XPERIENCE
SPRING LAKE PARK SCHOOLS
SPRING 2025
SLP GRADS RETURN IN NEW ROLES
Educator Apprentices are part of an innovative approach to the substitute teacher shortage
BATHROOM PASS PERSONALITY
Students learn engineering principles creating custom bathroom passes for their “clients,” high school teachers
PREPARED FOR KINDERGARTEN?
Our early childhood and elementary experts share insights on what to expect as your child prepares to start kindergarten
WINTER ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES HIGHLIGHTS
Students grow and thrive in athletics and activities
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FEATURES SPRING 2025
SLP GRADS RETURN IN NEW ROLES
Trevor Sherbert gets a knee hug and a “hey, Mr. T” as he welcomes kindergarteners to school. As substitute teachers are harder to find, Educator Apprentices, like Trevor, are part of an innovative approach to keeping learning going when teachers are gone. There are a total of 15 apprentices working in elementary grades as they explore education careers. Four of them are also SLP graduates. Read more online.
PREPARED FOR KINDERGARTEN?
A child’s age and birth date set them on their path to kindergarten. As that first day of school nears, parents often wonder if their child is prepared. How do you know? What can you do to help them? We asked our early childhood education experts for their insights. They also share ways families can help support their child to be ready for school. Read more online.
SO MANY REASONS TO BE
FOLLOW US
Get frequent updates by following our Spring Lake Park Schools accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Flickr social media channels! Here’s just a few highlights to show what the community has been engaging with recently.
BATHROOM PASS PERSONALITY
Bekah, a junior at Spring Lake Park High School, has aspirations of becoming a prosthetist. She’s exploring that path as she takes the year-long Introduction to Engineering course. Recently, students test drove a design process by engineering custom bathroom passes for their “clients” – their high school teachers. The course is part of the high school’s Career and College Pathways supporting career exploration with real-world learning. Read more online.
WINTER ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES HIGHLIGHTS
The girls hockey team are the Section 5AA Champs and advanced to the state tournament. The Nordic ski team finished 3rd in the conference and 3rd in the section. The math team is currently ranked 8th in the state. Clayton Solberg finished 6th in the state wrestling tournament and broke the school record for number of career wins. There were many highlights this winter to make us all Panther Proud! Read more online.
experience is defined by knowing each child by name, strength, interest and need in order to foster personalized learning experiences that develop academic and life skills and prepare students for their unique futures.
Park Terrace held an amazing Literacy Night! Families, volunteers, teachers and staff enjoyed hearing the Ojibwe storyteller, playing sight word games, acting out stories, writing their own movie script and creating puppets.
Students and staff packed the Fine Arts Center for the big finale of Northpoint’s Got Talent! Congratulations to all of the students that participated along the way as well as the finalists and the winner, Claire, for her singing performance.
Congrats SLP Theater for earning second place in the One-Act Play Section Finals! Students performed Girls in the Boat, the origin story of the first women’s Olympic rowing team in the 1976 Olympic Games.
High school students taking Foundations of Business are connected with mentors at the MN Twins corporate office and United Health Group. They gain insights on marketing, trends and more as the world of business is opened.
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY
PLAN YOUR SUMMER WITH COMMUNITY ED PROGRAMS
SPRINGLAKEPARKSCHOOLS.ORG/CE-REGISTER
Slide into summer with programs for grades K-12. We have athletic camps with SLP coaches, field trips, community experiences, enrichment programming, child care options and more. There’s plenty of summer fun, learning and growing with Spring Lake Park Schools. Explore summer options online.
FINAL LIVE ON 65 SHOW OF THIS SEASON: PIANO MAN, JIM WITTER
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Sing Us A Song...You’re The Piano Man - Jim Witter
Monday, May 12, 7 p.m.
Spring Lake Park High School Fine Arts Center
Audiences will love this show where they can hear the amazing catalog of Billy Joel performed by Jim Witter. Jim is a superb showman, great musician and an excellent creator of appealing shows. He is an award-winning Canadian recording artist and his incredible band lead an expertly crafted tour of the music of Billy Joel’s career.
SLPHS THEATER SPRING MUSICAL: “HELLO, DOLLY!”
SPRINGLAKEPARKSCHOOLS.ORG/TICKET-OFFICE
| Fri., April 25,7 p.m. | Sat., April 26, 2 p.m. | Fri., May 2, 7 p.m.
| Sat., May 3, 7 p.m. | Sun., May 4, 2 p.m.
