--------- safe and caring climate and culture in which we engage, inspire, educate, prepare, and empower all learners in partnership with their surrounding community to be successful in today's and tomorrow's society. Heather, can you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance?
I pledge allegiance of the stands nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. And then when you're ready, can you please call roll?
>> The following board members are present at the district administration office. Gina >> here. Scott Andre >> here. >> Natalie Copeland here. >> Zack Dorhalt >> here. >> Diana Fenton >> here. >> Shannon Haw here. Heather Williams here.
>> The following cabinet members and staff are present at the district administration office. Assistant superintendent of secondary education Dr. J. Jason Harris. Assistant superintendent of E5 Learning Nikki Hansen. Ex Executive Director of Community Education and Community Partnerships Shannon Avenson. Executive
Director of Finance and Business Services Amy Scallarude. Executive Director of Innovation and Technology Services Katie Herbalt. Executive Director of Operations Matthew Buchet. Executive Director of Special Education Danny Mayer. Media Technicians Paul Novak and Gordy Scott. And the custodian
on site is Em Emerson Beamer. >> Thank you. Then I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's board of education meeting agenda. >> So move. >> Have a motion by Scott, a second by Natalie. Heather, can you call vote? >> Zack Dorhalt. Yes.
>> Natalie Copeland. >> Yes. >> Diana Fenton. >> Yes. >> Shannon Hos. >> Yes. >> Scott Andre. >> Yes. >> Gina Evito. >> Yes. >> Heather Williams. Yes. >> And then we have the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of non-controversial items the board adopts routinely without debate. Any single
member may remove an item from the consent agenda by requesting removal at the time the consent agenda is moved for adoption. On tonight's consent agenda, item A, approval of board minutes, board meeting minutes from February 4th, 2026 and February 18th, 2026. Item B,
approval of bills and other financial transactions in the grand total amount of 3,269,42210. Item C, approval of personnel staff changes. Item D, acceptance of grant awards and donations. Then item E, joint purchasing contract award, South Track
resurfacing. At this time, does any board member wish to remove an item from the consent agenda? Okay, seeing no removal. Looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda as read. >> So move. >> Have a motion by Scott, a second by Natalie. Heather, can you call vote?
>> Heather Williams, yes. Shannon Hos, >> yes. >> Diana Fenton, >> yes. Zack Dorhold, >> yes. >> Natalie Copeland, >> yes. >> Scott Andre, >> yes. Gina Aso. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. Uh first up we are information items tonight. We have an
Apollo building project update. Um here to present this is David Leupold and Whitney Lockheed with JLG Architects and Justin Scallerude Apollo High School principal. Welcome. We're
excited to hear what's going on. just once. Okay. Yeah, I think. >> All right. Good evening, Assistant Superintendent Hansen, board chair Hos, members of the board. Uh, thank you for the introduction. I'm Justin Sculler, principal at Apollo High School. Um,
really tonight, we're excited to share our construction updates and where we are with the project. Uh, it's really hard to believe that, uh, here we are March 18th. A year ago, we were talking about the the referendum election that was happening on April 8th and the work that's been accomplished in less than a
year uh to get us to the point to show a lot of new images tonight and and really start to get a picture of where we're going with the future of Apollo and what the future of education can look like for the students of IC742. So, I'm going to turn it over to David
and Whitney and uh we can go ahead and get started. The first slide is actually mine. um you've seen this before and I think it's important to start uh our conversation tonight with talking about this and and talking about future ready learning because that's really what everything we share tonight is all
about. Um what this opportunity uh to create a space at Apollo that will be utilized for our students for uh opportunities for students at tech and opportunity opportunities for our community members. Thank you and what we can do with this great
opportunity. So when we're talking about future ready learning, we want to look at how we can take knowledge uh how we can transmit knowledge, students can gain knowledge and look at a modern learner today, but also think about what that might look like in the future. um working with our community partners,
working with our state standards, working with our teachers and our curriculum directors to talk about the skills that students need and then also inserting character development and what a future workforce or someone that's going to be part of that needs to be um you know when they graduate from Apollo
or Tech or from McKinley or adult basic education. uh what are those skills that they need uh when they go out and get those jobs in our community hopefully in our community and uh giving back um to St. Cloud area. Our instructional vision and this is the
same at Apollo this is the same at tech is student center learning focusing on the learner focusing on um what they need and what they need to be able to learn at the highest level possible. When we're doing that, we want to think about what that's going to look like, as I mentioned, today, but also taking this
opportunity we have to do this renovation and what we can do to create a space that can be used for many, many, many years to come. And then in that space, what does assessment look like? We've had some changes in assessment at the high school. We talk about 8020 grading and really wanting to make sure
that a grade reflects what a student knows, but what are the ways that we're assessing what that looks like? Our students really want to learn with their hands. Students want the ability to show what they know in different ways. And one way that we can do that is provide spaces that makes that possible for our
students. >> So where are we now? Um most of you know that we have started construction on the EMR EMT lab. Um we started some >> You're on. >> Am I on? Okay. Should I talk closer? >> Um okay, that's better. It says four to
6 in though. Um so the EMT EMR lab has started construction. Um we've awarded uh contracts to the pre-cast supplier and as a reminder we had to do that so that we can get um permitting and plan review underway for the storm shelter and meet
our starting um timeline of August of 26. Um the design team is continuing to review our construction documents um completing those for the remainder of the project so that we can issue that here um towards the end of the month. We did choose to um put a future bid
package out there for the site specifically related to the activities and fields. We've been doing some site programming districtwide to determine how to best utilize resources across both tech and Apollo. And so we're still working through that. Um, we've also started identifying furniture and
equipment as part of the programming process. Um, Apollo has purchased a lot of that, but we are creating new spaces that require different furniture and new equipment. So, we're starting that process and we'll pick that up heavily in the fall once um staff is back in the building.
