This publication is produced at the Pillager School for the whole Pillager community. If you have local news, please contact the school at (218) 746-3557 for submission information. CTC Center Watch for more grand opening details in the Paw Press and online! Center September 24-25 Pillager Public schools presents Saturday 7:30 p.m. Friday 7:30 p.m. Friday Grammy & emmy award winning recording artists Minnesota Native & The Voice Runner-up For more info & ticket sales visit www.isd116.org Ctc center 323 East 2nd street south, pillager, MN 56473 2 From the desk of Mr. Michael Malmberg, District Superintendent As the new school year begins soon, I want to thank all of you for the many ways you work with us all year long on behalf of our school. All of us at Pillager Public Schools value the partnership we have with you and appreciate your support and involvement. Pillager Public School is a great place to be and we are extremely proud of our students, staff and the facilities we have. New Curriculum, Technology, Report Cards, and Personalized Learning Plans Our district continues to expand our curriculum by adding new course offerings by expanding CTE offerings and CIS courses as well as other elective courses. We continue to increase in technology as a focus of our school. Our staff and district will continue to maintain the large task of standardized grading and reporting to help ensure our students success by improving our classroom instruction and informing our families of relevant and much needed feedback to better meet the needs of our students. The middle school report card was updated this past year to be aligned with the elementary school standards based grading. The next phase in the elementary school has begun with implementing personalized learning plans to meet the needs of each individual learner. Construction Completed The construction project that began over two years ago will be completed this fall. The maintenance, remodeling of classroom areas, and additional classrooms and vocational areas along with the new “CTC Center” will be finished when school starts this fall. Our learning facility will be one of the best in the area. I am proud of the work that has went into the planning of the project and how it all came together for the community of Pillager and the students that it will serve. We will continue to monitor the maintenance of our facility and to meet the ever changing educational needs of our students in all areas of our facility, whether it be in the classroom or extra-curricular. Our goal is to provide the best possible facility at the lowest tax impact. CTC Center Grand Opening As you have seen on another page of the newsletter, I am extremely excited for the grand opening of the new “CTC Center” this fall for the school and for our community. Our goal is to provide our community with a facility that will bring opportunities for people to attend events right here in our own back yard at a reasonable cost. I hope you all will be as excited to see some of those events as we bring them to you. Have a great school year! Welcome Back! “Go Huskies” Facility Services Manager, John Gordon WOW! Summer has flown by and we are preparing for the school year to begin. We have a lot of exciting things coming this fall at Pillager School. The current phase of construction is coming to an end and the custodial crew has been working on getting the facilities ready all around the school. We also are focusing on the new CTC Center, our new 400 seat school auditorium. The crew has been cleaning, waxing and preparing the rooms, halls, locker rooms, track shed, and gyms for the first day of school. I continue to be proud of the work and devotion our staff gives each summer making our school sparkle and gleam. CTC Center News The CTC Center Auditorium is almost ready for you! Our Grand Opening will be September 24th through September 25th. On Friday evening, we kick off the celebration with Kat Perkins, a former Voice runner-up and Minnesota native, show time is at 7:30 p.m. She will also be sharing her story and speaking to our students on Friday afternoon about her life and challenges. Saturday, September 25th will be an evening with Grammy and Emmy winning recording artist Tonic Sol Fa, showtime is set at 7:30 p.m. More info is available on the website about the grand opening weekend. Tickets will be on sale mid August on our web page for these events. We will launch our webpage that can be found on the home page of the school website. That page is where you can stay informed on what is happening at the CTC Center, purchase or precure tickets for events, learn more about the center and have questions answered. Bookmark us so you won't miss upcoming events. Construction News The remodeled class rooms are ready with a new fresh look. We have new larger kindergarten rooms, added special ed rooms for middle school and high school. Our first graders will get to experience their new rooms this year on the eastside of the elementary gym. The windows have been updated on the south side of the school and a few on the north. Lastly, we have a new agricultural room with an updated and enlarged metal shop with the relocated wood shop equipment being moved. The new wood shop has been completed along with easier access to the greenhouses. You will notice landscaping and northwest and northeast parking lot changes as well. We are excited and looking forward to a great 2021-2022 school year. Pillager Schools is a whole new place to visit! 3 Students eat FREE Breakfast and Lunch Breakfast and lunch will be offered free of charge to all students through the You can easily view information about what is on our 2021-22 school year. menu each day. You can see an image and description for food items, as well as nutrition information. Please check daily for food choices as they may change! VERY IMPORTANT! It is more important than ever for every family to complete the “Application for Educational Benefits” form that will be mailed to your home in August. This application measures the economic condition of our community. The value to our school is: $25 technology fee waived with completed form. Additional funding to retain small class sizes. Additional funding for computers, basic skills training, core classes including math, reading, and science. Pricing for resources such as our school website and other technical Menus above represent sample menus and not actual menu items. resources is based on the economic condition of Pillager. To download the app Title 1 funding search for “Nutrislice” on Additional grant money available for other programs. Google Play or the App Store See menus at: You see, it’s not just about your family; it is a measure of the community. pillager.nutrislice.com Please take the time to complete and return the form. Your information is or download the app confidential. Your papers are shredded when they are no longer needed. Transportation Information Parents, please call the bus garage by 7:00 a.m. if your child/children will not be riding the bus for the day. This will help the buses stay on schedule! Our transportation services are handled Fornshell Bus Service will be in the Media Center for Open House, September 1 from 4:30-7:00 p.m. by Fornshell Bus Service. to answer any questions regarding school bus transportation. [email protected] Special note: Students are allowed only ONE designated bus stop in the morning and ONE designated (218) 746-3770 bus stop in the afternoon. These stops must be registered through Fornshell Bus and Pillager School. Online info: School Website Transportation information forms were due in July. Use “services” tab on top of home page No bussing is guaranteed without a completed bus form. Please send forms to Fornshell Bus Service or the Pillager School as soon as possible. Bus Safety on the roads: Parents and district residents need to understand state laws in regards to school buses. When school is in session, buses will be stopping on all forms of roads: state highways, county roads, city streets and township roads. When buses stop, it means that a child is being picked up or dropped off. Red flashing lights mean that you must stop. It is illegal to pass a bus on either side while meeting or following the bus when the red lights are flashing. Bus Safety at school: We also ask that you follow the bus safety in the area around the school building. The one way streets and driving restrictions have been developed for the safety of kids. The parking lot on the south side of the school is a one way parking lot. Please enter from the east end only and exit from the west end only. This helps the flow of traffic off of East Second St. as it is one way. Each student in kindergarten through grade ten receives bus safety training every year. All students take a written and practice test. As adult drivers, please be good examples. Thank you for your help in making school a safer place for kids. 4 ACCESS TO STUDENT INFORMATION Please stay connected to your student’s progress and lunch account information by accessing this information online. You can get to this information from the school website through the link on the left side of the home page OR — through the web address below.