Sanford Family Newsletter

January 30, 2026

Good People,

I hope you are staying warm and safe this week. Despite the challenges our community has been navigating, there is so much joy happening within our halls. I’m excited to share a few highlights of what our students have experienced over the past week:

Last week our student newspaper released their winter edition of the Highflyer. Please take a look at what our talented students produced below.
This week we held class meetings in which we reviewed the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Learner Profile focused on Communicator, Reflective and being Principled. We also celebrated Student of the Quarter and our Happy Hawks (which teachers give to students for learning profile kudos). For quarter 2, the students nominated each other for Student of the Quarter. Please see the slideshow to see what they said about each other. It will give you a great perspective on how awesome our students are and what makes Sanford so special.
This week we also had a wonderful concert band concert at Roosevelt High School. Mr Erickson stated that the kids "crushed it."

Finally, we have some notable improvements in our School Climate Survey from last year to this year that is important to share as they continue to show what I already know - we have a special school with amazing students and extraordinary staff:

we increased the overall completion rate from 71% to 81% of all students completing the survey - that is 121 more students telling us how they feel about our school climate
we increased the overall positivity with overall Adult-Student relationships from 84% to 86%
we increased the overall positivity between peers from 70% to 78%
we increased the overall student self-development average from 74% to 77%
98% of students say that adults at my school accept how I look, feel and act

In Partnership,

Naida Grussing-Neitzel, Ed.S.

Principal

Maria Sanford Middle School

Here is the link for you to sign up for a scheduled conference Friday February 13: https://www.myconferencetime.com/mpssanford/

Our winter conferences style matches what we did in the Fall:

Thursday Night February 12, 4-8pm: This is a drop-in style session. You do not need an appointment to speak with teachers. One Spanish translator will be present (funded by the PTA).
Friday Day February 13, 8-4pm: These are scheduled sessions. We prioritize students who require specific interventions first. Once those targeted conferences are set, we open the remaining slots to all families. These scheduled conferences can be virtual or in person and will have multiple translators available - please indicate these needs when you schedule. The scheduled conferences window will open Friday, January 30, 2026 and the link will be shared in this newsletter.

On Monday, February 2nd, 2026. Phillips Eye Institute’s Early Youth Eyecare (E.Y.E.) Community Initiative, part of Allina Health, will be at Sanford to conduct vision screening for all 7th graders. This screening helps to identify issues with a student’s vision but is not a full eye exam.

If your student does not pass the vision screening, you will be notified with the recommendation to have your student receive a full eye examination by an eye doctor. The E.Y.E. program can help with scheduling the appointment, interpreter services, transportation and financial assistance with exams and glasses.

Your student was given a Vision Screening Information sheet to take home this week. If you do not want your student to have vision screening, please sign and return the Vision Screening Information Form to the school health office.

If you have questions please contact Lisa Kocon, Licensed School Nurse at 612-668-4934.

You can also find out more here(screening is not required but recommended): https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/childrenyouth/schoolhealth/scr/vsnhrn.html

We have deployed a number of hotspots for students to connect with their online learning. Please let us know if you need a device to connect to the internet!
Every day at 10:45, our team is offering to check in with temporary online learners. This Wednesday we played name that tune and there were prizes! We will play again next week :)
Please let us know if you need anything!