Dowling Newsletter - April 17th, 2026

From the Principal

Severe Weather Awareness

It is Severe Weather Awareness Week in MN. On Thursday, our students participated in a Severe Weather Drill. This drill ensures that our students know where they should go with their class in the event of a severe weather emergency. Our students did a great job! 

Earth Day Events 

Wednesday, April 22nd - Earth Day at Dowling

• Grades K-3: We are so thrilled to host author/illustrator, Katie Yamasaki. Katie Yamasaki will share her upcoming picture book, Ripples. If you would like to order one of these books for your child, you can do so directly from this link, or by through the QR code below.
• Grade 4: Students will be off at Eagle Bluff for their overnight Fieldtrip. 
• Grade 5: Earth Day Service Project for the School

Student Placement Feedback Requested

Creating well-balanced classroom rosters for the following school year is a very thoughtful process, with many factors taken into consideration. Dowling teachers gather relevant data on every student and meet with all support staff involved to place your student in the learning environment most suited for their success. 

We are providing this optional Google form if you wish to give any input about your student that would be beneficial to this process, by completing the following form and submitting no later than Friday, May 1. Please fill out one form per student.   

Minneapolis Kids - Reminder

Save the date! Registration for before and after school care for the 2026-2027 school year opens soon:

• Friday, April 17th, at 7am for CURRENT families
• Friday, April 24th,  at 7am for NEW families

Minneapolis Kids is CLOSED on Monday, May 25th & Tuesday, May 26th.

Upcoming Non-School Day on Wednesday, May 27th. Check your scheduled dates and account information here.

Questions about billing? Reach out to the Minneapolis Kids Main Office at mpls.kids@mpls.k12.mn.us or at (612) 668 - 3890.

Questions about Dowling Minneapolis Kids programming? Reach out to Maya Christensen, Program Coordinator at maya.christensen@mpls.k12.mn.us. 

Dowling Wishlist

Please check out the Dowling wishlist. We’d be very grateful for any donations!

Dowling PTO

PTO Elections & Meeting
5/11 | 6:30 pm | Cafeteria or virtual (cc available)
Join virtually: https://meet.google.com/tcn-ekno-cjg
Meeting agendas

May events NEED VOLUNTEERS to happen

Every event below depends on parent volunteers. If you’ve been meaning to get involved, this is the moment. Even one shift makes a difference.

Get Outdoors Event

Saturday 5/2/26 | 2–5 PM @ Dowling

We need as many volunteers as possible for:

• Building ten raised garden beds for student ed and filling with soil
• Bicycle mechanic volunteers (to provide basic tune-ups to get kids riding safely)
• Grounds cleanup, including planting and litter removal
• Assisting with event setup, real-time needs, and clean-up

Even helping for part of the time makes a difference.
Email go@dowlingpto.org to volunteer or connect us with someone who can help.

Other May Events (all need volunteers)

• Bike, Walk, Roll to School | 5/6
• Teacher Appreciation Week | 5/4–5/8
• School Dance | 5/8, 6–7:30 pm
• Carnival | 5/28

All of these events require volunteer support to run.

Email board@dowlingpto.org to help (just tell us which event you're interested in).

Read-a-thon Update

Thank you to everyone who supported this year's Dowling Read-a-thon! Today's final celebration at school shared the amazing achievements of Dowling students and the community that supports them.

In this year's Read-a-thon:

• Students read a total of 629,995 minutes! Our schoolwide goal is 400,000.
• Our students and community helped us raise more than $29,000 for the PTO and our school, well above our goal is $21,000! We will be sharing the official fundraising total in the coming weeks.

Thank you again to everyone who supported our students and school to make this year's Read-a-thon a success!

2026–2027 PTO Board

PTO board elections are coming up in May, and nearly all seats will be open. This is a great opportunity to get more involved, meet other families, and help shape the year ahead at Dowling.

If you’re even a little curious, we’d love to hear from you.

Email board@dowlingpto.org to express interest.

Call for Yearbook Photos!

A group of parent volunteers are hard at work creating the yearbook. If you have any candid photos to share, please upload them to potentially be included in the yearbook.

Upload yearbook photos here

Fridays “Stay to Play on the Ramps”

4:05–5:00 p.m.

Join us after school to play and catch up with friends. Many thanks to parent volunteer Katie Murray for coordinating this event again!

Mutual Aid Update

We have learned through this experience that there is an ongoing need within our school community for periodic support. To that end, funds will continue to support families as needs arise, whether or not tied to a specific event.

We are so grateful to everyone who has provided support and continues to support our amazing community. Thank you!

https://givebutter.com/community2026