Montevideo Public Schools

SCHOOL CALENDAR REMINDER: Monday, May 27, 2024 - Memorial Day NO SCHOOL #rememberandhonor

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! Shining in this week’s staff spotlight is Zach Koepke! Zach is a special education teacher at Montevideo Middle School. Zach has been at Montevideo for 6 years. His hometown is Granite Falls, Minnesota. He graduated from SMSU with a degree in Social Studies Education, St. Thomas with a master's degree in Special Education, and Bethel with a Work-Based Learning license. Outside of teaching, Zach enjoys taking creative sports photography, dabbling in graphic design and videography, collecting history related artifacts and books, grill outs & exploring new food spots with friends, cheering on the Green Bay Packers, spoiling his niece and nephew, and trying (keyword trying) to catch up on a backlog of shows, movies, and video games. Zach feels Montevideo Schools is the perfect sized school, saying "Our class sizes are great and not too big where you don't know everybody. It's such a privilege to work with so many awesome students and amazing coworkers." We are proud to have you on our team, Zach! Your dedication, support, and creativity have not gone unnoticed, and we appreciate all that you do! Thank you for making a difference! #StaffSpotlight #HawkPride #staffappreciation

2024 Free Summer Meals for children 18 and younger!

May 18th is Speech Language Pathologist Day! Let's give a BIG Thunder Hawk "shout-out" to our amazing team of SLPs at Montevideo Public Schools! They provide an important and valuable service to our students. We APPRECIATE all you do! #SLPday #HawkPride

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! We are proud to shine this week’s spotlight on Dustin Boyum, Elementary Music Teacher at Ramsey Elementary School. Dustin has taught five years at Montevideo Public Schools. Dustin’s hometown is Lanesboro, Minnesota. He received a B.A. degree in Vocal Music Education from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. Dustin’s family includes his parents, Nate and Sharon (his mom is a Montevideo graduate, Class of 1985), and two younger sisters, Heather and Janell. Some of Dustin’s favorite hobbies are going to Rock Fest with his family each summer, attending as many concerts as he can (NOT country concerts), reading a good book, golfing, and spending time with friends and family. A fun fact about Dustin is teaching runs in his family! It all started with Dustin’s grandpa, who taught math at the Montevideo High School for over 40 years. His mom is a music teacher, his sister Heather teaches PE, and his sister Janell teaches 4th grade. Dustin says, “It has been so rewarding being a part of the Thunder Hawk community that has meant so much to my family over the years. I’m grateful for the life-long friends I’ve made, being in the same community with a lot of family, and getting to work in the same building as my sister Heather and my aunt Allison. Thank you for being an amazing music teacher, Dustin, and for all that you do for your students and the Thunder Hawk community! We appreciate you! #StaffSpotlight #greatemployees #staffappreciation

Student's from Mr. Van Sickle's Advanced Ceramics classes were tasked to create "The $150 Plate" (Students were to find an image of food and replicate it using the handbuilding and glazing skills they have learned throughout the semester). As you can see we have a talented group of students here! From breakfast to dessert, oysters to chocolate cake, they covered it all. Great work.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! We are proud to shine this week’s spotlight on Melissa Schmitt, Preschool/Early Childhood teacher at the Hawk’s Nest Early Childhood Center. Melissa has been teaching for the Montevideo school district for 4 ½ years. Melissa is from Clear Lake, South Dakota. She graduated from Southwest Minnesota State University with a B.S. degree in Early Childhood Education and K-12 Special Education. Melissa has been teaching for 12 years, and she says that every year has been an adventure! Melissa and her husband Michael have lived in Montevideo for eight years. They have two children, Riley and Macie. Melissa and her family love having movie and game nights. Melissa also loves traveling to new places and making core memories with her family. Melissa says she loves teaching because one of the greatest rewards of teaching is seeing the progress and growth of her students. Seeing her students’ eyes light up after grasping a new piece of knowledge is priceless! Recently, Melissa’s Small World classroom needed to relocate due to a water main break at the Hawk’s Nest, and Melissa was blown away by all the love and support she and the Hawk’s Nest staff received from parents, staff, co-workers and community members. It made Melissa feel proud to be part of the Thunder Hawk community. We are lucky to have you on our team, Melissa! Thank you for all that you do for your students, families, and the Thunder Hawk community! #StaffSpotlight #greatemployees #staffappreciation

Happy School Nurse Day! School nurses coordinate and manage the health needs of students, as well as promote well-being, safety and academic success for all students. They are leaders who bridge healthcare and education! Thank you to our amazing school nurses, Sarah & Jazell, for all that they do to help our students! We appreciate you today and every day! #SchoolNurseDay #HawkPride