This musical adaptation bursts onto the stage with humor, romance, energetic dance numbers and some of the greatest songs in musical theater history. It’s the story of Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she attempts to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. Does everyone end up “happily ever after?” Come join us and find out!
BY THE NUMBERS
57 TEACHERS LEADING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
100% K-6 CLASSROOMS WITH A MORNING MEETING
$159K RAISED FROM PANTHERS FOR A PURPOSE
$2.3M AWARDED IN GRANTS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
57 TEACHERS ARE LEADING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR THEIR PEERS THIS YEAR
100 PERCENT OF K-6 CLASSROOMS START THE DAY WITH A MORNING MEETING
$159,000 WAS RAISED DURING THE PANTHER FOUNDATION’S WEEK OF GIVING MORE THAN $2.3 MILLION HAS BEEN AWARDED FROM THE PANTHER FOUNDATION TO PROJECTS IN OUR SCHOOLS THAT BENEFIT STUDENTS
To our community:
We get a lot of requests to visit from schools across Minnesota and beyond. This year, we’ve hosted schools from Texas, Ohio and Georgia, to name just a few. They come to see our work to personalize learning. They leave impressed with our student-centered creativity, our efforts to design engaging and relevant student work, our learning spaces, our Career and College Pathways, and more.
Each visit provides a chance to reflect on what we’re building for students. I am fortunate to work with educators who are passionate about creating engaging learning experiences for each of our students. And, WE are fortunate to be supported by a community that encourages improvement efforts and innovative solutions to meet student needs. Our students –our children – are at the center of all we do.
Fiscal responsibility is key to making this happen. We consistently work to meet student needs of today, while ensuring we are positioning our schools for future effectiveness. Through enrollment growth and strategic, responsible management, we’ve developed new, engaging student programs and improved class sizes over the last 13 years. This year, when just about every district around us faces budget cuts, we have a balanced budget and are able to continue effective student programming.
People are often surprised that out of 48 Twin Cities metro school districts, our voter approved levy funding is nearly dead last. We haven’t asked our community for new operating money in 24 years. Our board, administration and staff value our community’s investments in our schools and treat those investments with the utmost respect.
Yet, after many years of careful management, we are finally reaching a tipping point. At a time of rising costs for all, we are following the Minnesota Legislature closely this spring. State investments over the last two budget cycles have been helpful. Without further investment by the state, we may have to consider turning to our community.
Being excellent stewards of our resources is a point of pride and an ongoing commitment. We know our collective stewardship has never been more important to creating and sustaining the schools necessary to ensure our young people are ready for what the future holds. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to Spring Lake Park Schools and our staff and students.
CARTER WOLTER SENIOR
Being part of three distinct communities - Academics, Arts, and Athletics - has shaped me in ways I never expected, influencing my growth far beyond just grades or awards. My time in the Spanish Immersion program has been one of the most impactful experiences of my life. It not only deepened my love for the language and culture, but also taught me the strength of friendship, community, and the value of school spirit.
Jeff Ronneberg, Ed.D Superintendent Spring Lake Park Schools
Tony Easter, Chairperson
Amy Hennen, Vice-Chairperson
Marilynn Forsberg, Clerk
Sam Villella, Treasurer
Kelly McClellan, Director
Allie Schmidt, Director
Melody Skelly, Parliamentarian
At Spring Lake Park Schools, we serve more than 6,200 students from Blaine, Fridley, Spring Lake Park and surrounding communities.
Our students are engaged in personalized learning experiences as they discover who they are as learners.
HEAR FROM OUR FAMILIES
Find a spark this summer with programs for grades K-12. Registration is open for athletic camps with SLP coaches, field trips, community experiences, enrichment programming, child care options and more. Learn new skills, discover talents, and have some fun. 1 2
“Our boys are so well taken care of and loved by their teacher. You can tell she really cares about the kids and making a meaningful and impactful connection with each child.” - The France Family, Woodcrest Spanish Immersion Preschool REGISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PRESCHOOL SPRINGLAKEPARKSCHOOLS.ORG/ EC
Registration is now open for early childhood programs, including our award-winning preschool. Through creative, hands-on activities, young explorers develop the skills and behaviors for successful learning. Full and partial day options at five convenient locations. ENROLL NOW FOR 2025-2026
SPRINGLAKEPARKSCHOOLS.ORG/ ENROLL
Personalized experiences. Modern and flexible learning spaces. Small class sizes. Families choose our schools for these reasons and because we are on a journey to help each student discover who they are as learners. Enrollment is open for all grades.