Category Archives: Harambee

Robicheau to inform board he intends to resign

Tomorrow is yet another EMID board meeting, and as we’ve learned this year, there is never a dull moment when the EMID board gathers! The breaking news is that Interim Superintendent Jerry Robicheau, who was just reappointed by the EMID board in December, plans to announce his resignation from his post effective March 15. This means that the agenda item labeled innocuously “consider scheduling special board meeting to discuss candidates for superintendent position” in this month’s board packet gains a great deal of urgency.

Also on the agenda this month are discussions of capturing some portion of member district operating levies to make the EMID budget more sustainable, and a discussion of the community forum and budget reduction work already underway.

Particularly intriguing is an item labeled simply “Good News” on the agenda. Let’s hope so!

The board gathers at Harambee tomorrow, February 15, at 5:30 for a work session. Public forum (where the community can say a few words) is scheduled to start at 6:30 when the board meeting begins. Both the work session and the meeting are open to the public, please consider attending.

Harambee’s Principal Griebel Writes the EMID Board

Kathy Griebel, Harambee’s principal and a long-time EMID staff member, shares a letter she wrote to the board today.

I believe that racially integrated schools serve as a key structure of opportunity and a foundational element for transforming schools, districts, and communities. Innovation through magnet schools and interdistrict collaboration are essential to school improvement and collaboration. The Statewide Task Force on School Integration found that magnet schools are a widely used tool to promote integration through school choice.

Please consider writing your own letter!

Testimony at 21 September 2013 EMID Board Meeting

The following recordings are community testimony at the board meeting on 21 September 2011. More notes of the meeting are also available.

Dan Larson, Curt Sward, Eric Celeste, Zander Sellie, Greg Prince, Mary Jacobson & Austin, Kelly DeBrine, Mike Boguszewski, Abby LeBlanc, Stacy, Nate Celeste, Sam Larson, Shannon Hannagain, Fred LeBlanc, Youth Executive Board, Kathryn Marget, Jessica McKnight, Mary Rose Amundson, and Lauren Schlenker.

A Conversation About Perpich

Sue Mackert, the Executive Director of the Perpich Center for Arts Education, joined The Crosswinds Community Partnership on Monday night (9/12) to talk about the opportunity Perpich represents for 10th graders looking for a pathway beyond Crosswinds. The conversation also merged into a Q&A about Perpich’s interest in possibly picking up the management of Harambee and Crosswinds from EMID. Read on for some notes from this conversation.

Continue reading →

Perpich Center for Arts Education expressing interest in Harambee and Crosswinds

We have learned that the Perpich Center for Arts Education is expressing interest in taking over Harambee and Crosswinds and is in conversations with EMID and the Minnesota Department of Education about the idea. The Perpich Arts High School is currently an 11th and 12th grade destination for a number of Crosswinds graduates. Perpich also has a significant statewide professional development component to its mission. While we don’t know very much about this proposal yet, it does sound like a potentially exciting opportunity for our schools and interesting expansion of the Perpich mission.

It also appears this might fit under the second of the three options the EMID board is currently considering: “transfer governance of schools to different operator.” If you like the idea of Harambee and Crosswinds continuing under a Perpich Center for Arts Education umbrella, please encourage EMID board members to consider this option.

You can read about Perpich at http://www.mcae.k12.mn.us. We will keep you posted as we learn more!

EMID Board Considering Shutting EMID Down

At the EMID Board meeting last night (24 August) the board actively considered shutting down EMID schools after the 2011-2012 school year finishes. A couple parents were at the meeting and the board did pull back from the brink, but this is still a very real threat to our schools. Read more about the meeting below, in a note that Susan Larson sent to our mailing list. We will, of course, post updates on EMID Families! Continue reading →

EMID Families meets Tuesday, 3/31

Please join us for a special, spring get together with other EMID Families.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 31 at 7 pm
WHERE: Harambee Elementary School (in the annex)
WHY: To see other EMID Families, to meet Steve Hunt (the newly elected 622 School Board Representative), and to learn the latest information from EMID Business Manager, Shari Thompson, about how the 622 pull out will affect us.

Special Note: Families are invited to bring food and beverages to share with one another and our guests. If you wish to contribute something, please reply to this email so that I may coordinate the contributions. Also, please notify me if childcare or other accommodations are needed and I will look into this.

Feel free to invite new families or others who have not previously been a part of this group. Hope to see you all there!

Prior to the meeting, you may want to review Jan, Feb, March board minutes and packets, found on the EMID Web site. They contain information on staff reductions resulting from the 622 pull-out, formal notice that Mahtomedi is leaving the district, and the possibility of a broader, metro wide integration partnership in the future.

Meeting Times for 2008/2009

To make things a little easier on everyone, we decided at our meeting last night to set out a regular meeting date for the whole school year. So, mark your calendars!

EMID Families will meet on the first Tuesday of every other month. The change from Wednesday and to bimonthly takes into account the feedback we got from our survey last month. We also decided to alternate between Harambee and Crosswinds. The dates are:

Tuesdays at 7pm…

  • December 2 at Harambee
  • February 3 at Crosswinds
  • April 7 at Harmabee
  • June 2 at Crosswinds
  • August 4 at Harambee

More details about each meeting, including what room to look for, will be sent out prior to each meeting.

Parents United’s Mary Cecconi, Monday 10/20

Mary Cecconi, Executive Director of Parents United for Public Schools, will be speaking to the EMID Community on Monday October 20th at Harambee!

As parents we understand the need for sustainable, dependable, and adequate dollars to support public education. House File 4178, the “New Minnesota Miracle Bill,” calls for a significant increase in spending for our schools. This bill will not pass by luck, but by the work we in the community are willing to do on its behalf.

On Monday October 20th Parents United for Public Schools, the League of Women Voters and the Minnesota PTA will be joining together to present information about HF 4178 to the EMID Community. Come to listen and learn what the passage of this bill can do to enhance student achievement in the state of Minnesota.

We need to understand what challenges our schools face and how investing in them will benefit our state. We also need to understand the cost of disinvesting. Finally, we need to understand this well enough to explain the need to our friends and neighbors AND ask those who are seeking election this fall where they stand on it.

Please join us on Monday October 20th from 6:30-8 pm at Harambee to learn more about HF 4178. Democracy works best when we are all a part of it! Hope to see you there. Childcare will be provided. Light refreshments will be served following the presentation.