As the Minneapolis School District works through its restructuring process, there's been a flurry of questions about North High School's enrollment and its viability as a secondary option for Minneapolis students.
With about 550 students, North is the smallest of Minneapolis' seven high school campuses and operates out of a building that could accommodate between 1,800 and 2,000 students,
District officials have supported keeping North High open and turning it into the city's first small specialty school in time for the 2010-11 school year. This fall, North also will share space with Dunwoody Academy, a charter school that serves about 200 students and emphasizes vocational and technical programs.
Dateline Minneapolis spoke with North High Principal Ellen Stewart recently about the new North plan. Stewart said several North staff members, including teachers Natalie Rasmussen and David Sylvestre and counselor George Mountin, met for several months to devise a strategy for phasing in the plan. To lay the foundation, many changes are planned for this fall.
Under the plan, all incoming freshmen and current North High students must apply for admission to the program. Applications for the 2009 school year are due June 10. All students who submit a complete application will be admitted as long as space allows.
Students must pledge to maintain at least a 2.0 or C grade average, attend school at least 98 percent of the year, and devote three hours each night to studying and completing their homework.
North High parents must agree to maintain contact with their child's teachers and ensure the student attends school regularly, among other requirements.
"The reason why we're doing it now is we want every single student at North to say, 'We want to be here,' " Sylvestre said. "We think even for the students who are here now this will make them move their game up. We're all feeling that urgency and energy to move it forward."
