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TCGIS Mission & Vision & Values

Mission �Innovative Education of the Whole Child through German Immersion.

Vision �Andere hören, andere sehen, weltoffen denken und handeln.

Educating multilingual world citizens who listen to others, see others, and think and act with an open mind.

Values �Curiosity, Kindness, Challenge and Support, Community, and Intercultural Engagement.

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Who is at TCGIS

Teachers

Students

Staff

Grade	#
KG	55
1	72
2	72
3	68
4	64
5	66
6	59
7	69
8	53

Department	#
Elementary Teachers	20
Middle School Teachers	17
Licensed Student Support	12
Licensed Special Ed Teachers	5
Licensed Administration	5

Department	#
Operations	9
Education Assistants	7
Front Office	5
Kinderclub	25
Food Service	6
Library	2
Interns	9
Reserve Teachers	5

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State of the School: Experienced Leadership

Lorem Ipsum

Executive Director

Karen Klinzing

K-8 School Principal

Elizabeth Zehnpfennig

Director of Operations

Kim (Reid) Hackett

Dean of Students : Frau Radecki

Lead SPED Coordinator: Herr Haugen

Teachers, Academics, Curriculum, Assessment

Special Education

German Immersion

Social Work & School Psych

International Programs

Communications

Enrollment & Recruitment, Transportation & Technology

Nutrition & Wellness

Facilities

Child Care & Extracurriculars

Subbing & Human Resources

Finances

Board

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School Accountability: Authorizer

Authorizer (St. Thomas University) Annual Review of 22-23 School Year
Student Learning Program is a success	Exhibits Strong Financial Health	Organization is Effective and Well-Run
3.42 of 4 points	3.25 of 4 points	3.1 of 4 points
“Classes are engaging and challenging and students are supported academically and emotionally.”	“An active finance committee….a conservative budgeting approach based on realistic enrollment projections…a strong fund balance.”	“TCGIS is a well-run organization with a board and leadership team committed to student success.”

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Annual Authorizer Site Visit for Accountability: December 14, 2023

“Students seem to be used to school again ….

a much better start of the year. “

“Higher expectations seem to be back, both by administration of teachers and by teachers of students.

This was refreshing to hear and also to see

demonstrated in the classroom visits.”

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Authorizer Noted Strengths of TCGIS this year

• The leadership change is bringing a sense of calm.

• The board feels like a partnership and is supportive

• The budget is conservative and more stable than previously

• Staff morale feels better and more effort is being put into staff support, especially with new teachers

• More behavioral support has been added

• Teacher retention remains high (85%) and approximately 30 teachers have 5 or more years of experience at TCGIS.

In all of the focus groups, it was mentioned that the administration is supportive and are more clear about goals. There is more transparency and things are communicated in advance so there are no surprises

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Authorizer Noted Strengths of TCGIS

Communication from teachers to parents and from the school overall is rated high and is timely
Teachers are passionate about immersion and the school stands behind the mission, especially about global citizenship
Mental health support is becoming more embedded; Discussions of mental health is becoming more normalized and there are more qualified adults to have those conversations

Students were in agreement that the learning program at the school is good and that the teachers care a lot

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Accountability to the Strategic Plan

Milestones	# Benchmarks Met or In Progress
Innovative Teaching and Learning	11 of 13
School Culture and Engagement	3 of 4
Diversity and Belonging	12 of 14
Financial Sustainability	5 of 5 moved to 23-24

At the November Board Meeting, the school leadership presented on the school’s accomplishment of the Board’s Strategic Plan Milestones

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Teachers Come to Stay at TCGIS

While metro-area schools faced over 500 teacher vacancies*

for the first day of school,

TCGIS is fully staffed

since the first day of school and has retained all of those qualified teachers. * Source

FY 23 to FY24 Teacher Retention

Core Grade Level Teachers

All Grades K-8

85.5%

Middle School Teachers (5-8)

93.33%

30 Teachers with 5 years or more time @ TCGIS

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Competitive Academic Proficiency of ALL Students

Competitive with other benchmark non-selective dual language immersion schools
Better than the state by 20%
Better than St. Paul School District by 40%
Student performance increasing since 2019
All student cohorts seeing increases in proficiency, more than half seeing double digit increases in academic proficiency from 23-4
Non-white and multi-racial students achievement is at significantly higher levels than for state and district

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Reading Close to Pre-Pandemic Levels

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Math Proficiency Close to Pre-Pandemic Levels

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Percent Proficient on Math MCA

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Percent Proficient on Reading MCA

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Students Grow in Language Proficiency

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DSD I German Proficiency Exam

	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Reading	98%	93%	78%	77%	83%
Writing	90%	74%	74%	60%	62%
Listening	100%	93%	90%	85%	90%
Speaking	98%	75%	85%	79%	82%
Overall Passing	86%	90%	92%	67%	84%

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Matriculation into Central High School

	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
9th graders from TCGIS	20	37	44

All 10th grade German Immersion students scored at Advanced Level on the ACTFL scale on their STAMP last year earning the Platinum Bilingual Seal–the highest level of the award

TCGIS 8th Grade German teachers will attend SPPS PD on assessments and rubrics to continue our important partnership with Central

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Special Education

Team: Dedicated In-School Lead Special Education Coordinator, Andrew Haugen and Special Education Teacher Coordinator Kimberly Michlin
Experienced Consulting on Record Director of Special Education, Tammy Stahl
Co-Teaching Continues and grows

Middle School Co-Teachers finished a three-part training on co-teaching with Mandy Kasowicz
Will begin to assess needs for next year’s 5th graders

