Save the date! www. ahschools. us / ahef
GALLAGHER MEMORIAL 5K
Students fabricate commemorative flag for sheriff’ s office page 2
Coon Rapids graduate visits White House page 3
RMS teacher Pam Schwandt named Art teacher of the year page 4
FOCUS
Regional High School student poetry page 7
ANOKA- HENNEPIN SCHOOL DISTRICT
ON ANOKA-HENNEPIN SCHOOLS
Fit for the Future Task Force presents facility recommendations to board
WINTER 2017
Organizing, planning, working to continuously improve schools
By Superintendent David Law
Our district has a simple, important mission:“ Effectively educating all students for success.” To accomplish this purpose we rely on a great recipe: a strong educational foundation for all students and a system that offers wide ranging opportunities for each student.
The Fit for the Future Task Force has been meeting since last April, studying the district, and determining its long-range facility needs. Some areas of the school district, especially on the northern side, are experiencing dramatic growth, which is putting pressure on capacity at schools like Blaine High School.
A 32-member task force charged with looking into Anoka- Hennepin’ s long-term building and classroom needs, on Jan. 23, presented nine recommendations to the School Board for addressing the district’ s facility needs.
Chief among the recommendations made by the task force, which were made of community members, parents and school district staff, is the construction of new schools in Blaine and Ramsey the upgrading and renovation of schools to meet the needs of 21st century students, the creation of additional space throughout the district for special education programming, and the elimination of all 62 portable classroom spaces around the district by adding permanent classroom space. The group also recommended the district go to the community for a bond referendum to enact the recommendations.
The recommendations were made in order to address the findings the task force made during its eight-month study of the district. Among the findings made: the district is experiencing a dramatic imbalance of population growth, which is
putting significant pressure on schools in Blaine, Ramsey and Ham Lake; the lack of 21st century learning spaces in nearly all district buildings, which average 49 years old districtwide; a surging need for special education spaces; the continued use of more than 60 portable classroom spaces, mostly at secondary schools, continue to pose a security risk; and a lack of classroom and support space at most schools across the district.
The School Board accepted the report and will use it as a guide to make decisions on how to address space challenges moving forward, School Board chair Tom Heidemann said following the task force presentation.
“ We have a lot to consider and we very much appreciate you laying this very solid foundation for us to work from,” he said.“ This is not something that’ s going to go on the shelf.”
Heidemann said the next steps will include a community engagement process and to put together a plan of action with specifics behind it.
continued on page 3
The School Board is committed to continuous improvement. Over the past several years, Anoka- Hennepin schools has implemented an improvement process that allocates resources to strategic priorities based on the needs identified by data and / or recommendations from staff and the community. This four-step approach includes input, prioritization, implementation and evaluation. Our priorities are clustered into three areas: increased academic achievement, safe and welcoming schools, and effective organizational support.
Increasing academic achievement for students is
continued on page 7
Save the date! www. ahschools. us / ahef
GALLAGHER MEMORIAL 5K
Saturday, April 8
Anoka High School • 3939 7th Ave. N, Anoka
• Proceeds support literacy in our local public schools.
• Registration starts at 8 a. m. 5K run at 9 a. m.
• Pre-register to receive a t-shirt.
• Preschoolers’ run at 8:30 a. m.
• Participating children receive a free book!
Make Anoka-Hennepin part of your social media
facebook. com / anokahennepin
twitter. com / ahschools
youtube. com / anokahennepin