Principal’s Message
Dust and Dirt
I took a trip to the New Ulm Menards the other day. As I walked from the parking lot to the store entrance, I couldn’t help but notice how dirty my truck was compared to many of the vehicles in the lot. All of those trips up and down 561st Avenue since I last washed it have made it filthy. Then, I get into the MVL parking lot and there’s more dirt and dust (No mud, yet!). We still have several months to go before Hwy 14 is done and there there’s a layer of asphalt down in at least part of our parking lot.
Dirty cars and trucks, filthy shoes and dusty pants. Those are all a by product of construction progress. That’s also how God saw mankind – sinners just caked with the mud and dirt and dust of sin. But then, God, in His infinite wisdom, sent Jesus to earth to live and die for us. All that dirt, dust and mud is washed away.
I can certainly take my truck in to get it washed – or do it myself. Yet, it will continue to get dirty – even after the construction is done. So, we also continue to sin – daily. Thank God that He forgives our sins through Jesus and the filth of sin keeps getting washed away!
I look forward to the day when I don’t have to drive down 561st and kick up all that dust. I look forward to the day when our construction project is finished and we can enjoy the science classrooms, the fine arts center and the fieldhouse. What a blessing that will be! But, let’s not forget what Jesus continues to do for us by paying for our sins with his life!
Picture Retakes
Lifetouch will be at MVL to take pictures on Monday, September 28 starting at 8:30 a.m. They will be set up on the stage. Students who did not have their picture taken during orientation, or who are unhappy with their picture from orientation will have an opportunity to have their pictures taken. Picture order forms from your orientation materials can be used. If you don’t have order forms, they may be picked up in the office. Seniors who have not had their picture taken should do so at this time as well, so they can be provided with a student ID card.
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 4. This valuable screening is provided as a service to assist parents with any concerns there may be with your students’ vision and/or hearing.
Eight volunteers are needed to help provide the screening that day starting at 12:15 and ending at 3:00
p.m. Volunteers will receive training. Contact the school or Elen Stark to volunteer.
Homecoming Post-Game Social
The Homecoming game is Friday, September 22. All parents, alumni, and supporters are invited to the free post-game social at the New Ulm Community Center! The night includes door prizes, games, and complimentary snacks and beverages.
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.
Christian Counseling Services Available
To help students navigate the challenges of the high school years, MVL is partnering with WLCFS-Christian Family Solutions to maintain an on-campus counseling center with scheduled office hours. There is no cost for an initial set of five (5) counseling hours. For more information, contact the MVL office.
Thank you!
Thanks to so many generous donations, we have a good supply of Kleenex boxes to start the school year. Of course, we will be using them up as time progresses, so please think of us when cold/flu season starts. An extra donation will help very much. Also, we have enough paper grocery bags to afford each student one book cover, but many of them need more; please remember to occasionally send more bags along with your student. Many thanks to all our donors!”
Student Planners
Freshmen and new students were provided with an MVL Student Planner. Extras will be available for purchase in the office for $5 until they are gone.
Bowlathon Winners
Last school year, we had our very first Bowlathon to raise funds for the Building on the Rock Campaign.
Students who brought in the most pledges were rewarded with flights with North Star Aviation.
Congratulations to Leah Kuehl, Macord Lindstrom and Emma Beussman and a big thank you to North Star Aviation.
Chromebook Reminders
Damages/Costs/Responsibilities
The day you pick up your Chromebook, it becomes your responsibility. Any repairs, not covered by the manufacturer warranty, are the responsibility of the family. A $300+ investment in your education needs to be cared for. See the notes below. MVL runs an in-house repair facility to keep costs down.
Caring for and Feeding your Chromebook
In order to be proactive in avoiding unnecessary repairs and expenses, please read the basics of Chromebook use at MVL:
- When storing the Chromebook, store it so it is either flat on a separate shelf in your locker or supported on its side so it is not able to fall.
- Cleaning:
- Use a dry, non-abrasive cloth (microfiber Norwex polishing cloths work very well);
- Ammonia-based or liquid cleaners will damage the screens and should not be used;
- Damaged Chromebooks should be directed to Mr. Schauland before or after school. He will assess the repair needs. Students will receive an invoice to be paid to the Front Office.
- Fees for invoices are to be paid in order to receive the repaired Chromebook.
- Students who have Chromebooks being repaired will receive first priority for loaners.
