Principal’s Message
The Blessings of our Students
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
This month, we are continuing to look at the blessings experienced at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School and are focusing on our students and the blessings we receive through them.
When I think of the relationships here at MVL, there are two responses that come from our students and our faculty. When asked about the greatest blessing at MVL, an overwhelming number of students mention “The teachers.” When we ask the faculty to share their input on the greatest blessing, they respond with “The students.”
Throughout its history, MVL has consistently been blessed with incredible students. They have a wonderful work ethic and show their love for their Lord each day. They respectfully interact with their teachers on a daily basis and when one watches them together, the mutual respect is so obvious.
Yes, these young people are sinners and at times really struggle academically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet, they love their Lord and want to grow in their faith and their relationship with Jesus.
We, as teachers and staff, are so blessed to come to school every day and work with these young people. We pray that they will continue to grow in their knowledge of our Lord and their relationship with Him.
Infinite Campus Alert Test
During the month of October, an Infinite Campus Alert will be conducted so that we are ready for the weather-related challenges of the winter. If you have questions or concerns about this, please contact the MVL office.
Vision and Hearing Screening
Our School Nurse, Elen Stark, with the assistance of a number of volunteers, will conduct Vision and Hearing Screenings for all our students on Wednesday, October 1st. This valuable screening is provided as a service to assist parents with any concerns there may be with your students’ vision and/or hearing.
MLC Area Reformation Service
Our MVL A Cappella Choir will be singing in MLC’s Area Reformation service on October 26th at 3:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Christ. All are welcome to attend!
Parent/Teacher Conferences
On November 3-4, we have Parent-Teacher Conferences scheduled. Parents can determine which teachers they would like to meet with and make appointments with those teachers. Sign-ups will be open from October 6th to October 24th. This allows adequate time to prepare the schedules and for the teachers to prepare for the meetings. Keep an eye out for an email with the sign-up link.
The meeting times will be scheduled in 15-minute segments from 3:00 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. Be sure to note that on the days of Parent-Teacher Conferences, students will be dismissed from classes at noon. The MVL buses will run right away after school.
MVL History Tour 2026 plans underway
The 2026 MVL History Tour will be June 15 – 25 next summer. This MVL tradition has provided such an amazing class binding opportunity for our new seniors of the class of 2027. The tour will again include great tour stops in South Bend, Niagara Falls, Gettysburg, Washington DC, and Virginia Beach. Around 65 – 70 students will be participating next summer. Mr. Buboltz will be chaperoning the trip this summer.
MVL History Tour 2026 Parent Meeting
A mandatory History Tour meeting will be held Monday, November 10, 2025 at 6:30 pm in the Fieldhouse. The participating student and at least one parent should be in attendance in order to guarantee a spot on the trip. The meeting will attempt to answer all possible questions that you might have concerning the trip. Please contact Mr. Buboltz if you have any questions.
Siegen, Germany Trip 2026
The 2026 educational cultural exchange trip goes to Siegen, Germany, from May 28 – June 11, 2026. This exchange program has been partnered with the EVAU Evangelisches Gymnasium for over 25 years now. Students from each school get this opportunity every other year to visit each school. MVL has partnered with St. Croix Lutheran High School as host families when students from Siegen visit the US. The exchange will include staying with host families, touring the country, and being immersed in the culture. Mr. Buboltz will be hosting student interest meetings throughout September and October to get those students who are guaranteed participation. Please contact Mr. Buboltz if you have any questions.
Pike Driving School
Again, this year, Pike Driving School of New Ulm will be offering the classroom portion of driver’s training at MVL. The class will be held from October 22—November 14, from 3:30—5:30 p.m. each day. Payment of $190, made out to “Pike Driving School” will be due the first day of class. In the coming days, there will be a sign-up sheet in the office for our students. If you have questions about the class, contact Darren at 359-3133.
Fall Play
MVL Drama presents…
On a dark and stormy night, six quirky guests are invited to a mysterious mansion. But when their host turns up dead, the evening takes a deadly (and delightfully funny) turn. With secret identities, outrageous alibis, and more red herrings than you can shake a candlestick at, everyone’s a suspect and nothing is quite what it seems.
Who did it? Where? With what? Find out as MVL Drama brings the classic board game Clue to life on stage this fall! Packed with mystery, mischief, and plenty of laughs, this whodunit will keep you guessing (and giggling) until the final reveal.
Show times are Friday, October 31st at 7 pm, Saturday November 1st at 7 pm, and Sunday, November 2nd at 2 pm. All performances will be held in the Fine Arts Center at MVL
Don’t wait until the last Clue—gather your friends, follow the evidence, and join us for an evening of side-splitting suspense!
Wreath Sales
Tis the season!… MVL will again be selling wreaths, swags, crosses, and live garland to help bring the sights and scents of Christmas to your home or business! Look for friendly MVL students at your church to help you place your order. Or if you prefer, go to the MVL website and place your order online. Order deadline is Sunday, November 12th, and we hope to deliver most products to your church by Thanksgiving weekend. This year’s proceeds are designated to help outfit a workshop space for our fine arts backstage area. Thank you for your support!
