West metro school briefs

Minnehaha Academy hosts open house The Bloomington campus of Minnehaha Academy is hosting an open house at 6:45 p.m. Feb. 5 at the campus, 10150 Xerxes Av. S., Bloomington.

The open house provides the opportunity to bring together school staff, faculty and parents for those who want to learn more about the school and get a guided tour of the campus. Minnehaha Academy in Bloomington is part of the larger Minnehaha Academy system and is a private Christian school for pre-K through grade five.

For more information, contact the Bloomington campus at 952-806-0066, the admissions office at 612-728-7756 or visit www.minnehahaacademy .net.

Caring Youth Award nominations due Feb. 9 Each year, the cities of Golden Valley, Hopkins and Minnetonka and the Hopkins and Minnetonka school districts host a Caring Youth Recognition event to honor the contributions of area young people in grades 7-12.

Nominations are being accepted for the 2009 Caring Youth Awards. For more information and criteria for nominations, contact Jacque Larson with the city of Minnetonka at jlarson@eminnetonka.com or 952-939-8207.

The nomination deadline is Friday, Feb. 9. The Caring Youth Recognition event will take place on Thursday, March 12, at the Minnetonka Community Center.

School board appoints officers for 2009 The Hopkins school board appointed its officers for 2009 at its last board meeting. Board chairwoman is Yvonne Selcer, vice chairwoman is Ellen Dustman and treasurer is Wendy Donovan. Business Affairs Director John Toop will continue to serve as board clerk.

Immaculate Heart will host open house Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School is hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at the school, 13505 Excelsior Blvd., Minnetonka. Immaculate Heart of Mary offers faith-based Catholic education from preschool through grade eight. For more information, call 952-935-0004 or visit www.ihmcs.org.

Picky eaters or problem feeders? What's the difference between a picky eater and a kid with an eating problem? Parents can find out at St. David's free community education series, "When Children Won't Eat: Picky Eaters vs. Problem Feeders, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Jan. 29 at St. David's Child Development & Family Services, 3395 Plymouth Road, Minnetonka.

The lecture, presented by therapists from St. David's Feeding Clinic, will highlight principles that show how and when children develop necessary skills; identify the major reasons why children won't eat; reveal the signs of a "problem feeder;" illustrate components of a feeding assessment, and teach parents how to implement feeding strategies with children of all ages. Parents and professionals are welcome.

To register, contact Melissa at 952-548-8611 or mmusliner@stdavids.net by Friday. Child care is available; note your needs when registering. More information is available at www.stdavids.net.

Goddard School informational meeting The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, which serves children from age 6 weeks to 6 years, will host an information night from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the school, at 16755 County Road 24, Plymouth.

Preschool open house St. Louis Park Community Education invites parents whose children will attend preschool next fall to tour its preschool programs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Central Community Center, 6300 Walker St., St. Louis Park.

Teachers from the district's pre-K programs will be available to answer questions, and classrooms will be open for families to visit. For more information, call 952-928-6784 or go to www.slpprek.org.

Board elects officers, OKs appointments At its first meeting of the year, the Wayzata school board elected board officers and approved its 2009 committee structure and appointments.

The board elected John Moroz board chair, Pat Gleason as vice chair, Carter Peterson as treasurer and Susan Droegemueller as clerk.