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O N N E C T I O N SLakerC

A Publication of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools March 2017

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According to niche.com, Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (PLSAS) ranks as one of the best public school districts in Minnesota, coming in at 15 out of 320 public school districts.

PLSAS earned top grades in the following areas: • Academics including: state assessment proficiency, composite SAT/ACT scores, graduation rate, parent/student surveys on academics, and AP course enrollment• Teachers• College readiness• Health and safety• Clubs and activities

Niche’s ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Ranking factors include state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality, public school district ratings and more.

To view all of the rankings, visit www.niche.com

PLSAS Named One of the Best Districts in Minnesota

Long-Term Facilities Planning Underway

For more information about the Facilities Task Force and planning process, turn to page 2

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools can expect more than 2,100 additional students over the next ten years spread across all grade levels (2017/18 – 2026/27), according to a new demographic study,

At the same time, PLSAS is already experienc-ing unprecedented enrollment growth through-out the district, which is putting pressure on our schools. Our K-12 schools are at or near capacity in each of the following areas:

• Classroom spaces, including gyms for physical education• Core spaces such as kitchens/cafeterias, hallways, offices, conference rooms, locker rooms and storage areas• Co-curricular activities and athletic spaces

Long-term facilities planning is underway, with the district's Facilities Task Force meeting through March 2017 to study enrollment and demographic data. The Task Force will identify needs, generate ideas and provide input to a Facilities Design Team.

The facilities study and resulting options will be based on capacity usage,

current and projected enrollment, demographic projections, city housing pro-jections, educational needs of the school district, school-day programs, after-school facility usage, survey input and financial stewardship.

Between the Task Force and Design Team, PLSAS will receive viable and sus-tainable options to address long-term facilities needs, student enrollment growth and academic programming.

Long-term options will be presented to the community for input during the dates below. After public input is gathered, we will review the feedback, further refine the options and then present options to the School Board this spring for its con-sideration and action.

Public Input SessionTuesday, March 28, 6:30 p.m. District Services Center4540 Tower Street SEPrior Lake, MN 55372

School Board Listening SessionMarch 9, 6:30 p.m.District Services Center4540 Tower Street SEPrior Lake, MN 55372

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools along with 40 other school districts have come together to develop a collective education plan to address integration, access, opportunity and educational achievement.

To help shape this process, residents from Prior Lake, Savage, Shakopee and Eden Prairie were invited to Twin Oaks Middle School to Reimagine Minnesota and conceptualize a model of education that’s designed for the success of all students.

Additional World Cafe community conversations will be held throughout the Twin Cities over the next several weeks.

Led by our superintendents, Reimagine Minnesota will shape important conver-sations that will inform their work as they create a plan and recommendations for new local and statewide policies and practices.

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Hosts World Cafe

To learn more about the facilities planning process and to view all of the data the Facilities Task Force has studied to date, visit:www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us/growth

I am passionate about Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (PLSAS), the students we serve, the staff who educate and support students and the people who make up our community. I feel a deep responsi-bility to our school district mission which is to educate all learners to reach their full potential as contributing and productive members of our ever-changing global community. That’s why it is important to me, and to our district, to gather input as we move forward as a

community to solve our space needs due to enrollment growth.

Last December, a 50-member Facilities Task Force was formed from 157applicants. This group is made up of a wide variety of stakeholders in ourcommunity: business owners, stay-at-home parents, engineers, realtors, bankmanagers, manufacturing and IT professionals, contractors and many more. This group is also made up of staff, students, empty nesters, retirees and includes residents who have a wide variety of thoughts, ideas and opinions sur-rounding our schools and facilities needs.

No administrators or School Board members are part of the Task Force. It is agroup that is led by an independent, outside facilitator.

The Task Force process has been thorough, inclusive and respectful. LastDecember, at the end of the meeting, the Task Force provided the followingshared messages:· We want great schools for our kids· We want different opinions· We want sustainability, communication and transparency· We have different wants· We want our staff and community to understand our demographic changes· This process is representative of different voices, perspectives and is representative of our community

The Task Force has continued to study PLSAS’ facilities needs by researchingcapacity usage, current and projected enrollment, demographic projections, cityhousing projections, educational needs of the school district, school-day pro-grams, after-school facility usage and district financial information. All of thisinformation has been compiled into a Data Book which is available to the publicon our website: www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us/growth.