Um, David, >> we went over some of this the last time we were in front of you and we talked about one of the challenges with the Apollo site is um creating wayfinding. How do you find the right way to get into the site? And with the with the
stoplight there, a lot of times people think this is where I should enter. And if a visitor enters there, they're in trouble because now they have to go against the grain to get back to the front door. Plus, the front door is a little hard to find. So part of what we've done is as you approach the building, you're generally going to be
approaching it from veterans on 44th from the south or you're going to be approaching it from the intersection between 15 and 44th. And so working with the city, we're adding some signage around the building that helps direct visitors to the right place. It's takes
them from when they get onto the site, they see, okay, go forward, go straight, go turn. When they get to the light, it tells them where to go. The other thing that is complicating things a little bit at Apollo is the entrance is set so far back. You've actually got building out front. The entrance is back. And you'll see later how we're trying to work with
that problem with a monument sign. So once people get to the site, then they can see where they're going to go. They can tell where they're going to turn. This is further complicated by Apex being added to the site because now where do you want to enter for Apex? Where do you park for that? So we'll have signage that will help people when
they get to the site. plenty of advanced notice because of the street signs that are going to be added by the city. And then once we get onto the site, we are also having a couple of new monument signs being added at each of the two entrances that will direct people once they get to the site. So you've now
found your way to the right entrance. You pulled on the right entrance. Now what do you do? Well, if you come to that entrance that's on the south side off 44th, you go straight ahead for Apex or you turn left to go to the main entrance. And the parking is relatively obvious at that point.
As you get approached to the building or even as you're at the stoplight, you can see this sign that says Apollo High School that is pulled out away from the building. It's farther out. It's a monument sign. It's large. It's similar to what's on the building at Tech. And it tells you, okay, that must be where that front entrance is. And you can see
that easily once you get onto the site, once you get to the parking and you turn and you start walking towards the building. And we believe also that the sidewalk and that new higher entrance also kind of instructs people to say there must be something important going on there. As you get closer to the
building, it becomes even more obvious where you enter because we've got a canopy that you enter under. And this is where I think we talked about this last time where we're suspending the capsule above the entry. So rather than the capsule being set on the ground outside, the capsule is doing what capsules should do. It's flying and it's above
you as you enter. and you walk underneath a capsule and we're going to use some LED lighting to be able to light that differently and maybe do some dramatic effects with that, you know, as you enter the building in the canopy above that. It's a little hard to see in the image, you know, at the scale we're looking here, but we're using some pin
lights and we're working with the district to figure out what that might look like, but it's going to be some constellations that allow us to light that up. And you should be able to recognize a constellation in that lighting that's over that entry. So, kind of leaning into that space theme a little bit here as we come into the
building and the new the new entrance with, you know, being taller and creating that and Whitney will show some images later where we're trying to give this building just a little bit more room. Uh the advant the disadvantage of Apollo is everything is at 8'4 and it feels a little down and so we're
creating an entrance, you know, that has a a little greater has bigger shoulders. Um, also because another main entrance that we're going to direct people to is the Apollo activities entrance. We wanted this to look similar to the entrance that's at the front. It's not
quite as grand. We don't want to confuse people that this is the main entrance, but also it has some of those warmer wood materials that you saw on the other. So, we're warming things up. And you will see that theme throughout as we go to the interior of the building where we're using some wood tones and some colors to kind of warm the building up
as you go through it as well. The last thing that um I'll highlight here is we're adding a storm shelter onto the building and that is acting also as another gym. The building, it needs to tie into the building. And so you see these pre-cast panels actually
have the brick on the bottom and then we have the the colored concrete up above. And Whitney, if you wouldn't mind backing up to that first monument, that one I meant to mention that in the background you see the building looks a little different than it does today. Uh we are looking at staining the brick
that that color that you see similar to that color that you see there and then also staining the concrete to get it more uniform and doing it in a way that it'll be easy to clean. It's not going to stay clean forever all by itself, but at least the material we're using on it will be easily cleaned. So giving that building kind of a fresh updated look as
well. Next slide. When I saw the when I showed you the first slide for the site, you noticed that there was this kind of grayed out area. That's what Whitney was referring to earlier. Um, we are working on a district-wide program with district
representatives, tech representatives, and Apollo representatives to think about how can we complement the facilities that are at Tech and provide more opportunities for students for activities across the district. So, we're in the middle of that process right now and that'll be that last bid package that Whitney was talking about
earlier as well. So, just high level to recap what's happening inside the building. Um, we are adding the I'm going to try and lean and point at the same time here. Um, we're adding a controlled entrance along that front and then that welcome center
that we've talked about, a place to um, display student work, to have activities. Um, that's that high volume that we were looking at on the outside. We're infilling that current courtyard to expand our common seating area to serve for that cafeteria and then also
for students who are doing independent work to have a place to come. We're enhancing the current cafeteria. Um upgrading some of the finishes. We're adding and relocating the dishwashing concessions and allocart. And we're doing all of that so we can expand that
much needed space in the kitchen and serving area. Um I think we're doubling the square footage. Um so that is going to be be welcomed. We're also doing work in the music area. So again, the band room and the choir room. also finishing the spaces behind
the stage. We had done work on the theater um a couple years ago and did the inside of the theater and this will go and support the green room storage space and the scene shop and set construction that will happen there. In the activities, we have the storm
shelter um which is like David mentioned serving as that um multi-purpose space, expanding the wait room area. We're going to be updating some of the finishes in the pool and we're also going to create some better accessibility onto the pool deck from the primary corridor. And then the four,
excuse me, the three locker rooms are going to get converted to four locker rooms on the north side. As we move into the remainder of the building here, the guidance suite um will have a little bit of work. We're going to be adding an eagle's nest similar to the tiger's den
um as well as um fronting the guidance reception area off that primary corridor to give it better access. As we move into the media center, the big space on the north side is going to be converted into four CTE labs. Um we have a flex
lab, we have the culinary, uh computer science, and then also the communications and graphics lab. All of those will have glass fronting that primary corridor that we're creating through that space to really put that learning on display. Everything that's happening in the north
media is just shifting to the south media because we have lots of square footage there. Um so we're able to capitalize on that space um and still have lots of space for growth there. Um as we move further down into the building, we are creating some staff space. again, staff collaboration for
staff that's working in the building, but also staff collaboration space for the CMVA program. Um, creating recording rooms for them so that they have the ability to do their online lessons and recording in a safe or in a space that will keep um sound at bay.
