Continued: Back in the swing of things

Wayzata students could find themselves high above the grounds on a new ropes course when school starts. Students at Hopkins High School can lay down some tracks in the school's new music studio. Minnetonka students will enter school through new secured entrances. ¶ Here's a look at some of the new things west metro-area students and parents can expect when classes start next month.

BLOOMINGTON

• The growing success and parent interest in full-day early childhood learning opportunities has led to expansion of the Bloomington Public Schools' Early Learning Academy for the 2008-09 school year. The district has three all-day preschool programs, including full-year classes at Poplar Bridge and Ridgeview elementary schools and a 10-month program at Ridgeview Elementary. The district will expand the Early Learners Academy to Westwood Elementary School for the 2008-09 school year.

DELANO

• Students in all of the district's buildings should be able to breathe easier with an upgraded heating and ventilation system. To achieve energy savings in all buildings, the district made extensive upgrades, including energy-efficient lighting, temperature-controlled systems and improved air quality in the middle and high schools.

• To better coordinate schedules for teachers shared by the middle and high schools, there are new start and dismissal times for the 2008-09 school year. Superintendent John Sweet said the new times make better use of the lunch hour and the earlier dismissal benefits after-school activities. The elementary school will operate from 8:10 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., the middle school from 8:02 a.m. to 2:55 p.m., and the high school from 8:02 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.

• Delano High School's online learning program is being expanded. The program is designed for students who need to catch up on course work.

EDEN PRAIRIE

• At Forest Hills Elementary School, a new Family Service Center will centralize resources for families and provide parenting classes, coordinate volunteers, and aid communication between the school and parents. Extended-day sessions will be offered for students at Forest Hills to stay at school longer.

• To make room for more classrooms at the Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School, some offices were moved into a warehouse. This is the fourth year of the program in which students learn the district curriculum while becoming bilingual.

* Every kindergartner through fourth-grader will be learning Spanish this fall. Mandarin Chinese is also being phased in as an additional second language for middle and high school students. 

EDINA

• Project Lead the Way is a new technology initiative for grades 7 and 8. It is based on a national initiative, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Starting this year, every 7th-grader will take a semester in Robotics and Design. Eighth-graders will be required to take Flight (building rockets) and Electronics. The program will soon expand to include senior high grades.

• Edina Alternative Compensation -- the district's version of Q Comp -- is a new initiative to enhance teaching and student learning and reward teachers monetarily for achieving these goals. Teachers will be guided on a peer-to-peer level by job coaches.

Hopkins

• Hopkins School District is offering one section of full-day kindergarten -- Kindergarten Plus -- at each of its elementary schools. Class sizes range from about 23 to 27 students.

• Professionals Providing Experiences for Life (ProPel) is a new class for high school juniors and seniors who want to work with professionals in a broad spectrum of careers. This course includes rigorous curriculum requirements, including projects, speakers, interviews with professionals in the field, on-site contact time with mentors, field trips and hands-on opportunities beyond the classroom.

• This fall, high school students will be laying down musical tracks in a recording studio at Hopkins High. In the new Music Tech Lab/Garage Band course, students will learn the basics of Apple's Garage Band software. They will study basic composition techniques, create melodies, record, edit and mix music. Students also will learn how to set up a digital studio, record spoken or singing voices and instruments, create voice-over audio, and record interviews, speeches and public service announcements.

• Greta Evans-Becker is the new principal at Meadowbrook Elementary School. Evans-Becker previously served as a teacher on special assignment, responsible for the supervision and programming of Olson School in the Robbinsdale School District.

MINNEAPOLIS

• As part of the "fresh start" the school district is implementing at Edison and Washburn high schools, students will find schools with many new staff members. Only 50 percent of the teachers who taught at Washburn last year will return this fall.

• Minneapolis also launched a high school redesign process last year that it will begin to implement this fall. Washburn, Edison, North and Roosevelt high schools received priority, but students at every Minneapolis high school will return to more rigorous classes, increased access to Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate programs and college credit options such as College in the Schools (CIS).

• Federal education officials announced this summer that Minneapolis School District is one of seven districts nationwide that will receive grants for $200,000 or more to boost the number of students learning languages critical to national security and the economy. Minneapolis received a five-year, $296,795 grant to boost instruction in languages such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Korean and Hindi. It was the only Minnesota district to receive the grant, along with districts in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Michigan and Tennessee.

MINNETONKA

• A new curriculum mapping database will help teachers share lesson plans efficiently. If a teacher finds that a student is facing challenges in a particular area, the computerized system will provide a list of resources and suggestions to help the student get caught up.

• The entrances at all schools in the Minnetonka district were rebuilt this summer to improve security. Now everyone who enters each building must first go through the school's office.

• On Monday, the district will break ground on the new Minnetonka Aquatics Center at Minnetonka Middle School East. The $6.1 million project will include renovation of the existing pool to create a competition facility for use by Minnetonka Schools, Community Education and the community.