Throughout this process, the Task Force has identified needs and has providedinput to a Facilities Design Team that has been developing options to addressthose needs.

We will be sharing those options with the public during an upcoming input session on March 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at the District Services Center. The School Board is also hosting a Listening Session on March 9th at 6:30 p.m., also at the District Services Center. I encourage residents to share thoughts and opinions as we work to find a long-term facilities solution for our growing school district.

After public input is gathered, we will review the feedback, further refine theoptions and then present options to the School Board for action this spring.

Seeking input from residents is an important part of our strategic plan to “en-gage parents, families and community to strengthen a culture of respect and inclusion.”

I would like to thank the Facilities Task Force for the work they have done andcontinue to do because opinions matter, our community matters and mostimportantly, our students matter.

www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us 2

Laker Connections • March 2017

Teri Staloch, Ed. D.Superintendent

Community Engagement is Key to Long-Term Facilities Planning

Middle School Students Win Best App in State

Summer Swim Lesson Registration Open Students will enjoy 2 weeks of lessons at Twin Oaks Middle School• Session 1: Mon-Thu, June 12 to 22• Session 2: Mon-Thu, June 26 to 29 and Mon-Fri, July 3 to 7 (No class July 4)• Session 3: July 10 to 20• Session 4: July 24 to August 3

Register online at:www.priorlakesavagece.com or call 952.226.0081.

Summer Registration for Youth Programs opens March 21. Watch for catalogs to be available mid-March.

Kids' Company has something for everyone!Registration for Summer 2017 and School Year 2017-2018 begins Mon-day, March 6.

Summer Kids' Company is available at select locations for $36 per day. School Year Kids' Company starts at $10.50 per session and is available at each elementary school.

Students participate in a wide range of enrichment programs during their time at Kids' Company, including: tinker lab, maker spaces, talent shows, science and design challenges, environmental exploration and field trips. Click here for our flyer.

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE)Join us for some spring ECFE classes at Edgewood School. There are evening classes with space for infants through age five. After a day at work, come to an ECFE class to spend time with your child(ren) in a fun, caring setting. We'll set up the fun and clean up the mess!

We are offering a special, new class called "My Nanny and Me." If your young children are cared for by a nanny, consider sending them to this class, which meets on Thursdays from 9 - 10 a.m.

Register online at www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us or call 952.226.0952 to learn more about our classes.

A team of students from Twin Oaks Middle School won $5,000 in the Verizon App Challenge, creating the best app concept of all participating middle schools in the state!

Their Home Alone app helps make sure middle school-ers know what to do in an emergency and keep parents at ease while kids are home alone after school. The app guides students through solving common household problems by having different features to assist kids in medical, cooking, emergencies and more.

Congratulations to Audrey Lehnert, Joseph Stelzig, Gillian Neuharth, Lisa Kuksenko and Ryan Erickson.

You can check out their video on You Tube: http://bit.ly/2kQx3db

Circle of Friends Preschool - Now Enrolling for 2017/18 School YearAt Circle of Friends Preschool, we serve all learners in an inclusive, caring environment. Using a child-centered approach, teachers support all learners to feel safe, cared for and encouraged. This empowers learners to challenge themselves and take appropriate risks to deepen their learning. Children learn through play, and exit ready for K!

In addition to all of our classes at Edgewood School, Jeffers Pond Elementary and Grainwood Elemen-tary, we are excited to be able to offer three new half-day, nature pre-school class options for 4-year-olds at Glendale Elementary next school year. These classes will be able to utilize McColl Pond Environmental Learning Center’s outdoor nature space during the school day!

Find more information about Circle of Friends Preschool and our registration process on our preschool website: www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us and click on “Our Schools” or call 952-226-0956 to learn more about our program.

