‘We will be champions for the students’

PAS enrollment is up about 2 percent largely due to higher preschool numbers

 

When the first-hour bell rings at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 4, an estimated 1,229 students will begin the 2018-19 school year at Pipestone Area Schools (PAS).
Enrollment is up about 2 percent from the estimated count at the start of last school year. The primary area of growth is among the youngest students with about 25 more students enrolled in preschool this year than last year.
Due to a large kindergarten class that required the use of another room, and a shortage of space at Brown Elementary School, PAS has moved all preschool off site. The school district is leasing preschool space from First Lutheran Church in Pipestone this year in addition to the space it began leasing last year from the city of Jasper.
Another change this school year is the addition of early dismissals. On 12 Wednesdays throughout the school year, the first being Sept. 19, students will be dismissed at 1:15 p.m. so that all teachers can participate in professional learning communities (PLCs), where teachers share ideas and best practices to improve their teaching.
Also new this year at the elementary schools is a theme created by Toni Baartman, elementary schools principal. She said the theme — #Unstoppable — “is based on the fact that we can and will make mistakes, but we will learn from them.”
She said her goal with the theme is to empower both students and staff.
“We will be champions for the students,” she said. “We will expect excellence. We will carry the banner for our school and we will be merchants of hope for each other and for our students. We will be unstoppable.”