I don’t know where the month of June went, and it seems July is going just as quickly. While most people believe schools are quiet in the summer, that is far from the truth. We have summer school programs in session, school aged daycare happening each day, summer athletic and art camps scheduled and fitness training occurring most days. This doesn’t include the annual deep cleaning and maintenance of the buildings our custodial and maintenance staff do to prepare for the upcoming school year.

We are excited for the new Career Technical Education (CTE) Center that will open this fall for our area students. Between local contractors and our maintenance staff, the remodeling plans continue to come together. The CTE Center will provide students and adults opportunities to learn and experience the different skilled trades we have in our area – carpentry, cabinetry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, milling/machining, welding, automotive/autobody, computer aided drafting/design and engineering. This fall will be the start of classes at the new center. Our thanks go out to those individuals and organizations who fully support this initiative.

A local group representing businesses and private individuals have started a capital campaign for the CTE Center. Their goal is to raise money to support the purchase of industry standard equipment for the CTE Center. If you are interested in learning more about the capital campaign, please use this link: http://www.isd88foundation.org/CTE/.

There are no new updates from the MN Department of Education or the MN Department of Health regarding requirements/recommendations for the start of the school year. We do know that COVID still exists and students under the age of 12 aren’t able to receive the vaccine at this point. We will continue to monitor updates and recommendations throughout the summer. As we get closer to the start of school, we will prepare our back to school plans that include how we will continue to keep students and staff safe.

GO EAGLES!