U.S.D.E. Green Ribbon School District

Anonymous Tip Line - Help Stop Violence Before it Starts: 952-226-0005 3

For any teachers, support staff or community member thinking about applying for a Laker Educational Foundation grant, the deadline has been set for March 30, 2017.

You are eligible to submit a grant application if it falls within the mission of the foundation. All information, along with the downloadable grant application form, is available on the website: www.lakerfoundation.org. Applications should be sent to P.O. Box 840, Prior Lake, MN 55372 or dropped off at the District Ser-vices Center, 4540 Tower Street SE in Prior Lake.

For those who want to complete a grant application, but would like assistance or feedback, please contact us at 952.226.0063 and we can promptly put you in touch with the right individuals.

Don’t miss this opportunity!

Say thank you to your student’s teachers and/or district staff at the end of the school yearWhat better way to say “thank you” to that special person(s) in your student’s life than by treating them to a delicious lunch or dinner? For every tax-deduct-ible donation of $20 made to the Laker Educational Foundation, your chosen staff member(s) will receive a personalized greeting and a $10 gift card to Arti-san Coffee Bistro in Prior Lake.

Senior Teacher Tributes will be available this year as well. Details will be in-cluded in graduation packets this spring.

All information available on our website: www.lakerfoundation.org.

Laker Educational Foundation Supports Schools and Community

Congratulations to Prior Lake High School prinicpal Dave Lund who recently earned his Doctorate of Edu-cation degree in Educational Leadership and Adminis-tration from St. Cloud State University.

Circle of Friends Pre-school has again earned a Parent Aware Four Star Rating, which is the highest rating possible through the Minnesota Department of Education.

The rating system allow families to easily identify child care and early education programs using research-based best practices to prepare children for kindergarten.

School Board Members TakeOath of Office

Incoming School Board Members took the Oath of Office on January 9.

School Board Directors Melissa Enger, Mary Frantz and Lee Shimek were sworn in by outgoing Board Chair Stacey Ruelle.

The School Board also announced its new positions: Richard Wolf is Chair, Lee Shimek is Board Vice Chair/Clerk and Stacey Ruelle is Board Treasurer.

The Minnesota Vikings came to Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools to talk with students about ways to prevent bullying.

C.J. Ham, Captain Munnerlyn, Zach Line and Charles Johnson, along with Viktor and cheerleaders stopped by Glendale Elementary, Edgewood School and WestWood Elementary.

The Vikings were in Prior Lake last month as part of their annual Winterfest event.

Touchdown in Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools has launched a new website feature for mobile devices called responsive design. Our website will now adapt to the screen layout of whatever device you are using, whether it's a smartphone, tablet or computer. This feature will make navigating our site easier and more readable on all screens, not just a desktop computer.

Visitors will enjoy the same layout, and design as our old site, along with a few enhanced features. District homepage news items will now display in the photo slideshow for greater visibility. Visitors will also be able to set alerts for calendar reminders and have more control over which school calendars they wish to view in the Parent portal. We hope our stakeholders enjoy the new features! www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us.

PLSAS Website Offers New Design for Mobile Devices

Glendale Elementary principal Sam Richardson has re-ceived the Division Leadership Award from the Minneso-ta Elementary School Principal's Association (MESPA).

The Leadership Award expresses appreciation to the many outstanding men and women in the principalship who have contributed generously to improving education, their communities and their profession. They serve as role models and sources of inspiration to other principals and educators.

r E

Staff Spotlight

Sam RichardsonGlendale Elementary Principal

Dave Lund, Ed. D.Prior Lake High SchoolPrincipal

Laker Connections • March 2017

Important DatesMarch 67 p.m.School Board Meeting

March 13-17No school grades E-12Spring BreakDistrict Services Center will be closed March 16-17

March 277 p.m.School Board Meeting

April 62 hour early release grades K-12. End of the third quarter.

