News Archives: 2009-2010

Finding the perfect fit for Mason

 Superintendent Ric Dressen helps incoming kindergarten student Mason find the right classroom. They explore South View Middle School and Edina High School before finally landing on Countryside Elementary.
The video also outlines the District's three big goals for the school year.
The entire Big 3 Goal Action Plan can be found in the District’s Strategic Plan.

Edina Public Schools among ‘America’s 25 Best Schools for Your Housing Buck’

National business publication Forbes.com recently named Edina Public Schools one of “America’s 25 Best Schools for Your Housing Buck.” Edina placed at the top of its category, communities with median house prices valued at $400,000 or under. The 25 best schools are featured in the April 6 edition of Forbes.com. More

Read the article posted on Forbes.com here.

National recognitions

Edina is the only district in the country to receive national recognitions from Forbes.com, Family Circle, Newsweek, US News& World Report and Sports Illustrated. Learn more.

Take4 Graduation Edition

In this edition of Take4, we celebrate the 593 Edina High School seniors who graduated on June 15. In addition, three seniors reflect back on their high-school experience and share moments that were meaningful to them.

Edina recommends Lee for assistant director of special services

Edina Public Schools is proud to announce its recommendation to hire Paul Lee as its newest assistant director for special services. Lee has worked for Edina for nine years, previously serving as team leader for special education services and as a school psychologist. The School Board will take action on this recommendation at the June 21 School Board meeting. More

Thank you for a great year!

Go Green Committee

Did you know that Edina Public Schools has a Go Green Committee? The committee consists of staff, students, parents, and community representatives and works to share best practices relating to large and small scale sustainability focused projects as well as recognizing the green work at various district sites. Learn more about about their work here

Five Edina students awarded National Merit Scholarships

Edina Public Schools congratulates five Edina High School seniors who were recently awarded with National Merit Scholarships. Jenny T. Rustad, Robert Fletcher, Silas Wallen-Friedman and Sharanya Srinivasan were all selected as winners of the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship. Additionally, Thomas Schmidt was awarded the National Merit General Mills Foundation Scholarship. More

Superintendent's update on 2010-11 school year
Budget and staffing plans

As many of you know, the Edina Public Schools is working on its budget and staffing plans for the 2010-11 school year.  At the same time, we are closely monitoring the 2010 legislative session, which will determine the state’s funding formula for all school districts. Once the state funding bill is finalized – we hope by mid-May – we will be able to complete our planning efforts.  The School Board is required to approve the budget prior to June 30, 2010. More

Community Forum Highlights
View the 2010-11 Budget Video

Activities video released

Edina Public Schools is pleased to announce the completion of the Edina High School Activities Video. The video is the fourth installment of an electronic-welcome packet that will debut on the Web over the next few months. View more videos.

Edina High School principal named Principal of the Year

The Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) named Dr. Bruce Locklear, principal of Edina High School (EHS), the 2010 Minnesota High School Principal of the Year. More

Edina Public Schools’ Project Lead The Way program receives $20,000 grant from Kern Family Foundation

Edina Public Schools is proud to announce that it has received a $20,000 grant from the Kern Family Foundation to expand the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Tech Ed program at Edina High School. PLTW certified teachers Peter Grimm, Fred Mutchler, and Jason Carr applied for the grant, which was accepted last week. Last month, Edina’s PLTW program was certified for the first time to offer college credits to students who complete the coursework. More

Edina High School named a Silver Medalist School by national news magazine

News magazine U.S. News & World Report named Edina High School a Silver Medalist School due to its high performance on state assessment tests and its college readiness scores. A total of 11 Minnesota high schools received a silver medal ranking. EHS had a college readiness index of 58.2, the highest of any recognized Minnesota school. High schools that receive this ranking are in the top 2 percent nationwide. EHS was also named a Silver Medalist School in 2008. More

Two teachers from Edina Public Schools named TIES Exceptional Teachers

Two teachers from Edina Public Schools – Jennifer Buckley and Tracy Purdy – were named TIES Exceptional Teachers at the TIES 2009 Education Technology Conference in Minneapolis on Dec. 15. 65 teachers from 33 districts were chosen by their superintendents for this award, which recognizes teachers who model the best practices in using technology in their classroom and engaging students in learning. More

Edina cheerleading teams win state title for the second consecutive year

The Edina junior varsity and the Edina varsity cheerleading teams have won the MCCA State Cheerleading Competition for the second consecutive year. The junior varsity team competed against nine districts, including Bloomington Jefferson, Rosemount and Woodbury, before securing the title. The varsity team won in the “large” division – a competing category for teams with 17-30 members. Contenders in the large varsity division included Woodbury, Bloomington Jefferson and Prior Lake. The competition was held on Jan. 30 in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. Congratulations to all the athletes and junior varsity coach, Donna Hellmann, and varsity coaches Jackie Rosario, Sean Cotherman and Jenn Carter.

