St. Cloud Area Schools prides itself on offering a world of opportunities: academic, artistic, and athletic. With three Immersion-language programs, talent development offerings, and over 40 Advanced Placement and College in the Schools courses, they provide the most rigorous K-12 academic track available in Central Minnesota. “We create learning environments where we value and nurture the strengths of each student and deeply appreciate the talented staff who choose to work in our schools. We are excellent fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars and consistently balance our budgets without making cuts to staff or programs,” shared Superintendent Laurie Putnam.
District 742 was recently awarded a five-year, $2.5 million dollar grant ($500,000 each school year) from the U.S. Department of Education to launch full-service community schools at Discovery Community School and North Junior High. The district was one of 30 sites nationwide to receive the funding but was the only Minnesota school selected for the funds. These community school offerings will provide additional educational opportunities and social support, such as dental, vision, mental health, and food services. They will also allow for additional afterschool programs and arts activities, as well as career service and financial counseling for students' families.
Twenty community organizations, including CentraCare, Central Minnesota Mental Health Center, United Way, and three local performing arts organizations, will participate in the program. "We really wanted it to have an arts focus because we know, often, that's where we end up cutting when we have to really focus on reading or math, or there's a lot of learning recovery that needs to happen," explained Putnam.
The schools with full-service community offerings each have an advisory board made up of district staff and administrators, families, and community partners. "They will decide what the programming looks like and what the needs are. People are really excited about not only the services but also really that shift in perspective from 'schools know best' to 'we're all in this together," Putnam said.
“So many people and organizations partner with us that it is nearly impossible to name them all. We are grateful for the support from St. Cloud Rotary, whose innovative preschool funding allows us to eliminate our waitlist for our youngest learners. The Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation team provides support for our EPIC high school courses and co-leads a Career and College Advisory made up of local business employers, higher education, and community organization leaders. The St. Cloud Police Department is an excellent partner to our school communities through the School Resource Officer program, and we work hand-in-hand with the Central MN Boys and Girls Club and RSVP. Truly, we are grateful for everyone who supports our students, families, and staff. This community shows up for its kids!”
The community grant funds aren’t the only exciting thing happening for District 742; they’re continually expanding and evolving their programs and offerings for students to learn and grow. “We recently secured funding from the MN legislature to launch an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training program and build an ambulance bay inside of Apollo HS. Partners such as Centracare, Mayo, St. Cloud Fire Department, SCTCC, GSDC, and our legislators are making this possible for our kids and community. I value the reciprocal nature of our collaboration.”
“So many cool things happen in our schools - we partner with You’re Not Alone, a volunteer organization to bring therapy dogs into our schools. We have over 50 different languages spoken in our schools. Some people don’t realize that all of our schools and programs, including Immersion programming in Chinese, Spanish, and Somali, are tuition-free,” shared Putnam. “We also recently hosted a Gen AI in Education Summit that was the first of its kind, bringing together business, higher education, policymakers, and E-12 educators and leaders.”
If you’re interested in learning more about St. Cloud Area Schools or want to stay up-to-date with their programming, there are many ways to do so. “One of the most challenging parts of what I do is finding ways to tell our community about the great work we do,” explained Putnam. “We use a lot of methods of communication, including community-wide listening sessions and newsletters, social media, podcasts, school newsletters, and simply being part of the community itself. However, sometimes people have misperceptions of our school district, yet haven’t ever visited our schools. I’d love for everyone in this community to visit one of our schools. I invite you to attend one of my Superintendent Community Coffee & Conversations or call or email us. Whether you have a student enrolled with us or not, we are your public school, and we value your engagement.”
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