News

Review this important information about free meals, late start Wednesdays, technology help, transportation and wellness checks. 

Grades preK-2 will return on Thursday, January 21 and grades 3-5 will return on Thursday, February 4.

Governor Walz announced a change in the state’s Safe Learning Plan to allow a phased-in return of elementary students to in-person learning. Details of our plan for elementary students will be shared by January 8. 

Browse our online catalog and register now to ensure your spot in a class that sure to engage, inspire and enrich you and your family!

Both calendars are based on an all in-person learning mode. Each calendar has 172 days of instruction for elementary students and 171 days for secondary students. 

The 768 participating students in District 196 registered for 1,239 CIS courses in the 2019-20 school year.

Each school will share site-specific details about the change at their building. There will be no school for all preschool and elementary students only Nov. 19 and 20.

The recommendation comes following increasing difficulty staffing our schools and rapidly rising COVID-19 rates. The decision will go before the School Board for approval at a special meeting Nov. 16.

The average composite score for District 196 students is 22.7 out of a possible 36. The district average is 2.1 points higher than the national average of 20.6

Due to rising case rates and increased community spread of COVID-19, our middle school and high school students will shift to full-time distance. Elementary students will remain in hybrid.

The district has a process and timeline for determining when to shift to a different learning model based on multiple data points and factors.

Highland Elementary was selected for its exemplary work in closing the achievement gap between groups of students. 

Register now for fall learning opportunities. As always, the safety of you, your family and our staff is our primary concern.

Twelve district students are semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program and 44 are National Merit commended students.

District 196 students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch every school day, whether in school or distance learning at home. A la carte items available at school are not included in this program.

Qorsho Hassan is the first Somali-American to earn the title of Minnesota Teacher of the Year. She is a fourth-grade teacher at Echo Park.

An AP exam score of 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) earns credit at many of the nation’s colleges and universities.

Free child care will be available for all district-enrolled students (ages 5 to 12) whose parents or guardians are Tier 1 critical workers. Families must register by Friday, August 21.

All students will attend school in person two days each week, in A and B cohorts. Cohort A will be at school Mondays and Thursdays, and Cohort B will be at school Tuesdays and Fridays.

District 196 Community Education offers learning opportunities for you and your family for engagement, enrichment and inspiration, and safety is a priority.

Three District 196 students won national championships and Apple Valley, Eagan and Eastview high schools all won top team honors at this year’s National Speech and Debate Association national tournament.

Members of the graduating Class of 2020 in District 196 will be serving in the U.S. Armed Forces after graduation and three received appointments to enroll at military academies. 

Hughes will fill the position currently held by Mary Jelinek, who will retire at the end of this school year after a 29-year career in District 196, the last 23 as principal of Thomas Lake. Hughes will officially take over as principal July 1.

Kusch will officially take over July 1 for Rich Wendorff, who is retiring at the end of this school year after 27 years of service in District 196, including the last 19 as principal at Black Hawk.

The three-part optional experience includes a diploma cover presentation and photo opportunity, followed by a parade on graduation day and a video released shortly after.

Schultz will fill a vacancy created with the resignation of current Echo Park Principal Scott Thomas at the end of this school year. He will officially take over as principal July 1.

All of our high schools rank in the top 60, with Eastview and Eagan both in the top 10 among Minnesota high schools.

Eagan and Rosemount are the first two of four artificial turf projects that will be completed over the next 16 months.

The Student Production Awards are sponsored by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Bids for the certificates of participation will be opened the morning of April 13 and results will be presented at the board meeting that night.

Dakota County’s request is for $4.62 million to fund several proposed pedestrian and vehicle safety improvements on Diffley Road, Braddock Trail and the adjacent campuses.

All 16 District 196 seniors who were selected semifinalists last fall have been named finalists and are eligible for the approximately 7,600 merit scholarships totaling more than $31 million that will be awarded this spring.

Twelve District 196 high school students had top finishes at state business competitions in early March to qualify for national competitions that were scheduled for this spring but have been canceled.

The four-year graduation rate for District 196 high schools increased to 91.2 percent in 2019 compared to 83.7 percent statewide, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Education March 5.

Middle school students from Dakota Hills, Falcon Ridge and Scott Highlands are heading to the Minnesota GeoBee March 27.

The qualifiers are Kartik Saravanapandi of Black Hawk Middle School in Eagan, May Tang of Falcon Ridge Middle School in Apple Valley, and Rasin Hussain of Scott Highlands Middle School in Apple Valley.

The cast and crew of Apple Valley High School’s one-act play, “The Revolutionists” earned a starred-performance rating at this year’s state One-Act Play Festival held Feb. 7 at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul.

For the fourth time in school and state history, the Eastview High School Lightning Dance Team swept the Class AAA state titles in both jazz and high kick Feb. 14-15 in Minneapolis.

Apple Valley High School has earned its 13th trip to the state One-Act Play Festival and is one of eight Class AA high schools to perform Friday, Feb. 7 at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul.

