Superintendent's Summary of the Red Lake School District #38 March Board Meeting

The Board met at the District Office on March 18th for its regular meeting. Superintendent Lundquist shared the following information relative to activities underway improve achievement, attendance and enrollment:

* The district is working with Sherri Dahl, Malcom Wax and representative teachers to substantially decrease the amount of assessments administered to students.

* The district is collaborating with the Tribal Council to host Noojimo Giizhigad (Healing Day) on March 28th. Everyone is welcome to attend this event which will feature spiritual elders, speakers, music, a feast and other activities.

* Is collaborating with Chairman Seki to secure his attendance at the April Board meeting to discuss further strengthening the partnership between the school district and the Nation, and the district is also working to ensure he is able to gather feedback on important tribal issues from Red Lake students as part of his community conversations efforts.

Each of the buildings and district departments offered updates on their activities, including the following:

* Red Lake Elementary School hosted a Parent Advisory meeting earlier this month, and are planning a Family Fun Night for Thursday, March 26th. A kindergarten Round Up session was also held on March 17th at the Early Childhood Center.

* The Ponemah School's Leadership Team continues to meet regularly and has targeted the area of communication as an area for improvement in their overall efforts. The staff is also working hard to boost student engagement and success on the MCA tests by hosting a "Blast Off" session to motivate learners to do their very best. Three seventh grade students have been selected to attend Perdue to take part in a summer learning camp.

* The Middle School has successfully completed their School Improvement Grant review with the Minnesota Department of Education. A copy of the findings is available upon request. The Family Community Liaison continues to coordinated good attendance and family engagement for all students, including the implementation of the Check and Connect program. Artists including musicians, poets, and others continue to be well received by Middle Schools students as part of the Turnaround Arts initiative.

* The High School was well represented by two students at the regional History Day competition in Bloomington. The College and Career Pathways program is off to a great start in health careers, and is also collaborating to expand the building trades strand to include training in earth block construction.

Other district staff reports included the following highlights:

In addition, the Board took action to:

* Approve a construction manager contract with Woodstone/Red Lake Builders

* Approved the 2015-16 academic calendar with a September 2nd start date for students, a May 27th end date for students, and an eight day winter break in December.