Mounds View Public Schools

Bel Air Elementary students deliver peace

May 1, 2008 -- On May Day, Bel Air Elementary School students in grades 3-5 celebrated the one-year anniversary of the school's official Peace Site designation by delivering baskets filled with messages of peace to residents in their New Brighton neighborhood. Student-made baskets included candy, plant seeds, and friendly reminders to neighbors that Bel Air is participating in the Minnesota Safe Routes to School Program and that students often bike and walk through their neighborhood to get to school.

District teachers and students featured on Link TV

April 30, 2008 -- Mounds View Public Schools' teachers and students were featured in Link TV's April 24 episode of Earth Focus for their efforts to address water, sanitation and hygiene issues in schools around the globe. Watch the Earth Focus episode below to see District teachers, students and volunteers participating in a conversation about global water issues at the 2008 Environmental Film Festival.

Run time: 28 minutes and 31 seconds
Note: District coverage starts at 15:00

Empty Bowls event benefits local food shelf

April 29, 2008 -- Mounds View Public Schools staff and students hosted an "Empty Bowls" soup and bread dinner on April 28 in conjunction with the District art show at Irondale High School. More than 300 art show and dinner attendees enjoyed a collection of student art from schools throughout the District and dined on soup served in student-crafted ceramic bowls. Proceeds from the sale of ceramic bowls (made by students from Valentine Hills Elementary School, Pinewood Elementary School and Irondale) and the soup dinner totaled nearly $3,000 and went to Feed My Starving Children food shelf.

Turf fields considered safe

April 25, 2008 -- Some groups have recently voiced concerns about potential health and environmental risks associated with artificial turf fields around the country and in Minnesota. Mounds View Public Schools installed artificial turf in the stadium field at Mounds View High School in 2004 and in the stadium field at Irondale High School in 2005.

The District recently contacted the turf manufacturer, Sportexe, to receive more information about how its product may or may not relate to the recent concerns. Based on information provided by Sportexe and the Synthetic Turf Council, the District has no reason to believe either high school’s field is unsafe or poses any potential health or environmental risks.

Sportexe explained that the pigment used to color the nylon fiber present in older fields does contain low levels of lead chromate – a compound that if ingested would be very difficult for the body to absorb. However, Sportexe has assured Mounds View Public Schools that none of the colors used in the Mounds View or Irondale fields contains this lead chromate based pigment.

The Synthetic Turf Council issued a release stating that “based on the facts, chemical science, and research that is readily available,” it believes synthetic turf fields made with nylon fibers are safe to use and pose no known risk to an individual’s health or the environment.

To read more about the Sportexe product, please visit www.sportexe.com. To read recent reports from the Synthetic Turf Council, please visit www.syntheticturfcouncil.org.

Any questions about Mounds View Public Schools fields can be directed to John Ward, Director of Human Resources and Operations, at 651-639-6211.

Survey results

April 25, 2008 -- What should a school feel like?

Read a series of stories, featuring Mounds View's personalized approach to providing a healthy school environment.

Read comments from the digital discussion about Mounds View's efforts in our Chalkboard Chatroom.

Download parent or staff results from Mounds View's survey evaluating the District's current climate.

Review an executive summary of the survey and the chatroom.