September 2025

Holton Families:

We’re moving into a busy and exciting season here at school, and we want to keep you informed about upcoming events and important dates. Please take a moment to review what's coming up!

🎉 Fall Dance – October 24th

Mark your calendars! Our fall dance will be held on Thursday, October 24th from 3:15pm to 5pm. It’s always a fun evening for students to celebrate the season with music, dancing, and friends. The cost of the dance is $3; there will be concessions as well. Our dances are a great time for students to practice appropriate peer interactions in a safe and supervised environment.

🐍 October PBIS Assembly – Snake Discovery
This month’s PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) assembly is sure to be a memorable one! We’re thrilled to welcome Snake Discovery for an educational and interactive presentation. It’s a great reward for students who’ve been showing safe, respectful, and responsible behavior throughout the month.

📅 No School – October 15th–17th
Please note that there will be no school from Tuesday, October 15th through Friday, October 17th. We hope all families enjoy the long break! A great goal for these mid-year breaks is to make it a "Tech Free" time. Our students use their laptops every day at school this is a great time to take a break from technology and re-set our systems.

👨‍🏫 Parent-Teacher Conferences – November 6th & 13th
Conferences are an important opportunity to connect with your child’s teachers and hear about their progress. This fall, conferences will be held on Wednesday, November 6th and Wednesday, November 13th from 3:10 PM to 8:00 PM. We are interested to hear how the changes we've made this year are benefiting your child and how we can continue to support them. Be on the lookout for scheduling information coming soon.

As always, thank you for your support and partnership. We’re looking forward to a great fall season with our students!

Mr. Schara

Dear Holton Families,

We hope this message finds you well and enjoying the beautiful fall season. As we embrace the changes October brings, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt appreciation for your continued support and partnership in your child’s education. Together, we are making a wonderful impact in our school community!

Important Announcements

Please take note of the following important dates and events:

• Oct. 7: Vision and Hearing Screening for all 5th graders
• Oct. 10: Young Scientist Applications due
• Oct. 14: Snake Discovery PBIS Incentive
• Oct. 15 - 17: No school (MEA)
• Oct. 21: 6th-grade Medical Detectives Field Trip
• Oct. 23: YAYA for 6th grade
• Oct. 24: End of Quarter and Holton Dance
• Oct. 27: Austin Symphony Orchestra Event
• Oct. 30: 6th grade starts to visit the Hormel Nature Center

Please mark your calendars and ensure your child is prepared for these exciting events!

Celebrations from the Week

We are thrilled to share that our students have had a fantastic start to the school year! They have been doing an exceptional job learning and following expectations. Their enthusiasm and hard work make our school a vibrant place, and we couldn’t be prouder of their achievements.

Additional Information

• Missing Work? If your child is missing assignments, please check Infinite Campus and reach out to their teacher to discuss how they can get caught up.

• Young Scientist Program: Applications are currently being accepted from 6th graders! This is a fantastic opportunity for students to work alongside real scientists at the Hormel Institute.

• Weather Reminder: As the weather begins to cool, please ensure your child has appropriate clothing for outdoor movement breaks to stay comfortable during recess.
  
  

We are grateful for your ongoing support in fostering a nurturing and enriching environment for our students. Together, we can continue to inspire and empower them to reach their fullest potential.

Thank you for being an essential part of our Holton family. We look forward to our continued collaboration and all the wonderful experiences ahead!

Holton Families-

Here’s hoping the first full month of school has been a good one. As I walk among the classrooms, hallways, and FTLAs, I am constantly amazed by the great things that I see. While we as teachers and staff are beginning to get accustomed to all the schedule changes we made this year, your children have buckled down and are nailing it! I see them involved, engaged, and mostly, enjoying what they are doing. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the hard work our teachers and staff have put it to make this seem natural for the students. I feel so fortunate to work at IJ Holton. The staff and students are simply incredible.

We have three big events going on that I want to draw your attention to. All this week, Holton students are participating in the PBIS Pizza Party Challenge. During this week, staff members are actively watching entire classrooms as they move about the building to see if they are following school-wide expectations. They receive points accordingly. At the end of the week, the classroom with the most points will receive a pizza party for lunch. Our second event takes place on Oct. 14th. The Snake Discovery Center out of the Twin Cities will be coming down to share some of their friends with us. This is our October PBIS celebration to thank our students for being respectful, responsible, safe, and for doing their best. The last event I want to draw your attention to is our first IJ Holton dance. This will take place on Friday, October 24 from 3:30-5:30. Students will have the chance to dance, socialize, visit the concession stand, and most importantly be children. We promote this as a safe event and an event the students must earn based on behavior. Students that have received OSS at any time since the beginning of the year, ISS within 30 days of the dance, or any student sent to Academic Recovery the week of the dance are not allowed to attend. Look for more information soon about all these events.

