News Archives: 2008-2009

Edina Education Fund awards 24 Innovation Grants

The Edina Education Fund awarded $52,710 in Innovations Grants on Feb. 25 to a variety of departments, programs and projects across the District. Grant recipients were notified of the good news when representatives from the Edina Education Fund surprised them in their classrooms. All grant recipients will be officially recognized at an upcoming school board meeting. To view the winners, click here

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year

The 2009-2010 school year is here, and Edina Public Schools can’t wait to tell parents, staff and teachers all the exciting things that are happening this year. A cameraman chased Superintendent Ric Dressen around for an entire day and pieced together a fun and energetic overview of the upcoming school year. We know time is at a premium, so the video moves quickly and runs just under five minutes. Watch the video

Eight Edina retirees recognized at the first annual Year End Celebration 

Eight retirees chose to be recognized at the first-annual Year End Celebration – accounting for 183 years of combined service. The event took place on the morning of June 8 at the Edina Performing Arts Center. The bios of the recognized retirees can be found here. Edina Public Schools would like to wish all of the 2008-2009 retirees and joyful and relaxing retirement.

Creek Valley teacher wins Tribute to Teachers award

Creek Valley Special Education teacher Jane Hennessey built and administered, from scratch, a new special education classroom devoted to children with speech delays and autism disorders. Her leadership in this project enabled the children to make tremendous progress, despite their wide range of needs. On Tuesday, May 19, Hennessey was recognized for her outstanding effort by being awarded the RBC Wealth Management’s Tribute to Teachers award. University of Minnesota’s Goldy Gopher visited her classroom to surprise her with the award. More

Edina High School student achieves perfect score on ACT

They say nobody’s perfect, but one Edina High School student is proving that you can achieve perfection---at least on the ACT exam. Silas Wallen-Friedman took the college admissions and placement exam in February and scored a 36---a perfect score. Only one other student in Minnesota achieved this top score. Wallen-Friedman is one of 46 students in the nation to receive a perfect ACT score. More

Edina sixth-grader wins Metro Area Regional Spelling Bee

Edina Public Schools student was champion of the Metro Area Regional Spelling Bee after correctly spelling words such as “pfeffernuss” and “gastralgia.” Anja Beth Swoap, a Valley View Middle School sixth-grader, was one of 43 students, ages 9 to 14, in the competition. The former Normandale Elementary School student had to spell her way through words she had never heard before, until she won in the 18th round. More

Edina Boys' Swimming Wins State Championship

With a total of 268 points, Edina won the Class 2A boys' swimming and diving state championship on Saturday, March 7.This is the ninth title Edina veteran coach Art Downey has helped secure in his 53 years of coaching the swim team. The state championship took place at the Minnesota Aquatic Center. Read related Star Tribune article.

Edina High School’s Advanced Placement program sets the bar for Minnesota

Edina High School is the only school in Minnesota to receive the 2009 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement. The award celebrates exceptional Advanced Placement (AP) programs and is only granted to one high school per state. As part of the award, the high school will receive a $1,000 grant that supports science and math education. More

Edina High School student in the running to receive prestigious science award  

An Edina High School student will soon meet the president of the United States. Michael Cherkassky, a senior at Edina High School, has been named a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), a pre-college science competition. As a finalist, Cherkassky has earned an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., where he will compete for the grand prize of $100,000. The event will take place in March and includes a meet-and-greet with President Obama and notable scientists. More

Edina Education Fund fundraiser a success

More than 325 people attended the Edina Education Fund’s second-annual Show & Tell Luncheon held on Jan. 26 at the Edina High School. The event raised an impressive $125,000! This amount includes a generous $40,000 match provided by anonymous donors. Through demonstrations, speakers and video presentations, the event explained what past donations have accomplished and discussed future plans for projects throughout the District. To learn more about the Edina Ed Fund, click here to watch an informative video. If you would like to donate, click here.

Report Says Edina High School is Among the Top Schools in the Nation

According to U.S. News & World Report, Edina High School is among the top 2 percent of high schools in the nation. The news magazine labeled EHS as a Silver Medalist School due to its high performance on state assessment tests and its college readiness score. A total of 13 Minnesota high schools received a silver medal ranking, and of those schools, Edina had the highest college readiness score. More

Edina’s Technology Team Wins Statewide Award

Edina’s technology team (district media technology and services) was named the TIES 2008 Technology Leadership Team. TIES is a joint powers technology cooperative owned by 38 Minnesota school districts. The statewide award is given out annually to a team that has significantly impacted technology's role in transforming learning. To watch a video detailing how Edina is using technology to enhance learning, click here.

School Board Certifies Tax Levy

The School Board approved the final tax levy at a special Board meeting on Dec. 19. The levy is for 2008 but payable in 2009. The levy represents a 5.95 percent tax increase over the previous year. The major changes are the new alternative compensation levy and additions to the operating referendum due to inflation and enrollment increase. The maximum levy was not taken in the following areas to soften the increase: Alternative Compensation, Health and Safety, and Early Childhood Family Education. More information can be found here.

Edina Public Schools Receives an A+ From the Community

According to a recent survey, 95 percent of Edina residents rank Edina Public Schools (EPS) as excellent or good. This is a 9 percent increase from a similar survey conducted in 2007. Both surveys were administered by Minnesota-based research firm Decision Resources, Ltd. More

National Hispanic Recognition Program Spotlights Four Edina High Seniors

Edina Public Schools is pleased to announce that the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) has identified four Edina High seniors as outstanding Hispanic/Latino high-school students. Melina Helgeson, Elizabeth Llanes, Amanda Stefanik and Cole Stephan are among the 5,000 students nationwide to receive the honor. The selection is taken from a pool of more than 200,000 students. More

The Marshmallow Challenge

Edina Public Schools Celebrates Alt Comp Program

Edina Public Schools hosted an Alt Comp celebration on Oct. 21at 4:30 p.m. The event commended the District’s recent implementation of Alt Comp, a voluntary program that provides incentive pay for high-performing teachers. Edina implemented the program at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. More

21 Edina High Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

Edina Public Schools is pleased to announce that 21 Edina High School seniors are among the 16,000 students chosen nationwide to compete for the reputable National Merit Scholarship. Nearly 1.5 million students entered the Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as the initial screening process. More

District Completes Background Checks on Employees and Supervisory Volunteers

Edina Public Schools places a high priority on ensuring a safe and healthy learning environment for students. This includes requiring all applicants for school district positions to complete a criminal background check as part of the hiring process. The district also requires all supervisory volunteers to complete a criminal background check. This process meets the requirements of Minnesota state statutes. Please direct questions to Gwen Jackson, Director of Human Resources and Administrative Services at 952-848-4946.

Edina Public Schools Releases ‘Why Edina’ Video

Edina Public Schools (EPS) is pleased to release “Why Edina,” the first video installment of its new welcome packet. The completed packet will include several short videos dedicated to individual themes. Serving as the introductory piece, “Why Edina” is designed to provide a broad overview of the District. The video features a handful of teachers, students, parents and community members who describe what an Edina education means to them.Watch the video (running time is just over six minutes).

Edina Ranked Number One in Reading and Mathematics

Edina scored remarkably well on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA-II). Combining the 2007-08 MCA-II results across all grades tested shows that Edina students rank number one in the state in both mathematics and reading. This is the fourth year in a row that Edina received the top ranking in reading. In mathematics, Edina garnered the number one ranking for the past two years. Edina is also the only district in the state that has consistently ranked in the top three in mathematics over the past four years.