Sioux Falls School District - Educate and prepare each student to succeed in a changing world

The deadline is quickly approaching for a summer of learning and fun! Discover at least ten career paths. Three full days on a college campus. Countless opportunities to make friends, have fun and explore your future. South Dakota 7th and 8th graders are invited to apply to attend free Career Explorations Camps, hosted this summer at BHSU, DSU, NSU, SDSU and USD. Apply today and shape your student’s tomorrow https://ourdakotadreams.com/elementary-middle- school/career-exploration-summer-camps/.

Join us in honoring our retirees and employees with 25 years of service on April 18th at 6:00pm. This event will be held at The Country Club of Sioux Falls. Tickets Sales END Today, April 11th! Purchase Tickets and view all the retirees here: https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/o/careers/article/1044384

The latest episode of our podcast "Spotlight: Conversations From the Sioux Falls School District" is now live. This is the first in a mini-series called "By Day/By Night", where we talk to educators about the amazing things they do outside the classroom. Today we speak with Amy Weber from Eugene Field A+ Elementary about a love of plants and how a letter her daughter wrote to a postal worker went viral. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ObQ0GutbTyb

It’s the final day of the South Dakota Week of Work and today we’re turning our focus to the importance of job fairs. Job fairs play a crucial role in connecting students directly to local businesses and industry leaders, and in the Sioux Falls School District, they happen throughout the year! These events are a win-win for students and businesses alike; students get the opportunity to visit with possible future employers, and businesses get to meet potential future employees. These events have a bolstering effect on the workforce in South Dakota in different ways. For example, in the pictures shown here, students are attending a summer job fair. This connects high school students of all ages to opportunities to find employment over the summer, which can in turn expose them to opportunities they may like to explore further as possible career paths. Job fairs are organized by our local Department of Labor Career Launch Advisor and happen periodically throughout the year right inside our schools, so students don’t need to go out of their way at all to get connected. Relationships like these, that are a major benefit both to students and employers, are what the South Dakota Week of Work is all about. When students are exposed to opportunities that help them think about their future career choices, and employers are able to fill the roles they need to succeed in their businesses, everybody comes out on top! Throughout the week we’ve been introducing you to the many ways in which the Sioux Falls School District teaches students about the importance of planning for their careers after high school. The South Dakota Week of Work is an important tool we use to highlight these events and programs, but it doesn’t end here! Our school counselors, success coordinators, teachers and staff are always on the lookout for ways to help our students prepare for life after high school. #SDWeekofWork

Last Friday, March 31st was the last day of our Everybody Reads campaign. The project was a partnership with Siouxland Libraries and Reach literacy with one goal in mind: to spread the joy of reading to our community. Schools and libraries have been busy this week tallying up the numbers and today we are so happy to announce that we reached our goal!! Throughout our schools and community, from March 13-31, we read a total of (drum roll please)...331,121 books! Since we met (and surpassed) our goal of 300,000 books read, a donation will be made to REACH literacy so they can continue their important work of spreading literacy in our community. Schools throughout the SFSD filled up with stars during this time, one star for each book read. This shows our students that when we reach for the stars, we can achieve our goals! Thank you to everybody who read a book, contributed to our total, and made this project a success!

For day 3 of the SD Week of Work we’d like to shine a spotlight on our high school juniors! This week every high school in the SFSD is participating in Junior Career Day Activities. Juniors attend a college fair and hear from presenters with the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Development Foundation. Juniors are at a pivotal point in planning for their future career choices. The end of high school is finally starting to become a reality and life after K-12 is becoming a more tangible idea. During the college fair today, Roosevelt High School juniors got to hear from a variety of post high school paths available to them including two and four year college programs, military options and various tech schools throughout the region. During the presentation given by the Development Foundation, students learned about what makes Sioux Falls, and South Dakota as a whole, a special place to continue to grow. The data and numbers shown in the presentation don’t lie; South Dakota is poised for growth and opportunities abound for our future workforce! Events like Junior Career Day are wonderful opportunities to connect students directly with the people and ideas they need to make the best choices for their futures. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the various job fairs that students have access to throughout the school year. Stay tuned! #SDWeekofWork

Kindergarten registration is going on right now for the Two-Way Immersion program! The goal of this program is full bilingualism and biliteracy in both Spanish and English for English and Spanish speaking students. Classes consist of equal parts native English and Spanish speaking students and classes are taught equally in both languages throughout the school day. Find more info in this story with links to registration! https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/how-the-spanish-two-way-immersion-program-works/

