The District Insider
Volume 7, Issue 8 | March 2020
Incoming Kindergarten Families-
Grand Forks Public Schools has posted kindergarten registration information for the 2020-2021 school year. For more information, please look over the registration packet at
http://bit.ly/2020kindergarten
If you haven't already, please complete the pre-registration form for your student at
http://bit.ly/Kindergarten2020. This allows us to initiate the registration process for your student, which will make kindergarten registration faster and easier.
We look forward to seeing you on March 12th!
Nine Grand Forks Central and six Red River high school seniors have been selected as members of the 2020 North Dakota Class A Academic All-State teams.
Oliver Dalmi (Grand Forks Central), Daniel Hettich (Grand Forks Central), Aiden Krogh (Red River), and Gary Wu (Grand Forks Central) were named to the Gold Team while William Lawson-Body (Grand Forks Central), Jack Peterson (Grand Forks Central), and Joseph Votava (Red River) were named to the Silver Team. Each of the students will receive a medallion during the televised “Parade of Academic Champions” at the Class A Basketball Tournament in Fargo on March 13.
Rachel Craig (Grand Forks Central), Caden Dahl (Grand Forks Central), Grace Foltz (Grand Forks Central), Morgan Halliday (Red River), Peter Loyland (Grand Forks Central), Shalom Onyeka (Red River), Alexander Tjellesen (Red River), and Kirsten Warcup (Red River) were named to the Honorable Mention Team and will each receive a certificate of merit.
The students were nominated for the All-State Teams by school administrators and competed for the honor on a state-wide basis. Students were selected on their overall grade-point averages, ACT or SAT scores, extracurricular activities, community involvement, and leadership qualities.
The school stores at Grand Forks Central and Red River High Schools were two of seven schools in North Dakota to earn 2020 gold-level certification from DECA.
DECA is a co-curricular organization that provides high school students with the opportunity to develop leadership skills and prepare for future career opportunities. DECA students use their business skills to distribute items, promote fundraising events, perform market and marketing research, and handle finances.
For the certification process, student managers completed a written project showcasing how their retail operations adhere to select model business standards. Red River Outfitters (at Red River High School) was gold certified this year, while Grand Central Station (at Grand Forks Central High School) was gold re-certified.
Recognition is provided for outstanding achievement at three levels: bronze, silver, and gold. Those earning gold-level or gold re-certification are eligible to participate in the exclusive academy and competition held at the International Career Development Conference, held April 29-May 2 in Nashville, Tenn.
Marketing instructors/DECA advisors are Leonard Kjelland (Grand Forks Central High School) and Brent Polum (Red River High School).
Other schools in North Dakota who were gold-level certified include Central Cass High School, Mandan High School, North Valley Career and Technical Center (in Grafton), Northern Cass, and West Fargo High School.
Six seniors have been named 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program finalists.
Oliver Dalmi (Grand Forks Central High School), Daniel Hettich (Grand Forks Central High School), Aiden Krogh (Red River High School), Alexander Tjellesen (Red River High School), Joseph Votava (Red River High School), and Mikayla Weiss (Grand Forks Central High School) are six of approximately 15,000 finalists in the 65th annual scholarship program.
About 1.5 million high school juniors in more than 21,000 high schools nationwide entered the program by completing the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The finalists in each state are proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Scholarship winners will be selected from the group of finalists, and approximately 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million will be announced in the spring of 2020.
National Merit Scholars are selected by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Established in 1955, the organization’s mission is to recognize and honor academically talented students in the United States.
Seven Grand Forks Central seniors and two Red River High School seniors have been selected as candidates for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
Oliver Dalmi (Grand Forks Central), Daniel Hettich (Grand Forks Central), Aiden Krogh (Red River), William Lawson-Body (Grand Forks Central), Jack Peterson (Grand Forks Central), Joseph Votava (Red River), Mikayla Weiss (Grand Forks Central), Oliver Wolfe (Grand Forks Central), and Gary Wu (Grand Forks Central) have been invited to apply for the Presidential Scholar program.
