January 21 - Club Meeting

Today's meeting was offsite.  We met at the Mounds View School District Headquarters building in Shoreview.  Assistant Superintendent and former club member Jeff Ridlehoover provided an update on current happenings and priorities for the district, followed by a tour of the building, formerly the local Ramsey County Library building.  A lot is happening within the district following recent passage of a property tax increase to fund updates and additions to nearly all buildings within the district.  This was necessary due to increases in enrollment together with the advanced age of the facilities.  The district continues to out-perform all others in the state in terms of average SAT scores.  And MN schools are already higher than any other state in the country.  While proud of this achievement, the district has also made student mental health a high priority, given the national trend of increased teen mental health issues.  There are multiple things going on within the district's "Be Kind To Your Mind" initiative.  Our school district is also a leader in the nationwide trend toward providing students with early college coursework and vocational programs through it's "Pathways to Possibilities" initiative.  The district has also created a plan to deal with the disruption of multiple school closings due to weather.  There will now be "Flexible Learning Opportunity Days" that provide activities that can be done from home, to avoid having to keep schools open later in the spring for make-up days.  It's clear that our school district is a leader in adapting to our ever-changing world - something we can all be proud of!