The Minnetonka School Board has a vision for world-class, child-centered excellence. The Board is committed to the goal of supporting all students’ pursuits of their highest levels of academic and personal achievement. We are dedicated to excellence in education and focusing resources on students.
Each year, the School Board establishes annual, actionable goals for the Administration that align with the vision and direction in which we want to lead our district. These goals may become multi-year efforts and will ensure continuation of a legacy of long-term excellence and educational success. They will chart a course for continued strength. As articulated in the Board’s Vision for the Future document, “if our future is to be better than our past, we must have the courage to let go of what no longer serves us, embrace what is required for the future and advocate for what is best for our children, our community and our nation. Such a journey will require being comfortable with change, taking informed risks and rigorously tracking progress against clearly articulated goals.”
The following Board goals have been adopted for completion by Administration in the 2024-25 school year:
The Minnetonka School Board and District Administration believe a commitment to world-class, child-centered excellence strengthens Minnetonka Public Schools. The well-being and belonging of our students are both continuing priorities for families and for the District.
Student well-being is defined here as the positive sense of self and belonging that is felt when one’s cognitive, emotional, social and physical needs are being met.
Belonging is defined here as a strong feeling of positive connection, acceptance and importance as a member of the Minnetonka Schools’ diverse community, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, country of origin, ability, and/or socioeconomic status.
Integrating student well-being, connection and belonging efforts will ensure all students have the support needed to achieve at their highest potential.
The District will continue to foster and promote positive student w ell-being, connection and belonging efforts and will identify and remove barriers that have a detrimental effect on students’ well-being, connection and sense of belonging. The District will strive for the fair treatment, opportunity and advancement of all students to pursue their highest levels of academic and personal achievement. The Board’s vision for child-centered excellence will be the foundation for these efforts.
For the 2024-25 school year, the District will have the following goals and action steps.
1) Prioritize student mental health : Proactively contribute to students' social and emotional well-being through connection and belonging efforts throughout the school year. Survey students annually to help identify students who may need additional support. Continue to implement the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support identification process and student support structures. Continue to partner on Jed Foundation work focused on the mental health of high school students and on suicide prevention. Continue to confer with the Mental Health Advisory Council and implement recommendations as appropriate.
a. The District will present a report to the School Board on measures of success related to student social and emotional health including trend data on an annual basis.
2) Create a Welcoming, Inclusive and Safe Environment for All Students : Deepen the implementation of belonging efforts. Provide training for staff on the best practices to build connections with and among students. Gather student data on an annual basis. Identify, analyze, monitor and respond to student trends and data with attention to identifying and addressing barriers to belonging affecting different student demographic groups. Parent communication regarding belonging efforts will be included as a strategy to support this work.
a. Principals and their staff will present reports to the School Board throughout the academic year that include their school’s well-being, connection and belonging efforts and when appropriate, outcomes.
3) Increase Bullying Prevention Efforts: Revisit and raise student and parent awareness of existing bullying prevention efforts. Monitor the impact of our bullying prevention efforts as measured by student discipline data, student reports and survey data.
a. Update the Board annually on the trend data from student and parent surveys.
Excellence in student learning and support is a foundational principle guiding the Minnetonka School Board and District Administration in their work. The School Board and District Administration believe that each student is capable of achieving at their highest potential and is committed to work collaboratively with families to support their students’ learning . The continuation of the District’s excellence in teaching and learning will be driven through deep implementation of educational frameworks and strategic programs to support student learning.
For the 2024-25 school year, the District will have the following goals and action steps.
1) Increase opportunities for improved academic outcomes for all students: Focus on high-quality, universal instruction in all courses including progress monitoring and teacher collaboration. Provide staff development throughout the year to address the priority areas identified by student data and teacher feedback. Increase the impact of teacher collaboration time by providing consistent guidance and support throughout the school year directly to teaching staff and through building leadership.
Continuously monitor the effectiveness of our programming at all levels across curricular areas to ensure we are meeting the needs of all students. Take steps to ensure our continuous improvement process includes programming for students receiving special education services, students learning English, and students participating in Tonka Online programming.
a. The District will present reports to the School Board on the academic progress of students by using available data, disaggregated, as appropriate, that include student performance on standardized assessments, participation in rigorous coursework, and student, staff and parent survey data.
