Our own indefatigable Crosswinds graduate, Zander Sellie, became front page news in the Saturday 5/17 Pioneer Press! See the article by Christopher Magan, Zander Sellie is in the house — in the statehouse, that is.
Here is a PDF of the front page.
Category Archives: Crosswinds
Crosswinds Bill Passes Senate E12 Division, 3/18
This morning SF530, the bill conveying Crosswinds to Perpich, was the first item on the agenda of the E12 Division of the Senate Finance Committee. The bill was presented by its author, Sen. Dahle, and amended to take care of some finance and transportation issues. Great news: the bill made it over this very important hurdle!
Tom Melcher, of the Minnesota Department of Education, explained that one of the amendments just ensured that districts whose students attend Crosswinds did not get to charge the state for their “declining enrollment” in these cases. This effectively makes the future under Perpich similar to the past under EMID, when districts could also not make such charges to the state. With regard to transportation, the new language clarifies that Perpich will be able to seek integration funding for transportation as long as it files integration plans with MDE, again similar to the transportation situation under EMID. Though the final “fiscal note” was not yet complete, Melcher anticipated that it would show SF530 provides a net benefit to the state, rather than a net cost.
Testimony proceeded from Dr. Jean Lubke (Executive Director of EMID), Kitty Gogins (Chair of the EMID Board), Sue Mackert (Executive Director of Perpich), Dr. Carla Hines (Principal at Crosswinds), Kai’li Taylor (Crosswinds 9th grader), Eric Celeste (former Crosswinds parent), and Mike Boguszewski (former Crosswinds parent). Many other parents and students surrounded the final three testifiers to show the committee the strength of our support, and written testimony was also provided from many of you.
With very little discussion, the E12 Division voted to “lay over” the bill with Chair Wiger for inclusion in the Senate Finance omnibus. This is very good news. Sen. Wiger gave a supportive little talk after the vote. This leaves the future of SF530 very much in his hands and the hands of the Senate Finance Chair, Sen. Dick Cohen. Of course, this is the legislature, so other complications may arise.
Thank you to all of you who have helped us get so far on this road. Today was a big step, only possible due to your actions over the past few years. At this point we need to thank our supporters, please help us by sending kind notes to:
- Your own state representative and state senator (use Who Represents Me to find out who they are)
- Sen. Kevin Dahle for his hard work shepherding SF530
- Rep. JoAnn Ward for carrying the corresponding legislation in the House, HF592
- Dr. Jean Lubke for her strong support and testimony from EMID
- Sue Mackert for her undying advocacy for Crosswinds from Perpich
- Shari Thompson for her work to line up vital financial information
And you may also want to send a note asking for support for SF530 from Sen. Dick Cohen as Chair of the Senate Finance committee.
Crosswinds Hearing with Senate E12 Finance, Tuesday 3/18
SF530, the bill to convey Crosswinds to Perpich, is scheduled for another hearing the the Minnesota Senate tomorrow. This time the bill will be heard by the E12 Division of the Senate Finance Committee in Room 112 of the Capitol, Tuesday, March 18, 8:30-11am. Join us at the capitol if you can!
Please visit our Contacting Your Representatives page for more details on how to ask your own senator to support SF530.
Crosswinds bill passes Senate Education Committee, 3/6
After a year of delay, the Minnesota Senate finally heard the bill to convey Crosswinds to Perpich on Wednesday, March 6. Senator Kevin Dahle presented SF530 to the Senate Education Committee, supported by testimony from Sue Mackert, Susan Larson, Mary Cecconi, Eric and Nate Celeste, Mike Boguszewski, Leslye and Kai’li Taylor, Dan Larson, Laurel LeBlanc (reading Abby’s words), and Tami Bayne-Kuscmarski. In addition many others submitted written testimony to the committee.
Senators Kent and Torres Ray raised concerns about Crosswinds enrollment numbers, noting that Crosswinds had seen a decline while Harambee numbers held steady. They implied that the situation at Crosswinds and Harambee was similar so the decline must reflect something about the quality of Crosswinds. Of course, we realize that Harambee had a clearly understood future with Roseville while Crosswinds was constantly threatened with closure, a situation we will have to make clearer at the bill’s next stop. Even given these concerns, the committee unanimously passed the bill on to the Senate Finance Committee’s E-12 Division for further consideration.
The Crosswinds bill is now awaiting its hearing in the Senate Finance Committee’s E-12 Division (likely some time the week of 3/17).
