As the Houston School Board considered the proposed calendar for next school year at their regular meeting February 6, the often mundane item led to good discussion. Superintendent Mary Morem suggested moving advisory to the end of the school day and altering the beginning of the day to 8:15 a.m. and the end to 3 p.m.. Students often need to leave early at the end of the day for athletics and other events. By moving advisory, students would miss out on fewer classes.
Currently, the Wednesday schedule is different from the rest of the week. Students leave their regular classes a half hour early that day; elementary students remain at school while middle and high school students are dismissed. This is done to create time for teachers to work at hour-long grade level meetings to improve education.
Many students at the elementary school dislike the schedule and call it “Wacky Wednesday.” It was suggested that it become an early out for all students. Mimi Carlson commented that she knows as a parent that kids crave consistency. She asked if the administration was at all considering going back to the former schedule.
Nickki Johnson said she knew that teachers want the collaboration time. She asked what other schools were doing. Carlson suggested that teachers could be paid to stay later on Wednesdays.
Morem will check with other schools on how their programs are going and if there is data that shows a correlation between improved test scores and the use of teacher collaboration time.
Mark Swenson asked how the early out schedule affects parents. Johnson replied that she had asked a group of parents what impact it has and they responded that they would do the same thing if there was an early out on Wednesdays as they do now – use the Hurricane Watch child care at school or other daycares.
The board tabled the calendar until next month.
Puerto Rico Trip Approved
MNVA middle school science teacher Peggy Knetter-Johnson appeared virtually to ask for approval for a trip to Puerto Rico. The trip will be open to all of Houston District’s middle school and high school students.
Puerto Rico was chosen because a passport is not required to travel to Puerto Rico and few families vacation there. The cost will be $2,885 per student; there will be a 1:6 chaperone to student ratio with chaperones traveling free. The trip is planned for June 7-11, 2026 to provide time for fundraising. A down payment of $50 is required. The trip will highlight the only tropical rainforest in the U.S.
Mid-Year Site Goals Report
Administrators reported on their site goals. Superintendent Morem reported that the preschool was working on their SMART curriculum which combines learning and crossing the midline movement.
The elementary school reported that students have seen a 2% growth in their FastBridge scores since fall, thus meeting their goals.
At the middle school/high school, scores dipped across the board. Principal Alexa Michaels shared that the testing was done open the first day back to school this winter and following a snow day. She also noted that some students purposefully do poorly on the test in order to get more help.
MNVA elementary and middle school students went up across the board. MNVA has just begun to conduct grade level meetings which require them to look at instruction differently.
The high school at MNVA saw a large fluctuation in students from 624 students in the fall to 1,225 students currently. All students were tested; lower scores were seen at this time.
The school board acknowledged that these tests are just one day in the education of the students, but they do realize that all data needs to be examined as they work to “educate the whole child.”
New Classes
Michael Mangan addressed the board about some new offerings at Houston Schools. An EMR class will be available to any student in the state; there are 26 students in the class now. A CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) program is offered through MNVA as well.
MDE (Minnesota Department of Education) has helped Houston form a relationship with CVS; a pharmaceutical tech program will be offered next year.
Both Mangan and Morem spoke at the January MSBA leadership conference about MNVA. Since then they have presented at several other meetings with schools interested in online schools.
Other Business
Other business included;
- Recognizing MNVA teacher and Houston resident Becky Carr as a Hurricane Hero; her principal shared that Carr is a leader that she can always count on.
- Hearing that AI PAC (American Indian Parent Advisory Committee) approved the application for their funding grant;
- Accepting a $525 donation from the Legion for the dance team.
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