Bike Safety

This past week school resource officer John Madigan spoke to our Kindergartners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders about the importance of bike safety. With the warmer temperatures finally here, and summer just around the corner, his presentation was very timely. Officer Madigan gave some great reminders such as riding on the right side of the road, staying near parents, and the importance of wearing a helmet. 

Regional Science Fair

Nineteen students represented New Prague Elementary Schools at the Mankato Regional Science Fair on Saturday, April 26 at the Minnesota State University Campus. At the fair 900 projects competed for ribbon awards. Ribbons were awarded as follows: Participation - White, Red, and Blue. Purple ribbons were also awarded, which from there students could earn top placings in their category and ranged from bronze, silver, gold, and grand. New Prague had a number of students who earned the top medals and also received gift cards.

The following are the placings:

Participation - Stephen Whipple and Alexis Reuger; Red - Henry Cox, Quentin Bailey, and Katelyn Heimer; Blue - Colton Zwiefel, Kyiah Floyd, Luke Oellrich, Matthew Ryburn, and Lexi Trachte. 

Receiving purple awards were Jack Baribeau, Mara Simon, Libby Olson, Brenna Solheid, and Nora Rosemeier.

Medal and gift card winners were Bronze and $20 - Megan Tostenson.; Silver and $30 - Dylan Petsche; Gold and $40 - William Dopp. 

New Prague Community Education is the sponsor of the Elementary Science Fair and Jodi Prchal is the coordinator. Students are encouraged to start thinking of a project over summer. Contact Mrs. Prchal if you are interested in participating in the next science fair at jprchal@np.k12.mn.us. 

ACES in the sun...or clouds

The weather was cooler and wetter than we had hoped for, but our kids still had a great time at our annual ACES (all children exercise simultaneously) event. Over 30 stations were prepared to reinforce the idea that exercise and activity is important to the overall well-being of our students.

There's no way we could have pulled this event off without the outstanding support of our parent volunteers, as over 75 adults stepped up to ensure a great experience was had for our Falcon Ridge students. Additionally, the efforts of our our physical education department are greatly appreciated.Katie Herrmann and Dan Wagner put a great deal of time in to plan, setup and take down for this event.

BOGO Book Fair!

Keep students reading this summer at the Buy One Get One Free Book Fair!  The BOGO will be held in the media center, May 19-23 during the school day until 4:30 p.m.  As an added bonus, each Falcon Ridge student will received $2.00 in Book Bucks to spend at the fair!  Mark your calendar, this is a once a year event!

May ECFE News

CREATURE ENCOUNTERS - Meet some exotic animals up close and personal.  Come and learn fun facts about these special creatures and see them show off some of their natural behaviors.  Ages 2 ½ - K, Tuesday, May 6, 6:30-7:15 at the Early Childhood Center, $5 per child, call (952)758-1670 to register.

COMO ZOO FAMILY FIELD TRIP - Come and enjoy the spring weather as we visit with the animals. You get to ride in a big yellow school bus. Bring lunch for a picnic in the park before we return home.  The bus will leave from the Early Childhood Center and then stop at Eagle View in New Market before we head to the zoo.  Monday, May 19, 9:00-1:30, $10 per family, call (952) 758-1670 to register.

HYLAND LAKE PARK RESERVE FAMILY FIELD TRIP - Spend outside play time at this award winning play area.   Structures include: platforms, climbers, and long slides.  Kids and parents can climb, swing, and slide to their hearts content.  Bring a picnic lunch.  Thursday, May 22, bus will leave from the Early Childhood Center at 9 a.m. and return about 1p.m., $10 per family, call (952) 758-1670 to register.

Congratulations to our New Prague Elementary Math Masters!

Students from all three New Prague Elementary Schools teamed up to compete in the Annual Fifth Grade Math Master Competition in Belle Plaine on Friday, April 25. The Math Masters of Minnesota competition is designed to promote excellence in thinking skills pertaining to mathematics. More than 5,000 students competed in 2013 at 42 different sites around the state of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado as teams and individuals. These challenges are the culmination of year-long preparation as team members work to improve their math skills. Math Masters includes individual and team competition in a wide range of math areas to provide students with many interests and backgrounds in which to excel.  All students who participate in Math Masters are to be congratulated and all are winners! 

Students from New Prague formed teams in February and practiced several times per month under the direction of their coach, Mrs. Jodi Prchal.  The Math Master Program is offered by New Prague Community Education to all area fifth graders.

The following students competed: The Divisor Destroyers (Jack Baribeau, Adam Brandt, Jaden Emmers, David Gaulke, and Josh Simon), Beast Mode (Carson Bittner, Ian Lillquist, Drew Otteson, and Jeff Wacker), The 80’s Team (Brayden Evenson, Ryan Musil, Nick Schmidberger, Ava Phillippi, and Dylan Vilt), and Reach to Infinity (Sidney Dickenson, Emily Wright, Mara Simon, Lexi Trachte, and Jayden Tupa).

In the individual fact drill competition, Drew Otteson placed 4^th out of 175. In the individual problem solving competition he placed 1^st out of 175! For the team competition, two New Prague Teams placed in the top 20. Reach to Infinity placed 12^th and The 80’s Team placed 14^th out of 34. 

MN Math Corps at Falcon Ridge

Falcon Ridge has been awarded a Minnesota Math Corps tutor! We will have one part-time Math Enrichment Tutor next year, who will work with students who need more support to catch up to grade level in math. Math Corps tutors are AmeriCorps members and do not replace teachers. Every year, the program sees real growth in its students.

We are recruiting now for our Math Enrichment Tutor, who will serve at our school for 11 months, beginning in August. In exchange for their service, tutors receive a stipend of about $242 biweekly (part-time) and an education award of $2,822 (part-time) to use towards their own schooling. Tutors implement a research-based curriculum to pairs of 4th – 5th graders who are just below proficiency in math (Tier II children). They tutor students daily in 45 minute sessions to grow their skills towards becoming algebra-ready by eighth grade. Math Corps provides our school with the expertise of an outside math consultant (Master Coach) who provides support and oversight by visiting the school regularly.

Please help in spreading the word about this position. If you are interested or know of someone who might be interested—a graduating college student, a friend in career transition, a grandparent or stay-at-home parent—please direct them to www.MinnesotaMathCorps.org to learn more and apply.  For any other questions please contact JoAnne Torp at 952-758-1655 or jtorp@np.k12.mn.us