On the south side of the building, we have the science area. A lot of that's going to just be a refresh. Um, but we are making two of the labs a little more robust, creating some fixed labs for some of those um, higher chemistry classes and things like that that need
that space. The other thing that we're doing is we have a little bit of um footprint infill, I'll say, and we're creating a grow zone where we can put hydroponic plants um and displays for our them the opportunity to store them there
and put them on display as people then also be able to roll those carts into classrooms for teaching purposes. We have preparation space that we are carving out uh giving us some relief on the
for spaces in the CTE programming down here into the um corridor and community space. We have um a FCS or a fax room and then we also have the nails space. The art rooms are staying in the same
spot, but we are going to clean them up with all those little rooms, and we're going to give them some nice large space to actually do their teaching in. Um, and then relocate the kiln, so it's next to the art room and not across the hall and down the way. In the CTE space here,
we um this is the EMT lab that's currently under construction. And then we have the CNA lab that will be going adjacent to it, a maker space, and then the auto lab down here is getting a little bit of work because we need to create a garage door that is big enough
to bring the ambulance in. Um, so that's the work that's happening inside the building. This is this image that you saw last time. This is standing in the courtyard infill and looking out to the west into that new welcome space. And then you can also see the controlled entrance and
then the new reception area and then the capsule right there. If you turn around, this is the look you get as you walk into the building. So again, that volume that David was talking about really helps um create that breathing room that
that people need as they navigate through this building. And you can see the additional seating capacity that we have in here. This area also serves as the pre-function space to the theater and the gym. So, a lot of community use as well as we um we explore the space. >> Um before you go on, Whitney, one of the
things I mentioned earlier is is you could see in here the use of some of those warmer tones, the wood tones and things. Again, you'll see that throughout the presentation where we're trying to warm the inside of the building up a little bit with those tones. They're good materials or materials that won't,
>> you know, get damaged like perhaps just straight old wood would, but it is a material that is going to give us a little bit more warmth in the building. This is the new image. Um the last time we presented it was black and white. This is looking into the current CTE um
portion of the building which right now you walk through is like 6 foot wide door and then you turn a corner and then you walk around and there's no glass and no visibility. So we are really bringing all of these um spaces onto display here to really highlight the programs that are happening at Apollo. Um the space
right to the left here is the CNA lab and then further down is that EMT lab. So just to orient you and you can see that we are bringing wood down here, right? We're creating a portal, an entry into this space, an inviting way to bring you into these experiences. We
have collaboration spaces in here that allow breakout to happen. And then this is what is currently dubbed, I think, the fishbowl. Um it's the maker space that again we're creating um a more impactful space to use for our programming. So this is a new slide. Um I'm going to
just dip my set here. Uh so one of the things that we have done since we last presented um to you is to talk about safety and security at Apollo. A big part of the referendum, it's one of the items that is probably going to change
from what Apollo is used to doing. um as part of this project from the building code perspective, we have to compartmentalize the building. We don't get a choice. We're mandated to do it. Um which is what all of those big thick red lines are on the screen. So that's where we have to break the building up
with firewalls. What we can do with that though is we can leverage that into how to break up the building from a safety and security perspective. We create compartments that allow students and staff to leave the building in active threat situations. Right? an empty classroom is the safest classroom and so
how do we get people out of the building quickly? We work with the building code which acts as asks us to do that already. Um and then we lean into that. The other thing we joked about is all of the doors at Apollo. Um and while there are a lot of doors at Apollo that's really helpful in this situation because
that means there's lots of exits out of those compartments to get students out safely. It also means on the flip side that there are actually a lot of exits for our law enforcement and first responders to enter quickly, right? Time is of the essence in situations like this. And so we're leaning into that to
create a safety and security plan that works with the time. Um we shared this plan. Uh we had a really large meeting and we actually got everyone into a room at one time. um law enforcement officers, um safety and security people from the district, from Apollo, um IT
folks, and we shared this plan and we talked through what are the, you know, what are the issues with it, what are the successes of it. We got some great feedback that we were able to implement and make changes to to really help support long-term um a safety and security plan for Apollo. Um, we learned
a lot about what the district is looking to do and that was really helpful for us to be able to implement it here as we move forward in this longer construction timeline. But fret not, safety and security does not mean that you can't look out. Um, so
this is standing in the new controlled entrance. So we're looking out to the west. the new reception um administration areas to our left. You can see the new reception desk and it feels inviting, right? It feels like you want to come and you want to see the school um and everyone can see out, but
yet this glass here is security glass. So again, we're creating levels of protection that help but also create environments that people want to engage in. And if you're inside that reception area, again, great visibility for the staff to see out to see what's coming
and to just see what's going on on the dayto-day basis. >> So, just to add on a little bit to what Whitney was talking about, by compartmentalizing the building, we also are allowed to we we slow down a threat. Um, and if we can identify where that threat is, then it gives people in the