SCHOOL CALENDAR REMINDER: Friday, May 10th is an Early Dismissal-Staff Development Day for Montevideo Public Schools.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week - May 6-10, 2024! We are truly grateful to our teaching staff here at Montevideo Public Schools for the amazing work that they do to educate, support, and inspire our students every day! Thank you for making a difference and for all that you do! #TeacherAppreciationWeek #ThankaTeacher #HawkPride

Happy School Principals’ Day! Thank you to our amazing principals for your hard work, dedication, leadership, and commitment to education. Today and every day, we appreciate each of you! #SchoolPrincipalsDay #ThankaPrincipal #HawkPride

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! Shining in this week’s spotlight is Jenny Harker! Jenny works in Food & Nutrition Services and is the Head Cook at Montevideo High School. Jenny was born in Ortonville, Minnesota, and has lived in Montevideo since 2000. She began working for the school district in 2002 at Kid’s Korner and has worn many hats in the district since then. Over the years, she worked as a second cook at Ramsey Elementary School and subbed in all of the schools in the food service and custodial department. She worked as a head cook at Sanford Elementary School and also worked at Little and Junior Thunder Hawks. After some time away, Jenny returned last year to work in Food & Nutrition Services at the Montevideo High School, and this year she took on the duties of head cook at the high school. Jenny mentioned she has loved working with the different ages of children within the district, and she cherishes the friendships she has made with co-workers over the years. Jenny and her husband Joe have two children, daughter Shiann and son Logan. They also have two dogs, a Golden Doodle named Daisy and a Labradoodle named Dino. In Jenny’s free time, she enjoys spending time at the lake with her family and friends, kayaking and reading a good book! A fun fact about Jenny is working at Montevideo Public Schools runs in her family! Both of her parents worked for the school district, and her brother also works for the district. We are proud to have you on our team, Jenny! Thank you for your dedication, hard work and always serving with a smile! #StaffSpotlight #greatemployees #staffappreciation

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear aprons and hairnets! On Friday, May 3, we celebrate School Lunch Hero Day. This annual observance is a chance to showcase what a difference school nutrition professionals make in the lives of every child who comes through the cafeteria. Thank them for all that they do!

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! We are proud to shine this week’s spotlight on Susan Marcinkowski, School Social Worker at the Montevideo Middle School! She has worked for the school district for 21 years! Susan grew up in Spicer, Minnesota, and she is a New London-Spicer High School graduate. Susan graduated from Augsburg University in the heart of Minneapolis with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She loves to play the piano, read and knit, and Susan and her partner love adventures which include hiking in our Minnesota state parks, camping and visiting her two daughters and their spouses in Georgia and Arkansas. A fun fact about Susan is that she is a member of the Minnesota State Park Hiking Club and has hiked over 90 miles total in 36 of 64 state parks. Thank you, Susan, for all you do! We appreciate your dedication, hard work, and years of service at Montevideo Public Schools! #StaffSpotlight #greatemployees #staffappreciation

Happy Administrative Professionals Day! Today we celebrate the incredible contributions of our administrative professionals at Montevideo Public Schools! It's their dedication, organization, and hard work that keep our school offices running smoothly and efficiently. Thank you for all you do! You're the best!

The Community Education Office has temporarily relocated to the Montevideo Middle School. They can be reached by dialing 320-269-5026.

SCHOOL CALENDAR REMINDER: Friday, April 26, 2024 - NO SCHOOL

STAFF SPOTLIGHT Let’s get to know our Thunder Hawk staff! We are proud to shine this week’s spotlight on Jenn Miller! Jenn is the Student Success Coordinator and a Hawk Window Assistant at the Montevideo High School. She is also the JV Softball Coach, and this is her third year with the district. Jenn grew up in North East, Maryland (yes, that’s really the town name). She graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Jenn has a 7th grader at the Montevideo Middle School and a freshman at the high school. Her husband is also a Thunder Hawk, 2001 Montevideo graduate! In her free time, Jenn enjoys reading as many books as possible, gardening, and hanging out with her family. Jenn says the best part of her day is on the field with the softball team. Montevideo has been her favorite place to live. She even got her sister to move to Montevideo a few years ago! Jenn’s sister also works at the high school with her. We are lucky to have you on our team, Jenn! Thank you for all you do for the students and staff at the high school. #StaffSpotlight #greatemployees #staffappreciation

Small World is up and running this morning! Thank you to Our Savior's Church for working with us to give our Small World, ECSE and ECFE programs a new, temporary home, and thank you to everyone who has helped through this move! The little Thunder Hawks are happy to be back to school!

The Thunder Hawk Speech Team had a great day competing at the Section 3A Speech Tournament on Saturday. Two of our speakers made it to the final round in their category. Congratulations to Violet Ludwig who received 6th place in Extemp Reading. Moving on to compete at the Minnesota State Speech Tournament on April 19 at Shakopee High School is Junia Fitzkappes who received 3rd place in Discussion. Go Hawks!