District Dialogue

We look forward to welcoming you back to the 2024-25 school year to learn more about “The SFSD Experience!”

Clerical who will be working on Aug 1 (and some specialists) will attend and should speak with their administrator (supervisor) regarding whether you will attend at 7:30am or at 9:45am.

Nine-month clerical are welcome to attend, though not required.

Bagels and coffee are on the menu as we “set the table” for the coming year!

*Half of attendees will be in the building while the other half attends this 90-minute session at Lincoln High School. Accommodations will be available to log your attendance/clock in.

Who's ready for a blast from the past? Hundreds of old tapes are currently in the process of being digitized and uploaded to the new "SFSD Archive" YouTube page. New videos are being added daily, and most will predate 2010, when SFSD started our current YouTube channel.

All content was originally aired on KLRN TV (or OWL TV before that) and has been stored and kept until this spring and summer when we began the digitization process as a community service for all our alumni, friends and families to be able to access this content. We will be updating this channel as often as possible, likely for years to come! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/@SFSDArchives

The Building Classroom Libraries, formerly known as the Teacher Grant, will be held at REACH Literacy from August 1-3. This event is open to all practicing classroom teachers. Please bring an ID or proof of employment. Each teacher will have the opportunity to select up to 25 books from a selection of thousands. What a great way to start preparing for the new school year!

REACH Literacy is located at:

3605 S Western Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57105

SHINE stands for Scholarship, Honors, Innovation, Networking and Exceptionalism. We’re looking for stories we can tell about high school seniors, any-age students, staff (yes, you can and should absolutely fill out this form for yourself!), projects and programs. Have a new partnership that is benefitting the classroom? Win a grant you think the world should know about? Get nominated for or receive a state-wide, regional or national honor? Know a senior stand-out on a team, in the fine arts arena, or in the classroom? How about younger students who are leading by example, making giving to charity a priority, or are making the most of a bad situation? Should a program or portion of your school be highlighted? What about some current projects: experiments, field trips, new collaborative lessons?

Send your suggestions today, and keep this in mind for the days, weeks and months ahead!

Imagine Solutions Conference is a nationally known thought leader conference that brings world-class visionaries to share ideas on today's most relevant issues. The conference offers an impressive speaker lineup in topics, such as Science and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Arts, Music and much more. We are excited to provide Sioux Falls School District teachers the opportunity to attend this year's conference virtually. Registered attendees will receive a link to the recorded videos.

During the past 14 years, the Imagine Solutions Conference (ISC) has brought together more than 550 world-class experts to learn, springboard, and leverage their capabilities to effectively address social issues. Their mantra, "a profound respect for learning" mirrors the heart and soul of teachers who "love to learn." The ISC Virtual Learning Program for the Sioux Falls School District was created out of these beliefs, allowing all teachers to participate for free.

All registered teachers qualify for 5 hours of professional development for registering and completing a brief survey after watching all of the videos.

SandCreek, our Employee Assistance Program, is free, confidential, and available to ALL Sioux Falls School District employees and their family members. As a part of their extensive list of offerings, SandCreek offers FREE monthly webinars that cover a variety of topics. Below are a couple upcoming ones!

To register for a SandCreek account, visit www.SandCreekEAP.com and click the “Sign Up” link just below the Log In button. Enter siouxfalls as your company code and complete the signup process! A confirmation email will be sent to complete the registration.

The 5 Buckets Principle - Wednesday, August 14th at 12:30 pm

The 5 Buckets Principle is the science of work-life balance to fill the five buckets of finances, friends and family, work, health, and community. In this fun, interactive seminar, participants will learn the 5 Buckets Principle to obtain the tools to prioritize what is truly most important in life. Participants will leave this course equipped to think about the big picture of life while paying attention to the details that matter most, while learning how to manage their time to enjoy life and the people who make it special.

Register HERE!

The South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) has created Retire Ready, a new virtual format for group presentations. The SDRS Retire Ready series will consist of four short presentations, all designed to increase your financial awareness and help you prepare for retirement. All SDRS members, at any stage of their career, will benefit from the information provided. These 45-60 minute presentations are held via ZOOM every Wednesday on a rotating-basis.

SDRS Financial Literacy

July 24th, 2024 | 10:00 am to 11:00 am

Build on your budgeting and savings skills and increase your awareness of the many challenges we encounter during our careers and into retirement. Be empowered to take charge of your finances and be more prepared for retirement.

Register HERE

SDRS and SDRS SRP Q&A Session

July 31st, 2024 | 10:00 am to 11:00 am

Don’t take your co-worker’s word or office water cooler talk as truth. This Q&A session is a fantastic opportunity to ask your questions and get answers directly from SDRS staff who know the system and its benefits inside and out! Every session will have unique questions from our members.

Register HERE

At times, all of us face personal or work-related struggles in our lives. The District is pleased to offer the Sand Creek Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to help employees and their families find support and the necessary resources when difficult situations arise. Additionally, the EAP is an excellent option for webinars, articles, and other resources to help support our well-being. Our EAP through Sand Creek is free, professional, and confidential. Read on for more information about our Sand Creek Employee Assistance Program.

SandCreek, our Employee Assistance Program, is free, confidential, and available to ALL Sioux Falls School District employees and their family members.

Click HERE to learn more about the Sand Creek Employee Assistance Program.

Don’t Wait, Hydrate Challenge

The Don’t Wait, Hydrate Challenge (part of the wellness program) kicked off on June 24th! With this challenge, participants are discovering tips and tricks to up their hydration game, leaving them feeling energized and ready to conquer each day.

Below are the current Top 5 teams:

1. Old School Flyers
2. Parched Panthers (PHMS)
3. WHS Teachers and Spouses
4. RF/CC
5. Aqua Chuggers

Registered for the challenge? Don’t forget to log on and track your daily water intake in ounces! Track at least 32 ounces for at least 20 of the 28 days to successfully complete the challenge!

Multi-Factor Authentication Update: Navigate Wellbeing recently introduced a text message authentication option for their portal. (Text Message (SMS) Authentication: Receive a verification code via text message on your mobile phone.) Click the links below for how to set it up!

• Text Message How-to-Guide
• Text Message Instructional Video