rest of the building a chance to leave. But we also have card readers on the outside door so we know if somebody's opened a door >> that shouldn't open a door and that gets notified. And we also have card readers, you know, if you're traveling against the flow in the building for those compartments. There's card readers on
those as well that allows administration and law enforcement to get into those compare compartments if they need to. So there's there's a lot going on in here, but it's all geared around making the building as safe as we can as a part of the, you know, using the building code and the things we're doing to make this building as safe as we can at the same
time. Um, the other thing I talked about wayfinding on the outside of the building once we get inside Apollo, wfinding is kind of necessary, too. While it's a simple plan with cross corridors, it's the 400, the 500, the 600, the 700, the 800, the 900 wing. and
where are those wings and how do you get to those and how do you find your way through the building? One of the things we talked about is creating a larger pattern. Take a look at the overall plan and say, "How do we create a pattern that helps people move through the building?" The darker gray lines represented a a carpeting, a gray
carpeting that helps lead you through those main corridors or those main cross quarters that take you to each of these areas. And you see the little red stripes as you look through there. We'll talk about those a little bit more later, but they're also in key locations that give you a cue about what's happening when you get to that part of
the building. The blue represents areas off of the corridors that are either for breakout spaces or there are spaces where there's something else happening there and a corridor where you cross. But just trying to create some cues through the building as you move through. And what does that look like?
You start to see it when you look at this here. This is on the right are those new CTE labs that Whitney was talking about, culinary, communications, and the computer science. On the left is the lower media. And this is a new corridor that comes through here. And at the end of the quarter, you see a number
four on a on a red background. That's ties into that red that you saw on the floor. And that represents the 400 wing and access to the 400 wing. If you take a look at what that looks like going down the corridor, you walk towards that four, you look left, you see, oh, I would just left the 500 wing, there's
another red stripe down there and another red stripe down there. And that again represents something's happening at each of those locations. You also see the opening there that is is what we've called a portal. When Whitney talked about the fire areas, we have to have
doors that automatically close when the alarm goes off or when we have a threat. Those larger slabs right there are actually doors and they will automatically close. But we took that as an opportunity to also create a portal into each of these areas. When Whitney
was showing the image of the CTE area, you may have seen that portal kind of sneaking out of the corner. So even going into that, we're trying to use that language. When you go into a new space, there's a portal that you walk through and looking straight on at that portal, you see something like this.
These are special doors that sort of disappear. We cheat a little bit. We made them look really disappeary here. They actually have tiny little, you know, push pads on them so you can exit out, but they will look pretty uniform in the way or pretty monolithic in the
way that we're showing them. >> The intent was to try to hide them so that you didn't walk past a door all the time because they're really not going to be closed most of the time. And so, how do you create intentionality with big fire doors? And again, you see that little bit of blue carpet. That's okay, we have our red, then we have this, we
have the blue carpet that leads us into our new space. One of the things I didn't talk about is as you go down and you cross that red thing, that still doesn't get you. If you're walking down the right side, it doesn't get you to the 600 wing. So, when you get to that red stripe, you say, "Okay, it's here. There's signage
on the wall and it says 600's this way or 700's this way." So, there'll be some additional way finding that'll help you find your way. Um, when we get to the when we get to the activity side of thing, we could put a one and a two there. It wouldn't really help people very much. They want to know where's the
performing arts center, where's the gym. So, we're using the same language of the red panels, but now we're spelling it out to help people find that. So, we've got that. We've got those warmer materials. And then, if you recall, you've seen those Merurls that have been installed on either side of the theater.
This is all tied into that as well. This is the gym side. And when we're looking at this image, one of the things we wanted to point out, that area back there where that little skinny opening used to be for the kitchen, that's our new serving area. So that's got multiple venues there. I think there's five I
think it is. It's five there's five different venues there for for service. And the kids will be going through and coming back out through this way. But that has a much better opening, a better appearance, and there's going to be less congestion, which means less trouble for Justin and his team.
So, how are we going to do this? All right, that's probably the question. Um, this is a pretty big undertaking. It is a continuous two-year process for us to make all of this work. Um, there's multiple phases throughout the school year. Um, six right now with probably a
few subsets in between there. Um, we've worked with Justin and his team to make sure that as we're doing this that we're not disrupting student learning and that we're maintaining that safety and security plan throughout that process. Um, a lot of this goes to a lot of great communication that we're having and
going to continue to have to make sure that he and his staff are updated and that we are aware of things that we need to help manage on the construction side. Um, obviously there are certain spaces that can only be done in summer months which helps drive how we set that basing up. Um I have attached the QR code. This
should take you to the district website if interested where the phasing plan is broken down more specifically into what's happening in each phase. Um but again two years so in 2028 we will have a refresh to Apollo. Um and at that
point we'll just leave it open for questions if anybody has anything. First, I have to say, wow, this is very exciting. And does anybody have any questions or comments at all? We're all stunned.