Crosswinds Hearing in the Senate, Thursday 3/6
Exciting news for all of us who waited through the whole 2013 session without a hearing in the MN Senate, this year we are getting our first Senate hearing right up front! Join us in Room 112 of the Capitol, Thursday, March 6, Noon-2:30pm for a hearing of the Senate Education Committee on SF530, the bill to convey Crosswinds to Perpich.
If you can’t be at the hearing, then please consider writing a testimony for the conveyance of Crosswinds to Perpich. We have a packet of testimony (PDF) from parents to the House last year that might provide some inspiration. Just send your testimony to testimony@emidfamilies.org by Tuesday 3/4, and we will make sure it gets to the committee. Visit our Contacting Your Representatives page for more details.
Sue Mackert, Executive Director of Perpich, will join us at our EMID Families meeting on Sunday (3/2, 3pm, Rondo Library, Saint Paul) to fill us in on plans for the legislative session.
Crosswinds Open House on Tuesday 1/28
Please help us fill up Crosswinds by letting everyone know that the Crosswinds Open House will be on Tuesday (1/28) evening at 6:30pm. Also, if you are a Crosswinds family or alumni, please come to the open house to help spread the word about what a wonderful school it is to all our prospective students and families.
Please join us and put up this event flier wherever you can.
Pioneer Press: Future of two east metro magnet schools in lawmakers’ hands again
Christopher Magan writes in the Pioneer Press: “Future of two east metro magnet schools in lawmakers’ hands again.”
When Minnesota lawmakers return to the state Capitol next month, they will be asked again to decide the future of two east metro magnet schools.
A year after a group of east metro school districts ended their involvement in Crosswinds East Metro Arts and Science School in Woodbury and Harambee Elementary Community Cultures and Environmental Science School in Maplewood, supporters might get another shot at permanent leadership for the schools.
“We are hoping for a smooth conveyance,” said Jean Lubke, executive director of the East Metro Integration District, or EMID. “We support the schools’ continued operation as inter-district integration magnet schools.”
Help Crosswinds and Perpich Recruit Students this Saturday
Crosswinds will be at table W-7 at the Saint Paul School Choice Fair this Saturday (1/11) from 9:30am-2pm. Please help us by letting your friends know they should stop by our table at the fair! If you have time to help out by volunteering at the table, please contact Mindy Rinkenberger for details. The most important thing we can all do for Crosswinds right now is help Perpich recruit a full house for next year!
Also, the Perpich Arts High School will be having its own information session at 1pm this same Saturday.
If you know of any 10th or 11th graders who are interested in arts-centered education for their last years of high school, please encourage them to check out Perpich Arts High School. We will be hosting our last info session of the year this Saturday (1/11) from 1-3pm at Perpich (6125 Olson Memorial Highway
Golden Valley, MN 55422). You can find out more through the Facebook event.
Your help in spreading the word is much appreciated, as word of mouth continues to be one of the major ways that students find out that Perpich exists as an option for their schooling. Interested students and families can also receive admissions updates by signing up for the Perpich admissions email list. Thank you!
Perpich wins grant for Crosswinds-related project
The Perpich Center for Arts Education has won a $17,900 grant for a project that will leverage work Anna B. has done with the Crosswinds media center and local libraries into a statewide professional development project for literacy equity.
Here is the announcement from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) awards by MDE:
Perpich Center for the Arts – $17,900
“Literacy Equity: Engaging Resourceful Community Knowledge”
Literacy Equity: Engaging Resourceful Community Knowledge will build and reinforce partnerships between school media centers and local community libraries so that both are better able to engage partnerships and resources in response to the emerging needs of their communities and provide targeted outreach to under-served populations. In this professional development project, participants will develop literacies related to improving water quality and building a cross-cultural school community around a particular community need. Participants will learn strategies for identifying and partnering with organizations, individuals and families to build collective literacy about the changing quality of our shared watersheds, and to better understand and share the cultural assets of the school and local communities.
Congratulations to Perpich and Crosswinds!
Crosswinds Arts Night and Bake Sale, 12/19
Crosswinds will be celebrating the arts on Thursday, December 19, from 7-8:30pm. Come see the Orchestra, Theater, Art, and Band programs all celebrate the best of Crosswinds. And there will be a bake sale as well! Here’s the flyer.
Contact Torria at 651-379-2603 or torria.randall@crosswindsmn.org if you are interested in volunteering at the event or donating baked goods to the bake sale.
Also, if you are a current Crosswinds family, there will also be a chance to learn more about the Positive Behavioral Intervention & Supports (PBIS) program starting at 4:30 the same Thursday evening.