• Every classroom in the Minnetonka School District now has a Smart Board -- digital white board whose content can be downloaded to computers. After a successful pilot program with early childhood specialists last year, Smart Boards now will be deployed in early childhood and pre-school classrooms as well.

ORONO

• The grass is always greener -- at the newly renovated Pesonen Stadium at Orono High School. After more than five years of not being able to use the track due to its deteriorating condition, the school will have a new eight-lane track in time to host its first track meet. The grass torn-up field has already been replaced with artificial turf.

•The gym floors were refinished at Orono High School, Orono Intermediate School and Schumann Elementary. The auditorium stage was refinished at Orono High School.

• To better prepare students for future education and career choices, Orono High School added four Advanced Placement classes for 2008-09: AP Chemistry, AP Computer Programming, AP Music Theory and AP U.S. History.

• The district has added 72 Smart Boards. Every kindergarten through fifth-grade classroom and all core subject classrooms in grades 6-8, as well as all media centers, now have this technology. The high school received an additional 14 boards and special education programs got an additional six boards.

OSSEO

• Voters will decide on two levy proposals this fall: an operating levy of $80 million over 10 years and a $25 million, five-year technology levy.

• Students from Osseo Elementary, Weaver Lake Elementary and Edgewood STEM Magnet School are attending school in different buildings. Edgewood students now are at the Weaver Lake building, and students from the other two schools have been transferred to different nearby schools. Fair Oaks and Cedar Island now are pre-K-3 only; they create a three-school campus with the grades 4-6 at Oak View Elementary.

• Because of attendance and boundary changes, several schools have new principals: Jeff Zastrow at Birch Grove School for the Arts, Phil Sadler at Fair Oaks Elementary, Scott Taylor at Park Brook, Gretchen Peel at Weaver Lake Elementary and Michael Thomas at Osseo Junior High School.

• Thanks to a state grant, 131 teachers in grades 5-12 have been trained to teach Advanced Placement classes. Six new AP classes were added at Osseo and Maple Grove High Schools, opening seats for 718 additional students. Brooklyn and North View junior high schools are adding the High Achievers Program for underserved students in grades 7 and 8. Students turning 5 between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1 can apply for an early admission process for kindergarten.

ROBBINSDALE

• A preliminary proposal for a levy referendum this fall involves extending the term of the current $12.6 million levy to 2015 and to adding $7.6 million. A second question would seek another $3.1 million to bring the district to the state-allowed levy limit. Passage of the second question would be dependent upon passage of the first. All the money would be used to reduce class sizes and restore some previous cuts.

• Using a $314,500 U.S. Department of Education PEP grant, the district has purchased portable disc golf equipment for use by students and community members at all secondary and middle schools and all but one elementary school. Schools also purchased snowshoes and pedometers for student checkout.

• The school board is looking to select a new member to fulfill Paul Magnuson's term through December 2009. The new member likely will be confirmed at the board's Sept. 8 meeting.

• After two months of community meetings that drew more than 1,000 people, the district has drawn up a five-year strategic plan. Some of its components, such as a financial advisory council, already are being implemented.

RICHFIELD

• Robert Slotterback is the new superintendent of Richfield Public Schools. Slotterback previously served for 13 years service as a superintendent at school districts in Wisconsin.

• One of Slotterback's first initiatives is starting an advisory group that includes parents to represent students from each school and ethnicity in the district as well as all learning levels. The goal, Slotterback said, is to have a two-way advisory group.

• The district's middle and high schools have added technology clubs.

• This summer, 83 kindergartners celebrated completion of their first year at Richfield's newest school -- Richfield Dual Language School, where instruction is in English part of the day and in Spanish part of the day. The school will add a grade each year. There are still openings for kindergarten and first grade for the 2008-09 school year.

WAYZATA

• A grant from the Wayzata Public Schools Education Foundation for $39,700 has been used for a ropes challenge course, on wooded property behind Wayzata High School. The program will enhance the district's physical education curriculum.

• Wayzata High School has expanded its Chinese language program to include Chinese 4 and Advanced Placement Chinese.

• The district has many new faces around its buildings. The new superintendent, Chace Anderson, was formerly with the Edina School District. Mike Trewick, former principal at Wayzata East Middle School, is the new principal of Wayzata High School. Trewick replaces Craig Paul, who retired in June. Paul Paetzel is the new principal of East Middle School; Paetzel was formerly the ninth-grade associate principal at Wayzata High School. And Gleason Lake Elementary School is being led by Mary McKasy, former Wayzata Public Schools alternative compensation coordinator.

WESTONKA

• High school and middle school students will have a schedule change this year. School start times were adjusted for the 2008-09 school year to improve timely arrival of school buses. Starting and dismissal times remain the same for primary schools. Grandview Middle School will operate from 7:40 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. Mound Westonka High will go from 7:41 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Aimée Blanchette • 612-673-1715

Staff writers Maria Baca and Patrice Relerford contributed to this report.