April 7No school grades E-12

The stock we are printing on contains 10% PCW

Superintendent Dr. Teri Staloch

2017 Board of Education

Melissa Enger

Mary Frantz

Ben Hanson

Stacey Ruelle

Lee Shimek

Todd Sorensen

Richard Wolf

Director of Communications Kristi Mussman 952.226.0014

www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us 4

New "Laker Time" Pilot Program Underway at PLHS Prior Lake High School kicked off a new pilot program February 1 to provide students with additional academic support opportunities during the school day. Buses run on their normal schedule and school hours remain the same. The only difference is the school schedule on Wednesdays. Each Wednesday, formal classes begin at 9:05 a.m. At the beginning of school from 8-9 a.m. PLHS has: • Teachers available to help students who want to come in and receive extra assistance with their studies• Study halls open• Technology available for students who want to study alone or with their friends • Testing centers open for students who need to retake assessments at the discretion of their teacher

Historically, these options have been offered to students only before or after school. The idea behind Laker Time is to provide some flexibility during the school day, once a week, to attend to the needs of students.

Save the Date!July 14-15, 2017Lakefront Park, Prior Lakelakefrontmusicfest.com

PLHS Adds New Feature, "The Bowl" to Laker Marketplace A new culinary line is open at Prior Lake High School called "The Bowl” by Laker Marketplace.

Students and staff have access to a "build your own" style of cuisine. The menu includes burrito bowls, salads and nachos with toppings such as homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, corn salsa, fresh cilantro, Mexicana sour cream, chicken, pork and beef. The cost for a meal, made complete by adding a fruit and milk, is $3.05. Another feature of The Bowl is a compost and recycling station. The Bowl only uses compostable trays, bowls and utensils. Customers discard their waste by recycling cans and plastic, composting their organic materials and placing other waste in a separate trash bin.

The Bowl is located at the lower level entrance of Prior Lake High School.

Laker Marketplace has made some changes to its elementary lunch pro-gram to include the following:

• Fresh Garden Bars everyday• Partnership with Wozupi Gardens to offer organic, local vegetables• More homemade food• Easier to read food labels• Local, free-range turkey from Ferndale Farms• Hot dogs that are 100% grass-fed beef from local farmer, Thousand Hills

We've also eliminated the following highly processed menu items:• No more corn dogs• No more processed cheese sauce• Most high fructose corn syrup• No more chicken nuggets, chicken "drummies" or chicken O's

Fresh Changes to Elementary Lunches

About 40 teachers from throughout Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools jumped into the frigid waters of Prior Lake for a worthy cause.

The Prior Lake-Savage Education Association (PLSEA) organized the event with participants raising more than $4,000 to benefit Special Olympics Minnesota.

Each year teachers donate their time and money to support the community through various outreach projects. Those projects have included: • CAP Agency Food Drive• Book Drives• Serving meals at Ronald McDonald House• Home building with Habitat for Humanity• Feed My Starving Children

PLSAS Teachers Take Part in Polar Plunge

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools' Energy Savings Exceed Projections by 88% OverallPrior Lake-Savage Schools (PLSAS) is one of the most energy efficient districts in the state of Min-nesota as a result of the 2014 Performance Contract with Nexus Solutions.

PLSAS is realizing great savings in operating costs and energy use, along with better heating, cooling and lighting. This puts energy costs for PLSAS at .72 cents per square foot, a cost less than 20% of all schools in the state realize. On January 9, Nexus Solutions presented an energy savings report to the School Board indicating the actual annual savings for the first year exceeded the original proposed savings for a majority of the building improvements. The school district saw energy savings of $220,911 between July 2015-June 2016, which exceeds our guaranteed annual utility savings of $117,097. "We are pleased with this high return on investment which allows more dollars to be used in our classrooms," said Julie Cink, Executive Director of Business Services.

Overall, the new mechanical controls and lighting systems save energy, provide better comfort, increase lighting levels, and greatly enhance the student learning environment. The high-efficiency improvements also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lowering the district’s overall environmental footprint. “These savings represent our commitment as an E-STEM district towards sustainability efforts, while increasing the comfort level of our learning environments,” said Jim Dellwo, Director of Op-erations, Transportation, Health and Safety.