As the calendar changes to October, we must acknowledge the arrival of Fall. The season with the most fluctuation in weather. More than any other season, Fall is when proper outside dress comes into play. In a season where it could be 80 and sunny one day, 25, windy, and rainy the next, only to be 60 and gorgeous the next, this is the month I see our students most unprepared to go outside for recess. Please make sure that your child is prepared for any changes in weather. Keeping an extra sweatshirt in his or her locker is never a bad idea. While the students are not allowed to go back inside to get it once they are out, having the luxury of being able to grab one on the way to lunch could turn out to be a huge benefit.

At IJ Holton, we encourage our students to be Respectful, Responsible, Safe, and to Do Their Best! If at any time you have any questions or concerns, please email me david.brown@austin.k12.mn.us or call me at 460-1525. Enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts!

David Brown

IJ Holton Dean of Students

Planning Ahead for Student Appointments

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We kindly ask that you plan ahead when scheduling appointments for your child during the school day. To help us ensure a smooth and timely dismissal, please notify the office in advance and arrive with enough time to allow for your child to be called from class.

Your cooperation helps minimize disruptions to learning and ensures your child is ready when you arrive. Thank you for your continued support!

📞 Keep Emergency Contacts Up to Date!

To help us ensure your child’s safety, please take a moment to review and update your emergency contact information. If your phone number, address, or emergency contacts have changed recently, let us know as soon as possible. Accurate contact details help us reach you quickly in case of illness, injury, or other urgent situations.

You can update your information by logging into the parent portal.

Thank you for helping us keep our records current!

Warm regards,
IJH Office Staff

Dear Students and Families,

October is National Bullying Prevention Month

As we step into October, we join schools and communities across the nation in recognizing National Bullying Prevention Month—a time dedicated to promoting kindness, inclusion, and respect, while raising awareness about the serious effects of bullying.

Bullying can take many forms—physical, verbal, social, and online—and it impacts not just the students involved but the entire school community. By working together, we can create an environment where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued.

Parents and guardians play a crucial role in preventing and addressing bullying. Here are a few ways you can support at home:

· Talk openly with your child about their day-to-day experiences

· Encourage empathy and respectful communication

· Remind them to speak up if they see or experience bullying

· Report any concerns to school staff promptly

Bullying prevention is not just a one-month effort—it’s a year-round commitment. Let’s continue to work together to build a culture of kindness where every student can thrive.

We’ll also be celebrating Unity Day (Wednesday, October 22) by wearing orange—a color that represents hope and support for those who have experienced bullying. It’s a day to come together to promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion—and to send a clear message that bullying is not okay. To commemorate Unity Day, there will also be a variety of activities for students during the week to address being an upstander. More details to come on this.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if your child needs support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our school counselors or administrators. We're here to help.

Thank you for being a valued part of our school community.

Kayla Dickman, 5th Grade (507) 460-1533

Kirstin Norby, 6th grade (507) 460-1536

Lea Oelfke, 7th grade (507) 460-1510

Zack Langreck, 8th grade (507) 460-1513

Rebecca Gullickson, SSW (507) 460-8306

IJ Holton Families,

I am happy to share with you that BARR is off to a good start at IJ Holton with teachers facilitating U-Time Lessons during Connect every Thursday. Also, the groundwork has been laid for productive meetings of teacher teams and support staff. BARR stands for “Building Assets & Reducing Risks”. The BARR strategies are listed below as well as a little information about the U-Time Lessons that have taken place in the month of September.
Sincerely,
Karen Dunbar, IJ Holton & Ellis BARR Coordinator

BARR Strategies

Focus on the whole student. Provide professional development for teachers, counselors, and administration. Use BARR’s U-Time Curriculum to foster a climate for learning. Create a cohort of students. Hold regular meetings of the cohort teacher teams. Conduct community connect meetings. Engage families in student learning. Engage administrators.

U-Time Sessions

9/4/25
Grade 5 How Will I Help Today? In this lesson, the students identified ways they could support and show kindness to others in their home, school, and community. They watched a short video, brainstormed together, and worked independently.
Grade 6 Getting Acquainted Students developed deeper relationships beyond the surface level and built conversation skills. Students wrote answers independently, shared their answers with a partner, and then shared out as a whole class.

9/11/25
Grade 5 Strands of Gold Students identified who has helped them in the past and were reminded to provide support and kindness to others. They watched a video, participated in a discussion, and completed a drawing & writing activity.
Grade 6 Do You Know Your Neighbor? This activity helped classes build a community in the classroom by learning their classmates' names and similar information about each other. There was movement involved with a rotation of leaders.

