Hopewell Elementary Community-
A BIG Hopewell welcome BACK to SCHOOL:)
I hope this summer is affording opportunities for all of us to rejuvenate, grow, and share love. While we still have a bit of summer remaining, I want to use this message to share some vision and communicate information important to the start of this school year.
Taking on the role of Principal at Hopewell has me reflecting back to my earlier days in education… For many years I organized Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) trips for students. (Canoeing and camping in the true wilderness, if we didn't bring with us we didn't have it.) I could tell many really good stories here but will stick with a quick synopsis: We would take 27 people into the BWCAW split into 3 Groups of...7 eighth graders, 2 teachers, 4 canoes, Duluth packs with everything we get for a week (food, water, shelter), maps, compasses, 1,090,000 acres of wilderness. We get dropped off at a BWCAW input location and GO… I am sure that individually the 27 members of this Team had their own goals for the trip like having fun, making new friends, learning new skills, not to get eaten by a bear, general survival without their electronics, etc. I also had a goal for these trips (not that the previous list of goals was not fairly important!). The overall goal of these trips was for each person to grow; to learn about ourselves, to appreciate the responsibility we each have with the world around us, and to value each other in order to bond together with a sense of community that would ultimately allow us to successfully navigate the challenges of the BWCAW. Each trip we took to the BWCAW had its set of challenges and each group found its way to achieve that overall goal.
While Hopewell Elementary (students, staff, parents) is not going on a school field trip to the BWCAW (yes, that would be awesome!), we are embarking on a very similar journey that requires a very similar mindset. On the BWCAW trips, each person quickly found out that they were essential and, just as importantly, each person found out that the other people in the group were equally essential for the team to reach their goal. Our goal at Hopewell is that each child grows and one of the beliefs we hold as a community is that each of us plays an essential role in growing our children. I look forward to serving as a member of the Hopewell Team as we come together this year with a sense of community to ensure that each of our children grows.
Tony Runkle
Principal, Hopewell Elementary
August 2 PVCSD releases COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-22 school year
August 9 Kindergarten Families Receive Teacher Assignments and Start Dates
August 16 Elementary Teacher Assignments Available on the Parent Portal
August 19 Meet & Greet 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Infinite Campus Parent Portal opens to access homeroom teacher assignments on August 16, 2021. To access the parent portal, please follow the following guides:
Infinite Campus Getting Started Guide
Navigating the Portal Video
KINDERGARTEN: On August 9, Kindergarten families will receive a call from the school. At that time, they will learn when their kindergartner will start school and their teacher assignment. Half of the kindergarten class will attend on August 23rd and 25th (Monday/Wednesday) and half of the kindergarten class will attend on August 24th and 26th (Tuesday/Thursday). All students will attend on Friday, August 27th.
On Thursday, August 19, 2021 we will be holding our annual Meet and Greet. Families will sign up for a specific time between 4:30pm and 6:00pm. This allows our teachers to spend time with each family as they bring in their supplies. Look for a sign-up link in your email the week of August 10.
Pleasant Valley has updated its Family Return to Learn FAQ for the 2021-22 school year. Please read through this new site and direct any questions to your building principal or to pvweb@pleasval.org.
If your student is riding the bus, you will learn your bus assignment through the parent portal on August 13. Bus assignments could change up to the night before school starts, so check back often! Click here for a reminder of the expectations we have for our exceptional bus riders.
Getting in and out of the parking lot is always challenging on the first few days of school! Please familiarize yourself with the traffic patterns for drop-off and pick-up at Hopewell to make the transition easier!
Click here for a complete list of necessary school supplies for the 2021-2022 year.
Want to know what’s for lunch today? Click here for breakfast and lunch menus. You can also download an app to keep track of it all on your phone. Plus, the site lets you look at the nutritional values of every item on our healthy menus, which makes it easy to feel good about what we’re serving your kids!
Federal funds will allow us to provide free breakfast and lunch to ALL STUDENTS through the end of 2021. A la carte items will still be charged at normal prices. You may make a deposit into your student's lunch account at any time by sending cash or check to their building. You can also add money via credit card to your student’s food service account online through RevTrak. Communications for low food service balances will be sent to the parent/guardian email address that the school has on file. Click here for a reminder about our meal charge policy, including how much students can charge and when you'll be alerted for having a negative balance.
Free and Reduced Application: If your family qualifies for free and reduced meal service, we ask that you please fill out the following application. While meals are free to all students through the end of 2021, this application gives you access to other services you may need during the school year. Without filling out this form, you will not be able to apply for additional services, like PEBT cards.
To begin your online free and reduced application, please log into your Parent Portal Account here. If you do not have an account please call our Administration Center at 563-332-5550. Please note that Free and Reduced application must be accessed from the Portal website link above; it is not available through the Portal Mobile App.
- Once logged in, click the link for “Applications/Forms” on the left
- Select “Click to start meal benefit application”
- After your application has been processed you will receive a notification in your parent portal inbox.
- If you are unable to complete the online application please click here.
If you have questions about our Food Service Program, please contact Food Service Director, Andrea Mahler, at 563-332-5550 or mahlerandrea@pleasval.org.
Join us in welcoming new faculty and staff to the Hopewell Family:
Eryn Ackerman, Aide
Kelsey Beasley, 2nd Grade
Vannessa Fanella, Aide
Megan Halverson, Dean of Students
Hayley Jess, Kindergarten
Preet Kanwal, Aide
Kelsey LeCompte, Aide
Melissa Leisher, Office Administrative Assistant
Taylor Peters, 3rd Grade
Jodi Quam, Nurse
Amanda Ray, 4th Grade
Susan Shimm-Bussell, Cook’s Assistant
Megan Smith, Instructional Coach
Run with Carl is back! Funds raised from the ½ mile, 1 mile, 5k and 5 mile race benefit the Pleasant Valley Educational Foundation’s scholarship program! This year the PVEF will award more than 120 scholarships to graduating seniors! Run with Carl and support our seniors! Sign up for this Labor Day event here!
PV wants to keep you in the know! Pleasant Valley schools send out #SpartanNation weekly email with important dates, events, and community opportunities for your family. Make sure you check your inboxes every Friday afternoon, so you don’t miss a thing! To assure that your email provider will not block email communications, please add this email address to your safe senders list: enews@pleasval.org. Pleasant Valley will not give email lists to anyone outside of the district. If you do not have access to email, information is available in the school office.
Information you give us during registration automatically signs you up for emails, texts and phone calls. If you’d like to add or change that information, please click here to manage your preferences.
Click here to follow us on facebook or twitter.
If you have any questions, contact our Director of Communications, Beth Marsoun, at marsounbeth@pleasval.org.