Okay, well, that must be good. We're thrilled. We're excited. Um, this is amazing work. So, thank you everybody for getting us to this point and for you guys to I think in the beginning I I was sorry to be doubtful but like but does
it have that wow factor like tech does and you guys just this is impressive. Yeah. I I couldn't have imagine that's not my talent but how you guys came up with this. You you had me at the
constellations up there. It just kept on getting better. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. It's been a it's been a collaboration of a lot of folks. I mean, we have our consultants that work with us and also Justin and his team, the district people, um the construction manager, Bradberry Stam. It's been a
really great collaboration. Things like this don't happen unless everybody's on the same page. And uh it's really been a wonderful project to work through with everyone. >> It's exciting. Okay. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> We'll see you I don't know half a year. Not sure.
Thank you guys. We have one more information item tonight. We have the immersion program update. So, welcoming tonight Anna Wilhight, director of E12 education and
Katherine Samek, curriculum or K5 curriculum instruction and immersion lead. Thank you for joining us tonight. Part: 2
that when kids first enter an immersion program, and usually those starting kindergarten, academically um on tests, they do tend to lag a little behind their peers, but by the time they get to third and fourth grade, they catch up and they surpass because there are some
strong cognitive benefits to learning a second language. Um that metal linguistic analysis is really strengthening your brain and enabling you to learn more. Um, so another proven benefit and a a goal of immersion is
that cultural competency and global readiness. We want our kids to be prepared for the future and the future is global awareness. So, we're giving our kids a leg up when we sign them up for immersion. Um, it's going to give them long-term career advantages and
this continues to be a strong asset to our district in terms of enrollment. We have quite a few families that are openen enrolled into our district because of the immersion programs. So the enrollment right now, this is where enrollment enrollment stands this
year. Currently 11% of our students in K5 are immersion students. Um this year we did expand the program at Westwood to second grade. So we continue to add an incoming kindergarten class each year to
that program. And so then we just keep bumping up the grade levels as it goes. Currently our enrollment right now for um the Madison and Clear View has been stable in those um wellestablished programs and it's looking up in um our
west side or our southside north side, excuse me, um program. We'll we'll get more into that later. Um so this is kind of a breakdown of our enrollment right now. Currently we have 642 students enrolled in our immersion
programs. As you can see on the graph here, our orange bars are that southside Spanish immersion. Um, and we have pretty strong interest in that program at Clear View up until fifth grade and then it shifts to the middle school and
we do have a bit of a drop off in enrollment and we'll get kind of into reasons why on that later. Um, and then it continues on into high school. The green bars are the district-wide Chinese immersion and then the north
side Spanish is that dark blue. So, as you can see, our Spanish immersion program has more kids in it. Um, but we do have stable enrollment in our elementary in Chinese immersion. This is a breakdown of
the the school at large. So the whole piraphph is the enrollment for Clear View and the light blue is the immersion program. Same for Westwood and Madison. Right now currently at Clear View we have 275 students in our immersion
program out of 415. At Westwood we've got 107 out of 510. And then at Madison 127 out of 710. So that stands 60%, 17% and 15%. Um, and I think Nikki Hansen's gonna
talk about this slide. >> Yes, I get to hop in here. Um, just to speak to a little bit of the thoughtfulness and planning in our efforts around that North Side Spanish immersion transition um that we are looking at for next school year. And so we know that program kindergarten through 2 grade at Westwood this year
will transition to a kindergarten through third grade program at Kennedy next year. uh we took some time during family uh conferences to engage with parents face toface and start to support some of that transition planning. And so
what we know is we have 87 families out of the 107 that are committed to moving to Kennedy and continue that uh north side Spanish immersion programming. 11 of those students are hoping to stay at their community school location and nine of them are undecided. um we have down
to the spreadsheet of those individual names and numbers and are working in contact with those families to support them um as they make that important decision for their learner. Uh some of the transition supports that we have worked around with elementary leaders include two waves of intentional and
targeted district communication. Uh student conference communication as I mentioned with our Westwood families and then individual follow-up for those transitioning and undecided students. site transition planning meetings with leaders. Uh Matthew Boucher and myself have been going out with our building
leaders to just talk transition all the way from uh staffing to furniture to any needs that may come in between. And so really just trying to get ahead of and be thoughtful as we work on this planning together. On April 1st, there will be a targeted message to welcome
new families from building principles along with spring opportunities to do tours and engage in some of the family events here yet this spring. So, just a little bit about that transition. So, one of our focuses this year was on strengthening our Chinese immersion
program. Um, as many of you know, Superintendent Putnham had the opportunity to go to China and she made some amazing connections with the Minnitana Minnitanka school district. Um, so this year we were actually able to Katie, myself, um, Meredith Voucher
and, um, Emily Schmidt from our department were able to go and observe and partner with Minnetonka and we learned so many amazing things that we have been able to bring back. We were also able to send all of our elementary teachers to professional development um
around literacy at Minnitankka. They had never had professional development in Chinese before. And so that was um a really impactful piece that was awarded to us through that partnership. Um yeah. Um something else that came out of that
partnership is we've been working to develop sister school ties to um schools in China. Um, so this year we kind of laid the groundwork and this was through our collaboration with Minnetonka. We have two schools that we've identified and we have a tentative agreement with
them and we're just getting to know them and getting to know what our priorities are and going forward we're going to have great plans for that. Um, like Anna said, our Chinese immersion teachers did have the opportunity this year to develop in some to engage in some professional
