Good News Report
While we often hear about state championships in sports - football, basketball, soccer, volleyball and this weekend, the state crowned champions in cross country and cheer and dance.
Those accolades and the athletes who accomplished them are well-deserved… as are the accomplishments of high school journalists!
The South Dakota High School Press Association was founded in 1922 by Paul Kreiser, then head of the Journalism Department at South Dakota State College. One hundred years later, South Dakota students that staff high school newspapers, yearbooks and other publications are still being recognized for their work.
Last week, students attended the high school press convention in Brookings at South Dakota State University and Sioux Falls Schools were honored for their accomplishments. Each of our high schools scored well in the competition and took home several group and individual honors.
Washington High School rose to the top in the Yearbook Division with the highest score for its yearbook titled “Fire it Up.” Washington also captured a slew of additional awards in photography and newswriting. Cindy Heckenliable leads this group of young journalists from Washington. Cindy was in attendance at tonight's meeting with some of her students, past and present, to highlight their hard work.
District Demographics Report 2022
The demographical information shared in tonight's annual report highlights the District’s diversity, strengths, and opportunities as we continue to focus on being a leader in the state, region, and nation.
Highlights Include:
+ Enrollment in the District has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Official fall enrollment in the K-12 program is 24,231, an increase of 202 students over the previous year.
+ Nearly 42% of students are racially diverse, an increase of 1% compared to last year.
+ More than 2,600 students are receiving intensive instruction in the English language.
+ The top five languages spoken (other than English) are Spanish, Swahili, Nepali, Kunama, and Amharic.
+ Nearly 1,000 of our earliest learners benefit from preschool and early childhood opportunities.
+ More than 3,500 students are served with Special Education resources.
+ The District employs 3,561 individuals, 1,918 of which are teachers, and 1,399 are non-teaching staff.
See the full report below.
Academic Report
SFSD is committed to maximizing student achievement and utilizes a variety of balanced assessments to monitor student learning and growth. The District’s assessment system includes data from the State Report Card, American College Testing (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRC), and ACCESS language assessment. Attendance and graduation rates, achievement and growth scores are also closely monitored.
Data collected from these various assessments during the 2021-2022 school year indicate largely positive results:
+ The on-time graduation rate for SFSD held steady at 4-5 percent higher for the sixth consecutive year and outpaced the State’s on-time graduation rate for a third year.
+ While only 36% of national graduates participated in the ACT exam, 53.1% of SFSD graduates took it, an increase of 3% over last year.
+ The number of SFSD students choosing to take the SAT assessment stayed the same as last year, with a total of 40 students opting in. A higher number of students met the Evidenced-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) benchmark at 97% compared to 95% last year. The same is true for students who met the Math benchmark at 91% compared to 88% in 2020-2021. A total of 88% of students met both.
Areas the District is working on improvement:
+ College and Career Readiness scores decreased by 6%, consistent with the overall State performance.
+ The number of students attending school more than 90% of enrolled days was 85.8% for the District and 85.7% for the State.
See the full report below.
These clinics are open to all Sioux Falls School District staff and their spouses. If you have District health insurance, the shot is FREE (*please bring your insurance ID card with you). If you, or your spouse, do not have District health insurance, the cost is $20 per person. Clinics will be held in the Board Room at the Instructional Planning Center (201 E. 38th Street).
Thursday, October 27
- IPC Board Room from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
We've been collecting your ideas throughout the month on how to enrich student experiences and staff work environment within the Sioux Falls School District. A lot of great ideas have been submitted so far. A reminder that next Monday, October 31st, is the final day to submit your ideas. Watch your ideas turn into action! Share yours by clicking the button below.
HR Radar: South Dakota Retirement System
South Dakota Retirement is currently aware of some organizations and/or advisors offering financial planning services that seemingly represent themselves as affiliated with SDRS. Other than Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS), who administers the SDRS Supplemental Retirement Plan (SRP), SDRS does not work with or endorse any external vendors for financial planning services. SDRS should always be the first point of contact with questions about benefits.
Questions? Please contact South Dakota Retirement Systems at 605-773-3731
HR Radar: Legal Assistance with Sand Creek EAP
Through our Sand Creek EAP, you can get connected with a qualified attorney for a FREE 30-minute consultation. See the graphic below to learn more about what Sand Creek EAP has to offer!
Access Sand Creek EAP via phone at 1-888-243-5744 and online atmyassistanceprogram.com/sandcreek – Company Code: siouxfalls
