Strategic Plan

Small student with large smile pointing to letters

Developed by the students, families, and staff of Stillwater Area Public Schools

Students, families, and staff were asked what they wanted from Stillwater Area Public Schools. And it turns out, they just want more of the things that really matter. They want engaging, relevant learning experiences. They want personal connections and opportunities for kids to find their place. They want to belong. To be challenged. To have a voice. They want to know students will be well prepared for their future.

Stillwater schools is committed to creating a culture that supports students and staff so they can be their best. We want the entire community to “Expect More” from Stillwater Area Public Schools. The focus is shifting, realigning resources, and developing a clear plan to ensure the things the community wants are the things Stillwater schools are providing. We’re raising our expectations, not by doing more things, but by doing a few fundamental things better.

View The Pony Plan

Our Purpose

To inspire curiosity and the love of learning in every child. To provide a wide range of engaging learning opportunities to build the resilience and empathy learners need to successfully navigate their futures.

Our Beliefs

Everyone belongs
Everyone has a voice
All students deserve an excellent education
The whole child matters
Curiosity thrives here

Our Mantra

Expect More

Strategic Directions

Strategic Direction A: Ensure the learning process is adaptable to meet individual student needs
Strategic Direction B: Foster a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all staff and students
Strategic Direction C: Utilize systems and align resources in an efficient manner to support learning
Strategic Direction D: Develop strong partnerships with the communities we serve

Mission Statement

The mission of Stillwater Area Public Schools, in partnership with students, family and community, is to develop curious individuals who are active and engaged leaders in an ever changing world by challenging all students as they travel along their personalized learning pathways.

Key Initiatives

The Pony Plan is focused on a few key initiatives that helps Stillwater do better.

Literacy

Learning to read is seriously fun

Learning to read doesn’t happen by accident. It’s actually a pretty complicated process. As researchers have learned more about the “science of reading” in the past decade, teachers across the district have been learning, too.

New legislation (adopted in 2023) is requiring districts to look at the way they teach literacy. The goal of this legislation is to have every Minnesota child reading at or above grade level every year beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals.

Over the next several years, Stillwater schools is doubling down on professional development and teacher training and investing in new curriculum and resources.

Watch how kids are learning to read

LITERACY PLAN

School Culture, Equity & Inclusion

Creating spaces where everyone belongs

Achievement and Integration Plan

Stillwater Area Public Schools prioritizes educational equity by providing inclusive and accessible learning opportunities for all students. The Achievement and Integration Plan ensures compliance with Minnesota Desegregation/Integration Rules.

The plan’s purpose is to:

Reduce the disparities in academic achievement among all students
Reduce the disparities in equitable access to effective and more diverse teachers among all students
Increase racial and economic integration

achievement and integration plan

Community Engagement

Engagement specialists serve as a bridge between school, culturally and ethnically diverse students and families to increase awareness and participation for academic and social growth, while keeping their own sense of cultural identity. The district employs specialists representing our Hispanic/Latino and East African communities.

Families are invited to get involved with several groups and advisory committees. Find more information on the Equity in Our Schools webpage.

Multi-district Collaboration

The Minnesota Department of Education has classified Stillwater Area Public Schools as a “racially isolated district.”

Stillwater’s cross-district student programming provides learning environments in which students have the opportunity to reflect on their own cultural identities and how these identities create a lens through which they view the world. While honoring their own identities, students have the opportunity to explore intercultural competencies. Working in cooperative learning teams, students use mediums such as storytelling, podcasting, film and creative writing to learn skills to communicate, collaborate and to lead equitably and inclusively.

Grow Your Own Educators

Grow Your Own Educator programming strives to improve Minnesota’s teacher preparation programs’ record of successfully recruiting, training, supporting and retaining TOCAIT (Teachers of Color and American Indian Teachers). Stillwater Area Public Schools partners with Century College’s University Pathway to Diversifying the Teaching Field.

Interested students are participate in in-depth professional development and curriculum writing with elementary grade level teams and serve alongside licensed classroom teachers during the month of July as part of our elementary Summer Success programming. These student leaders are then encouraged and supported to enroll in a Concurrent Enrollment course for which they receive college credit upon successful completion.

Social Emotional Learning

Children who feel loved and safe just learn better

Breaking down barriers and tearing down obstacles so that every child has the chance to shine is a key goal within Stillwater schools. Caring teachers and staff go beyond academics to also focus on the physical, social and emotional well-being of each student. Creating meaningful relationships between kids and adults, Stillwater helps instill healthy habits and helps students build positive connections with staff and classmates.

With a focus on students' emotional well-being, Stillwater is a leader among other school districts across the state.

BARR

Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) is a strengths-based whole school model that provides schools with a comprehensive approach to meeting academic, behavioral, social, and emotional needs of all students. Stillwater Area Public Schools started BARR at the high school level, and has now expanded it to include elementary and middle schools as well. BARR is designed to create strong schools and communities by empowering students, teachers, and families with data, so that schools can re-align existing resources to nurture a unified and personalized culture of support and success for every student, both inside and outside of the classroom.

AVID

Advancement Via Individual Determination is a college and career readiness system designed to support students from groups underrepresented in careers and on college campuses including but not limited to those from low-income families and first-generation college-bound students.

For the last 10 years, Stillwater Area Public Schools has incorporated the AVID system as an important conduit that reinforces and supports rigorous academic standards, provides a multitude of student leadership opportunities and offers learning environments that encourage on-going social and emotional growth and development.

Social Emotional Learning Framework

At every level, opportunities are provided for students to build relationships and connect with their teachers and peers in meaningful ways. Stillwater believes in educating the whole child and creating safe and welcoming learning communities.

