Support for students and families: How to access, how to help

[Spring Lake Park Schools]

Support for students and families ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  Not displaying correctly? View in browser   See translation information below / Consulte la información de traducción a continuación. Spring Lake Park Schools families, The ongoing presence of ICE in our communities continues to place immense strain on members of our school community. While you may be aware of headline-making activities in Columbia Heights, families in our neighborhoods and nearby our schools as well as some of our staff are having similar experiences each day. The activity has not diminished. In fact, for many, it has increased over the last week.   This has impacted the educational experience for many students and our staff. Our schools continue to focus on maintaining connections with each of our students and providing support for continued learning. I’m incredibly proud of our staff and all they are doing.     At the district, school and community level, we're also working to coordinate support for a variety of needs – including basic living needs, mental health supports and more. There are many, many volunteers that have stepped forward to dedicate time and resources to support students and families. We appreciate you so much and all you are doing as we all navigate this dynamic situation. Access supports If you are a family that needs support and is not already connected, reach out to your school's main office or PantherC...@district16.org. Social workers, counselors and student and family advocates continue to be primary connectors. They are proactively reaching out to families with students absent from school and connecting them to resources that meet each family's specific needs.   Support includes academic support for the continuation of learning, basic living needs and mental health resources. We are coordinating connections to both school-led supports and community-led supports to meet basic needs. There are community resources accessible to all members of the community that are good to be aware of: Local food shelves are serving a critical role in providing food including SACA Food Shelf, the ACBC Food Shelf and Hope for the Community. NAMI Minnesota connects people to community resources for a variety of mental health needs. Anoka County also keeps a list of local resources on a variety of topics. How to help For people who want to directly support our students and families, you can: Donate to the Panther Pantry. The Panther Pantry, supported through the Panther Foundation, continues to provide food and household items. The pantry accepts monetary donations as well as food and household items. See this week’s list of high demand items. We will update this list each week to reflect the most urgent needs. Many thanks to generous donations through school food drives over the last few weeks. Items are moving quickly to those who need them through district coordination efforts and many volunteers. Donate food or funding to the food shelf. Our local food shelves are struggling to keep up with demand and recent funding cuts. Donations to SACA Food Shelf, the ACBC Food Shelf and Hope for the Community meet critical needs for students and families including providing fresh food each week to augment what we are able to provide through the Panther Pantry. Connect to volunteer opportunities: Contact PantherC...@district16.org to inquire about and be connected to specific volunteer opportunities for efforts led by our schools or to get connected to other community-led volunteer and fundraising activities.   The network of support continues to evolve as the dynamics in our community change. I am grateful for everyone’s flexibility and understanding as we work to respond in real-time to what each student needs. I also want to acknowledge our incredibly hard-working staff and their extraordinary efforts to meet each student’s unique needs in this moment and continue to create spaces of welcome, safety, belonging and continued learning. Our priority is to care for the people – those in need of support and those supporting – recognizing the unique strengths and needs of each individual. These efforts are humbling and inspiring and make me incredibly grateful for our Panther community.   Thank you.   Jeff Ronneberg, Ed.D. Superintendent Translate This Message / Traducir Este Mensaje To translate this information to another language, please click anywhere on the message to open it in a web browser and at the top of the page, select your language from the dropdown menu.   Para traducir la información a otro idioma, por favor presionen en cualquier lugar del mensaje para abrirlo en un navegador web y en la parte superior de la página seleccione su idioma del menú. Spring Lake Park Schools District

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Spring Lake Park Schools | 1415 81st Avenue NE, Spring Lake Park, MN 55432 | 763-600-5000