Dr. Kenneth A. Dragseth Wing at South View Middle School receives architectural excellence award   

The Dr. Kenneth A. Dragseth Wing at South View Middle School now has an award that confirms its aesthetic appeal. The Minnesota branch of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Minnesota) bestowed the structure and the architecture firm that designed it – Perkins & Will – with a Minnesota Honor Award. The award was presented on Friday, Dec. 4 at the International Market Square in Minneapolis. More

Project Lead the Way classes receive certification to offer college credit

Edina Public Schools students interested in science, technology, engineering and math, now have the opportunity to earn college credit for their coursework. The Project Lead The Way (PLTW) pre-engineering and engineering technology program was certified Dec. 16, and by the 2011-2012 school year four total courses – Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture and Digital Electronics – will be eligible for three college credits each. More 

Three Edina Public Schools teachers achieve National Board Certification

Public Schools congratulates three teachers who have recently achieved National Board Certification: John Hannemann, physical education teacher at Normandale Elementary; Steve Sanger, science teacher at Edina High School; and Elizabeth Barniskis, language arts teacher at Edina High School. National Board Certification is the highest credential offered in K-12 education. More

Board adopts school start/end times for 2010-2011

Following the recommendations of a Start Time Task Force, the School Board adopted school start and end times for the 2010-2011 school year. A study team consisting of teachers, parents and principals met with the administration and the transportation staff and reviewed possible options for bus routes. The team concluded that the current schedule is the one that utilizes equipment and driver time most effectively and is the most fiscally sound. Therefore, at this time, there will be no change to the schedule.The full report is available here. Start times for each school are denoted below.

29th Annual Cornelia Craft Bazaar raises nearly $3,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation

Rows of tables overflowing with colorful handmade crafts staffed by Cornelia Elementary School fifth-graders filled the school’s gym for the 29th annual Craft Bazaar on Tuesday, December 15. These future business men and women sold their craft items for 50 cents to $4 and raised $2,929.14 for the Make a Wish Foundation – the charity the students voted on.

6,580 pounds of food collected in bus garage food drive

A friendly competition between the bus drivers and students on Valley View Middle School buses 44 and 91 has transformed into a successful food drive that is serving community members in need. This year the bus garage collected 6,580 pounds of non-perishable food items and $1,000 for Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People (VEAP). The grand total was calculated on Friday, Nov. 20 when both buses representing all of the bus drivers and students stopped at the Edina Fire Station on Tracy Avenue to give the food to a VEAP representative.

Hornet Marching Band performs in Chicago's Thanksgiving parade

The Edina Hornet Marching Band performed in the annual McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago. Footage of their performance is available here courtesy of WGN.

Natural play space at Highlands brings learning and fun outside

At any point during the school day at Highlands Elementary, students can be found digging through clay, jumping from wood stumps, playing on dirt mogul hills, sitting around a paver pit or exploring a river bed in a new outdoor learning and natural play space. Situated next to the school playground, this growing project is showing students how to play and learn in the outdoors. More

Elementary and middle school start time feedback for
the 2010-2011 school year

The window to submit feedback for elementary and middle school start times is now closed. Thank you to everyone who shared their opinions and comments. The input gathered will be taken into consideration as we move forward in our decision making.

Unofficial Edina School Board elections results

Recount information

A recount was issued at the request of Jeff Johnson. The recount process was complete as of Thursday, Nov. 12 at about 2:30 p.m. Lonni Skrentner picked up two additional votes in the recount, but otherwise, the results of the election remain unchanged. The table above displays the most up-to-date information. These results are unofficial until the School Board certifies them.

17 Edina High School seniors named National Merit Semifinalists

Edina Public Schools congratulates the 17 seniors who were recently named National Merit Semifinalists. Approximately 16,000 students nationwide completed the National Merit Scholarship qualifying test (PSAT/NMSQT®) and were recognized as National Merit Semifinalists. More than 1.5 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools participated in the 2009 National Merit Program. More

Edina named a top 10 town for families
Edina Public Schools receives a perfect score

National magazine Family Circle scouted the country for the 10 best towns for families and determined that Edina was among them. Edina Public Schools stood out in the survey, receiving the highest school ranking – 10 out of 10 – of any of the towns recognized. The 10 best towns are featured in the August issue of Family Circle, which hits the newsstands on July 7, 2009. More

Watch "Family Circle Award Feature," a video produced by the city of Edina.

Edina students exhibit strong growth in science
Edina students outperformed state peers on the Minnesota Science Assessment

Students of Edina Public Schools breezed through the recently beefed up Minnesota Science Assessment. All grade levels tested showed strong growth on the assessment. Furthermore, the percentage of Edina students who scored in the proficient range was about one and a half times greater than the corresponding number for the state. More

More information about Edina test performance can be found here

Edina Public Schools students continue to perform well on MCA-II assessment

Edina Public Schools recently learned the results of the 2008-2009 MCA-II assessments in reading and mathematics, and the results show that Edina students continue to perform well above the Minnesota average. This trend was consistent in all seven grades tested, and especially true among the middle and high-schools levels. In the middle and high-school subgroup, the percentage of Edina students proficient in reading and mathematics exceeds state figures by 20 percent to 33 percent. More

Edina middle-school students to pilot one-to-one wireless laptop program 

Today’s students live in a digital world. They communicate with friends instantaneously through text messages, Facebook and Twitter. Since birth, they’ve had access to the Internet’s wealth of information. Edina Public Schools intends to hone the skills of the 21st century learner through a one-to-one pilot program. Technology will be the driving force of this pilot, which provides a personal laptop to a sample population of middle-school students. Students who participate will have access to online curriculum, educational software and online resources. More

A complete one-to-one FAQ is available here.

Budget Approved for 2009-2010 School Year

At its June 22 meeting, the School Board approved the 2009-2010 general fund budget. Due to funding challenges, the District was required to make $1.6 million of adjustments and reductions in the $72.664 million budget. District leadership developed the budget to minimize class size increases and reductions in educational programs. A summary of the budget cuts is available here.