🦅 Eagle Eye 🦅

As another school year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to celebrate everything our middle school students, staff, and families accomplished together this year. From concerts and competitions to academic growth, and everyday perseverance, many students showed what it means to be resilient, hardworking, and supportive of one another.

A huge thank you goes out to our teachers, paraprofessionals, office staff, custodians, food service team, transportation staff, coaches, advisors, and families for the support you provide our students every day. It truly takes a team effort to make a school successful, and we are grateful for the partnership we have by our community.

As summer begins, I encourage students to stay active, spend time outdoors, read often, and enjoy time with family and friends. Middle school years go quickly, and we hope everyone takes time to relax, recharge, and make great memories.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in the fall!

Dane Nielsen

Middle School Principal

Dear Editor,

As a middle school principal and parent, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the amount of time our kids spend on screens. Phones, tablets, video games, and social media now dominate much of their free time, and we are seeing the impact in our schools, homes, and communities.

Kids today need more opportunities to simply be kids. They need time outside riding bikes, playing ball, fishing, building forts, and exploring the world around them without adults organizing everything. They need face-to-face conversations where they learn how to read emotions, solve disagreements, and build real relationships, without the direction of an adult every time. They need chances to be bored sometimes, so creativity and problem-solving skills can develop naturally.

Screen time has quietly replaced many of the experiences that help young people grow physically, socially, and emotionally. We are seeing more students struggle with communication skills, perseverance, conflict resolution, and attention.

As adults, we have an opportunity to help set that balance. Families can encourage outdoor activities, limit phones during meals and evenings, and create more opportunities for real conversations. Our community can continue supporting parks, athletics, clubs, and activities that bring kids together in positive ways.

Our children do not need a perfect childhood, but they do need connection, interaction, and experiences beyond a screen. The social skills, resilience, and problem-solving abilities they develop now will shape not only their future success but also the future of Windom and our surrounding communities.

Sincerely,

Dane Nielsen

June & July High School Update

We have reached the end of a very successful 2025-2026 school year. On behalf of our staff, I want to wish a warm-hearted thank you for all the student/family/staff partnerships that have been developed over the past school year. Working together for the betterment of all students ensures a successful school year and we could not provide the opportunities at school without such an amazing and supportive parent and community network. Thank you Windom!

News and notes:

• Schedules are close to finalized and students should be able to see final schedules on Infinite Campus by August. Parents - PLEASE update all contacts in Infinite Campus. If you have a phone number change or an address update please make this change or let our office know asap!
• Summer lunch is available for all students through 12th grade. Students may stop by the elementary during our summer lunch program to fuel up during the busy days ahead.
• School supply lists will be sent in our August Eagle Eye, and communicated via social media by late July. Don't worry about this - enjoy your summer as the days go fast!!
• Get outside, go fishing, golf, play softball, play frisbee, play back yard games, visit with a neighbor, help one another! Summer is a great time to build community!
• Our summer office hours at the MSHS begin on Monday, June 15th. The office will be open Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Monday, June 15th - Friday, August 7th. Emails for transcripts and things of a record nature will be returned in a timely manner, but may take over 48 business hours for a response.

Thanks again Windom Eagles and have an excellent summer!

Bryan Joyce

High School Principal

Overall, we had a very strong attendance year as our percentage of students who attend 90% or more of the year grew to 80% in the high school, highest number in over 5 years!! Our Chronic Absenteeism (missing more than 10% of school days) rate grew by a small percentage last month. Showing up day after day is a mindset and persevering through challenging times is a mark of character. We do ask to have an attendance meeting and have students on attendance contracts at 10 absences (excused or unexcused.) While we love to see overall attendance improve over last year, we would like to see continued improvements in our overall consistent attendance rate. We would like to see 95% of our student body attending 90% or better. We are currently at about 86% of our HS attending 90% or better. Chronic absenteeism does have an impact on academic and social/emotional success. Remember, the world is run by those who show up. Thank you to parents and students for valuing being present in school! Reminder - if your student will be absent, please let our office know by calling 507-831-6910 or by emailing attendancemshs@isd177.com. We now have an office cell phone that you can text/call - the number for the office cell is 507-221-3511. All absences require a notice within 48 hours, at that point the absence becomes unexcused.

Email: bjoyce@isd177.com, dnielsen@isd177.com

Website: https://windomasdmn.sites.thrillshare.com/
Location: 1400 17th St. PO Box 177 Windom, MN 56101
Phone: (507) 831-6910, (507) 221-3511
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WindomAreaSchoolDistrict/
X: @Windom_Eagles