- Students with outstanding repair balances will need to rent Chromebooks (if available) from the Chrome Depot until the balance is paid. Rental fees will be assessed
- Fees for repairs will be the lowest price the market has at that time.
- Students are responsible for charging Chromebooks prior to the school day.
- If you forget to bring your Chromebook to school, limited Chromebook rentals are available from the Chrome Depot.
- Chromebook rental is $2 per day.
- You can either pay cash or charge the rental to your school account.
- Parents will be notified that you rented a Chromebook.
- Students are not guaranteed a rental Chromebook as a limited supply is available.
- Students are responsible for the care of rental devices and will be accountable for any damages to rental Chromebooks.
- The rental Chromebook needs to be returned to Mr. Schauland at the end of the day.
- Powering on/off vs. opening/closing the device:
- Manually powering on and shutting down the Chromebook allows the device to “rest” and reboot its applications, and update the Chrome OS.
- Opening and closing the device transitions it out of or into “sleep mode” where the device is still communicating AND logged
- Students not using a Chromebook for more than one class hour should manually shutdown the device. It is a short, six-second, process.
What happens to the Chromebook after a student graduates?
Students that pay the 4 years of technology fees will walk out of MVL with the device.
With the 1:1 Chromebook rollout starting this year at MVL, new guidelines and procedures are being implemented to help protect this new investment. The MVL Chromebook Guidelines Handbook and Acceptable Use Policy is available here. A condensed overview of that handbook is linked here. Please take a few minutes to look the documents over and review them with your child. These reminders will also be kept in front of the students as the year goes along.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kirk Schauland, MVL’s Director of Technology, at kschauland@mvlhs.org.
Snapchat
Parents, as we partner with you in your child’s education, we occasionally pass along articles and information we feel you may be interested in.
You may or may not have heard that Snapchat recently rolled out a Snapchat AI “Virtual Friend” bot to users. Mr. Schauland had several conversations about it with the Freshmen in Computer
Apps the last few weeks of school.
Please take a moment to read the article below by Vicki Davis: Snapchat and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Friend. She is well-known in the EdTech world and has her own website: www.coolcatteacher.com.
It is a very eye-opening article that we feel is worth taking a few minutes to read. If this is of no interest to you, feel free to disregard this article. If you have found it worthwhile, please share it with someone you think would benefit from it. Thanks!
Here is the link to the article: Snapchat and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Friend.
Tuition and Fees
The new tuition rates for the 2023-2024 school year were approved at the voters meeting a few weeks ago. New rates are $7,600 for Association members and $8,600 for non-Association members. There is a $500 credit for first year, non-Association students.
All tuition, class dues, Chromebook fees, graduation fees, Tuition Assistance Awards, and any prepaid tuition has been added to all family FACTS account. If you notice any errors, or have any questions or need help with payment plans, please call or email Deb.
As a reminder for senior parents, per MVL policy, senior students need to be paid in full prior to graduation. The 11-month payment plan is not an option for seniors who are the only student here. If the senior has a sibling at MVL, they are able to do the 11-month plan, but half the tuition needs to be paid prior to the senior’s graduation. Please contact Deb if you have questions on this policy.
Changes can be made to finalized payment plans. You are able to change the date of a payment by a number of days, but there are some more advanced changes we can help you with too. Please don’t hesitate to contact Deb if more advanced changes need to be made. Always allow at least two business days when making changes to payments.
If you select the invoice option to bypass backing info when filling out your FACTS enrollment, have a unique payment request, or have two separate parties paying on tuition, you will need to complete a form detailing your payment intentions. If you receive your form in the mail, we ask you to fill it out promptly, or return it in person, no later than August 25th, 2023. Dr. Plath will look over these requests. When he signs off on the agreement, you will receive a signed copy for your records. If he needs additional clarification, we will reach out to you.
Tuition Assistance
If you have not received a Tuition Assistance Award and would like to be considered for one, please go onto your Family FACTS account and apply for and submit the tuition assistance application as soon as possible. This needs to be done prior to any award being given. To be considered for the next batch of awards (late August/early September, and/or after the first of the year), please get your application in sooner rather than later! If you have special circumstances you would like considered, please contact Mr. Buboltz at jbuboltz@mvlhs.org.
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. Otherwise, you will need to go on your 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 Kuck.
Co-op 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 this year. Juniors who will be attending the trip will see their initial invoice sometime late September. The due date will be the end of the school year, allowing you to make payments anytime, when it is convenient for you. 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!