Full time In-House Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, School Social Worker

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Supporting the Whole Child

SYSTEMS:�SWST

Team Problem Solving Meetings

MTSS & Data Based Decisions

PRACTICES

Post, teach and reinforce expectations

Responsive Classroom

Restorative Discipline/ NED

-K-2 Critical Practices

DATA

Office Referrals

Chromebook Misuse

Teacher support calls

Reading, Math, SEB data

Supporting Staff

Supporting

Student

Behavior

Supporting Students with SEL and Academics

Supporting Data based decision making

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Behavior Response Updates

Catherine Radecki, Dean of Students
Recommitment to PBIS with strong team led by Dean Radecki and Dean Neu
Updated Referral system/ version 2.0 Sem II
Updated Walkie System with Behavioral EA in place
2 German speaking Social Workers
Push in Support from interventionists
Tier 1 Support from our OT and SLP
BCBA helping with FBA and PBSPs

Beliefs

All students are all of our students

All Behavior is communication

Behavior Management is 80% Preventative and 20% Corrective

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Student Support Updates

3 out of 4 behavior reported incidences are middle level, NOT high level.
Over 100 fewer behavior incidences than last year at this time (484 vs 350)
School leadership uses behavior incident data and regular team meeting discussions with teachers to adapt staff responses to incidents and create student support plans

Robust Student Support Team 5-8 PBIS School Store is running every Friday
SWST added to K-4
SST meeting with 1st grade
6th graders had Kindness & Respect intervention in January
Trial implementation of Sensory Stations in 1st grade
Stations PD work and planning in 1st grade

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Student Support in Place

Pathway to our

Sensory Stations

Station 1

Calming Corner

6th grade Kindness Drawing from Values Lesson - Now a magnet used around school

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International Programs: Student Exchange

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International Programming: Interns

Fall: 9 Interns teaching in most grades/subjects

Spring: 8 interns:

6 new interns begin Feb. 5 + 2 full-year interns

TCGIS interns are beginning teachers from German speaking countries who assist teachers in TCGIS classrooms. TCGIS host families house interns while they are teaching at TCGIS.

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Annual Capstone Exchange

8th grader TCGIS families hosted 38 German students for 2 weeks in Sept.

37 TCGIS 8th graders will travel to Germany in April-May to stay with partners they hosted.

September 2023 - Students visiting TCGIS from Germany in the Twin Cities

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KinderClub 2023-24

Before and After School Care: Kinderclub

In 2022-23: ~50-60 Students Daily

In 2023-24: ~75-90 Students Daily

Full Day Care When School is Not in Session = 40+ Students

Enrichment Classes

LEGO Club
Card Making and Stamping
Pokemon Club
Girl Power
Basteln
Fantasy Role Playing
Woodworking

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Family Engagement

School website

“Family Resources” & “Community” tabs
“New to German” page under “Academics” tab

Family support groups
Parent Council
Parent Teacher Organization
Board Engagement
Host Families

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Nutrition

New Breakfast Program - big success, higher participation than expected

Serving 250 breakfast on average daily
43% participation

Lunch - Free lunch program

Serving 400 lunches on average daily
69% participation

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Wellness Committee

Triennial Assessment of Wellness policy

Developed Scorecard based on WellSat assessment tool: will firm up Wellness Policy language based on Scorecard findings
Next step for Cmte: assess School practices, setting Goals

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TCGIS Co-Curriculars

Math Team–after school

Diversity Club

GSA

Student Govt. by election

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Athletic Revenues or Expenditures?

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Athletic Participation

Here are the numbers for 2023-2024:

soccer = 46

cross-country = 68

math team = 35

basketball = 32

Nordic ski = 25

indoor track-and-field = 51

volleyball = 32*

outdoor track-and-field = 71*

summer track-and-field = 34*

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Volunteers

7 - PTO leaders with even more volunteers

26 - Parent Council Representatives

32 - Eltern Kontakte (EK’s, Classroom Parents)

12 - Board Members lead 6 sub-committees with numerous parent and community volunteers

And even more volunteers who assist with lunchroom duties, events, chaperoning field trips, organizing the lost & found and more.

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Community Outreach

Como Ice Cream Social Event
Lake Como Cleanup
GAI Christmas in Germany
Harvest Festival (D10 Como Community Council)
Midtown Global Market Community Events
Visited 12 preschools with “thank you for a great kdg class!” gifts
Minneapolis School Finder Fair

Still to come:

Kinderstube Prospective Family Event (This Saturday)
Prospective Family Kaffeeklatsch (Feb. 3rd)

Neighborhood mailer went out this week

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Goals of Leadership for 2023-24

Continue to exponentially increase academic proficiency and growth through current double digit increases in each cohort.
Apply data and develop innovative methods to continue increasing growth of students’ German language acquisition at each grade level.
Use strategic recruitment to increase enrollment diversity
Proactively ensure fully enrolled Kindergarten and first grade for school year 2024-2025 (recruitment starts NOW:) 75 K Applicants/100 Total
Use data to adapt and provide robust support structures for students & teachers.
With increased enrollment and streamlined spending, realize increased revenues.
Set a long-term facility plan to implement over the next 10 years.

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Well-Maintained Budget and Enrollment

Average Daily Attendance 96.5%

Managed and monitored budget meets key financial indicators and bond covenants

YTD attrition is consistent with past years (4.5%) and best in class

Enrollment is currently at 96%

of budgeted

Clean FY23 Audit

Thorough 24-25 Kindergarten Recruitment Plan

75 Kindergarten applicants to date/ 98 total