The Community’s Guide to the District
Hopkins Reaches Highest Level of Financial Transparency and Accountability 10 Years in a Row
Hopkins Public Schools has received the Certificate of Excellence (COE) in Financial Reporting award from the Association of School Business Officials International. The District was recognized for its high-quality Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending 2019. This is the tenth consecutive year the District has received the award.
We Are Hiring and We Need You!
In our current health climate, we are building a team of flexible, enthusiastic temporary educators who are ready to inspire and support student learning. Be a part of an inclusive school district that values its staff and students. Apply for our temporary Floater Paraprofessional or Floater Teacher positions and work through Dec. 31, 2020, with the potential to stay on longer. Learn more and apply here: HopkinsSchools.org/ career-opportunities
Fall 2020
Learning in the Park
Arden Lovagnini, a reading specialist, teaches a reading lesson (left) and Eisenhower second-grade teacher Lisa Hake organizes a math lesson for her students (right).
If you drive by a Hopkins school, you may be surprised to see desks in the courtyards, canopies and pop-up tents for learning, and rustic classrooms in the woods around the school. You might even hear the Hopkins High School orchestra performing outside. Social distancing protocols require students to maintain six feet of distance while indoors, which has encouraged many teachers to embrace outdoor learning in an entirely new way. But two second-grade teachers at Eisenhower Community School, Spanish Immersion, and XinXing Academy — Lisa Hake and Abby Larson — wanted to take the concept of outdoor learning further. Together they created a pilot outdoor immersion classroom where the entire learning day is spent outside.
for all students.”
The pandemic gave them the momentum they needed to jumpstart this learning experience, but the two have shared a philosophy about outdoor learning long before COVID-19 was a term anyone would recognize. Over the last two years, Hopkins leaders were also thinking deeply about learning environments and how physical space can impact learning. As the pandemic disrupted traditional school, the District encouraged teachers to continue to think innovatively.
The outdoor immersion class meets Monday through Thursday at the city-owned Maetzold Field in Hopkins. Students have access to baseball and soccer fields, a playground, woods to explore, and a sheltered pavilion with picnic tables for eating. If the weather makes it unsafe to be outdoors, learning can take place in the Hopkins Activity Center building, which is currently not running programming due to the pandemic. The City of Hopkins leased these spaces at no cost to Eisenhower for the 2020-21 school year.
“Crisis can absolutely inspire innovation with the right mindset,” Eisenhower Assistant Principal Sara Schmidt said. “At Eisenhower we are taking advantage of this opportunity to ensure that we do not go back to 'normal' but rather create new systems that provide world-class experiences
Hake and Larson were intentional about the learning conditions they wanted to create. Students of color are underrepresented in magnet programs. It was important that their class was inclusive and represented the population of the Eisenhower neighborhood. The class, which includes most of the Eisenhower second-graders who chose in-person learning, has a strong sense of community. The curriculum is mindfully anti-racist and focuses on the social-emotional needs of each student. “We want kids to have confidence that they can learn anything and who they are as a person is a really important part of that,” said Hake.
“The City of Hopkins has been phenomenal to work with,” said Eisenhower Principal Melissa Ness. “They have gone above and beyond to support our outdoor immersion program.” See Learning in the Park, inside
Fall 2021 Kindergarten Families Upcoming Class! DATES Hopkins Public Schools offers an inclusive school Let’s talk about race. Join IN THE community where our teachers inspire young scholars Hopkins' own Chantele explore their talents and reach their potential. Join Burgess and Dr. George COMMUNITY to us for virtual Kindergarten information events in late Nolan in November.
fall. Details to come. Visit Hopkins.ce.eleyo.com Virtual events hosted in late Fall 2020 or call Hopkins Community Visit HopkinsSchools.org/kinder for more information. Education at 952-988-4070.