Laker CONNECTIONS A Publication of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools • November, 2018 From the Superintendent Kindergarten enrollment Voters were presented with many important choices to make in this year’s Election; not the least of which was deciding who should fill information four seats on Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools’ Board of Education. Welcome class of 2032! Prior Lake-Savage Area Eleven candidates sought positions on the board which speaks to Schools (PLSAS) is pleased to offer tuition free, full-day the importance of education in our community. Congratulations kindergarten located in our neighborhood elementary to incumbent Stacey Ruelle along with Michael Nelson, Jonathan schools and full-day kindergarten Spanish immersion Drewes and Enrique Velázquez who will begin their terms in January. at La ola del lago at Edgewood School. For questions about Spanish immersion at La ola del lago, or if you Each of these newly elected board members will serve four-year are interested in taking a tour, contact Principal Richie terms and will join existing board members Melissa Enger, Mary Kucinski at 952-226-0903 or rkucinski@priorlake- Frantz and Lee Shimek. savage.k12.mn.us. Teri Staloch, Ed.D. Districtwide Kindergarten Information Session is Serving as a board member is one of the most important responsibilities that a citizen can January 7, 2019 undertake. According to the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA), while school All parents of incoming 2019/20 kindergarten students board members have no individual authority, as a governing board they affect the future of are welcome to attend the Kindergarten Information the students, staff and the community. Each school board is responsible to its community for Session on January 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Grainwood governing efficiently and leading effectively to provide for equitable education, resulting in Elementary, 5061 Minnesota Street SE, Prior Lake. high student achievement. Parents will learn about our traditional kindergarten According to the MSBA, school boards must work as a team to achieve the district’s vision, program and our La ola del lago Spanish immersion they must establish organizational and physical structures for student and staff success, they option, along with curriculum and enrollment are accountable to the community for monitoring the conditions affecting the school district information. as a whole and they must seek stakeholder input to envision the educational future of the Online enrollment opens January 17, 2019 community, and then formulate goals and define outcomes. Beginning January 17, PLSAS will To that end, community input has been key for our begin offering online enrollment current board members as they review our school for new families, including kindergarten students. At that district’s Strategic Plan. On November 1, more than time, families can visit the district 125 school and community members came together website: www.priorlake-savage. to review the most important document in PLSAS: our k12.mn.us and click on Strategic Plan that defines our mission, core values, “Enroll.” To help prepare for vision and strategic directions. It was an interactive online enrollment, please evening with students, parents, staff and community have your child’s most working in groups to describe the experiences they recent immunization would like to have in our schools in the coming years. record ready to upload, These descriptions will help guide the district in the PLSAS community members gathered to review the along with your student’s next stage of planning. district’s Strategic Plan on November 1 birth certificate or passport During the review, attendees learned about the current state of the district, along with the and, if applicable, the Free- progress we have made to date on our strategic directions. We believe community input is and-Reduced Lunch application essential in helping us shape our district goals. That’s why during the review we answered which can be found on the district questions, received input and listened to our stakeholders. As a result, we will continue to website. make progress on our current strategic directions and are also ready to make adjustments to our plan. Recommendations will be presented to the School Board for final decision making. Any updates made to our Strategic Plan will then be shared with our staff and community. Our school board will continue to use our strategic plan, shaped by our community, to help achieve our district mission and to guide educational programs, services and applied resources. I would like to thank our school board members for their decision to serve the students, staff and families of PLSAS. I would also like to thank current board members Ben Hanson, Todd Sorensen and Rich Wolf who have each made outstanding contributions while serving PLSAS and each made the difficult decision to not seek re-election. Newly elected members will take office in January. I know each is committed to continuing to build on the