South school briefs: Burnsville's Bien is named school nurse of the year

Bien is named school nurse of the yearBernadette "Bernie" Bien has been selected as school nurse of the year, the Burnsville school district announced.

Bien has been with the district 21 years. The selection was made by the School Nurse Organization of Minnesota.

Bien serves as the school nurse at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Savage.

Bien has also been involved in several district health-related initiatives, including the employee Hepatitis B program, the Health Curriculum committee and the Smart Choices committee, which looks at student health, with a focus on nutrition and physical activity.

Honors for Orchard Lake ElementaryOrchard Lake Elementary in Lakeville has been named a "Reward School" by the Minnesota Department of Education. A Reward School is recognized for being in the top 15 percent of all Title 1 schools in the state.

This designation is based on gains students made in math and reading scores on state tests. Lake Marion Elementary recently received its second designation as a Reward School from the state.

District retains high percentage of studentsThe Rosemount school district is retaining nearly nine out of every 10 students who live in District 196, according to a recently released report on enrollment and census data.

The number of children who live in District 196 but who do not attend schools break down this way: kids who are homeschooled or attend traditional non-public schools is about 7.5 percent, as it has been for the past five years, the district reports. The other 5.5 percent of school-aged children who live in District 196 attend charter schools or public schools in other districts.

Also in Rosemount, the first members of the new District 196 Legislative Advisory Council were appointed by the school board last month.

The council is aimed at increasing citizen participation in the legislative process and community understanding of legislative issues and how they impact District 196.

The five appointees are Valerie Dosland of Eagan, Heidi Holste of Rosemount, Cisa Keller of Apple Valley, Charles McCready of Apple Valley and Kevin Sampers of Eagan. They will serve two-year terms.