Please reach out to each and every Crosswinds parent that you know and make sure that they know that there is a ‘welcome’ reception Monday evening, July 12th at 6:30pm, for the new EMID Superintendent, Dr. Brenda Cassellius. This will be an excellent way to introduce her to the Crosswinds Family and to show her how supportive our families are.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
11th & 12th Survey at Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3/31 & 4/1
Just a reminder to look for the survey when you come to Crosswinds tomorrow or Thursday for your parent-teacher conference. You will find other parents near the entrance with surveys to document how you feel about the notion of adding 11th and 12th grades to Crosswinds. Make sure you fill one out.
Guests at Crosswinds Site Council, 4/5
Crosswinds Site Council meeting on Monday (4/5) will be a particularly eventful and interesting one. Carl Wahlstrom and two board members will be at there to listen to parents and give an update on the task force progress. It will also feature a representative from the U of MN to talk about the Bush initiative that will bring many student teachers to Crosswinds. Site Council meetings are open to all parents, so whether you’ve been to one before or not, please feel welcome to join us at 6:30pm Monday at Crosswinds.
Facebook group for 11th and 12th grade
Please join the Parents + Students for 11th and 12th Grade at Crosswinds page on Facebook. They are trying to build a list of “100 reasons that adding 11th and 12th grade at Crosswinds is a good idea” and can use your help!
If any members of this group do not have Facebook accounts and are interested, it is free to sign up and there are no ongoing fees. It is a great way to stay connected with your student and their and his friends through media they are comfortable with. If you don’t have a Facebook account and want us to post ‘challenge responses,’ please feel free to email them to Christopher Porter.
Do you want 11th and 12th at Crosswinds?
I you would like to see 11th and 12th grade at Crosswinds, so that your kids could have their full high school years here, then please take a look at our grade structure task force pages. This won’t happen without some very active parents, so lift your voice if you want to see it become a reality. We have put talking points and sample letters on the website. Take a look!
The next opportunity for face-time with the EMID board will be Wednesday, 17 March, at Harambee. Even just being present can help the board understand our support.
Grade Structure Task Force Report, 2/17
The Grade Structure Task Force will be reporting its recomendations to the EMID Board at its next working group meeting on Wednesday, 2/17. This meeting starts at 6pm at Harambee. If you are curious about the results of this intensive look at whether Crosswinds should expand its grade levels, or want to be supportive of their message, please come to the meeting.
In brief, the task force recommends expanding Crosswinds through 12th grade and making an effort to streamline our message about the school’s focus. They also favor continuing the year-round calendar. Come to the meeting for details and to show we care about the outcome of this one.
Tablet laptos + Legos = Integration
District 622 has announced the programs that it has funded with the integration dollars it now controls after leaving EMID. There are a few genuine integration efforts funded, but the list also includes gems like tablet laptops and lego robotics. It looks like it is more integration than not, but there is no indication of the funding level for each program, so it is hard to say for sure.
Building the calendar
Eric Celeste has joined the “calendar committee” working with Roger Kocinski, Crosswinds Assistant Principal, to build the 2010-2011 EMID calendar. The rest of the committee is Leah Peterson, Christine Silvis, Eric Bakke, and Tim Stepan, with Kathy Griebel keeping an eye on the process. This committee will have its first meeting on December 2 and finish its work in time to get a proposed calendar to the EMID board in February.
In preparation, Eric has created a Google Calendar (iCal) version of the 2009-2010 calendar and added it to this website. See the “calendar” link in the main sidebar. Let Eric know if you spot any errors.
If you have any concerns about the EMID calendar, be sure to send them along to Eric ASAP. He will be happy to convey these to the committee.
EMID Off the June Agenda
Alert! The EMID item has been removed from the June 23 school board meetings of Distict 622 and Roseville. The superintendent of 622, Pattie Phillips, has refused to bring the item to the board this months since she could not get the final wording of the MDE/EMID/Roseville/622 agreement for the board agenda which was sent out last week. The item will now appear, we are told, next month. Roseville, which does not usually have a July meeting, will nonetheless call a special meeting of the board in July to consider this matter.
Bottom line: none of the plans have changed since the “summit meeting” of these four parties earlier this month. Only the date of the relevant board meetings has changed to July. There is no need to attend these two board meetings this month for EMID issues.
Shari Thompson has noted that even if 622 were to pull out of this agreement at this late date, MDE has assured EMID that transportation for any legacy 622 kids currently enrolled in EMID schools would be fully covered. If this were to happen, those kids would just be, technically, “open-enrolled” instead. It is unlikely to come to this, though. Everyone expects 622 to honor the principals and elements of the agreement with MDE and Roseville and EMID on 6/4.
For it’s part, EMID will go ahead with its announcement to parents on 6/24. They feel parents really need to know about this resolution and can’t wait for a set of July board meetings. So those of you in 622 should expect letters next week.
Summit with 622 and Roseville generates results
A meeting this morning of the superintendents of ISD 622, Roseville, and EMID schools with a representative from the Minnesota Department of Education has produced an agreement on how the three districts will structure the attendance of district 622 students at EMID schools. This agreement will be considered for ratification by the 622 and Roseville boards of education on Tuesday, June 23rd.
The agreement states that any 622 student currently enrolled in an EMID school will be allowed to “age-out” of EMID. This means they can continue to attend EMID schools through the completion of the EMID curriculum at Crosswinds. Their transportation costs will be covered by the state with no charge back to the families.
Siblings of current EMID students from 622 will be allowed to “open enroll” in EMID schools though an arrangement with the Roseville schools as EMID’s fiscal host. Their transportation will be paid for by EMID, but EMID will charge families a portion of those costs back ($250/year/student up to a family maximum of $600/year, all charges waived for families of kids receiving free or reduced lunches).
Any other students who want to attend EMID schools from district 622 will also be welcome to open enroll on the same terms as siblings, even if nobody in their family has previously attended an EMID school.
Again, just to be very clear: this agreement has not yet been ratified by the school boards in question. It is a very positive development, but we will have to await actions of these boards for final word. EMID plans to send out notices to families on June 24th, after the agreement has been ratified.
This is a much more positive result than many were expecting. It demonstrates that 622 is not intent on preventing attendance at EMID schools and it underscores the wonderful support we are getting from Roseville as our fiscal host. If you are available on the evening of Tuesday, 6/23, it would be great to attend one or the other of these two district board meetings to both ensure the agreement is ratified and to thank these school boards for their support of our kids being able to continue attending EMID schools.