Look back on our Student Spotlight Interview with Nandini Iyer and her innovative Safesphere app!
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMioMQjh8iM
So far this year, we have been fortunate enough to highlight a number of accomplishments within our school district. One of which was the achievement of a National Blue Ribbon School status at Folwell Elementary School!
What is Adult Education at Hawthorne?
https://www.rochesterschools.org/o/rps/article/1389988
The Community Education Advisory Council is a group of volunteers that provide input on community education programming. They periodically invite legislators to learn about our Early Childhood programming that we offer. This time, Minnesota State Representative Kim Hicks came into our classrooms at Hoover Early Learning Center to gain insight into our local early childhood programs and see in person how their support of funding for EC is being put to work.
What’s New on the Menu? SLICE Teaching and Test Kitchen:
https://www.rochesterschools.org/o/rps/article/1389774
Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate! Wishing you light, happiness, and peace in the coming year!
Wishing a very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
And just like that we wrapped up another AMAZING round of fundraisers this holiday season! Our high schools collectively raised $139,211.95 for the Rochester community!
Each high school has an annual fundraiser - Rochester Century High School’s BearCreek Week, John Marshall High School's JM Gives, and Rochester Mayo High School’s Give One For All (GOFA). Funds are donated to local charities including: Bear Creek Services, Paws and Claws, Christmas Anonymous, Family Promise, Dorothy Day House, and Rochester Women's Shelter.
None of this could be possible without you! Congratulations to our students, staff, families, volunteers, community partners, and community members!
We are seeking feedback on the revised proposal from December 20, 2023, which will be presented at the January 9, 2024, school board meeting. You can submit your feedback for the December 20, 2023 proposal via this form, which will be open until January 3, 2024: https://rochesterpsd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3OBEHjNikpSDhVY
We received over 1,000 comments on the November 28, 2023, proposal feedback forms. Thank you to those who have taken the time to provide your input. We will be analyzing that feedback as part of our continuing process.
Remember that RPS Winter Break is December 22- January 2. We hope you enjoy some time off with your family and friends and can't wait to see you in the new year!
Today, the Mayo Clinic announced a gift of $10 million to Rochester Public Schools to enable the school district to sustain the implementation of the district’s strategic plan for academic transformation. As a result of the gift, Dr. Pekel has made important changes in the Attendance Options Redesign proposal that incorporates insights gained from the extensive feedback that the school district has sought on the proposal since the release of the first draft of the Redesign. View the updated proposal here: https://www.rochesterschools.org/attendance‑options‑redesign
We are postponing the Attendance Options Redesign Information Sessions scheduled for in-person tonight, Monday, December 18, at 7 p.m. and tomorrow, Tuesday, December 19, 2023, virtually at 12 p.m. and in-person at 7 p.m., to provide school district staff with additional time to prepare an updated version of the Attendance Options Redesign proposal that we plan to announce in the coming days.
You are welcome to continue providing feedback via the feedback forms on our website at www.rochesterschools.org/attendance-options-redesign.
Rescheduled dates will be announced soon.
School Board Director, Justin Cook, gives a short summary of some of the highlights from the December 12th School Board Special Session and Regular Meeting.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/LWCuBk2YWfo
More than 60 RPS students participated in the annual IBM Lego Outreach Competition (ILEO) on Wednesday, December 13. Since October, students have been building robots made of LEGO bricks, motors, and sensors. Robots were scored based on their ability to complete challenges. The competition is part of a longtime partnership between IBM and RPS to expose students to genuine engineering experiences. The program is facilitated by volunteer mentors from IBM, many of whom work professionally as engineers and software developers.
The Attendance Options Redesign proposal feedback forms are available on our website at www.rochesterschools.org/attendance-options-redesign. These forms are available in English, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, and Chinese. You are invited to submit feedback via the forms if you haven't already done so via email. The forms will be available until the end of the day on December 22, 2023.
Rochester Public Schools is pleased to reintroduce Heather Klavetter as our director of academics for elementary education! Heather has been in this role since July of this year. She began her teaching career in 1995 and has been working for Rochester Public Schools as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator for 22 of her 28 years in education. Before being the director of academics for elementary education, Heather was the principal at Jefferson Elementary School.
An FAQ about the Attendance Options Redesign proposal is now available on our website. Information sessions start tomorrow. Feedback forms in English, Spanish, Somali, Chinese, and Vietnamese will also be available tomorrow. Learn more: https://www.rochesterschools.org/article/1374854
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to those who celebrate!
RPS families; Due to a traffic accident on Highway 52 and the ensuing backup, many buses may be running late this afternoon. We appreciate your patience.
We want to end this week by giving a shout out Laura, one of our fantastic educators recently nominated for Education Support Professional of the Year with Education Minnesota. She didn't win the nomination, but we are extremely proud of her work at RPS. Laura works with many of our elementary school teams as a BAMH ESP. She objectively observes students to gain insight into the nuances of their behavior and provides behavioral support for special education teams, training to ESPs, assists in the implementation of BAMH interventions, and collects data on student behavioral outcomes. Thanks for all you do, Laura!