Grade Reviews, Red Dots, and Academic Probation
Parents should take time with their students to look through the MVL Student Handbook in the areas of Grade Reviews, Red Dots, and Academic Probation. The Student Handbook can be found on the MVL Website. These three areas of the handbook should enlighten students on the academic expectations of MVL as well as the pieces put in place to assist students in their academic achievement.
Infinite Campus
Did you know there is a place where you can see your students’ grades, schedule, detailed lunch account information, and more? If you haven’t set up your Parent Portal yet and have questions on how to do that, contact Sarah Allee at sallee@mvlhs.org.
Safety Drill Notification
For the safety of our students, during the year, we hold safety drills for fire, tornado, as well as lockdown procedures. While these drills do take away from some class time, we believe the time is well spent, to ensure proper procedures in the case of an event taking place at school.
Bus WiFi Survey
We need your feedback! We’re evaluating whether to continue offering Bus WiFi next year and value your input. Please take a few minutes to complete the 2025 Parent/Guardian Bus WiFi Survey linked below. This short, five-question survey also allows for additional comments to help us make an informed decision.
Survey link: https://forms.gle/
Sport & Activity Fees
All sports fees, field trip fees, activity fees, and the like, will be billed to your family FACTS account at the start of the activity and throughout the year. Typically, we ask that these are paid within a month. You have the option to have these charges automatically billed to a checking account or credit card when due. There is a check box for this when you enroll for your payment plan on FACTS. You can go to your family FACTS account and update this either way at any time however. If you are not set up for automatic payment of these fees, you will need to go to your family FACTS account and pay them manually online when convenient, or send a check or cash to school with your student. This year there will not be “reduced” or “free” activity/sports rates. If you have questions on fees or family annual totals, please contact Deb.
Coop Fees are the one thing that aren’t billed to FACTS, but can be at parent’s request. These do have a due date at which the payment needs to be made however.
History Tour (Junior Parents)
We will be running History Tour through FACTS again this year. Juniors who will be attending the trip will see their initial invoice sometime late September or early October under the “Incidentals” category. The due date will be the end of the school year (May 31, 2026), allowing you to make payments anytime, when it is convenient for you. These payments will not come out of your checking or charge card automatically, so you will have to go to your FACTS account and do this manually. You can also send a check or cash to school with your student if that is easier. Deb Kuck is the contact for financial issues concerning History Tour. Jim Buboltz is the contact for anything else.
Pay on your family FACTS account
When making any payment on your FACTS account (for tuition, sports fees, History Tour, etc.), please log onto your family FACTS account to do so. When done this way, you will see your payment post immediately. If you make the payment through the general form on the website, it will take a few weeks for your payment to post
to your account.
If you would like a relative or friend to access your account to make payments through your FACTS account, you will select “add authorized party”. It will send a link to that person and they can set up their own log in to make payment or view the account.
If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Deb Kuck via email or by phone. financial@mvlhs.org (507) 233-8656. Thank you!
National College Fair
The National College Fair is being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center (1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55403) on Tuesday, October 7th from 9AM – 12PM and 5:30PM – 7:30PM, and Wednesday, October 8th from 9AM – 12PM. Students and families interested in learning about a wealth of college options (typically over 500 institutions are represented) in one location should consider this opportunity. https://www.mn-acac.org/ncf Families would need to coordinate their attendance themselves. Students should register at the link above prior to attending. Feel free to reach out to Mr. Smith with any questions.
Please review carefully.
All Students and Families: Testing Days:
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 (9th, 10th, & 11th graders): PSAT assessments
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 (only signed up juniors and seniors): ACT
PSAT assessments – Wednesday, October 15th
*Seniors are excused from attending school on this date: plan ahead if you are going to utilize this day for a college visit or shadowing experience. *Fall Senior athletes and Fall Play participants; please ensure that you check with your coaches/directors on your practice times prior to scheduling any college visits or job-shadowing experiences.
**Students will want to eat a big breakfast and/or bring easy snacks for their break.
School breakfast will be served. School lunch will NOT be served. DISMISSAL for the day will be 11:15 a.m. Busses will run according to this schedule.
9th Grade = PSAT 8/9; 10th and 11th Grade = PSAT/NMSQT
ALL EXAMS WILL BE COMPLETED DIGITALLY. STUDENTS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THEIR OWN FULLY CHARGED CHROMEBOOK.
● 8:20 – 8:30: devotion in each testing room led by the testing proctor
● 8:30 – 8:45: testing device login and “pre-administration”
● 8:45 – 11:09 a.m.: Testing (includes break in between two modules)
● 11:10 – 11:15 a.m.: Closing tasks.
● 11:15 a.m. Dismissal
ACT – Wednesday, October 29th
Busses will run normal this day.
9th and 10th grade = regular day of MVL school
11th and 12th grade = Signed up students attend for the ACT beginning at 8:20 a.m.; Students will be dismissed for the day once their entire testing room has completed the exam. Standard testing time is right around 3.5 hours. Juniors and Seniors will need to arrange their own transportation home since their dismissal will be prior to the end of the school day. No lunch for 11th or 12th grade due to dismissal time.
