Community e-Newsletter

In Photos:  Spring Adventures

We hope students and families took time to try a new task like Bear did in the 2022 Spring Break Video, while enjoying other fun activities together and having a restful break!

Student News

Creative Lessons

Sunrise Park Middle School students are getting creative in their arts and crafts club. Students and staff meet every Tuesday before school to make different projects. This week they made picture holders by wrapping wire around a rock, painting it, then adding beads to the wire. They've previously painted tiles, made tissue paper flowers and pipe cleaner animals. Watch some of these projects come to life in a recent video issue of "The Week in 62.4 Seconds" here

Kindergartners at Matoska International IB World School are practicing new learning skills. They used hexagons to show their thought process when it comes to different patterns and cycles in nature. The students had fun sharing their ideas together and trying something new. You can see this lesson in action here.

The Black Excellence Club took over the WBLAHS - South Campus auditorium for their empowering event. The annual student-led Showcase featured a number of amazing performances including dancing, singing, drum playing and students reading their original poems. Their hard work and talents were featured in a recent video here

The Sunrise Park Middle School Ice Fishing Club held their end-of-season tournament on February 28. A group of ninth grade Ice Fishing Club alumni joined the excitement by assisting in measuring the fish and keeping a record for the younger students. The club exceeds 40 members with most being sixth graders new to the outdoor activity. Read the White Bear Press article which highlights the club's success and popularity among students at Sunrise. 

Members of the WBLAHS Environmental Club are aiming to protect the environment around them and connect with their community. They are encouraging residents of the White Bear Lake area to plant 300 tree saplings. The club partnered with national nonprofit Tree-Plenish to provide the saplings. As of now, they've received over 200 orders. Community members can select from red maple, northern red oak and white spruce saplings. They can also choose to plant the tree(s) themselves or have student volunteers install them in their yards on April 23. Order forms are due March 23. The saplings cost $5 each. Find ordering information and learn more about the club's mission here. You can also read the White Bear Press article featuring the WBLAHS club here.

Impressive Accomplishments

The WBLAHS girls' basketball team is heading to the State tournament after defeating Stillwater in the Section 4AAAA championship game. The No. 18 ranked Bears were seated third in Section play after finishing third in the Suburban East Conference. The White Bear Press highlighted their road to victory in an article here

WBLAHS girls' basketball star Lauren Eckerle notched her 1,000th career point as a Bear during the first round of the Section 4AAAA tournament. It was also the senior guard's final home game of her high school career. Read the White Bear Press article highlighting this impressive accomplishment here.

The boys' swim and dive JV team (pictured far left) ended their season with a fifth place finish out of ten teams at their Championship meet while the varsity squad (pictured center) took fourth out of eight teams at the Section 4AA meet. Two new school records were set at Sections. The 200 Medley Relay record was broken by Amarre Zalazar, Aidan Cleary, Will Jenkins and Calvin Fortman with a time of 1:43.27. The 400 Freestyle Relay record was crushed in a time of 3:24.47 also set by Zalazar, Fortman, Cleary and Jenkins. Freshman Tony Parada Romero (pictured far right) finished 4th in diving at Sections qualifying him for State where he finished 27th out of 32 divers. 

The WBLAHS archery team placed 3rd at the LILA Dragon Invitational in Forest Lake on February 19 and 2nd at the Milaca Invitational on February 26. Several athletes on the team are consistently ranking in the top 15 of shooters at their tournaments.

The WBLAHS Speech Team is having a great season as they get ready for Sections in April. At the Prior Lake Invite on February 5 Brian Kum (pictured far right) was a finalist in Novice Poetry. Sanyu Mwassa (pictured center) finished second in Novice Dramatic Interpretation while Mariam Elias-Danjuma (pictured center) finished fourth in that category. 

WBLAHS grad Kristina Tlusty was recently highlighted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the multiple internships she completed on her way to a career in the field of graphic communications. Read the article featuring her success here

The district's Teacher of the Year Kendall Gonzalez, who teachers kindergarten at Matoska International IB World School, has been named a Minnesota Teacher of the Year semifinalist. A panel narrowed the pool of candidates down from the initial 77 to the top 25. Read more about the process and see the full list of candidates here

District Updates

The district's new North Star Elementary and the addition being planned at Oneka Elementary were included in Mayor Tom Weidt's recent State of the City Address to the Hugo Business Association. Read the article here.

The Senior Center is hosting another TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Food) event on Friday, March 18. For just $5 enjoy a dine-in meal or get it to-go. The deadline to register is the Friday prior to the event. The Senior Center is also hosting a TGIF event on Friday, April 8. More information can be found here

Registration is now open for spring and summer programs provided by Community Services and Recreation. There is something for everyone in our community to enjoy including youth sports and camps, opportunities for early childhood and adults, enrichment activities and more. Find the catalog with more details here

Online registration is available for Early Childhood Screening, which is a free and simple check of how your child is growing, developing and learning. Screening at age 3 is preferred, but a child may be screened between ages 3 and the start of kindergarten as required by law. You can register and learn more about Early Childhood Screening here

A future Bear was seen showing off her school pride! We are always looking for "Born to be a Bear" photos! Email photos to us here and you may find your little one featured in District publications!

The cheer program is hosting tryouts and placements for their 2022-23 elementary, middle and high school teams. Tryouts for current fourth through eleventh graders will happen April 11-14. Current kindergartners through third graders can tryout to be placed on one of two teams May 17, 18 and 20. Find more information here

 Activities Updates

Boys Swim & Dive freshmen Tony Parada Romero placed 27th out of 32 divers at the 2022 MSHSL Swim & Dive Champions. Senior Matt Sloan and junior Porter Drost represented the Boys Wrestling Team at the State Tournament. Read the article here. The Boys Basketball Team defeated Woodbury 54-51 advancing to the semifinals of the Section 4AAAA tournament. Read the article here. The Girls Basketball Team wrapped up conference play with a win over Irondale. The Bears finished third in the Suburban East Conference. Read the article here. The Boys Hockey Team closed out their season was a second place finish in the Section 4AA tournament. Read the article here

Along with season passes and punch cards, the WBLAHS Activities office is now offering digital ticketing to all regular season, home athletic events. Information is available here.  

Please contact the Communications Department (651-407-7695) to submit Student News for inclusion in future publications. 

The Week in 62.4 Seconds

Enjoy The Week in 62.4 Seconds videos highlighting weekly district activities throughout the school year.

School Board News

Upcoming School Board Meetings

School Board Regular Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
Community Room 112, District Center
School Board Regular Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
Community Room 112, District Center
School Board Regular Meeting Subscribe to Alerts
Community Room 112, District Center

Past Meeting Highlights

February 28 Work Session

February 14 Regular Meeting

January 24 Work Session

District News

General Information