Minnesota New Country School

Nancy Pfarr, Business Manager at MNCS, has had a busy summer working. But got away for a much needed week long vacation with family to Sunset Bay Resort in Hackensack, MN. The weather was perfect, and the fishing was spectacular with big bass in abundance that were exciting to reel in. The sunsets were amazingly beautiful each night, and birthdays were celebrated with a crazy "wig party" and everyone had a great week at the lake.

Throwback Thursday.- Somethings you never forget!

MNCS Elem. Staff, Miss Karen - what is she up to this summer? Enjoying my "stay-cation" by photographing the wildlife in my own backyard!

Let’s give a shout out to Carrie Rice and her new role at MNCS. Carrie Rice is not new to MNCS. Her husband David taught here for fifteen years and she has worked as a paraprofessional at the elementary and the high school the last several years. Just prior to moving to Henderson three years ago, Carrie left a 20+ career in government relations in the telecommunications industry. She is so looking forward to her new career as an Advisor at the high school helping young people discover a passion for teaching themselves new things! Carrie and David share their Henderson home with two dogs, two cats and a multitude of plants. She loves to cook and entertain friends and speaks French. All of the above is true, but since New Countrians love a good round of Two Truths and a Lie, see if you can guess the falsehood: Carrie has lived with a cat in her life since she was five. At one point, Carrie had six dogs under her roof Carrie once had an Appaloosa named Gizmo

Check this out! This summer MNCS Student Miles, is learning how to ride a unicycle!

Let’s give Nick Ryan a “woot woot” I'm excited to be moving back into an advisor role for this coming school year! I'll still be attempting to keep our technology running and managing our assessments as well. My summer has been fun so far. I took my two kids to the BWCA for the first time, the bugs and weather were very forgiving and everyone had a blast! With trail races cancelled it's been hard to stay motivated to run, so this past weekend I ran 40 1 mile laps around my neighborhood as part of a last runner standing event. I wasn't the last runner standing, but it was still fun. It takes a lot of pringles to run 40 miles! Today is also National System Administrator Appreciation Day! At MNCS If technical issues are at a stall, Nick Ryan is there to answer that call.

Throwback Thursday Summertime calendar is usually filled with town events, parades and social gatherings. Many event have been canceled, this summer is definitely different! What is your favorite event that has been canceled this summer?

Jennifer Brunick, advisor and reading specialist is working hard this summer prepping for the fall! In her spare time she loves, you guessed it, reading!! (Staying home to stay safe is a good thing for a voracious reader like Jenn!) She also likes spending time with her family and her cat, Mr. Vavrek. Her husband Michael works at WisPak in Mankato, her oldest son is planning his wedding, her daughter is in college, and her youngest son is in high school.

Paula staff member at MNCS Elementary is keeping busy this summer! She has been doing a lot of camping and they just got got this new (cute, adorable, squish-able) puppy, Prince Deku.

Jake spent most of June as a resident artist at a wood fire workshop in northern Wisconsin. Cutting ten cords of fire wood for the kiln, and Glazing pottery. Check out previous post of Jake loading the anagama wood kiln, some of his finished pottery, and a beautiful sunset at Bayfield, WI.

Let’s give a warm “welcome back” to Jake Zeiher and congratulations on his current position as a General Education/Art Advisor and MARRS Coordinator at Minnesota New Country School.

July 26th- NATIONAL PARENTS’ DAY Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, and all other forms of parenting all play a vital role in the lives of children. They are there to protect, teach, provide, and serve as role models. Children look to them for guidance, they mirror their behavior and learn to be a core part of our communities. Throughout their lives “parents” lead them to be independent thinking individuals, and that’s a big job! On this particular Sunday, Minnesota New Country School would like to say “THANK YOU”. We are so lucky you had chosen us to be part of your child’s life. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 We look forward to working with you and your child during the 2020/21 school year.

Dear MNCS Families, MNCS continues to plan for the 2020-2021 school year. Based on guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), three possible scenarios are being developed: in-person learning; hybrid learning with required social distancing and capacity limits; and distance learning only. MNCS staff is working closely with MDE, and we expect to receive information on which scenario will start the school year by the end of July. We intend to communicate our plans for starting school to families within 5 days of the MDE determination. Our goal is to continue providing the highest level of academic, social, and emotional support for your children as we can, while taking reasonable steps to mitigate the risks from COVID-19 to students, staff and families. At this time, it's important for you to know that distance learning will be an option for all MNCS families regardless of what scenario is selected by the state. Plans will be in place for those who prefer to keep their children home for medical reasons or are simply uncomfortable with sending them to school. While MNCS staff is working daily to prepare for the upcoming school year, the current situation is extremely complicated, continues to evolve daily, and may cause learning options to change at any time throughout the school year. Thank you for your continued patience and support during these challenging times for our schools, families and communities. As we approach the first day of school, our plan is to update families weekly as more information is available, and as plans evolve. We will continue sending emails, and we will resume regular updates to our COVID-19 response page on the school website. If you have specific questions related to school reopening and our COVID-19 response, please email: [email protected] Sincerely, The Staff of Minnesota New Country School

Please help us welcome Adam Herd to our MNCS Community! My name is Adam Herd I am the new 4th/5th grade advisor I enjoy watching and playing sports, but my favorite is basketball. I also enjoy hiking, playing games like Settlers of Catan and Cribbage, and spending time with my family. My family consists of my mom (Lisa), dad (James), my brother (Jacob), and his new fiance (Anna). I was born and raised in Waconia, MN, but attended Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ for my Bachelor's. During the summers of my college years, I lived and worked in Hawaii, Alaska, and Crane Lake, MN. I learned a lot from those opportunities to travel. I am excited to be back in Minnesota and I am ready to meet all of the wonderful people in this community!

Throwback Thursday - Brings us back to the first year at MNCS Elementary. How many students can you identify?

July 23rd -Take a bow, vanilla. I scream, you scream, we all scream for…VANILLA ICE CREAM!! Of course, the day is part of National Ice Cream Month. What is your favorite ice cream?

Sara Westphal, MNCS Elementary Special Education Advisor is enjoying her summer on the lake, swimming, fishing, hanging out with her family! They also are raising chickens in their back yard and waiting patiently for the chickens to lay eggs!!

Henderson Area Food Share THURSDAY, JULY 16TH (3rd Thursday of every month) CENTENNIAL CHURCH - 701 Locust st. Henderson, MN. (Formerly located at Minnesota New Country School) Drive though starts at 4:30 To ensure the health and safety of our volunteers we must adhere to the COVID-19 CDC guidelines, Please stay in your vehicle, pop your trunk when it is your turn in line.

Throwback Thursday (all the way back to 2013) - MNCS Students spreading love and peace around Henderson.

High School staff meeting for the past two days has been very productive! We are all missing each other, but we are especially missing our students! Can’t wait for 2020-2021 school year to begin, no matter how that may look!