District News

Fall School Planning 

The State of Minnesota guidelines for the restart of school will now be announced on July 30th. Detailed plans regarding what it will mean for our school district will follow days later. This will allow our teams to work through the exact details of the guidelines.

Enrollment Information

On July 15th, the Holdingford School Board voted to temporarily close open enrollment options for Holdingford School effective July 24, 2020. Any applications received up to and through July 24 will be honored. 

This decision has no impact on students who are currently enrolled at Holdingford through open enrollment. Those students would continue to be enrolled.

The decision was made due to the uncertainty of the fall and a need to ensure clear enrollment numbers when planning education scenario options required by the state. 

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the school at 320-746-4307.

Employment Opportunities

Holdingford Public Schools is currently seeking qualified applicants for various positions. The district has the following positions available.​
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  • JH Volleyball Coach
  • Dive Coach 
  • Reading Tutor
  • Preschool/School Readiness Teacher
  • Early Childhood Summer School ESY
  • ELL Teacher (waiver can be attained if the license is not held)

For more information please check out the employment page. If you are interested, please contact Linda Zapzalka at 320-746-4307.

Fall Planning Update

Yesterday school districts from around the state received planning guidance for the 2020-21 start to the school year. The guidance established by the Minnesota Department of Education is asking school districts to create plans for three different scenarios.
 
Scenario 1 involves in-person learning for all students
Scenario 2 is a hybrid learning model with strict social distancing and capacity limits
Scenario 3 is distance learning only
 
We want to make this very clear. We are only asked to begin planning for these scenarios and there have been no decisions made about what the fall school year will look like. The planning guidance is over 100 pages long and will take some time for our staff to work through. We are asking for your patience as we create solutions that are in the best interests of our students, staff, and community. We have heard and read many comments and questions from community members about what the fall will look like. This has only emphasized how important it is for us to look at all our options regarding schooling, food services, transportation and many other aspects of educating the children of this community.
 
Part of the development of the plans will be getting input from staff and community members. This will no doubt be a time consuming process because there are countless opinions on what is best for our students, school, and community. As always, the school district will do our best to hear those opinions and use whatever flexibility we are allowed to meet the wide range of needs. The planning guidance has both requirements for each of the scenarios and recommendations that allow some flexibility and local control.
 
Once we have created our plans, the state will offer further guidance on which of the plans will be used in the fall. The understanding we have after reviewing the information yesterday is this will not be a one size fits all plan. It is intended to take into account different circumstances in the school and community. This is important because it hopefully allows us to make decisions that are best for our Husker family.
 
Thank you in advance for your patience as we work through the planning phase and we will do our best to keep you informed on any decisions that are made.
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Kindergarten Registration

If you have not done so already, please send in all registration paperwork INCLUDING COPY OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE and immunizations.  Registration is not complete until we receive all paperwork requested. Registration can be mailed to

Holdingford Elementary PO BOX 250
Holdingford MN 56340. 

​Teacher placements will be coming out in the mail in the next couple weeks once registrations are received. Deadline is June 15.

**Graduation Information**


Link to Commencement Video
Link to Graduation Parade Video

2020 Scholarship Program

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The Summer 2020 Newsletter is available online. Please check out the most current information about the school, community ed, and all things Husker related.

HS Staff Message to Students

Preschool Screening

The most recent preschool screening and all April screenings have been postponed. All dates will be rescheduled and families who were previously signed up will be contacted when new dates are scheduled. Thank you for your understanding. 

COVID-19/Health Information


In response to the recent report by Stearns County Public Health of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Stearns County, Superintendents from the county have agreed upon shared school operations protocols.

The districts will follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Mild/Moderate Mitigation for Schools with COVID-19 Cases in their Community.” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf The districts will also continue to partner with local health officials, Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
The following protocols will be in place in our districts beginning March 16th and will continue until further notice.   Due to daily changes from the CDC and MDH this date will be continued to be evaluated and adjusted.
  • For the safety of students, staff and community, only district personnel (those on payroll and contracted partners) are permitted inside district schools. Visitors and volunteers will not be admitted to schools at this time.
  • Beginning and end of day routines allowing families into the school to drop off or pick up students will remain the same, but other family visits during the school day will be limited to scheduled school business.
  • Public health officials have advised limiting large gatherings of people. In response, all school-sponsored public and family events and activities will be cancelled until further notice.  Middle and high school practices for activities and athletics, however, are considered an extension of the school day and will continue as scheduled.
  • All field trips and school sponsored travel will be suspended.
  • Community education classes will be cancelled, and fees will be refunded when applicable.
  • Preschool 3s and 4s classes as well as Kids Zone will continue as scheduled.
  • Use of district facilities by external organizations and community groups will be suspended.
  • Students who have been exposed to a diagnosed case of COVID-19 must communicate with School Administration prior to returning to school.
  • Students who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or who are diagnosed with COVID-19, or who have a household member who is diagnosed with COVID-19 should not report to school and must notify the school office of the student’s condition. 
  • Parents must notify the school office if their student is not in attendance as a precautionary action related to COVID-19.
  • Staff members who have been exposed to a diagnosed case of COVID-19 must notify the Superintendent prior to returning to work.
  • Staff members who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, or who are diagnosed with COVID-19, or who have a household member who is diagnosed with COVID-19 should be in communication with the Superintendent to evaluate work status.
Health organizations are asking us to plan for the worst and hope for the best. We are encouraging parents to do the same. Currently there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our community. If there was a confirmed case, MDH and Local Public Health agencies would contact the school district and work with us to determine the next steps. It is entirely possible the governor, state health organizations, or the department of education will direct schools to close. Families are encouraged to begin planning in the event this could happen. 

Stearns County Superintendents are committed to the health and safety of all students, staff and families. The districts will continue to monitor developments of the coronavirus COVID-19 and regularly update the community.
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Minnesota Department of Health
https://www.health.state.mn.us/disea…/coronavirus/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Survey Request

​As part of the re-authorization of Perkins Funding (Perkins V), each Perkins consortium in the state is required to complete a Local Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CLNA) every two years.  The intent is to align our Perkins grant application and spending to the data found in this needs assessment.  
If you have a student in grades 7-12, your input is appreciated.  Please consider taking the survey below. 

Link to Survey

New Website for Lunch and Breakfast Menus

Menus for breakfast and lunch are now available on Nutrislice.  The new menu format will allow families to access the menus more easily from their computers or mobile devices via the app.  Many of the foods have complete nutrition information and photos so young students can see what an item will look like.