Elementary

Responsive Classroom: A daily program that focuses on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and academic success. This program prioritizes relationships and a sense of belonging for each student. Students begin each day being personally greeted and part of a Morning Meeting. They also end their day all together in a Closing Meeting.

Second Steps: A Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Program that gives students tools to succeed in and out of the classroom. It helps students develop emotional management skills, social skills and situational awareness, and academic achievement. It also includes an anti-bullying program teaching students to identify, prevent, and report bullying.

Support Staff: Social Workers, Health Services Staff, School Psychologists, and licensed Mental Health Therapists on-site.

Learning Support Teams: Teams of support staff, teachers, and administration meet to discuss students’ social, emotional and academic wellbeing. They develop plans of support for students as needed.

Green Rooms: Green Rooms provide students with a safe place to go when they are feeling anxious or struggling to manage their behaviors. Students go to the room, which is staffed by a trained paraprofessional, to calm their body and emotions, problem solve, find solutions, and develop a plan to return to their learning.

Middle School

Developmental Designs: A daily advisory program for all students to help build and develop skills and engagement within three key areas of school life: social-emotional, relationship and community, and academic. Students meet within their advisory teams for the entire school year and have the same adult mentor.

WEB (Where Everyone Belongs): All sixth and seventh grade students are welcomed into the middle school through a transition program that trains eighth graders to be WEB Leaders. They mentor and guide grade students to have a successful transition and middle school experience as a year-long program with four components: Orientation, Academic Follow-Ups, Social Follow-Ups, and Leader Initiated Contacts. It also serves as an anti-bullying program by training WEB Leaders to look for bullying behavior, stop it, and report it.

Counselor Watch Program: Middle school counselors meet with elementary teachers to get to know the students who are transitioning into the middle school. They also meet with students in classrooms to develop relationships and help students feel connected and prepared to enter middle school.

Youth Frontiers Courage Retreat: A day that inspires students to follow their hearts instead of the crowd, to identify personal fears and understand that everyone has them, commit to asking with courage to make school a better place, and deepen relationships with classmates to break down social barriers.

Support Staff: School Counselors, Health Services Staff, School Psychologists, and licensed Mental Health Therapists on-site.

Student Support Teams: Teams of support staff, teachers, and administration meet to discuss students’ social, emotional and academic wellbeing. They develop plans of support for students as needed.

Middle School Teams: Students are organized into grade level teams so that students have the same teachers. This allows for teachers to know students personally and meet regularly on their students’ social, emotional, and academic well-being.

High School

Link Crew: All ninth grade students are welcomed into the high school through a transition program that trains mentors from the SAHS junior and senior classes to be Link Crew Leaders. As positive role models, they mentor and guide ninth grade students to have a successful transition and high school experience with four components: High School Orientation, Academic Follow-Ups, Social Follow-Ups, Leader Initiated Contacts.

Support Staff: School Counselors, Health Services Staff, School Psychologists, and licensed Mental Health Therapists on-site.

Student Support Teams: Teams of support staff, teachers, and administration meet to discuss students’ social, emotional and academic well-being. They develop plans of support for students as needed.

Wellness Center: Welcomes all students/parents who wish to address issues dealing with mental health, chemical health, nutrition, and health education. It is a collaborative effort reflecting the community’s commitment to support youth well-being and is funded by the generous support of local agencies, foundations, and District 834.

Special Education

Skillstreaming: Teaching social skills, E-12 in a step-by-step process.

Zones of Regulation, The Social Times Curriculum and Incredible Five-Point Scale: Teaches emotional understanding, self-regulation, and coping skills for all learners from early childhood through 12th grade.

Mindup: Teaches students a variety of strategies to focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life.*

School Connect: Teaches high school students social, emotional, behavioral and life skills to generalize in life and in the community workplace as well as into adulthood.

*Accredited programming through CASEL, Collaboration for Academic, Social, Emotional Learning

Comprehensive Achievement & Civic Readiness

The Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness report (formerly known as the World's Best Workforce), in accordance with Minnesota statutes, shares the district’s progress toward the state’s goal of creating the world’s best workforce and making strides to increase student performance.
This includes student achievement goals, the strategies the district has engaged to meet those goals, and the progress made by the end of the school year. The report also includes information about the progress toward meeting Achievement and Integration goals.

View the 2024 Report

Desired Daily Experiences

The community shared what it expects from Stillwater schools. We're working to deliver on it.

Students

Students were asked what they wanted their daily experience to be like in school.

Here's what they said - in their own words:

I feel safe, seen, heard, and accepted at my school and my individuality and diversity is valued.
I am supported by people that care about my academic success and my mental and physical well-being.
My teachers are great and help me learn through a variety of real-life courses, experiences and opportunities that engage me and prepare me for my life.
I understand the rules and expectations and I see staff applying them consistently.
I like being at school, have time to connect with my friends and get my work done, and I have access to the things I need.

Families

Families were asked what they wanted their daily experience to be like in school.

Here's what they said - in their own words:

My child is seen and valued for who they are and is part of a safe community that is kind, loving and respectful of each other.
My child loves learning and has the opportunity to be challenged while exploring a variety of experiences and activities.
My child’s learning is individualized and sensitive to the cultural needs of all.
My child’s teachers partner with me so I know what is happening in the classroom and can support their academic and behavior needs at home.
My family receives consistent communication from school and is connected with the school community as a whole.

Staff

Staff were asked what they wanted their daily experience to be like in school.

Here's what they said - in their own words:

I am a valued and respected member of our school’s learning community which is an inclusive and welcoming environment for all.
I am part of an environment focused on academic rigor and excellence for each of our students.
I feel safe and secure, and I know how to respond when disruptions occur.
I have access to resources, time and professional development reflective of my needs and the needs of our students.
There are consistent district and school structures and processes that ensure my voice is heard and my needs are considered.