11th and 12th grade students who opted out of the ACT will not be required to attend school.
AP Exam Fees
Students enrolled in AP courses will soon be bringing home a letter that explains the AP exam fees. AP exam fees are due to the main MVL office by Friday, November 7th. AGAIN THIS YEAR, AP exam fees will automatically be charged to the students FACTs account. This will allow us to collect payment more efficiently and send out automatic reminders. Families will pay through their FACTs portal.
Fees Students on Free/Reduced Lunches Students not on F/R Lunches
Initial cost of AP Exam $99 $99
Reduction for F/R $37 0
MN Dept. of Ed. Reduction $53 $40
Admin. Costs (Proctor) $10 $10
Cost per student per exam $19.00 $69.00
Save the Date
Martin Luther College’s Focus on Ministry trip for interested MVL juniors and seniors will be held on Thursday, November 20th and Friday, November 21st. More information will be available as the date approaches.
Booster Club provides opportunities for Christian fellowship for MVL parents and supporters, which in turn provides financial support for special needs items that are not included in the annual MVL operating budget. This is an EXCELLENT way to meet new parents, get involved in your child’s education at MVL and engage in the abundant blessings of giving back.
If you’d like to learn more about Booster Club or other ways to help out with Booster Club events, you can email boosterclub@mvlhs.org. or visit our MVL Booster Club page on the MVL website: https://mvl.org/support-mvl/booster-club/ Thanks for doing your part to help raise money for our kids’ co-curricular activities.
Concession Stand Shifts
Booster Club raises the majority of funds needed to support our extracurricular programs through Concession stand sales. This would not be possible without the help of countless volunteers who take tickets and run the concession stand. Yet each year, each season, we fall short of volunteers. To help alleviate the problem, the Booster Club has assigned each extracurricular group at MVL to specific concession stand dates. You will find those dates here: Concession Stand Assignments 2025
We need your support just as much as each of our academic and athletic groups needs Booster Club! Please sign up and help: https://signup.com/
Share Your MVL Activity Photos
If you have photos from MVL activities please share them for use on our MVL Booster Club social media platforms. Even in the off season, many of our students are participating in club programs and we’d love to hear about those events and share the training and success of our students with our supporters. Please text photos and information to: Angie Brau: 612-749-2781
Deal of the Day! – Concession Punch Cards
MVL Homecoming Pork Chop Meal
Homecoming is right around the corner! Don’t cook on Friday, October 3rd and enjoy a delicious Pork Chop Meal at the MVL Homecoming Football game.Join us as the MVL Chargers take on Luverne at 7:00 p.m. at Johnson Field in New Ulm.
Our thanks to Warren Krohn for grilling! The meal will be served beginning at 6:00 p.m. through half time. We will have meals available which include Pork Chop on a Bun with Chips, Cookie and Bottled Water for $10. A single Pork Chop sandwich will also be available for $6.
We are in need of six volunteers to assist with serving the meal. Please go to our volunteer page to sign up:
https://signup.com/go/vaqCEED
All proceeds benefit MVL Booster Club!!!
Wow, a big Thank You to all our football fans!!! The last two weeks after our games, there wasn’t any trash left lying around in the stands or on the ground. I went back to school to open the building for the teams. When I came back to turn off the lights and lock up, Johnson Field looked like we were never there. Everything was cleaned up. I really had to think if we had a game those nights. What a great surprise. Thank you. The city even called and thanked us for leaving the park clean.
The most exciting time of the year is right around the corner: Playoffs! As the push to the end of the regular season keep encouraging our students and being good sports.
This is also the time of the year when our drama department is going hard at it to present another terrific performance, the first weekend in November.
Letter Jacket Sizing and Order Day
If your child would like to order a letter jacket, the MECCA sales representative will be at MVL on November 19 from 1130 to 1 pm with letter jackets to try on for sizing. I was warned the prices may vary slightly from what is on the link. Here’s a link with more information: Parent Letter MVLHS .docx and an order form: Minnesota Valley Lutheran_Jacket Order Form.pdf. Any questions, contact the rep or Mr. Morgan.
Schedule and Schedule Changes
If you would like the up-to-the-minute game, match, or meet changes, there is an app that you may download that can be tied into our calendar. In the app store, download the Activity Scheduler app. It looks like a light blue baseball cap with the letters “rS” on the front. Then set it up for our school. You will need to know we are members of the South Central Conference.
Game Streaming
We will stream our home games again this year. This year we will be using Fan Hudl, and it’s FREE. You can view all home varsity football, volleyball, girls’, and boys’ basketball games. Some schools may charge for these games, but most will be free. Our games will be taken down for public viewing by 9 am the next day. We are working on streaming softball and baseball on this platform as well. The viewing schedule of the sports games at https://fan.hudl.com/usa/mn/new-ulm/organization/24482/minnesota-valley-high-school
Advertise in our Sports Programs
Ad space for our Sports Program is available. The price for a space in the program is $175 per year. This includes your ad in all our sports programs: football, volleyball, and basketball.