Weekly Newsletter
June 6, 2023
Dear families,
As we enter into June, we have an exciting burst of celebrations, the culmination of a lot of great work by students and staff and positive thoughts as we plan for the coming school year! Today, we start with the first of many graduation ceremonies at our Rockridge Academy with many more to follow next week!
I also wanted to share more about our third strategic direction from our new Strategic Roadmap. Over the past two weeks, I shared about our first two, “Supporting Every Student” and “Advancing Equity. “Improving Systems” is our final direction.
When I reflect on improving systems, I often think about the famous Maya Angelou quote, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Duluth Public Schools is always seeking to “do better.” We want to make sure our services, processes, and how we use our resources are the best they can be. If we have great systems in place to support our students, staff and families, they will be able to better engage in learning.
One important way we do this is by hiring and keeping great teachers who are dedicated to our students' success and who come from diverse backgrounds. We also want to provide clean, safe, and suitable learning environments for all our students.
Oftentimes, people say that if you want to know what an organization values, follow the money. Our budget is designed to meet the educational needs of our students, and we're improving our financial planning to make sure our resources match our district's priorities. In addition to financial resources, it’s also important that we evaluate the district's capacity and program needs so we can have the right class sizes and give individual attention to students according to their needs. We also need to ensure fair access to food and offer a variety of options to our students. Last but not least, we must create safe and high-quality environments for students, staff, and families.
I hope, as we head into this final week of school, that each of you take a moment to consider everything that we have accomplished together this past year! If you have the chance to, take a moment and tell someone who made a difference for you. It will mean the world to them and your appreciation will make you feel great, too!
Best regards,
John Magas
Superintendent
Calling all teens in grades 6-12!
Come help us beautify the Main Library Plaza with Chalk Paint!
This summer's theme is 'Find Your Voice' and local artist Moira Villiard will be helping us do just that! This is a 3-day program and registration is required. Please plan on attending ALL 3 sessions:
Day One:
Design and Planning
Monday, June 5th
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Register here:
https://bit.ly/chalk2023
Day Two:
Blocking, base coats, and preliminary outlines
Tuesday, June 6th
3:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Day Three:
Inviting the general public to participate and finishing up!
Friday, June 9th
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Be sure to register on our event calendar here:
https://bit.ly/chalk2023
Summer camps are back at the DCM! Enjoy daily themed camps, museum exhibits, and active play all week long at the Duluth Children's Museum. During our camps, campers will engage in daily themed activities, play in museum exhibits, and participate in games that will help grow their socio-emotional skills.
Choose from our three awesome camps this summer- or join in for all three!
June 26-30 | 9am-1pm (ages 5-11)
Explore a range of topics like things that go, fun with plants, engineering for kids, know your noggin, and animal action during our kick-off summer camp!
July 17-20 | 9am-1pm (ages 5-11)
Experiment with different chemical reactions and learn to be a mad scientist! Create slime, watch elephant toothpaste explode, and so much more in this hands-on camp!
mad science camp
August 14-17 | 9am-1pm (ages 5-11)
What are the Forces of Flight and what do they do? How do animals and insects fly and how do they use these forces? Learn this and more in this fun, creative workshop!
Sign up at: https://www.duluthchildrensmuseum.org/camps/
For the first time ever last year, Duluth Public Schools held the Unity In Our Community back-to-school event. The feedback from our community was extremely positive and we are proud to announce this will be a reoccurring event!
So mark your calendars for the 2023 Unity In Our Community at Bayfront Festival from 4-7 p.m. on Aug. 21 and join us to celebrate our students, staff, parents, and district.
Our vision for this event is to have booths, speakers, school and community groups performing on stage, fun activities for kids, and so much more. We would also like to continue our free backpack giveaway for families who need it.
To make this event successful we will need your help and participation in this event. If you are interested in having a booth or having your youth/student group perform on stage please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/3S9ogEHqptsTPNd46
If you would like to be a volunteer please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/T9ZfMPaJifYZWZEw5
With your support, we are confident that this event will be successful and help bring us all together as one city and one district.
For further information please contact Kayla Carroll at (218) 336-8705 or mikilia.carroll@isd709.org or Communications Officer Adelle Wellens at communications@isd709.org.
The Blended Learning Agreement for the 23-24 school year is now available. Get ahead of the game and complete the form so your student starts the year with full access to Duluth Public Schools Digital Resources. Students who are in summer programming will need to have this signed before they start, as the "new" school year begins June 12!
You can also find the form linked on the Duluth Public Schools Website under "Digital Innovations"
Duluth Public Schools Blended Learning 1 to 1 Agreement for 2023-2024 - Digital Form
Duluth Public Schools Blended Learning 1 to 1 Agreement for 2023-2024 - PDF (Paper Copy)