development. Um many of you might know that our elementary teachers in general have engaged in a lot of professional development around the science of reading. Um and so and our immersion teachers have as well because they are teachers of English as well. So they need to know how to teach English at
their best advantage but they also need they are t faced with the task of also instructing kids in the target language. So they need to have that secondary skill set. Our Chinese immersion teachers got um some great information on how the science of reading might look
in Chinese. Um our Spanish immersion teachers have taken letters and there's a lot more cross application as the systems of language are very similar. Chinese is a character-based language. So it's a different system. And so having that targeted professional
development where they can really learn about that and take it back to their classroom, it was a big win. and they were so excited to go back to their classrooms and get started on it. Another focus this year has been refining our assessment systems um and
some just some of the other um systems that we have in place that maybe needed a little bit of a tuneup. Um, we clarified our late entry admissions and what that screening looks like. And if kids want to enter the program after kindergarten, we now have a process and
a set um a set process in place. Um, earlier this fall, we also got to engage in a data dig. So, we got to sit down and look at assessments and data and plan instruction. And that was for our Spanish immersion program. um part of
the read act we are required to screen our students who are in immersion both in English we we're required to test them I might say in English and both in the target languages three times a year and so we have data for those kids on both languages on how they're doing um
and part of the readact is response right so we have this data now what what are we going to do to inform instruction with it and so we had our first data dig this fall about our Spanish data Um and we have also been engaging in um um
conversations about interventions. Um right now we've been doing a lot of work in our elementary around English interventions and we have for the past couple years. What does it look like in immersion is still a puzzle. The state is coming out with more specific guidelines around immersion and so we're
all kind of staying tuned to see what the state is going to say around that. but just kind of getting ahead of the game and looking into options that we can maybe look into. So, um, another part of assessment as far as it goes is stamp testing. Um, our
students will take STAMP again this year. Stamp is an assessment that measures language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. So, it's answering the question, are the students able to learn the language that they are studying? And
we are we look when they take this test, are they meeting what we would expect them to meet? So it's kind of an accountability piece on is this is this a good fit for this student and is our program effective and they will take that again in May
this year. Another thing we have going with immersion is our internships. Um currently we have two sets of interns and one is through the Amnity Institute and one is through St. Cloud State University. The Amnity Institute is our
Spanish immersion uh interns and through St. club set. We have Chinese immersion in interns. And the benefit to this is it um lends a it gives a lens of cultural authenticity to the program because we have these um individuals
that are native speakers of the language in our classroom and they're able to model that language and what it looks like and they're also able to give some support to our teachers and our programs. So, it's a big win for us. as Katie and I are both new to the
immersion programming. One thing that we found out this year um through our district immersion advisory council with our families and partners was that we didn't really have a campaign for how we advertise our programming. So, one piece
that we really focused on this year is having a comprehensive en enrollment materials. We had the most highly attended kindergarten enrollment night for our immersion programs to date. Um, and we taught um, helped inform our
parents around how our children learn the language and have a better understanding of the immersion program. Not just join immersion, but actually understand the benefits of immersion. We also created um, they're on our website, so if you haven't checked them out yet, a day in the life of a kindergartener in
the Chinese program and the day in the life of a kindergartener in the Spanish program. So, a parent as you're sending that that little 5-year-old off to school and you're thinking, "Oh my goodness, they're going to learn two languages." You can actually see see what that would look like for them. Um, we have been really uh proactive in our
messaging and making sure that we identify who we are um and what this program can do for us. And we want to make sure we're visible and that our program is sustainable. So, um we know that through word of mouth, we've been able to sustain this program. So we are
hopeful that with our communication, our campaign that we will continue to um make this even more sustainable. Okay. Um another thing we have going this year is we are having our capstone trip to China for our eighth and ninth
graders. Andrew Stanick at St. Cloud State is a good partner for us. He helps us to organize the trip and goes with the kids. Um and so this is their opportunity to be immersed in the culture and the language that they have been studying for years. So it's really exciting for those students and those
families that they get that opportunity to go to China. Uh and as I stated just a slide ago, we had the immersion district advisory committee. We have met a couple times um and we have had a lot of really great
feedback around assessments, programming um and so we are looking to continue to keep that um so that we can make sure the voice of our immersion parents are being heard and that um they don't have to be um advertising for themselves and and having it kind of stay within them.
Um, and then we have we have established our final meeting date in April so that we can wrap up and and share with them all that we've we've done so far this school year. >> Um, some of the other things that we've been working on currently um are just
bolstering that communication between teams, having some monthly meetings to stay in touch and stay on track. Um, now that we have two sites for Spanish immersion, it's great that we're growing our program, but we need to keep it in alignment. So being proactive about that is going to really be key especially
with the move for our north side program and just that reactive proactive it says reactive there proactive problem solving. All right. So, looking forward, what are we doing next year for Chinese immersion? Some of our key initiatives
in this program. Um, we are going to have a curriculum review, uh, a formal pilot. So, part of what came out of our partnership with Minnetonka was a need for a strengthened curriculum that really supports tier one
instruction. um that supports our teachers and our program in staying in alignment and delivering good instruction. And so we've been scoping out different options and we're going to have a formal pilot next year. So that's very exciting.