Wu had also been previously selected as a state nominee for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program along with Rachel Craig (technology and engineering education), Aidan Fire (marketing education), and Katherine Liberman (business education).
Established in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program recognizes and honors distinguished graduating seniors across the nation. In 1979, the Program was extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative, and performing arts. In 2015, the program was extended again to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.
The candidates will now complete a nine-page application about jobs they have held, special talents they have, and community activities in which they have been involved in. They will also write short essays describing family characteristics, creative work, significant community contributions, and how they have responded to a challenge or mistake.
Approximately 800 students nationwide will be selected as semifinalists, and up to 161 students will be chosen as Presidential Scholars, including at least two North Dakotans.
The Presidential Scholars will be invited to Washington, D.C., in June to receive the Presidential Scholars medallion at a recognition ceremony and participate in various activities and events held in their honor.
Four Grand Forks Central High School seniors have been named state nominees for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program.
Rachel Craig (technology and engineering education), Aidan Fire (marketing education), Katherine Liberman (business education), and Gary Wu (marketing education) were named four of the five high school seniors in North Dakota to compete for the distinction.
“Grand Forks is very proud to have four of the five CTE state nominees for the U.S. Presidential Scholars program. It is a testament to the high quality of our CTE programs, staff, and students,” said Eric Ripley, Executive Director of CTE and Technology. “Each of these nominees are outstanding representatives both of the CTE department and school system."
Each of the students has completed a CTE coordinated plan of study or career pathway, have a minimum 3.0 grade point average and 3.25 grade point average in their CTE coordinated plan of study or career pathway, and have demonstrated technical competence, employability, ingenuity, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
State nominees will now be reviewed by a committee of qualified individuals experienced in career and technical education. The committee will choose 60 applicants to be named as semifinalists. The 60 CTE semifinalist applications will then be reviewed by the Commission on Presidential Scholars. All 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars will be selected by the Commission on Presidential Scholars and will receive the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a ceremony in their honor in Washington, D.C.
Since the Presidential Scholar in CTE Program began in 2015, Grand Forks Public Schools has at least one state nominee each year, with a total of 18 out of the 30 statewide nominees.
In 2017, Evan Welsh (Grand Forks Central High School) was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education (CTE), one of only 20 students nationwide to receive the honor in the CTE category that year.
Grand Forks Public Schools has received a $10,750 grant from the Northrop Grumman Corporation to support three STEM program initiatives.
The funding from Northrop Grumman will be matched through a STEM Integration and Innovation grant provided by the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education (CTE), which will provide a total of $21,500 for use at the middle and high school levels.
The grant funding will be used to support the instructor professional development training for the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) App Creators class in middle school, purchase instructor laptops for the PLTW Engineering classes at the high school and middle school, and provide support for the district’s VEX Robotics clubs.
“This grant provides the ability to enhance the curricular opportunities being provided to students within three emerging career fields: Computer Science, Engineering, and Robotics. Providing students with the ability to learn more about these fields at an early age is valuable as they are exploring all of the career pathways available to them,” said Eric Ripley, Executive Director of CTE and Technology at Grand Forks Public Schools. “We are grateful to the Northrop Grumman Foundation for their ongoing partnership and outreach support for Grand Forks Public Schools.”
Northrop Grumman is the leading global security company, providing innovative systems, products, and solutions in unmanned systems, including serving as the manufacturer of the Global Hawk. Northrop Grumman is an anchor tenant in the Grand Sky technology park at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Through the generosity of Northrop Grumman, Grand Forks Public Schools has been allotted 3 slots (1 teacher, 2 students) for an all-expense-paid opportunity to attend the United States Space Camp program, held July 4-10. This opportunity is open to students currently in Grades 6 and 7.
Interested students need to return the application into their school office by the end of Friday, March 13.
