Dear families,

What an exciting week we have had! From the Fit and Fun Run at UMD, to playing cribbage in Ms. Jamar’s class at Lester Park as part of a math lesson, to the American Indian Graduation Celebration Dinner, to the Denfeld musical, Chicago, I saw countless great examples of engaging and supporting every student!

We are thrilled to be moving forward with our board approved Strategic Roadmap, linked here. The page also includes a video describing a summary of our plan’s three strategic directions: Supporting Every Student, Advancing Equity, and Improving Systems.

As I mentioned last week, I plan to cover one of the strategic directions each week, starting this week with Supporting Every Student.

Duluth Public Schools staff will work in collaboration to determine all students’ learning, behavioral, and social-emotional strengths and challenges. This starts with a strong, guaranteed and viable curriculum. In simple terms, teaching students the same things well and in similar ways in each of our schools and classrooms.

It is our collective expectation that all of our great teachers follow the curriculum guides and use approved resources in order to provide consistency to our students. Educators have access to all pacing guides, unit assessments and other standards-aligned unit documents and resources through our shared Curriculum & Instruction drive. If you are unsure of how to find these resources please review this video. This ensures that students moving from school to school or transferring to their next level of learning have had access to the same learning.

Strategies will also be implemented to create positive and safe learning environments. Students will be provided additional support to grow and improve through intervention and enrichment.

Some folks have asked, well, what does all this really look like. How are you going to get there?

As noted in the plan, we are committed to:

• Improving schedules and programming for our elementary, middle and high schools to allow for students to have multiple options for courses including “real life” classes and extracurricular activities.

• Focusing on literacy across all content areas with additional focus on early literacy.

• Providing Social Emotional Learning for all pre-K-12 students and give access to resources that support their mental health and social-emotional learning.

• Implementing restorative practices and alternatives to suspension allowing us to improve behavior and treat students respectfully when they make a mistake.

• Improving comprehensive supports for high school students by expanding our Check & Connect program so students feel welcomed, heard, engaged and happy at school.

• Developing career pathways for all students to ensure engagement and success after high school.

I hope this summary was helpful. We will be sharing a lot more as time goes on, including how we will deliver on these important efforts through progress monitoring.

Please enjoy what looks to be a nice weekend and I hope these final weeks of school are good to each of you!

Best regards,

John Magas

Superintendent

Rachel Evangelisto, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Nation, was crowned Miss Minnesota in 2022. She was the first Indigenous Miss Minnesota in the state's history and one of a handful of Indigenous women to ever compete for the title Miss America.

Miss Minnesota visited Lincoln Park Middle School and Ordean East Middle School on Wednesday, May 17 to encourage student to "celebrate culture and drive diversity."

Congratulations to these Lincoln Park Middle School Choir students for making the Minnesota ACDA State Honor Choir! These singers were carefully selected through an audition process as some of the top outstanding young Minnesota choral musicians from hundreds of applicants. Jemma B, Alaira T, and Lucy H were chosen for the 7-8th Grade Honor Choir, and Paisley K, Hadley A, Cadel P, and Teagan S represented LPMS in the 4-5-6th Grade Honor Choir. They performed in concerts a few weeks ago in Mahtomedi, MN.

Denfeld High School Principal Tom Tusken, MTSS Coordinator Heather Jarvis, and Duluth East High School Principal Danette Seboe are all Gold Star winners of the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) 2022-23 Star of Innovation Award.

This award is sponsored by Horace Mann and is designed to recognize MASSP member schools statewide for the development and support of an exemplary and innovative education program in their school based upon the following criteria:

• Applicant must be a member of MASSP.
• The degree to which the program demonstrates a positive impact on education and the advocacy of children.
• Clear principal leadership in the development and/or implementation of this innovative program.
• Creativity and imagination while bringing about positive school change.
• How easily this program can be replicated at other schools.

Gold Star winning schools will be provided a $250 award to be used at the principal's discretion with their staff.

Calling all high school students interested in Computer Science!

This 8-week summer course will introduce you to the basics of computer programming in Java. This is a hands-on accelerated course that will meet once a week. You are welcome to attend no matter your interest level. Maybe you just want to try computer programming in a pressure-free environment (you will not receive a grade). Maybe you want to take a deep dive into programming and receive college credit. All are welcome. At the end of the course, those who choose to may take an exam to earn 4 college credits from Saint Scholastica (must receive a C on the exam).

Dates: Class starts the week of June 19 and continues for 8 weeks.
Cost: There is no cost to attend the course or take the optional exam.
Questions: Contact Kris Glesener at kglesener@css.edu or 218-723-6797.

Register Now!

Duluth East High School's Harbortown Junior Rotarians took over the Harbortown Rotary meeting Wednesday morning. They were tasked with running the entire meeting and securing a guest speaker of their choice. They choose Emily Ford, an aspiring winter backpacker and thru-hiker based in Duluth.

Ford has completed the remote 41-mile Kekekabic and 66 mile Border Route Trails bordering Ontario, Canada, and Northern Minnesota, the 310 mile Superior Hiking Trail which travels from near the Ontario border to Wrenshall, Minnesota, south of Duluth.

This year Duluth Public Schools and Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation will award an elementary teacher the honor of the 2023 Goldfine Gold Star Teacher award during a ceremony Monday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Park Middle School.

The Goldfine family presents $5,000 annually to an outstanding teacher within the Duluth Public School system. The award is intended for the personal use of the recipient and there are no “strings” attached.

Manley and Lillian Goldfine established this award through the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation in 2006 to recognize public school teachers who inspire their students and provide a strong foundation for educational, personal and professional success.

Teachers are nominated for the award based on several criteria, including impact in the classroom, school and community, and their efforts to pursue professional development. Congratulations to this year’s nominees, selected through a competitive application process.

We are excited to offer new and more diverse books at our libraries thanks to ESSER Funds. Books with more diverse characters and storylines have been purchased throughout the school year for all ages across the district. Below are just a few that were purchased for East High School. #teachinglearningequity

University of Minnesota Duluth is hold a camp for development level cross country and track and field athletes and high school pole vaulters.

The camp is Thursday, June 15th from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will be offered to rising 5-8th graders and high school level pole vaulters of all skill levels. Camp scholarships are also available thanks to Grandma's Marathon group. Event details/Registration links are below.

Bulldog Track and Field/Cross Country Camps

Free public education for Adults ages 18 - 99+.

Summer session runs through July 20th.

Work with a teacher on your educational goals- in person or online.

Chromebook check out available to all eligible DAE students.

Your future starts today - register now: isd709.org/dae

Questions? Call 218-336-8725