Building a new learning environment at every school

This was the week everyone headed back to school at St. Louis Park Public Schools.

For many, it has become a routine with which they have become quite familiar — we’re talking your third graders on up. They know the meet-the-teacher, learn-the-schedule, get-things-set up and start-working-hard routine.

But, there was a huge difference for just about everyone this year. Everyone saw changes in the physical structures that surround them.

At Aquila and Park Spanish Immersion elementary schools, it was brand new classrooms throughout. And, in the case of PSI, it was a whole new building.

At the middle and high schools, much more of it was about projects in progress. My son, brand new to the middle schools, was already lamenting the fact that the new second level hallway has not yet been completed.

Regardless of the status, what is great is that we’re already seeing improvements to our schools that the voters of St. Louis Park school district voted for just a couple of years ago.

I was proud to serve as a parent representative from Aquila on the Learning Design Team that helped generate the ideas for how we create learning environments that meet the needs of today’s students.

And, I was also proud to serve on the Vote Yes parent committee that made sure that people in St. Louis Park knew exactly why we needed the funding for these improvements and what it would mean for our kids.

So, while there will be some growing pains for our students, it is exciting to see that our we’re moving forward in building a new learning environment at every school.

I look forward to all the changes to come.