2) Improve student literacy: The District will continue to implement its updated literacy plan, which includes the following elements. Provide training for all teachers on the best practices in reading instruction. Evaluate core and supplemental literacy materials to ensure they are aligned to research-based best practices. Ensure all students are screened for barriers to literacy early in the educational process. Monitor student growth throughout the school year and year-over-year to determine if our interventions or acceleration are impactful. Identify and address any gaps in achievement that exist between measured student groups, with attention to predictable outcomes.
a. Report results annually from District standardized assessments, including from MCA and NWEA and student growth and gaps, disaggregated, as appropriate.
3) Expand Student Opportunities: Continue to expand the programming of signature programs VANTAGE Advanced Professional Studies and MOMENTUM Design and Skilled Trades to meet the future needs of our students
a. The District will provide an update to the Board on current programming including student participation and recommend potential improvements and expansions.
4) Improve Middle School Programming: Implement recommendations from the Middle School Task Force as fiscally appropriate.
The Minnetonka School District has built a reputation as a national leader in providing exceptional, innovative student programming and unique and diversified pathways for students to experience world-class opportunities and to achieve unrivaled outcomes. The District will strive for excellence in all levels of leadership and organizational support using the following assumptions:
● The District will share opportunities, challenges and barriers to implementation and suggest recommendations to address them.
● Staff are critical partners in reaching District goals and will be encouraged to share input and ideas.
● Families are critical partners in their students’ educational success and in reaching District goals and will be encouraged to share input and ideas with District leadership.
● Student voice is valued and will be solicited to support District goals, as often as is practical.
● Innovation is a key strategy for ideation and program improvement. The District will maintain a formal process to gather input that will positively impact District goals.
For the 2024-25 school year, this goal will include the following action steps:
1) Ensuring long-term financial stability and sustainability for the District: Recommended adjustments that will ensure short-term and long-term financial stability include the following items: Adjustments to enrollment, reductions to expenditures, advocacy for legislative changes that will address funding shortfalls, and other solutions that will have a positive impact on the District’s financial situation.
a. The District will provide periodic updates to the Board on the District’s finances, including recommendations to improve financial stability.
2) Address staffing challenges impacting the District: Enhance the District’s focus on recruitment and retention of exceptional teachers and staff. Include efforts to create a representative workforce that will enrich the learning environment for all students.
a. The District will provide an annual School Board update and presentation on open positions recruitment and retention efforts, including information on the use of new platforms for recruitment and a summary of exit interviews.
3) Ensure facilities meet the current and future needs of our students: This includes creating a Facilities Task Force to conduct a facility planning needs assessment and recommendations to meet the needs for all academic and co-curricular programs.
b. This Facilities Task Force will meet, as needed, to understand the current state of District facilities and to suggest improvements.
c. The District will provide an update on the progress of this task force, as well as final recommendations for Board consideration.
4) Ensure high quality meals: The District will continue to implement the recently-approved, no-cost meal legislation including breakfast at every site. Gathering input from students and families, including from the Child Nutrition Parent Advisory Council, the District will implement strategies to increase the variety and quality of meals available for students. This will include a consideration of the needs of our diverse student body.
a. The District will update the Board twice during the year on Nutrition Services improvement efforts, including staffing levels, meal improvement initiatives, and recommendations from parents and students.
5) Build community trust: Inform and engage District constituents, including students, families, staff and the broad community through outreach and engagement opportunities and efforts. To fulfill this expectation and in response to community input, the District commits to the following actions:
a. The District will create new in-person engagement opportunities for community members to connect with District leadership and the Board, including intentional efforts to connect with community members who may have felt disconnected from District engagement opportunities in the past.
b. The District will survey residents, families, students and staff regarding their experiences and sentiments about the District, including their access to information about the District and will develop strategies to address any challenges revealed by the data. Further, the School Board will evaluate District policies and procedures related to community engagement.
c. The District will present a mid-year and year-end communications report to the School Board including community perception data related to the trust the community has with the Board.
d. The District will prioritize including student voice in presentations and discussions with an expectation that every Board meeting will include student voice in some fashion. The District will utilize several new strategies to include student voice in District work.
e. School Board members will continue to connect with and learn from other school boards about best practices in supporting and engaging student and community voice.
