Minnesota Excellence in Learning Academy

Thank you to all who attended MELA’s Birthday Party yesterday! It was so wonderful to celebrate with all of you!

Our silent auction is open through Sunday!

If you feel comfortable, please share the link with friends, family, and social media!

Silent Auction Link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/happy-10th-birthday-mela-silent-auction

As always, we are so thankful for every member of our MELA family!

Have a beautiful weekend!

No school 1/23/26 due to frigid temperatures. Stay safe!

Help us congratulate two of our winners from this week’s book competition! Every week, the stories get better and better! Winners receive a book from our Book Vending Machine! We’re so proud of our MELA students!

Please consider supporting our incredible MELA community so we can continue empowering students to learn, grow, and face the challenges of our world with strength, compassion, and hope.

Support Spark Joy at MELA #BigHeart on GiveMN MELA, "The Little School with the Big Heart," is a joyful learning community that needs your help!

📚✨ Exciting News! ✨📚

To encourage reading and celebrate positive behavior, we now have a brand-new, beautiful Book Vending Machine at MELA!

Students won’t buy books with money - instead, they’ll use special tokens they earn through their hard work and leadership.

How can students earn a token?
• By meeting a class or individual learning goal
• By winning one of our school competitions
• By being recognized with MELA tickets that build up to a token

Every token is a chance to pick a brand-new book to add to the classroom library OR to take home and keep forever.

We can’t wait to see our students grow as readers and leaders through this fun and rewarding program!

Dear MELA Families, Students, and Staff,

We are working hard to make sure everything is ready for our students! As we gear up for the new school year, I’d like to ask for your support - and your child’s!

This year, we’ll be using Bolt Bucks to encourage positive behavior and responsibility in the cafeteria.

To earn a Bolt Buck, the entire class must:

- Keep their cafeteria table clean
- Follow all cafeteria expectations as a shared community space

Bolt Bucks will be earned by the whole class and saved collectively. Students will work with their teacher to decide how to spend their classroom’s earnings. Here are some of the exciting rewards:

- 5 Bolt Bucks – A new book for the classroom library
- 10 Bolt Bucks – Extra recess
- 20 Bolt Bucks – Popcorn and movie party
- 50 Bolt Bucks – Pizza for lunch
- 100 Bolt Bucks – A class field trip

We’re very excited about this new initiative, and we’d love your help choosing which of the two designs will become our official Bolt Buck!

Please cast your vote using this form: https://forms.gle/9Pz79f1diaB49xoH7

Voting closes Thursday, August 7th!

Thank you for your continued support!
Best regards,