Sanford Family Newsletter Logo

April 24, 2026

Good People,

We have great news to celebrate regarding History Day from last weekend It was a challenging year and there were many impressive projects. Sanford had 28 projects and 45 students compete. Congrats to all! We are proud of your hard work.

We are currently in the middle of the Frank Sentwali residency in 7th grade Science. Frank Sentwali is the creator of Edu-Poetic Enterbrainment, a Twin Cities’ spoken word and music ensemble. Frank has spent years in the education system as a tutor, teacher and mentor.

In Partnership,

Naida Grussing-Neitzel, Ed.S.

Principal

Maria Sanford Middle School

On May 22nd, 2026, Sanford is holding our 4th annual MYP Community Service/Project Day. Sanford students will spend most of the day (8:40-1:30) with their advisories doing community engagement, service and reflection. Many students will be off campus during this time, please complete the permission form by May 8th so our health office has enough time to prepare to keep us safe and healthy on these trips. It helps to look up your students' advisory teacher and student ID before doing the form. The form will tell you if your student's advisory is staying at Sanford or going into the community.

On May 22nd, 8th graders will complete their own Community Project actions by doing service away from school, with their world studies teacher or helping out with the rest of their advisory. If 8th grade students are doing service away from school, they need to complete the Community Project Proposal/Permission Form and turn it into their World Studies teacher. For more information about 8th grade Community Projects, read the community project 8th grade letter from Ms. Enz.

Raptor center visit

Thursday, May 6 starting promptly at 10:15AM

Auditorium

The PTA has funded a visit from the U of MN Raptor Center for our 7th graders and any other classes who are interested - students must go with their teacher. All 7th graders should attend. Students will have the opportunity to see and learn about three different raptors during this 45-minute presentation. . There will be a brief slideshow in the days leading up to the presentation about audience expectations so that we don't scare the birds!

Just a reminder that Extended Learning (ALC) after-school classes will end April 30th. These include the following classes:

Cook Up!

Craft Club - Unified

Dungeons & Dragons

Flux

Jazz Band

Lego Club

Mystery Book Club

Open Gym - Unified

Pride S.A.G.E

Scratch & Video Game Design

All other classes not listed will run until May 15th.

Please reach out to Lissa Gordon lissa.gordon@mpls.k12.mn.us with questions.

Fall Movie Night Rescheduled to May 8th! Let's try again for a rain free evening of fun! Sanford PTA will host our annual movie night on Friday - May 8th at 7:45pm. Our movie this year will be the Minecraft Movie. The PTA will be making popcorn for everyone! Students, families, and staff are invited. See you there!

Our next meeting is Tuesday, May 19th from 6:00p-7:30p in the media center at Sanford. Enter through the main entrance. All are welcome!

If you ordered plants from the Gertens PTA Fundraiser, the pick up will be on May 6th at Sanford from 2:00p-6:00p.

To contact us or to sign up for our email notifications, please send an email to: sanfordmspta@gmail.com.

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612mtb is a youth development mountain bike team serving riders in 6th - 12th grades, who live in south Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our riders attend, or will attend, Southwest, Washburn, Roosevelt, and South high schools, or reside in south Minneapolis and attend other schools without teams of their own.

612 MTB

We will hold our annual Team Open House in the Lake Nokomis Park field, north of the Minnehaha Parkway (same location as last year). See map below for detailed location (we meet across the street from 4729 27th Ave South).

Coaches and riders will be on hand to answer any questions. Bike checks for basic fit/mechanical will also be available. This is a great time for new and returning athletes and families to reconnect, say hi, and get all questions answered.

No need to RSVP, just show up. Feel free to pass this on to anyone who is interested to learn about the team.

We also plan to have a GRRLS Try It Out Clinic at the same time and location. Watch for details about that event to come out in separate communications.