Student and Parent Guidance Nights
9th and 10th Grade Guidance Night
The freshman/sophomore parent night will be held on Wednesday, September 6th beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the commons. Come and walk your student’s schedule and meet their advisor and hear from directly from each of their teachers. All parents/guardians of 9th and 10th grade students are invited to attend.
11th and 12th Grade Guidance Night
On Wednesday, September 13th, Mr. Smith will be hosting the junior and senior parent nights.
Juniors and their parents are invited to attend a presentation beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Seniors and their parents are invited to attend a presentation beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Both presentations will be held up in Rooms 203-204.
Save the date!
The Martin Luther College Focus on Ministry trip will be on November 30th and December 1st. Juniors and seniors interested in learning more about Martin Luther College are invited to attend. More information will be shared as the date approaches.
Updated Schedule
Similar to last year, Mr. Smith will be serving the 7th and 8th graders at St. Paul’s Lutheran School one day a week (most likely on Thursdays). He will be at MVL on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He can still be reached at tjsmith@mvlhs.org or via phone at 507.233.8685.
Welcome back to another great year with the MVL Booster Club! We look forward to working together for Arts, Academics, and Athletics programs for our children.
- We depend on volunteers to run our concession stand — It’s one of the BoosterClub’s primary fundraisers, and it’s a great way to get to know other MVL parents. We encourage each family to sign up for 5-7 shifts a year — or more! High school kids can help out as long as there’s an adult in the stand. Ticket-selling slots are another option for adults to help out. Sign up for football and volleyball now; basketball opportunities will come later in the year. While the concession stand shifts are only at sports events, remember that the Booster Club benefits all MVL co-curriculars — arts, academics, and athletics — and we’d love for all families to support this for the benefit of all of our students’ activities.
- If you are a Thrivent member, consider applying for a $250 Action Team grant. You can sign up in the volunteer list. Each night we sell concessions is a separate event opportunity, and applications must be completed at least 3 weeks ahead of time. This is a great way to help the BoosterClub!
- The BoosterClub holds its annual “Jeans and Dreams” auction each spring. The auction committee can use more volunteers, and we love to have donations from MVL families who have businesses or special talents to create unique auction items. Message us via Facebook if you’d like to be part of this great event!
- Speaking of Facebook, keep up on BoosterClub events and MVL activities with the MVL Booster Club Facebook page.
- We’ll have a great pork chop meal available for Homecoming on September 22. You don’t want to miss those delicious pork chops!
- The Go Big Blue! booth will be back this year at the September 19 volleyball game and at Homecoming. The booth features free, fun things to help show your Charger spirit. Stop by with your whole family!
Welcome to the 2023-24 school year and all the excitement that comes with everything new! New teammates, new schedules, new activities, and new friends. Parents have the opportunity to meet other new parents while volunteering at MVL. There are plenty of games where you can volunteer and serve your school. The concession stand and tickets are positions that are fun and easy to do. See the Booster Club article for the link to get started.
As we begin to watch and cheer on our Chargers, please keep your cheering positive for our teams. It’s easy to critique the close calls from the bleachers, but get down on the court or field and the view is different. Many times I’ve questioned the officials over the years, but when I go back and look at the game film, I see where I was wrong and they were right. If you are ever interested in officiating and getting paid for it please email me at cmorgan@mvlhs.org and I will point you to the right person who can help you get started. Without officials we won’t have games. Go Chargers!
Activity Season Passes
MVL students are admitted free with their picture ID.
Season passes are good for all MVL home games except playoff games and are available in the office for parents and all non-MVL students.
Adults- $65.00
Students (K-12) $20.00
Family Pass- $150.00
Includes 2 adults and as many student passes you need for your
immediate family.
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.
Schedule and Schedule Changes
If you would like up to the minute game, match or meet changes, there is an app that you may download and is 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 Tomahawk Conference.
Game Streaming
We will be streaming our home games again this year using the NFHS (National Federation of High Schools) Pixolot System. Go to the MVL website and click on the LIVE STREAM button then click on NFHS Network LIVE. You can subscribe by the month or for the year. When your subscription time is up, be sure to unsubscribe. It will automatically charge you for the next month or year. You can watch games all over the state and country. Some schools in our conference also stream their games. Some have a fee and others are free. We went with this service because we could not get volunteers to help and no training was needed. But there is nothing like coming out to school and watch the action live and in person. Go Chargers!