Category Archives: Member Districts

South Washington County Considers Crosswinds, 11/20

The South Washington County School Board will consider a proposal to take over the Crosswinds School at their board meeting tomorrow, Tuesday 11/20, 7pm, at the District Service Center in Cottage Grove. The agenda for their meeting shows that item 6.6. will be “Approval of Interest/Proposal for Crosswinds School” presented by Superintendent Keith Jacobus.

Their meeting allows visitors to address the board near the beginning of the meeting. It is important that the board hear how much we value the diverse and respectful environment that has been built at Crosswinds over the past decade and more. You can be part of educating the board about what Crosswinds has to offer and how South Washington County could benefit from not just taking over the building, but from keeping much of the program intact. An arts and science magnet focus with an IB middle years program (that can feed their current 11/12 IB at Park High School) and a year-round schedule could make Crosswinds a jewel for South Washington County. Will they keep this and our truly integrated environment alive, or will they transform Crosswinds into just another middle school? EMID families can have a part in the answer.

So if you can be there, please come to the South Washington County board meeting tomorrow and help spread the word of the benefits that can come to the system if they acquire more than just a building from EMID.

Also, don’t forget that our own EMID Board meeting will be coming up next week. Here are upcoming meetings to be aware of:

  • Tuesday, 11/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. A proposal for Crosswinds is item 6.6 on the agenda.
  • Wednesday, 11/28, 5:30pm, EMID Board at Harambee. No details yet, but the board packet should be here by the week before the meeting.
  • Thursday 12/6, 6pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.
  • Tuesday, 12/18, 6:30pm, Roseville School Board, District Center located at 1251 County Road B2 West. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be available soon from the sidebar on this page.
  • Thursday 12/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.

Remember, too, that you are always welcome to write EMID board members or EMID superintendents with any questions you may have.

Is Harambee going to Roseville and Crosswinds to South Washington County?

Recent discussion by the board and a conversation with Superintendent Mohr at this week’s Crosswinds Community Partnership (CCP) meeting seem to indicate there is activity afoot to turn our school buildings over to local member districts: Harambee would go to Roseville and Crosswinds to South Washington County. The Superintendent encourages CCP parents to attend the school board meetings at Roseville and South Washington County in order to track developments there, since those boards would probably have a discussion of such a possibility before it is announced at the 11/28 EMID board meeting.

If you are a Roseville or South Washington County resident, you may have particular interest in getting to these local board meetings, but even if you are resident in other EMID districts, you would be welcome to attend these public meetings. There is no indication yet of what purpose Roseville or South Washington County have in mind for our buildings, so showing up, asking questions, and listening to the discussion could be very interesting.

Here is a schedule of November school board meetings at EMID, Roseville, and South Washington County.

  • Thursday 11/8, 6pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. The agenda for this meeting does not list EMID as a topic, but it could come up in the workshop discussion.
  • Tuesday, 11/13, 6:30pm, Roseville School Board, District Center located at 1251 County Road B2 West. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be available soon from the sidebar on this page.
  • Tuesday, 11/20, 7pm, South Washington County School Board, District Service Center, Cottage Grove. There is no agenda yet, but the agenda should be here closer to the meeting date.
  • Wednesday, 11/28, 5:30pm, EMID Board at Harambee. No details yet, but the board packet should be here by the week before the meeting.

Remember, too, that you are always welcome to write EMID board members or EMID superintendents with any questions you may have.

High School Options, 12/9

I attended the high school options fair at Crosswinds last week and found it a helpful and energetic event. I was there both to check out options for my eighth grader and to share our experience with Avalon School with parents and students. While a few of the other charter schools I would have expected were missing from the event, the member districts were well represented. I’m not sure of numbers, but the event also felt reasonably well attended.

The event last week was aimed mostly at Crosswinds 10th graders, but I also learned that Crosswinds is planning a high school Open House for its own 8th graders this week. I have yet to get a ParentLink, but it did appear on the calendar this weekend and Principal Bass just confirmed it with me this evening. “We are calling it an Open House for 8th graders to explore the 9/10 option at Crosswinds. There should have been a Parent link that hit homes on Friday. Also, our 8th grade parents will be phoned by our 8th grade teachers to personally connect on Monday or Tuesday evening this week.”

So if you have an 8th grader, try to set aside Thursday (12/9) evening (no time on the calendar, but likely 6:30pm) to see all the reasons your soon-to-be high schooler would have a great time in 9th and 10th at Crosswinds.