TEARS is offering Adult Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) classes through May 2020. These 8-hour classes are to mental health what CPR is to physical health – learning to recognize the symptoms and how to be connectors for help. All classes are $20/person. The classes will be held:
March 2020
3/20: 5-9 PM, 3/21: 8 AM-12 PM at Altru Professional Center, Youth MHFA
3/21: 8 AM-5 PM at Altru Hospital Meeting Room A, Adult MHFA
3/27: 5-9 PM, 3/28: 8 AM-12 PM at Red River High School, Youth MHFA
April 2020
4/3: 5-9 PM, 4/4: 8 AM- 12 PM at TBD, Youth MHFA
4/10: 5-9 PM, 4/11: 8 AM-12 PM at Red River High School, Youth MHFA
4/18: 8 AM-5 PM at TBD, Youth MHFA
4/25: 8 AM-5 PM at TBD, Adult MHFA
May 2020
5/15: 5-9 PM, 5/16: 8 AM-12 PM at TBD, Youth MHFA
5/23: 8 AM-5 PM at TBD, Youth MHFA
5/23: 8 AM- 5 PM at TBD, Adult MHFA
Participants must be 18 years of age or older and must go to both session dates. If you register for a class with two class dates back-to-back, you must attend both 4-hour dates to receive a certificate. You can register for classes by searching Mental Health First Aid on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/ or looking under Events on the TEARSGF Facebook page. Contact Moriah Opp (mopp@altru.org) with any questions.
Administration
- Principal - Elroy Schroeder Middle School
Certified Staff
- Orchestra Teacher - Middle/Elementary School
- Professional Development Coach - Head Start
- Speech Language Pathologist
- Health Teacher - Grand Forks Central High School
- Technology & Engineering Education - Elroy Schroeder Middle School
- Theatre Arts/Speech Teacher - Red River High School
- Vocal Music Teacher - Red River High School
- Library Media Specialist - Viking Elementary
- School Psychologist
- Special Education Teacher - Elroy Schroeder Middle School
- Math Teacher - Valley Middle School
- Grade 6 Teacher - Elroy Schroeder Middle School
- Special Education Teacher - Emotional Disturbance - Elroy Schroeder Middle School
- Special Education Teacher - Emotional Disturbance - Valley Middle School
- Special Education Teacher - Emotional Disturbance - South Middle School
- Special Education Teacher - Century Elementary
- Special Education Teacher - Valley Middle School
- Secondary Summer School Teacher
- Business Education Teacher - Valley Middle School
- Kindergarten-Grade 5 Classroom Teachers
- Special Education Resident Teacher Program
- Elementary Resident Teacher Program
- Middle School Resident Teacher Program
- Create a Teacher Application
Support Staff
Family Service Specialist - Head Start
Safety Officer - Red River High School
Food Service Worker (Deli) - Red River High School
Float Paraprofessional - Head Start
Custodian (part-time) - Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School
Dietitian - Child Nutrition
- Snow Removal (on call)
- Encore Para Program Application Pool
- Title I Paraprofessional Application Pool
- Special Education Paraprofessional Application Pool
- Lunchroom Paraprofessional Application Pool
- Food Service Worker/Cooks Application Pool
- Instructional Paraprofessional Application Pool
Coaching
- Head Coach - Boys' Tennis - Red River High School
- Head Coach - Volleyball - Red River High School
- Head Coach - Volleyball - Grand Forks Central High School
- Middle School Athletic Coach Application Pool
- March 6 - Grades K-5/Twining K-8 Dismissed at 11:20 a.m. (spring parent-teacher conferences)
- March 6 - End of 2nd Trimester (elementary schools)
- March 9 - Grand Forks School Board Meeting (6 p.m, Mark Sanford Education Center)
- March 10 - Grand Forks Air Force Base School Board Meeting (12 p.m.,
- Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School)
- March 11 - Grand Forks Central/Red River High Schools One Hour Late Start (PLCs)
- March 11- Elementary Early Release at 1:30 p.m. (PLCs)
- March 12 - Kindergarten Registration
- March 17 - End of 3rd Quarter (high schools)
- March 18-20 - No School K-12/Mark Sanford Education Center Open (7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- March 23 - Grand Forks School Board Meeting (6:10 p.m, Community High School)
- March 17 - End of 3rd Quarter (middle schools)