Um we will continue to develop those sister school relationships with those schools in China. So that's really exciting and promising. Um we will continue to look into options when they are available for strengthened professional development around
biiteracy and what are best practices. Um we need to keep our focus on that as we continue to implement the read act not only in our English programs but in our immersion programs as well and we will continue to have those J1
interns through St. Cloud State University. Um, and of course we will continue to monitor enrollment and be active at getting the world word out. Um, looking forward for our Spanish immersion for next year. Some of the things are the
same. We are also having a curriculum pilot for Spanish immersion. So currently this year they did pilot or try out a new curriculum um, but they only tried out one. So that's not much of a choice. And we we certainly want to get the best program that best fit
possible. And so there are two new um promising programs that are actually being written currently right now and they're being written for immersion. So that is really promising because what we have right now is kind of a direct
translation and it's meant for kids that are native speakers of the language. So it is challenging for our teachers to implement and so I'm hopeful that we can get a good program. So, we will continue the pilot for Spanish immersion next year, but we will be looking into two new options and making a decision on
that next year. Um, we will also continue to seek out opportunities for biliter CPD in Spanish. Um, and as Anna said and Nikki said, the um, the North Side program will make
that big shift to Kennedy and they will expand into third grade and we will continue to have those J1 interns through the Amnity Institute for Spanish immersion and we will continue to monitor enrollment there as well.
Um, so going forward in both programs there were some common themes. We're looking to strengthen those tier one practices around biiteracy. Um develop our understanding about stamp data and how to inform instruction with that around actful levels and just increasing
our proficiency around those benchmarks and supporting growth. Um and then keeping that program alignment together. Those are our focuses moving forward. So our um we're building for the future as we keep alluding to. Um so we are
going to grow and systematize our programs. Uh aligning is something that we are really focusing on districtwide through all um of our programming to ensure that we're best supporting our students, our staff, and ensuring long-term success. Uh we're going to
strengthen global connections and cultural authenticity. Um we are also looking into the possibility of sister schools um for our Spanish immersion programs. Um this year uh we focus on strengthening those foundational elements and next year we will be
intentional about our instructional refinement. Um and we are very excited about our curriculum development for both of those programs. Questions for us? Thank you. Does anybody have any questions or comments? Heather,
>> first just a thank you. Worked on the transition with the north side. I know that um earlier in the year uh that was not always um taken um with excitement by by everyone in the community, but um from your graphs it shows certainly that
you've done some really good work um in transitioning families and and um getting their support. Obviously, you know, they have choice to do other things, but you a large majority uh will be transitioning. I personally think it will it will be interesting to see the
trends related to elementary to junior high. Um I I don't know what the word is that I'm looking for right now, but staying with it. Um, obviously we see that big jump when you or big decrease when you go into sixth grade with um and I think it
could be really an an incredible positive uh to have that continuity between K through 8. So uh thank you for that. Um I do have a question that you know maybe integrates a couple things and it's two questions but I'm going to wrap it into one. What do you see and
partly because um immersion is self- selection into programs. What sort of trends do you see in immersion related to conduct um and and issues with students and is it different than in general classrooms and the same with special education? Can you talk a little
bit about how you serve special education students um in an immersion program? >> Um so student behavior is student behavior, right? So, um, it comes down to engagement. How strong our tier one instruction is. And, um, speaking
directly to the differences in conduct from immersion to a general education setting, I don't think we could give you anything that would be valid. Um, as for special education, we do have students that receive special education services in our immersion programs. Um, we really
try to support our students. Um, oftentimes, as many of you know, that we don't necessarily know a student need is in need of additional services. So, um, if we are no longer able to service them, we might possibly look at a a change. Um, but we really try to meet
our students needs and where they're at so that they can still be part of the immersion program. just following and mostly because I'm ignorant as to character-based learning in in um Chinese immersion. Do you do students I mean obviously um you know in
um English and Arabic letters you have dyslexic and does it play out in the same sort of way like when you're um do you see the same sort of reading challenges and um just interpretations that that you see in in
all languages? Is that universal across um languages? >> That's a really interesting question. Very interesting question. I don't know if either of us are experts that we could attest to it, but when we were actually in Minnetonka, one of the things that we took away, so what we had
kind of right historically thought because we are new to immersion programming was that a lot of our Chinese learning was around memorization of characters and that's actually not the case right there. It's a really robust system. And I said, well, if I would have known that when my children were little, I probably would have put
them in Chinese immersion. Um, and so that would be a really fascinating piece to find out because um, students are learning in different ways, but there's still a system. So, um, >> can I take a stab at this because I'm actually one of the letters trainers in our district. So, I've been very
involved in the training of the science of reading. So, >> your brain when you are learning to read in a phonetic language, we have a reading circuit, right? And so part of our brain is processing the auditory that's coming in. And part of our brain
is what we call the letter box. And so we're making these connections in our brain and we're putting the sound and the symbol together to decode words in a phonetic system. If that makes sense. As a as an adult and um as a fluent reader,
you read almost effortlessly in this matter because you've ingrained that in your brain. That's the system that sometimes gets tripped up by dyslexia. And so I would take a stab to say it probably does present, but it presents differently. And that's probably all I
could uh speak to. So I'd have to look up the research. >> It's a good question. >> Yeah. Anybody else have any questions or comments? Scott? >> U probably more for Matthew. U how's the
transportation working out between U Westwood and Kennedy? >> Um transportation between Westwood and Kennedy when we switch the uh programs over >> most of the kids are still going to be
living in the Westwood area. Um how's that working out? Have you got plans for that? >> We have plans. We haven't routed it yet. that routing will happen over the summer. Uh but as we look at our preliminary numbers, it will not add routes to us. It will not add buses or add cost from a transportation
