 2025, at 4:00 PM, will be entered into the enrollment lottery in February 2024. Current students do not need to reapply.

Our Enrollment Open House is TONIGHT from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM. Join us for a presentation on our programs and tour of our school.

Winter Registration Dates:

Winter After School Clubs: October 28, 2024

Speech is still open!

Check out details for all of the above on the Extracurriculars page of the Nova Classical website.

Nova Classical Drama Presents: Little Women

Join us for the beloved tale of the March sisters: Come see Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy wrestle with difficult lessons, discover their place in a world full of expectation, and uncover the joy in the ordinary. Nova Classical's Upper School Drama presents Louisa May Alcott's timeless classic on November 15 & 16, at the Wellstone Center. Showtimes and tickets are available on the Nova Knights Extracurriculars page.

We were thrilled to welcome so many guests for Grandparent/Special Person Day in October! Thanks to our team of parent volunteers who hosted breakfast and afternoon receptions and guided our honored guests to over 600 classroom visits! Thank you guests and volunteers for your support of our scholars, we love sharing our unique learning environment with you!

Our 9th graders had an incredible adventure at Trollhaugen's High Ropes and Zip Line Challenge Courses! From navigating high-altitude obstacles to zipping through the trees, these students showed amazing courage, teamwork, and encouragement for one another. It was a day full of personal challenges, pushing boundaries, and supporting classmates through it all. We are so proud of our Nova Classical 9th graders for stepping up and embracing the adventure!

Congratulations to our newest National Honor Society inductees!

We proudly celebrated our scholars who embody the pillars of NHS: Scholarship, Service, Character, and Leadership. These students have demonstrated exceptional commitment to academic excellence, a heart for serving others, unwavering integrity, and the ability to lead with purpose. We are so proud of their hard work and dedication! Here's to continuing the legacy of excellence and making a positive impact in our community at Nova Classical!

Parents and Community Members:

Apply to become an active volunteer to help support our scholars and school community! Click here to view the always-current list of opportunities and links to sign up. Sign up to help collect tickets, run a game, or more at our 11/9 Great Gatherings Family Carnival!

SoR Volunteering Network:

Our School of Rhetoric Students (Grades 9-12) are required to log 80 hours of community service to graduate. Please help us connect our students with opportunities in the community. Please contact Ms. Voelker, School Counselor, Grades 8-12, with questions or ideas.

Highlights from the October 28 Board Meeting:

1. The Board took time for finance training. Joe Aliperto from Dieci School Finance walked the Board through the October financials and highlighted different areas of revenue versus expenses. He mentioned the importance of Nova Classical’s strong enrollment numbers and strong fund balance for the financial health of the school.
2. Academic Director Dr. Missy Johnson presented the second part of a presentation on academic goals set by Nova Classical’s authorizer, Friends of Education. This presentation focused on academic goals related to students showing growth in math and reading skills as measured from first through fifth grade; goals for students taking the ACT; school culture; and, staff training.
3. Dr. Johnson shared more about LETRS training with Nova Classical staff and how the administration is supporting teachers. The Board approved the administrative guidance plan for Read Act compliance.
4. Facilities Director Jesse Prins presented an update to the Board on the Schematic Design Process for the land owned by Nova to the north of the building between Kay Avenue and Mercer Street. Nova Classical was approved for a $25,000 CAP grant from Ramsey County including soil samples from the Triangle.
5. Community Engagement Manager Ginger Gabor presented an enrollment report to the Board. She was excited to report that enrollment is the highest it's ever been and one-third of Nova Classical’s current seniors were here as kindergarteners.
6. The Board approved an employment agreement between Nova Classical and Executive Director Dr. Brett Wedlund for SY26-28. The Executive Director Review Committee negotiated the employment agreement with Dr. Wedlund, with the following goals: to have Nova Classical’s Executive Director salary within market value range of other public charter schools of similar size in Minnesota; to recognize the many areas of excellence Dr. Wedlund has brought to Nova Classical; and, to have solid leadership with the school’s potential building project.
7. The Board approved entering into a cooperative with ISM, Eagle Ridge, Heritage, Chesterton Academy, Providence Academy, and West Lutheran High School for Boys Volleyball.

A Special Board Meeting will be held on Monday, November 18, at 6:00 PM, for the presentations from HayDobbs and PiperSandler regarding the expansion project. The next regular Board meeting will be on Monday, November 25, 2024.

For meeting minutes and agendas for upcoming meetings, visit the Board section of Nova Classical's website.

The Nova Classical Board of Directors is seeking a Community Member candidate to serve through the remainder of this school year (through June 30, 2025). Community members cannot be a Nova employee or a parent/guardian of a student enrolled at Nova Classical, but could be the grandparent of a student. Community member candidates must reside in the state of Minnesota and be at least 21 years old.

Please contact Becky Lund, chair of the Governance Committee (governance@novaclassical.org), with questions or if you know of someone who might be interested in supporting Nova Classical at the board level.

The next NovaPTO Meeting is today, Thursday, November 7, 2024 from 7:30-8:30 PM via Zoom only. Meeting ID: 842 4045 9837

Passcode: enrich

Join us for the Great Gatherings Family Carnival Saturday on November 9, at Nova Classical, from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Learn more about the Nova Great Gatherings Family Carnival Event at novapto.org or email us at novagreatgatherings@gmail.com.

Tips for a great time at the Great Gatherings Family Carnival:

• sign up for our directory at novapto.membershiptoolkit.com,
• leave heavy jackets in the car,
• wear socks (bouncy house),
• bring spare change for coin wishing well,
• purchase Nova Classical Spirit Wear, including the exclusive Carnival T-Shirt, and
• have fun!

We still need a lot of helpers to make sure the carnival runs smoothly! Check out the Carnival Day Volunteer Opportunities and Sign Up sheet to help us make this event a huge success.

Interested in joining the Lower School Advisory Council? There are still grade level reps needed! Email Missy for more information at mrsmyth08@gmail.com.

Save the Dates:

Nova PTO Meeting: December 3, from 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom.

• Meeting ID: 842 4045 9837
• Passcode: 040953

Free Ice-Skating Event: Sunday, December 15, from 3:10-5:10 PM at Schulz Area in St. Paul

The PTO sends its gratitude to all our 2024 Carnival Sponsors. Their financial support has enabled us to provide free entry and keep Great Gathering ticket prices low. Next time you are in the need of a vendor, please consider contacting our Sponsors.

Click here to see the many ways you can volunteer with NovaPTO.

Follow NPTO on Facebook, Instagram, or visit their website for more information and get in touch with Nova Classical families when you sign up for the Family Directory!

November:

1: Enrollment Application Window for 2024-2025 Opens (new students only)

1: No School (Staff Work Day)

7: Enrollment Open House from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

7: NPTO Meeting from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Zoom)

9: Great Gatherings Family Carnival (NPTO)

15-16: Nova Classical Drama Production: Little Women

18: Special Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

21: Give to the Max Day

21: Evening K-12 Conferences from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM

25: Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

25: K-12 Conferences from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

26: No School (Staff Professional Development Day)

27-29: No School (Building Closed)

December:

3: NPTO Meeting from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Zoom)

15: All School Ice Skating Party (NPTO)

19: Festive Sweater Day for K-12 students

20: No School (Staff Work Day)

23-31: No School (Building Closed)

January:

1-3: No School (Building Closed)

7: NPTO Meeting from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Zoom)

16: End of Quarter 2 (LS) /Semester 1 (US)

17: No School (Staff Work Day)

20: No School (Building Closed)

27: Board of Directors Meeting at 6:00 PM

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