Action of the School Board Action of the School Board 08/25/14 | Page 3

concerning middle school student participation in varsity sports.
Last year, the School Board approved a pilot program that allowed select seventh and
eighth graders who were deemed eligible for acceleration to play varsity athletics. Per
the pilot, middle school students were screened by coaches and then a review committee
looked at their academic performance, social readiness and athletic prowess before determining whether or not they would be allowed to participate. The previous policy did not
allow middle school students to participate at the varsity level in many sports.
Last year, as a result of the pilot, a total of 35 middle school students participated in varsity
athletics, and in doing so, no high school student athletes were displaced by their participation.
The School Board will vote on the policy change at a later meeting. The full presentation is
available on the district website.

K-12 math evaluation report presented

Dr. Cynthia Hays, chief academic officer, presented the results, recommendations and timeline from the math program evaluations completed at the end of the last school year.
The reports highlighted a few priorities, including a recommendation to delay formal math
curriculum changes and adoption until after the state revises math standards in 2015-16.
This will allow for greater fidelity of implementation of the new curriculum and will ensure
resource materials are aligned with the new standards.
The board accepted the report, and authorized Hays to work with staff to revise the Math
Action Plan by incorporating the full range of recommendations found in the reports. The
revised action plan will be presented to the School Board at a later time.
The full presentation and briefing notes are available on the district website.

Communication and public relations

Status report on building district brand and website redesign

Steve Kerr, executive director of community and government relations, introduced Mary
Olson, director of communication and public relations, Kay Villella, assistant director of
communication and public relations, and Courtney Markuson, communication specialist,
to discuss building the Anoka-Hennepin brand.
Olson said that a 2012 research process set the course for Anoka-Hennepin’s brand. Key
themes were developed and shared in the 2012-13 school year, and a visual identity was
formed in 2013-14 through a redesign of print and electronic communications (including
the district and school websites). This coming year, all redesign projects will be finished.
Markuson shared the team’s Visual Identity and Brand Book, a 25-page reference guide for
staff to learn about Anoka-Hennepin’s image and personality. Best practices, wording styles
and a color palette are just some of the many items included in the book.
Since its deployment, the new Anoka-Hennepin brand has seen great success. In the latest
community survey, 88 percent of respondents said communication with residents is good
or excellent (up 20 points). As for the respondents’ primary source of information, 55 percent identified the Focus newsletter (up 23 points).

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Villella shared how research guided the website redesign as well, mentioning that consistency and fewer clicks is what drove the team. She also stated that items of most interest are
now prominent in the design and navigation (ie. calendars, directory, etc.). A short video
was shared to demonstrate how to navigate the new look. This same piece is also available
on school and district websites until the end of September.