trust they have earned in our community and will be dedicated to making the Middle School students wrote messages of kindness to celebrate best decisions possible for the students of PLSAS. National Unity Day Kids Voting Students and teachers celebrated More than 1,000 PLSAS students cast a Kids Voting ballot on November 6. Here is a sample of PLSAS Kids Voting results: National Unity Day • United States Senator: Amy Klobuchar October 24 was National Unity Day— a day designed to • United States Senator Special Election: Karin Housley promote kindness and acceptance in schools. Students • Governor and Lieutenant Governor: Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan and staff at schools throughout PLSAS wore orange and • PLSAS School Board: Michael Nelson, Stacey Ruelle, Sarah Rippke Lloyd, Michael Peterson participated in activities to support fellow students and to PLSAS Kids Voting is a nonpartisan voter education program sponsored by Community Education Services. discourage bullying. www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us Postal Customer Postal Prior Lake, MN Lake, Prior Prior Lake, MN 55372 MN Lake, Prior ECRWSS Permit No. 30 No. Permit 4540 Tower Street SE Street Tower 4540 PAID U.S. Postage Postage U.S. Non-Profit Org. Non-Profit / We Are PLSAS / Military veterans spoke with Prior Lake High Schools students about their experiences Veterans share stories with PLHS students In honor of Veteran’s Day, a panel of veterans shared stories and answered questions for PLHS Students at Five Hawks Elementary participated in a corn husking 11th grade U.S. History students. Thank you Veterans Steve Carr, John Murray, Jim Cates, Tom relay as part of Farm-to-School month Loftus, Mike Martin, Floyd Nagler, Lyaman McPherson, Ed Speiker, King Cole, Rachel Maloney, Dave Thompson, William Zerwas and Joseph Buhain. Farm-To-School Child Nutrition Services (CNS) values providing nutritious, high-quality food to fuel our student’s minds and bodies, as well as supporting our local farmers and economy. That’s why this fall, CNS has been celebrating Farm to School in a variety of exciting ways. • They hosted a corn husking relay event and picnic at our elementary schools, featuring corn from Casey’s Acres. • They participate in “MN Thursdays,” where menu items are Minnesota grown and produced. • All students had an opportunity to participate in Staff, students, school board members and local dignitaries broke ground on the Bridges Area Learning Center on Sept. 18 the “Great Apple Crunch” and crunched into a juicy SweetTango apple, sourced from Thompson’s Breaking new ground Hillcrest Orchard in Elko. The new Bridges Area Learning Center (ALC) will be open in 2019 and to • They are also serving local fruits and vegetables celebrate, PLSAS recently held a groundbreaking ceremony. weekly which are provided by The Good Acre, a With construction just getting underway, the event also honored Bridges local food hub. ALC Coordinator Dave Brown who is now on leave after being deployed Download the Nutrislice app to see your student’s daily overseas with the Minnesota National Guard. Brown plans to return in the menu options. summer. In the meantime, PLHS Assistant Principal, Heather Fitzloff will lead Bridges. Tree of Warmth Thanks to community support, the new Bridges ALC will be built next to Please bring NEW boots, snow pants, waterproof Twin Oaks Middle School and will be constructed using funds from the mittens/gloves, hats or warm socks by December 11. November 2017 referendum that was approved by voters. Also included in All donated items will go to PLSAS students. the referendum was a new elementary school and additions to Prior Lake Scan the code to watch Drop-off locations: High School and six other schools. our construction video • Prior Lake Chamber Office: 4785 Dakota Street, updates or visit our Prior Lake To see the latest construction timeline and building designs, visit our website: YouTube channel: www. • Prior Lake City Hall: 4646 Dakota Street, Prior Lake www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us/construction youtube.com/isd719 • District Services Center: 4540 Tower St. SE, Prior Lake • The UPS Store: 14033 Commerce Av. NE #300, PLSAS receives clean audit report Prior Lake Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools has again been issued a clean audit report from independent audit firm of CliftonLarsonAllen, which is the highest opinion an auditor can issue for school districts. Tree of Warmth is sponsored by the Prior Lake Chamber of Commerce. Audits are done to ensure districts’ compliance with state and federal requirements, internal and administrative controls and accuracy of financial and student data, documents, statements and reports used in the calculating of state and federal aid and grant payments. Congratulations For the fiscal year ending on June 30, general fund revenues in 2018 were $92.3 million, and Congratulations to Jim Dellwo, expenditures were $91.5 million. Director of Operations, “Those results don’t just happen, said CliftonLarsonAllen Principal, Dennis Hoogeveen.