New Ulm Public Schools will have 26 new teachers and a new Superintendent. Top Row: Sean Koster, Superintendent of Schools – New Ulm Public Schools; Philip Claussen, Instrumental Music – New Ulm High School; Hunter Rodriguez, Health/Phy Ed Teacher – New Ulm High School; Nathan Wuestenberg, Math Teacher – New Ulm High School; Elizabeth Baumann, FACS Teacher – New Ulm Middle School; Ashley Schneider, FACS Teacher – New Ulm High School 2nd Row from Top: Jordyn Manderscheid, Special Education Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Courtney Colton, Social Worker – Jefferson Elementary School; Adeline Ritter, Grade 3 Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Jack Trowbridge, Grade 1 Teacher – Jefferson; Ciara Flugum, Grade 2 Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Nathan Gusso, IT/Woods, Adv. Woods, Cabinetry & Construction; Steffanie Dietz, Phy Ed/Health Teacher – New Ulm High School. 3rdd Row from Bottom: Crystal Ibberson, Special Education Teacher – New Ulm Middle School; Jennifer Clark, Grade 6 Science Teacher – New Ulm Middle School; Emma Dickinson, Kindergarten Teacher – Washington Learning Center; Elizabeth Shaul, Grade 2 Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Paige Vancura, Kindergarten Teacher – Washington Learning Center; Klaire Zellmann, Grade 3 Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Kalley Kendall, ABS Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Renae Kramer, Spanish Teacher – New Ulm High School. Bottom Row: Lisa Falk, Special Education Teacher – Washington Learning Center; Skyler Dustin, IT/Mechanics/Small Engines Teacher – Career Technical Education Center; Rachel Large, Grade 4 Teacher – Jefferson Elementary School; Erin Altmann, Special Education Teacher – New Ulm High School; Holly Covington, Ag Teacher – New Ulm High School. (Not in picture: Hailey Boelter, Kindergarten Teacher — Washington Learning Center).

NEW ULM — New Ulm Public Schools are abuzz with changes as another school year is well underway for their 2,100 students across K-12.

A two-year door replacement plan has been completed at Jefferson Elementary School. The plan upgraded older doors and increased security to further ensure students’ safety. A total of 18 doors were replaced, a third of the total doors in the school building. As of now, there are no plans to replace any more doors.

Technology also received a big boost within the elementary school. Within each classroom, there is a large interactive screen similar to a Smart Board the students can interact with. Media Specialist Heidi Wilker explained the capabilities of the technology.

“In their classrooms, they would be able to use an iPad and the teachers got updated iPads so we can use our screens and project,” she said. “For example, this afternoon, I can have the kids see what I’m doing when they’re back there and show them on my iPad. We also received wireless keyboards they can use around the room. A teacher can hand that to the child and they will use that to project so everybody can see their work too.”

Koster described it as a collaborative workspace concept that allows students to work with each other and their teachers.

A priority Koster identified for the future is re-vamping the playground area between the elementary and middle schools. He said the school district is still in the planning stages.

“We’re taking a peek at our play structures at both Middle School Jefferson and also at Washington to get a sense of what needs to be done,” Koster said. “We have a surface area over at Jefferson we’re evaluating for safety. We have some outdated equipment at both the middle school and Washington we’re looking at. These might be a year or two years out, but we are looking at our long-term plans and how we utilize some of the last federal dollars that came in, extra funds from the state, and what we have reserved for long-term facility maintenance.”

Koster believes it could be a mix of replacing play structures and enhancing what is currently there. An example he gave is their space climber structure. For older pieces like the space climber, they are unable to get parts to continue fixing it and it would be removed. Koster said the first thing the school district will focus on is the surface, which they would look to replace with wood chips.

For the middle school, a major project tackled over the summer was the band and choir room. The room had suffered from leakage in the past due to being underground and cracks allowing water in. Superintendent Sean Koster described the situation.

“They tore all the carpet out,” he said. “They did all their mold spraying and made sure everything was gone. They came in and everything got tested. Considering the building is built on swamp land, it was bound to have issues. But we’ve had storms and different places around New Ulm have had some water issues. There was no sign of any moisture down here whatsoever. They’re very confident after that rain event this floor is safe.”

A wheelchair lift has also been fixed to bring disabled students to the middle school basement. Koster said a workaround was found last year, but a direct lift to bring students down to the basement for band and choir was necessary. Koster said it should have been fixed last year, but a delay in the supply chain stopped the part from reaching the school.

The elementary, middle, and high schools all received new parking lot surfaces over the summer. After patchwork and crack filling had been done years prior, Koster said it was decided there needed to be a total re-surfacing. The previous parking lots lasted around 20 years, and it is believed these will last for the same amount of time.

“You have weather, you have Minnesota winters,” Koster said. “You have freezing ice and all the things Minnesota throws at parking lots. We’re trying to keep them nice, smooth, and drivable to allow families to navigate our parking lots without having to hit potholes and cracks”

Koster said the parking lots took up a majority of what they were able to spend, costing $145k. However, they were able to make fixes to bring the greenhouse back into operation. Koster said foundational problems closed down the greenhouse last year.

“The cement was settling and the building not being anchored to the cement tweaked it and cracked some of the sidewalls,” he said. “We had issues with ventilation because of the cracked walls and [that shut the greenhouse down].”

Koster said some windows needed to be replaced for the building to be used. Though the work went down to the wire, the greenhouse was operational and open for students to use when school opened up.