South metro school briefs: Input sought on Burnsville boundary changes

The school board is looking at possibilities for changing elementary school boundaries and would like public input.

There will be three community meetings to discuss the process and get the community's opinions. Feedback was also recently sought from principals, teachers and parent leaders, and that information was used to revise proposals. Further discussion will take place over the summer and fall.

The first session will take place Thursday, May 23, at Diamondhead Education Center, 200 W. Burnsville Parkway, Burnsville.

Additional sessions will be held Tuesday, May 28, in the gym at Sioux Trail Elementary School, 2801 River Hills Drive in Burnsville, and on Wednesday, May 29, in the cafeteria at Hidden Trail Elementary School, 13875 Glendale Road in Savage.

All of the sessions will take place at 6:30 p.m.

Terese Trekell, a kindergarten teacher at Gideon Pond Elementary School, received the 2013 WEM Outstanding Educator Award for Teacher Leadership from the WEM Foundation and Synergy and Leadership Exchange. The award carries with it a $15,000 prize.

Teachers are first nominated for the award, and they must provide a panel with additional information to advance. They are then reviewed and ranked by that panel.

Six positions are available on the school district's Curriculum and Instruction Advisory Council as representatives of five district schools. Terms are three years and begin July 1.

Applications will be accepted through May 31.

The council is made up of 16 parent or community representatives, eight district employees, five high school students and staff from the district. The application is available at www.district196.org or by calling 651-423-7739.

Sara Drazkowski's fifth-grade class at Akin Road Elementary read more books than any other class in the state and placed 11th nationally in the 2013 Pizza Hut "Book it!" reading incentive program.