About Glacial Hills Elementary
A Note From the Director:
We are honored that you are considering Glacial Hills Elementary. We provide an enriched learning environment that has helped countless students learn, develop and grow. We are a public, tuition free school that offers small class sizes. We embrace experiential learning, student-centered instruction, and learning outside the classroom to teach Minnesota State Standards and environmental education. This has allowed the school to consistently stay within the top tiers of academic growth for Minnesota schools.
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The curriculum we write and adopt encompasses our belief that students should be taught holistically and should be at the center of their learning. We will develop the whole child and support them cognitively, behaviorally, socially, emotionally, and academically.
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​Glacial Hills utilizes Scholastic Literacy as our reading and writing curriculum. We love that this curriculum provides students with a voice and choices to encourage a love for reading and writing. The reading selections and writing prompts are authentic and culturally relevant to peak student interest. We use Bridges in Mathematics for our math curriculum. This curriculum is loved by teachers and students alike. It structures student learning so kids gain a deep understanding of concepts, proficiency with key skills, and the ability to solve complex problems.
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As mentioned earlier, we are committed to supporting your child beyond academics. We have a student support specialist, Kristi Gruber, on staff. She works with students to help them be the best versions of themselves utilizing Second Step (social emotional curriculum) and restorative justice curriculum. She meets with each class weekly for a whole group lesson and then meets with individuals as necessary.
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At Glacial Hills Elementary, we pride ourselves in the relationships we develop with our students, families, and community. We are excited that you are considering joining our GHES family. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
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Jodee Lund
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Jodee Lund
Director
320-244-3336
Welcome from
Mrs. Giese:
Hello! My name is Mary Giese, and I am the kindergarten teacher at Glacial Hills. I have been with the school since we opened in 2007. I have served two terms on the School Board and have been an active participant in making Glacial Hills a positive representation of the community of Starbuck. It is such an honor to be able to work with these little friends each year!
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This will be an exciting year filled with lots of new friends, adventures, and learning. My goal is to encourage students to be the best person they can be and support them in every way. Each child’s gifts, strengths, and talents will be nurtured and embraced as we journey through the year together as a family!
Our curriculum is progressive and allows for differentiation of activities to meet the varying needs and learning styles of each child. Children learn to work in small groups, as well as independently throughout the day. Students will work on developing a strong phonetic foundation since systematic sound-first instruction is critical to helping students learn to decode and can increase student success.
We are excited to implement Bridges Math as our new math curriculum. Six of eight units are devoted to numbers and operations. They help students learn to use numbers, including written numerals, to represent quantities and solve problems; count out a given number of objects; compare sets or numerals; and model simple joining and separating situations with objects, fingers, words, actions, drawings, numbers, and equations. The remaining two units focus on geometry. They invite students to describe and analyze the attributes of shapes in the world around them; find, count, draw, build, and compare shapes; and fit shapes together to make other shapes and complete puzzles.
At Glacial Hills you will find students engaged in free play time daily. Research has shown that the power of play as an engine of learning in early childhood plays a vital role in young children's physical, social, and emotional development. Play encourages the development of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, negotiation and conflict resolution.
At Glacial Hills Elementary, our goal is to create a safe, fun, and positive environment for every child to learn, grow, and succeed. Thank you again for your interest and please let us know if you have any additional questions!
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Warm Regards,
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Mary Giese; Kindergarten Teacher