9/18/25
Grade 5 My Circles Students identified people who support and care for them. The lesson included the reading of a story, a class discussion, and the creation of a poster that included the different circles of people in each student’s lives.
Grade 6 Shields Students become more acquainted with each other and learn about each other’s families. The teacher shared some background and pictures of shields & crests before giving students the opportunity to make their own.

9/25/25
Grade 5 DOn’t quIT Students reflected on personal goals and the process of achieving them. They did this through watching an inspirational video, participating in a class discussion, and creating their own “DOn’t quIT” handout.
Grade 6 Shields, cont. Students were given time to finish their shields and share them with their classmates.

Sincerely,
Karen Dunbar, IJ Holton & Ellis BARR Coordinator

• Support and Resources to ensure a safe and welcoming learning environment:

  • Currently, our site leadership team is working on staff generated building goals.

  • The teachers have engaged heavily in staff development to adjust to our new schedule.

  • Our BARR (Building Assets Reducing Risks) is off to a great start. We are getting used to the format for the meetings but our discussions about students are already impacting our MTSS process.

  
  

  Packer Profile for All Learners:

  • We are investigating another Project Lead the Way Class with the goal of connecting in to programming at Ellis.

  • Our largest area of work this year will be finding artifacts to add to the student Portfolio as part of the Packer Profile. We believe students should have evidence of their learning from Holton in their portfolio.

  
  

  District-wide Multi-tiered systems of support for all learners:

  • With our new schedule we now have capacity during class time in math and reading for small group work.

  • We are working with our Instructional Coach to organize and design our small groups based on student data.

  • Our Professional Learning Communities will be moving full force after MEA as we adjust to self-contained classrooms.

  
  

  Excellence in Resource Management:

  • Now that we no longer have specific departments for each content area (Core content teachers teach math, reading, social studies and science) we have to adjust our budget to a building focus.

  • We continue to enhance our classroom libraries for each classroom, so students have multiple levels of books to choose from. This is in addition to our library.

  
  

On July 14, the School Board approved a resolution to propose a two-question bond referendum to district voters on November 4, addressing the critical needs of our school buildings.

The $66.7 million investment plan focuses on improving the functionality, safety, accessibility, and learning environments of our school buildings, many of which are 70 to 100 years old. While our schools have served the community well, they need significant updates to stay safe, efficient, and ready for the next generation of Austin students.

• Question One of the referendum proposes a $54.7 million investment to make major repairs and renovations across eight of our school buildings, including upgrades to mechanical systems, improvements to safety and accessibility, and updates to classrooms and restrooms.
• Question Two proposes a $12 million investment to renovate and expand the 50-year-old pool at Ellis Middle School. Question Two can only pass if Question One is also approved.

Our strategic planning website, AccelerateAustin.org, has been updated with details regarding the referendum. More information will be shared in the coming weeks.

For a median home valued at $200,000, the monthly property tax increase would be $16 per month starting in 2026 ($13 for Question One and $3 for Question Two). To help residents determine their specific tax impact, the district has shared a tax calculator on AccelerateAustin.org.

I encourage you to learn more about the plan, including its benefits, costs, and the voting process. Residents are encouraged to reach out to the district with questions or feedback through the AccelerateAustin.org website or by contacting the Superintendent.

Will there be opportunities for the community to tour schools or hear presentations about the referendum projects?

Yes. We will be hosting school tours and community presentations, allowing residents to see firsthand the condition of our facilities, learn about the proposed projects, and ask questions. These sessions are designed to provide clear and consistent information, allowing everyone to engage directly with district leaders. A comprehensive schedule of tours, presentations, and other events is available on our referendum information page, accessible here.

5th grade music students need to purchase a "Holton Music" T-shirt. This shirt is worn at all 5th and 6th grade music performances and music events. Students will receive an order form this week during class. Shirts are $10 or pay what you can cash or checks made out to IJ Holton. Orders are due Friday, October 24th. Please reach out to your child's music teacher with any questions.

• October 7th- 5th, 2025 Grade Vision and Hearing

• October 10th, 2025- Picture Retakes

• October 15th-19th, 2025- MEA Break
• October 21st, 2025- Quarter 1 Medical Detectives
• October 23rd, 2025- 6th Grade YAYA
• October 24th, 2025- End of Quarter
• October 24th, 2025 (3:30pm-5:30pm)- School Dance
• October 27th, 2025- Austin Symphony Orchestra Concert Field Trip
• October 30th, 2025- Nature Center: Mississippi