The Minnesota School Boards Association has set September as Minnesota School Board Recognition Month to build awareness and understanding of the vital function elected school board members play in our society. Grand Rapids Area Schools are joining other public school districts from across the state to celebrate School Board Recognition Month to honor local board members for their commitment to Grand Rapids, Bigfork, and Cohasset communities and their students.
“Strong schools help build strong communities—and the Grand Rapids Area School’s Board devotes countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level,” said Superintendent Matt Grose. “School board members make the difficult decisions every month—and spend many hours studying education issues and regulations in order to provide the kind of accountability our citizens expect.”
Superintendent Grose said the key work of boards is to raise student achievement by:
Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;Establishing standards for what students will be expected to learn and be able to do;Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;Being accountable for their decisions and actions by continually tracking and reporting results;Creating a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; andFocusing attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining and revising issues related to student achievement.