February 24, 2016 Vol. 1, Issue 9

Minnesota Department of Education Releases 2015 Graduation Rates

Shakopee Public Schools continues to see an upward trend in graduation rates. The District has a goal to reach a four-year graduation rate of 90 percent, with no student group below 85 percent. Results like these are an encouraging sign that we are gaining ground toward our goal and our students are succeeding and growing within all of our schools. Key Points for Three-Year Trend:

• Four-year graduation rates are up at Shakopee High School, Tokata Learning Center, and for the District as a whole. Shakopee High School’s four-year graduation rate increased to 88.7%. Tokata’s four-year graduation rate saw a 12-point jump to 49.1%.

• The District also saw its four-year dropout rate decline for the second straight year to just 4.7%. The four-year dropout rate at Shakopee High School dropped from 3.4% in 2013-14 to 3.0% in 2014-15.

• The District will continue to pursue a goal to help all students graduate by increasing the direct relevance of school for all students. Programs like CAPS, offering innovative elective courses that promote college and career readiness, and the Academies of Shakopee all support that goal.

Thank you to all of you that make a difference in the lives of students.

High School Robotics Team Receives a Big Time Sponsorship

Amazon and Shakopee Public Schools announced their new sponsorship last week and our students reaped the benefits. Amazon committed to provide technical support and mentorship to the team, building materials, and a financial donation of $10,000. “This is really an exciting partnership for Shakopee Robotics,” said Sean Hildebrandt, who serves as one of three coaches of team as well as Secondary High Potential Specialist for the District. “It seems to be a perfect fit at the perfect time and we hope that this partnership will help us become an elite team.”  

 

 

“I cannot adequately express my gratitude and appreciation…”

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly express my gratitude to an amazing group

of people. To Angela Turry, principal of Pearson 6th Grade Center, for creating and fostering a

community of staff and students that continually offer strength and encouragement to one

another. Thank you for your unwavering support. To Kenny Stromgren and Katie Erdall and

their students, for your amazing efforts in the “Cookies for Clarke” sale. The enthusiasm and

generosity shown by the kids, both selling and purchasing, was overwhelming and I was deeply

touched. To Ashley Fore, Linda Verhelle, the staff of Shakopee Applebee’s and all of the

community families that attended the Dining to Donate night in January; it was humbling to see

so many students and their families take the time to participate in the evening. It was wonderful

for my own family to see how incredibly generous and giving my school family and the

community of Shakopee can be. To Jane Smith and the 6th Grade Student Council members for

their efforts in holding a Coin Drive; watching students and staff competitively place their coins

for their teams, was exciting to watch!

And finally, I cannot adequately express my gratitude and appreciation to my son Colton

for your unwavering efforts to make the obstacles in my life more manageable. You are my

rock! THANK YOU to you, family, friends and everyone for the continued support and

encouragement to stay focused on the end goal.

With much gratitude,

Jennifer Clarke

 

 

 

Saber Pride Students Practice their World Language Skills As part of a World Language Vertical team goal, all students taking a world language in the District were given writing prompts to answer collectively. The process allowed the VT team members to analyze writing samples from students. Each level – Spanish 1, 2, 3, German 1, 2, 3, etc. - were given the same writing prompts. The result – VT members could see what writing by students looks like at each level when answering the same questions.

PACE Program Continues to Serve the Community PACE is a family literacy program operating at the Central Family Center on Monday-Thursday afternoons. PACE serves English Language Learning families who qualify for free and reduced lunch. In order to qualify for PACE, a parent and a young child (ages six weeks to kindergarten age) must attend school together. We offer five children’s classrooms, teaching them both school readiness skills and English with licensed early childhood teachers. The adults are in three classes focusing on both English Language Learning and academic skills, like mathematics and pre-GED lessons. Parents are also involved in parent education where they are instructed by a licensed parent educator on parenting skills and topics to help assist them in the transition to life in the U.S. PACE is one of Shakopee’s best little known secrets! To refer families, call Julie Sharpe at 952-496-5035 or email her at jsharpe@shakopee.k12.mn.us.

 

 

Shakopee High School senior An Phan, from the Shakopee Barbell Club, earned three silver medals at the USA Weightlifting National Junior Championships in Philadelphia last weekend. Phan, the current state champion and Minnesota state record holder, totaled 186 kilograms and took a silver medal in each of the snatch, clean and jerk, and the overall total. He lifted 83 kg in the snatch competition and 103 kg in clean-and-jerk competition to finish second in each of the competitions. Phan helped Team Minnesota win both the men's and women's team national championships.

Senior An Phan Brings Home Multiple Medals

Congratulations! Taylor Koenen, basketball standout at Shakopee High School, was selected as a semi-finalist for this week's ASPIRE Athlete of the Week! Go to WWW.ASPIREATHLETEOFTHEWEEK.COM/TWINCITIES to vote for Taylor to be selected as the ASPIRE Athlete of the Week!

ONLINE VOTING WILL COMPLETELY DETERMINE THE FINALISTS THIS YEAR. The ONLINE POLL is now open and people can vote ONCE PER DAY until 10am on Thursday.  

Good luck to the six Shakopee wrestlers who will be competing in the Class 3A State Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center later this week!

Senior Emmett Wagner, juniors Alex Crowe, Brent Jones, and Carson Poshusta, sophomore

Alex Lloyd, and freshman Tyler Jones

 

 

The Shakopee All-District Band Festival is coming up! Saturday, March 5th, 2016

4:00pm Shakopee High School Gymnasium

DLC Contest: We encourage teachers, classrooms, and students to share what they love about Shakopee Schools. Pictographs, videos, presentations… there are no limits for the format, so let the creativity flow! The deadline for the contest is Monday, February 29. Email links of your completed

work to DLC@shakopee.k12.mn.us or tweet us @shakopeedlc.

DLC Challenge: One great way to learn from other educators and share your knowledge with the world is to connect via a Twitter Chat. We challenge you to create a Twitter account or extend

your current use of Twitter for professional learning by participating in a Twitter Chat that appeals to your passion. Here are some Twitter resources:

Teachers’s Guide to Twitter

Education Tweet Chat Calendar How to Participate in a Tweet Chat

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @shakopeedlc Use the hashtag #shakoEDU to share your own stories!

 

 

Two Tweets Not on … By Dave Orlowsky

I’ve heard stories about students who hardly do any homework, miss more school than they should, but somehow get all A’s on the assessments. An unlikely scenario, but if it happened, and there was clear evidence the student knew the content, what grade should be given?

All race profit goes to the Shakopee Physical Education Programs in our Shakopee Schools.

June 4, 2016

Sun Path Elementary

Bring your family and friends for a day of fun, community and exercise.

Register online at www.active.com (search for Celebration of Children)

or visit the race website for additional information.

http://sites.google.com/site/celebrationofchildren5K

All race profit goes to the Shakopee Physical Education Programs in our Shakopee Schools.

June 4, 2016

Sun Path Elementary

Bring your family and friends for a day of fun, community and exercise.

Register online at www.active.com (search for Celebration of Children)

or visit the race website for additional information.

http://sites.google.com/site/celebrationofchildren5K

 

 

Central Family Center Gym April 1, from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm To sign up, contact Kay Palacio at apalacio@shakopee.k12.mn.us or call 952-496-5032 Or go online at www.redcrossblood.org and search by Sponsor Code: CFC Wellness Please bring Photo ID or Donor Card to donate. On the day of the event, you can go to redcrossblood.org/RapidPass before you go to donate blood to answer the questions. This can shorten the amount of time that you actually spend at the donation site. Call with any questions!