Foreign-born Demographics: While this isn’t the entire city, these are fascinating data on first-generation immigrants in the areas bounding the Central Corridor; a huge percentage of these children attend SPPS.
Out for Equity: It was great to visit the program’s new space on the third floor of our Kellogg Blvd building (also housing Open World Learning and Creative Arts). And I’m really pleased to see that new director Tiffany Lane has already begun expanding the program to much more fully serve our LGBT students, staff, and families.
Open World Learning Community, Nov 2011: Great production of Toad of Toad Hall by Open World Learning in their new home downtown. Student actors were terrific and supported by wonderful staff and families. The performance space still needs some work but will get there over time! Learn more about OWL at http://open.spps.org/.
“Because we asked” — Read this great vignette about the beginning of early childhood summer school in SPPS!
St. Paul Public Schools’ Early Childhood Family Education Dad’s program is taught by brilliant educators like Todd Kolod and serves the greatest kids in the world!
Breakfast-to-go program gets high marks: See 10/13/11 Pioneer Press article on this fantastic program. I was out at Riverview Elementary the other day and saw first-hand what a huge boon this is for our kids. Yes, many families do have breakfast ready for their kids at home, but these little ones are often in such a big rush they don’t each much or their speedy little bodies burn fuel so fast they’re hungry again by the time they get to school. I was amazed at how much even the Kindergartners could tell me about the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast and how much it helps them learn!
St. Paul’s Promise Neighborhood: See this article in Twin Cities Daily Planet on what’s happening.
Significant increase in numbers of Saint Paul students experiencing homelessness (from the Superintendent’s weekly update, 10/14/11):
Project REACH, Saint Paul’s Title I funded program for supporting homeless children and youth, completed a review of their caseload for the first quarter (July 1, 2011 – September 30, 2011). The numbers show a significant increase in the numbers of children and youth experiencing homelessness enrolled in Saint Paul schools and being served by Project REACH in some way. Project REACH served a total of 823 school age children in the first quarter, an increase of almost 27% from the same period last year. Six hundred ten (610) of those students are enrolled in the Saint Paul Public Schools, which is a 26.5% increase over the number last year.
City and county figures reflect the increasing needs of our community. For the month of September, Ramsey County turned away 710 adults and children from family emergency shelter. Of those seeking shelter, only 28% were able to be served. In addition, Dorothy Day Center continues to turn away single adults, which they have not had to do for decades. Safe House emergency shelter for youth was only able to serve 8% of youth requesting shelter.
If our families are able to find any shelter, it is increasingly in other parts of the metro area or with other families. In some cases, these solutions are far from Saint Paul and add another barrier to continued enrollment in the district. Unfortunately, staff are also encountering more cases where there are no options remaining and families are forced to sleep in cars.
The Project REACH team and school contacts are exhausting all options in support of our families and students. They are also working with community organizations and advocates to raise awareness about the increasing needs.
One Thing I Love about SPPS: SPPS launches (privately funded) enrollment campaign, “One Thing I Love about St. Paul Public Schools”; see Pioneer Press story. I was there listening to the amazing parent and student speakers and performers, and everyone got the chance to write their own thoughts on a specially “wrapped” school bus. Look at these kids (and adults) — what fun!
Impact of poverty: Great article about the enormous impact of poverty on student scores from the Pioneer Press on 10/2/11 here.
Belwin 40th Anniversary: See this video,
http://www.spps.org/school_and_city_leaders_take_to_the_outdoors_to_celebrate_belwin_and_spps_, plus thanks to Pioneer Press reporter Mary Divine for writing a great blurb on the wonderful 40-year relationship between Belwin Nature Conservancy and St. Paul Public Schools, http://www.twincities.com/ci_19009276?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com (9/30/11).
Students cheer 40 years at Belwin Conservancy in Afton
For 40 years, students from St. Paul Public Schools have traveled to Belwin Conservancy in Afton to study science.
Officials from St. Paul and the school district spent Thursday morning at Belwin to celebrate the anniversary and participate in field science investigations with fifth-graders from Phalen Lake Elementary.
“This is not a traditional classroom. This is learning in full-color 3-D,” said Anne Carroll, a school board member. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our kids, and we are so grateful for the partnership.”
More than 400,000 students from St. Paul have visited Belwin since 1971. “It’s just an incredible opportunity for kids to be 20 miles from St. Paul and to be out in this beautifully restored prairie,” said Mayor Chris Coleman. “Kids can understand that nature is not thousands of miles away. It’s right in your back yard. It’s part of your everyday life.”
Belwin owns more than 1,300 acres in and around Afton.
Twin Cities Pride Parade: Even though this is traditionally held across the river, everyone comes to celebrate and truly be proud of our great community.
White Bear Avenue Parade: Always a great event…truly gives you a sense of our rich community.
Hmong YES Event: I’m pleased to support this youth-oriented organization.
Census data, call to action: I talk all the time about serving the education needs of all students and flag the unacceptable levels of educational achievement for students of color. Here’s another reason why you must care about that: Decades ago SPPS was serving primarily European-American students. Today, we are over 75% students of color. And for those of you who aren’t as fortunate as I am to be all over St. Paul on a regular basis, the State Demographer just reported 2010 census data showing St. Paul is 44.1% people of color. The students were are educating in SPPS today are the future leaders of St. Paul. We must ensure our students are educationally prepared to thrive and to lead.
Strong Schools, Strong Community: Read or listen to my comments on the new Strong Schools, Strong Communities strategic plan as reported on Minnesota Public Radio by Tom Weber on March 16. We had hundreds of students, staff, elected officials, and community supporters at the great launch event at Hazel Park.
College readiness: University of Minnesota College Readiness Consortium Executive Director Kent Pekel worked for several years helping improve St. Paul Public Schools. Now at the U he is making a compelling case for college readiness using data and examples from across the U.S. and around the world. The point is, he’s not talking about abstract issues or somebody else; he’s talking to us, right here in St. Paul. Click here for that webpage, or here for his powerful presentation (something that policy wonks and data nerds like me live for!).
Integration: An important position statement in support of integration in Minnesota from the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership.
