70% of families got their 1st or 2nd choice.

This school choice season in St. Paul, getting into kindergarten was a breeze. In the upper grades, not everyone got their wish. Space was tight in preschool.

Amid sweeping changes to its school choice system, St. Paul Public Schools launched a computerized application process this winter. The district deemed it a success and reported receiving high marks from parents who appreciated the streamlined process.

"It worked, and that’s really cool," said school board member Elona Street-Stewart.

via Pioneer Press.

Students call for multi-cultural curriculum

Acknowledge the problem, and take steps to overcome it.Thats the message a group of students at Minneapolis South High School sent to administrators and district leaders as they held a demonstration at the school Monday morning.The group, which includes students from Souths American Indian All Nations program, gathered in the schools commons area, the site of a recent racially-motivated melee that involved hundreds of students.

via KARE11.

“A vote Monday by the Edina School Board will change summer vacation plans for some families. 

The board voted to change the school calendar. Now, the school year will begin before Labor Day and end a week earlier in June,” via KSTP.

“More families might join a racial discrimination lawsuit against the St. Paul school district, the Heights Community School principal and a former teacher, an attorney for the plaintiffs said.

“The families of three former Heights students filed the suit last spring. They allege that Timothy Olmsted, who taught sixth grade at the East Side school, discriminated against black students and that supervisors did not act on complaints. The defendants have denied the allegations and moved the suit to federal court over the summer,” via Pioneer Press.