Owatonna Public Schools

Watch the presentation of the State of the District 2026.

The community is invited to join Superintendent Champa for “coffee and conversation” at the Owatonna Public Schools District Office (333 East School Street) on Friday, March 13, at 8:30am. Hear an update on what’s happening in the school district, and bring any questions you have.

Congratulations to our Owatonna Girls Wrestling state place winners! These student-athletes worked hard all season, and we are proud of their accomplishments at state.

🏅 Kayla Pastika – 4th Place

🏅 Aliah Fischer – 4th Place

🏅 Lucinda Ornelas – 5th Place

As we continue to navigate our current fiscal environment, Owatonna Public Schools is making the difficult but necessary decision to pause our traditional K-8 Targeted Services Summer School programming for the upcoming season. This decision comes as part of our broader budget reduction efforts and a commitment to long-term financial sustainability for the district.

While we recognize the value that summer support provides to our students and families, this pause offers us a vital opportunity for evaluation. We are currently in a phase of assessing the overall effectiveness of our past programs to ensure that the instructional time—and every dollar invested—yields the highest possible impact on student achievement.

This is not an end, but a "reset." We will take this time to intentionally reimagine what summer programming could look like in the future. Our goal is to design a model that is innovative, effective and aligned with our district’s core mission.

Other programs will remain intact, including:

• Summer School Age Care (SAC)

• OHS and other districts Credit Recovery for grades 9-12

• ALC Credit Recovery

• Community Education Adult Learning Center

• Community Education Youth Enrichment/Service

• STEAM Camp for middle school students

• Extended School Year (ESY) for students who qualify based upon their IEP

• ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) ESY

• Migrant Education Programming

• K Kamp

Thank you to our staff members who have dedicated their summers to our students in years past. We look forward to sharing more updates as we work together to build a more impactful summer learning experience for the future.

March is Youth Art Month! The creativity of Owatonna Public Schools students is on display with an amazing exhibition at the Owatonna Arts Center. Stop by throughout the month of March and be inspired by their talent!

Congratulations to these OHS students who placed at the DECA state conference:

• Lowell Schultz - 1st place Entrepreneurship Individual Series
• Jae Herzog - 2nd place Employment Interview Entry Level
• Norah Cederstrom and Mason Klecker - 3rd place School-Based Enterprise Retail Operations
• Cecilia Bauer and Grace Mitchell - 6th place School-Based Enterprise Food Operations
• Attley Klemmensen and Dylann Norrid - 6th place Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making

OHS's five DECA officers also earned a trip to the ICDC (nationals) through completing leadership responsibilities such as recruiting new members and organizing projects that help grow and promote the OHS DECA chapter. The officers are:

• Christina Bell
• Marjorie Pick
• Amal Mohamed
• Mubarak Hassan
• Genevieve Froman

All of the students will participate in the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Atlanta at the end of April. Congratulations!

Above is the budget adjustment considerations with the addition of the impact of the reductions as a percentage of that area's budget.

March is National Nutrition Month, a time to refocus on the small, healthy habits that keep energy up throughout the day. The Wellness Committee encourages making informed food choices and developing sound eating habits. Find great kid-friendly recipes at healthyfamilyproject.com.

Watch the School Board business meeting and previous meetings on YouTube. Find agendas and other information on the district website.

Upcoming School Board meetings:

• Monday, March 23 at 5:30pm - School Board Business Meeting - Charles S Crandall Center, 540 W Hills Circle

• Monday, April 13 at 5:30pm - School Board Work Session - District Office, 333 East School Street

Congratulations to Eric Zhang and Ayoub Farah. who were selected as Mock Trial All-State Witness and All-State Attorney, respectively. The Owatonna High School Mock Trial was regional champion and one of sixteen teams at the state competition.

Seventh grade Life Science students at Owatonna Middle School recently got some hands-on learning in the lab! Students dissected deer hearts to get a closer look at the chambers and valves that keep the heart pumping.

Fourth grade students at Lincoln Elementary recently wrapped up a hands-on unit on magnets and magnetism. Our young scientists loved exploring the invisible forces of attraction and repulsion!

Lincoln Elementary second graders ended the second module of their Wit and Wisdom literacy curriculum with a trip to the American West by making butter in a jar and creating a hanging informative paragraph.

• Thursday, March 12 at 6:30pm - Wilson Elementary Spring Concert at OHS
• Monday, March 16 at 7pm - Huskies Choir & Concert Choir at OHS
• Tuesday, March 17 at 7pm - Varsity & Treble Choirs, Huskies & Varsity Orchestras at OHS
• Thursday, March 19 at 7pm - All-City 4th Grade Strings, All-City 5th Grade Orchestra, OMS Sunrise Ensemble, OHS Symphony Orchestra at OHS
• Sunday, March 22 at 3pm - All-District 5th Grade Band and Concert Band at OHS
• Tuesday, March 24 at 7pm - Huskies and Varsity Bands at OHS
• Thursday, March 26 - End of third quarter
• Friday, March 27 - Teacher Work Day
• March 30-April 3 - Spring Break

Our Schools

Owatonna Bus Company

Nutrition Services

Health Services

Enrollment Office

Community Education

Technology

Celebrate our students, our staff and our schools by following us on social media. If you like what you see, be sure to share it with others. Together, we are #OwatonnaProud!

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@Owatonna761

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

Parent Email Community and School Flyers (PeachJar)

Owatonna Public Schools is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for all students and staff and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, in its programs and activities, as required by Title IX and MN Human Rights Act (MHRA). This includes prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, gender-based violence, and unequal access to extracurricular activities.

Any concerns related to Title IX should be reported to Chris Picha, Director of Human Resources & Title IX Coordinator, at 507-444-8602 or cpicha@isd761.org.

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