Aitkin School District
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Welcome to Aitkin Public Schools Dan Stifter,
Superintendent
Dear students and parents,
I hope you have had time to relax and enjoy time with your families this summer. I welcome you all to Aitkin Public Schools ISD #1. I hope the 2023-2024 school year is off to a great start for everyone. This past summer we have been busy with various updates to our facilities. The district did rebuild and expand our tennis courts. This was a much needed project and it has turned out wonderful. We also had some major updates to our Old Gym at the high school. Thanks to community donations and community volunteers, the Old Gym got a makeover and it looks very good. The Old Gym project was done completely with financial donations and volunteer work. Nice Job goes out to all of those involved. Our staff also completed various updates and repair projects as we prepared for the new school year. Thanks to everyone involved! The Aitkin Children's Center offers both half-day and full-day preschool options for our youngest learners. Taught by licensed teachers, our preschool works to get 3 and 4 year olds ready for kindergarten. For those in half-day programs, our Kids Club childcare is offering wrap-around childcare so that students can come to the school for the entire day which helps eliminate the need for mid-day transportation. Our elementary school provides many educational opportunities for our students. Our Rippleside students have access to What I Need time (WIN) on a regular basis where students can receive support in areas of need. Teachers work together to create groups that focus on specific skills in math, reading and/or enrichment based on scores from our district screening tests. We also provide educational opportunities through the use of our school forest. We have created an outstanding program using our school garden that successfully brings fresh fruits and vegetables to our school lunch rooms, creating our Farm to School chain of produce. We provide a wide range of opportunities for our students to continue exploring and learning at the high school level as well. Students have the opportunity to earn over 40 college credits before they graduate from high school. These credits and honors can be earned without ever leaving our high school building. Our high school still maintains an active Agriculture Program, with an Industrial Technology Program that helps students build additional skill sets needed to be successful in a wide variety of trades. Our school is on the cutting edge of technology in the classrooms with all students being issued a MacBook computer grades 9-12 or an iPad grades K-8. We will continue to expand our learning opportunities with the innovative use of technology in our building. Learning happens outside the regular classrooms as well. We offer over 18 different activities and clubs, over 15 athletic teams for students to be a part of during their high school careers. The Aitkin Gobblers have a long and proud history of building and supporting our students in the many activities they choose to be a part of while they are a part of our programs. In August, we received our state MCA data results. While State averages decreased, our scores did not follow that trend. Aitkin Public Schools increased our scores in all three areas of Math, Reading and Science and we scored above the State average in all three areas. This does not just happen. We have created and expanded on support systems within our buildings to assess, address and meet the needs of our students. Our staff is doing the work needed to identify key standards in their content areas and then preparing their lessons to meet these needs. By doing this and along with parent and community support, we are seeing great results in our test data at ISD #1. We are proud of our accomplishments, but we are not satisfied. We will continue to do the work needed to increase our scores even more. We are excited about the 2023-2024 school year and the opportunities it holds for us all. We look forward to working with our families to provide a top quality educational experience for everyone. I hope you have a great experience as a member of the Aitkin Gobbler Community! It is a great day to be a GOBBLER! Daniel J. Stifter Superintendent, Aitkin Public Schools We Are ISD #1 |