Fifty-seven District 196 students were selected by audition to participate in state honor choirs for grades 7-10 sponsored by the American Choral Directors’ Association of Minnesota.

Cedar Park, Diamond Path and Glacier Hills elementary schools received a 2020 School of Excellence Award, and Echo Park and Oak Ridge Elementary were named a 2020 School of Distinction. 

Future City is a national, project-based learning experience where middle school students imagine, research, design and build cities of the future that showcase their solutions to a citywide sustainability issue.

Eastview High School junior Layla Foster won a state championship and 11 other District 196 students advanced to the elimination rounds of the state debate tournament.

District 196 high schools qualified 167 students to compete at state business conferences that will be held in March.

The approval implements improvements to classroom teacher staffing and additional mental health support for students promised as part of the operating levy referendum approved by district voters in November.

The Minnesota State High School League ExCEL Awards recognize high school juniors who are active in fine arts and athletic activities, who demonstrate leadership qualities and who are model citizens in their community.

Oak Ridge recently implemented “STEM to GO!” kits that students take home to tinker with kid-friendly science, technology, engineering and math projects and experiments.

The District 196 School Board gave the administration approval to take the next steps in developing plans to add artificial turf fields at each of the district’s four high schools over the next two years. 

The District 196 academic calendar for 2020-21 has been revised to include two days off school October 15 and 16 for the Minnesota Educators Academy (MEA) conference.

Students from three District 196 high schools celebrated their academic and athletic achievements this fall by announcing their collegiate commitments.

Voters in District 196 approved a levy referendum question and elected incumbent School Board members Jackie Magnuson, Joel Albright and Sachin Isaacs, and newcomer Cory Johnson.

District 196 students scored higher than the state and national averages on the ACT college admissions test in 2019. The average composite score for District 196 students is 23.0 out of a possible 36.

Lifelong distance runner and Eastview High School cross-country and track and field coach Tom Sharp has completed several times before. But this year’s running of the Twin Cities Marathon was a more rewarding challenge than previous marathons, as he crossed the finish line pushing junior Ryan Costley.

Enrollment in District 196 reached a new all-time high this year and is projected to continue growing over the next several years. As of Oct. 1 there were 29,223 students enrolled. 

District 196 high school students who participated in the College in the Schools (CIS) program during the 2018-19 school year earned a combined 6,185 college credits valued at more than $3.1 million, according to a value statement released by the University of Minnesota’s CIS program.

Forty-five District 196 seniors are receiving special recognition this fall for scores they achieved on a national standardized test taken last year as juniors.

The College Board recognized 766 District 196 high school students for their performance on Advanced Placement (AP) course exams taken during the 2018-19 school year.

District 196 is exceeding state averages in test scores, according to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), who today released results of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, Series III (MCA-III) and Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS) data.

Becky Melville is hired to be the next principal of Falcon Ridge Middle School. She replaces Noel Mehus, who retired in June following a 14-year career as principal at Falcon Ridge.

For the fifth year in a row, Eagan High School was named one of the top-10 Schools of Outstanding Distinction and Apple Valley and Eastview high schools were two of the top-20 Speech Schools of Excellence at the National Speech and Debate Tournament June 16-21 in Dallas.

The District 196 School Board is moving forward with plans to call for an operating levy referendum increase this fall that would allow the district to avoid up to $18 million in additional budget cuts and fund improvements to classroom staffing, increased mental health support for students and after-school activity bus transportation.

District 196 Superintendent Mary M. Kreger announced the hiring of Drew Mons to be the next principal of Apple Valley High School.

The majority of District 196 residents surveyed this spring said they would support a local property tax increase to avoid additional budget cuts and preserve the quality of educational opportunities offered by District 196 schools.

Eastview High School Assistant Principal Bruce Miller has been selected to be the school’s next principal, District 196 Superintendent Mary M. Kreger announced May 6. 

Apple Valley High School Principal Michael Bolsoni will be the next director of secondary education for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools. Bolsoni will replace Mark Parr, who is retiring at the end of this school year after a 19-year career in District 196. 

This Earth Day was a special one for students at the School of Environmental Studies as it marked the completion of five-year process to become a LEED certified green building.

Representatives from The Morris Leatherman Company will be contacting residents of District 196 April 25 through May 3 to gather data on the public’s satisfaction with district schools and support for bringing a levy referendum election this November.

Woodland Elementary School is leading the way in STEM learning and efforts have earned Woodland the 2019 STEM Innovation Award from the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association.

Emergency services is one of several medical and health care careers classes that are offered through the district’s Career Development and Enrichment Opportunities Program. The 18 career development classes, ranging from animal science to vehicle services, are offered at one high school but are open to students at all District 196 high schools.

First a Westview Bulldog, now a Minnesota Timberwolf, Tyus Jones is all grown up. But he never forgot where he came from. Jones returned to his alma mater on Monday, Sept. 17 to surprise students and unveil a revamped technology lab as part of his “Write Your Own Story” campaign.