perspective to make that transition. So we did an preliminary analysis of what that transportation impact would be. Um but we will formally know that once we actually run the routes and have real kids on real seats. So, will you be having actual pickup at
Westwood or would be picking up along a normal route? >> Those students will be assigned routes to, you know, closest to their home, right? So, stops closest to their home and they'll just be driving then out to Kennedy. So,
>> okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Okay, we're moving on to discussion and action items. First, we have uh board members appointed to award diplomas at the tech and Apollo commencements which
are Saturday, May 30th um this year. So, for Apollo, we have Scott and Zach will be handing out diplomas and Tech, Heather, and Gina will be handing out diplomas. And if um any of you run into
a conflict um let us know, let me know because I can certainly be a backup um and other board members be a backup if you're not able to make it. Something comes up at that last minute. So, thank you for um volunteering or being
enthusiastically excited about that. I appreciate that um very much. Um so, next we have the graduation plans update and Dr. Jason Harris, our assistant superintendent of secondary education, um will be filling us in of what it's
going to look like this year. >> Good evening, Sher Hos, Assistant Superintendent Hansen. I miss you over here. It's a long corner by myself and board members. Uh just a few updates around uh the graduation ceremony coming
up. Can you believe it? It's around the corner. So, our uh families are getting notices right now around graduation. Our students are looking at where they are and all the credits and requirements and we're planning for the ceremony. And so,
I'll just go over a few quick updates uh just around the ceremony. We'll have a few new uh policy procedures uh within safety and security. So, we'll have a bag policy. It's a clear bag only uh 5
by9 and so uh clear plastic bags uh will be allowed but they have to be clear. Uh exceptions will be diaper bags and medical bags but they'll be uh subject to search. We'll have a specific separate bag check line for the families
that have bags. Right. So when you look at it, you go to big events currently right now or big arenas you have to have a certain size bag. Clear. We're just starting to for us follow the standards of what's taking place when you go to big venues. Now, uh, one of the things
that will really, uh, communicate, our next communication is coming out Monday the 23rd is just around timing and entry. Right? Folks that haven't been in the downtown area at that time for movement and graduation, it gets busy. And so to find parking, our we'll be
communicating. give yourself at least 30 plus minutes to park, get to the venue doors so we can really start uh promptly. The new change will be in our time cut offs and we'll enforce when you can get in the venue and not the folks
that don't make it, we'll have an alternative area to view it with big screen. We just got a chance to see the venue to see how it will be uh for those families uh that don't make the time. So we'll really communicate to get families
to really understand like time is of the essence. We'll we'll have a cut off time. When you remember in our last ceremonies we get that last group uh and during the ceremony and we're probably what 25 minutes in. That won't happen.
We'll we'll stop the disruption to stop the ceremony for that and you'll have the alternative site. uh hear the door communication times at Apollo's graduation and tech. This this is all already being communicated in our family uh letters, but now this will be the
next wave that's coming out on Monday. And then specifically around the safety and logistics, we'll add extra uh St. Cloud PD within the venue and we'll have more supervision in our areas where we've had concerns in the past. And so those will be some of the things around
visibility and then safety because you'll probably like you know get folks that are probably mad that they if they can't get in and they miss the time. We just want to communicate ahead that we will have security and you know so we'll make sure like here's the time and so
again arriving early plan your parking give yourself plenty of time so we can have a good ceremony and uh every graduate can be celebrated and those families can have a happy happy event on that day. Any questions around that? And this is just a quick visual that we put
together uh just for the new implementation procedures around the ceremony. >> No any questions? >> All right. Well, that's it. >> That's it. >> That's it right now. >> We'll get a second scoop of the actual
principles coming in in May to just go over all the other things. This is just superintendent pundit wanted to get just a quick update. We've been getting calls about graduation already right now and so this will be you know just to get ahead of everybody to help them know the
new changes in the process. >> But right now it's um we've announced the date right Saturday. >> Yes. >> And the location >> and the location. Yes. >> Thank you very much. >> Yes. Thank you for Yes.
one policy read. Um this is a second reading for proposed revised board policy 208 which is development adoption and implementation of policies uh policy for policies um presented by Shannon Ason, executive director of community
education and community partnerships. >> Good evening chair H members of the board and uh assistant superintendent. This is a second read uh so I will not go into many details here but um just as a reminder the changes that we made to this policy were just some updates as
were recommended by about which policies would be reviewed annually and so those have decreased. Now we only have uh three policies that are required to be reviewed annually. And then the other uh change to this was that we removed the
um amend uh um what do we call it the on the end. Um and the reason we removed that is because it becomes really challenging to follow that. We like to go with um when MSBA is updating policies or there are statute changes or internally if we have some changes we
like to make sure that we follow those first. And so that's why we removed that and then we have an internal process um uh for that review cycle. Any questions? All right. Thank you.
And then standing committee reports I believe just one. Tonight we have achievement integration and equity uh board committee chair Diana Fenton. >> Thank you. The achievement integration and equity committee met this morning. Um the immersion program update that was
presented tonight by Anna Wilhight and Katie Simc was um presented and again you heard about that tonight. And the second thing we discussed today was the draft of the NAPAC letter that we will be signing at a future board meeting and
Ayan Omar will be sending a draft to board members to preview before our signing. >> Thank you. And I'm not missing any other ones. Correct. Okay. So then we have the board of education or excuse me just
future agenda items we have left. Um the April 1st board meeting topics will include technology and information systems future systems transition update approval of the 2026 2027 compensatory revenue plan. The 2026 2027 FTE
projections based on enrollment and registrations. Approval of tenative agreements if any. the NAPAC board response letter, communications update, and policy readings. At this time, does any board member wish to suggest a future agenda item?
Okay. Um, so looking for a motion to adjourn tonight's uh board of education meeting. >> I have a motion by Natalie, a second by Heather. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. Meeting is adjourned. It is
7:42 p.m. Thanks for watching. We'll be back April 1st. >> That was quick. I have a We're just done our future day.