Year‑end schools update: safety drills, teacher finalists, student awards and partnerships highlighted

Nikki Hansen, Dr. Jason Harris and Danny Mayer presented year‑end highlights across the district, organized around pillars of safety, belonging, collaboration and excellence.

Safety highlights included another year of YMCA water‑safety partnerships and a district severe‑weather awareness week. Belonging items included recognition of longtime speech‑language pathologists, community dances hosted by 18–22 programs, and a Native American graduation ceremony. Collaboration examples included autism‑team professional learning, third‑grade MCA preparations, the Apex groundbreaking and partnerships with St. Cloud State University for physics lab experiences. Excellence highlights named Minnesota teacher‑of‑the‑year finalists from district schools, bilingual proficiency seals for McKinley students and national letters of intent signings for postsecondary plans.

Speakers emphasized community partnerships and student opportunities; the board received the update as the final schools report of the year.