It’s day 2 of the South Dakota Week of Work! Throughout the week we’re introducing you to some of the programs and events used by the SFSD to get students excited about their future career opportunities. Yesterday we checked in on Career Cafe, an event that exposes 5th graders to a variety of professions to help them start thinking about career paths. Today we’d like to highlight a program for 8th grade girls that helps build their confidence and introduce them to strong female leaders in the community. Power Lunch is a brand new program at Whittier Middle School that is already making a big impact on the lives of students. Natalie Eisenberg (CEO of Click Rain Inc.) and Margaret Carmody (former executive at Raven Industries) spearheaded the event and act as the program’s main speakers and coordinators. Once a month, the group of 15 female students meets with Eisenberg and Carmody to discuss topics like finding your own inner strengths, overcoming obstacles, setting goals, and carving out paths to achieve them. A guest speaker is featured at the meetings, and at the session highlighted here that speaker was Chantelle Duncan, owner of 605 Vixen. She spoke to the group of girls about business ownership, how she overcame her struggles to find success and following your passion. Programs like Power Lunch are an excellent way to connect students directly with leaders in the community; they learn how to network and build the skills and relationships necessary to start their own journeys towards future success. See the video attached to learn more about how Power Lunch is making a positive impact on SFSD students! https://youtu.be/gO7aW5yOBXc

The CTE Academy's new Ag program is expecting! "Dolly" will be farrowing in the next 12-24 hours and Mr. Jensen has a live stream going for anyone who wants to check in: https://www.youtube.com/live/-XIaIl6bjw0?feature=share

She was already a physics teacher, the science department chair, & the LHS student council advisor before she stepped up this year to also help teach a record number of AP Physics I students. Her attitude and devotion are contagious. Meet Jen. https://youtu.be/zBqlr8JblOQ

Melissa Hittner is our newest Video All Star! She's a dedicated, innovative teacher & the coordinator for the Project Based Learning Academy at Jefferson High School - which means she's not only integral to students, but to other teachers as well. https://youtu.be/8Gc6Vja8L2A

Today a group of 8th grade girls at Whittier MS got to hear from local women leaders. The Power Lunch program intends to open girl's minds to future career options, identify their own strengths, and build confidence. Thank you Natalie Eisenberg (CEO of Click Rain Inc.), Margaret Carmody (former executive at Raven Industries), and guest speaker Chantelle Duncan (owner of 605 Vixen) for inspiring these young women!

Today was a special day for a group of students at R.F Pettigrew Elementary and Roosevelt High School. A 5th grader at R.F Pettigrew is battling Leukemia and has a brother who goes to RHS. The Cancer Awareness Club at RHS and students from R.F Pettigrew held a fund raiser for the family and today participating students from both schools got together for a photo. The collaboration between RHS and Pettigrew raised almost $500 for the family. The ‘Courage for Cobey’ shirts even tied in the school colors, with Maroon for RHS and Purple for Pettigrew. What a great show of support from our students for their peers and community members!

We've officially surpassed our first goal of 100,000 books read! This means a donation will be made to Reach Literacy, with another donation lined up for when we pass the 200,000 mark. Also, stars are starting to fill up the hallways of schools across the SFSD! Photos are from Discovery, JFK, Laura Wilder and Sonia Sotomayor Elementary schools and Memorial Middle School.

SFSD would like to give a huge shout-out to our partners at Delta Dental who visit schools to complete much-needed dental work for eligible students! Cleanings, cavities, and root canals are all done in the mobile bus, so students don’t have to miss school for an appointment! You put a smile on our faces, Delta Dental! Thank you!

This morning, Garfield Elementary celebrated being named a Leader in Me Lighthouse School for 2023, one of only 650 schools in the world with this distinction!

Grief and Loss are the topics of this month's Family Forum Series - an online program to strengthen families with a partnership between SFSD and Avera Behavioral Health. Watch for the link Tuesday at 6pm or join us at sf.k12.sd.us. Click Students & Families, then Counseling.

It's the end of the first week of Everybody Reads and our galaxies are starting to take shape! The walls at John F. Kennedy and Harvey Dunn Elementary are filling up with stars as students hang one up for every book they read. Help us reach our goal of 300,000 and spend some time over the weekend with a good book!

Why do kids always answer "gym" when asked about their favorite class? Teachers like Kurt Skogstad may be a big reason. He's an initiator, innovator & collaborator at Rosa Parks, & while students are having fun, they're learning more than fitness. https://youtu.be/288m6v-afCk

Everybody Reads is in full swing this week! Only 4 days in and already 36,077 books have been read. For every 100,000 books read a donation will be made to REACH literacy. Help us reach our goal and cozy up with a good book!