Orono School District

The Orono School District (ISD #278) is a Minnesota public school district located in the west-metro area of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school district, organized in 1950, serves part or all of the following areas: Independence, Long Lake, Maple Plain, Medina, Minnetonka Beach, and Orono.[1] (District Map.) The district superintendent is Dr. Karen Orcutt.

Overview

Located in Long Lake, Minnesota, the district serves grades pre-kindergarten to college, in five different school buildings.

The school district had a student population of 2,616 and 140.1 teachers during the 2005–2006 school year.[2]

The schools are located on a 120-acre (0.49 km2) campus along Old Crystal Bay Road.[1]

The district mascot is the Spartan and the school colors are red and blue.

The average number of instructional days in the district is 167 days.[3] The district calendar includes of "no school" days for the Minnesota Education Association (MEA), Thanksgiving break, winter break, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President's Day, spring break, Good Friday, Memorial Day, lunch, and other professional days.[4]

The district consists of four main school buildings: Orono Community College, Orono High School, Orono Middle School, Orono Intermediate School and Schumann Elementary School. Other district facilities consist of a childcare facility, a swimming pool, the Orono Ice Arena, a stadium, tennis courts, and many outdoor fields. The Orono Discovery Center is located in Maple Plain but is still considered a community center provided by the district.[1]

In 2008, a $39.4 million referendum was passed 1,845 to 1,713 which will contribute to the improvement of Schumann Elementary School, Orono Intermediate School and Orono High School. The referendum will raise taxes on a home with an estimated value of $300,000, by $125 annually. This money will be used for electrical and mechanical improvements, and interior and exterior improvements to these schools. Air conditioning will be implemented in the high school.[5] Along with the passage of this referendum in 2008, seven Orono residents sued Orono Schools, stating the referendum should have been conducted by mail instead of by polling at the district's main office.[6] The suit was dismissed by a Hennepin County District Court judge.[7]

Orono Community College

Orono Community College (OCC) was constructed from August of 1996, through May of 1998. Continuous construction was present, although the classrooms themselves were open and teaching during this time. Additions to Orono Community College included a pool for the swim team, and an adjacent building for extracurricular activities. The current principal of the Orono Community College is Dr. Joseph Valerianovich.

The school was estimated to have roughly 240 students in 2000, with 8 total classrooms, excluding additional rooms used for activities and sports, for an average of around 30 students per class.

The school offers the following sports teams through the district:

  • Basketball
  • Softball
  • Football
  • Baseball
  • Hockey
  • Soccer
  • Lacrosse
  • Wrestling
  • Shuffleboard
  • Boxing
  • Swimming
  • Chess

Following 2014, the official recognized mascot of the Orono Community College is the Red Marshmallow. Predating 2014, the school was a part of the district-wide sport team, which recognized several leagues, under the mascot of the Green Marshmallow.

Orono High School

Orono High School (OHS) was constructed in 1968,[8] is the only high school in the Orono School District, and serves grade 9 through 12. Its principal is David Benson.

OHS starts at 7:50 am and ends at 2:30 pm.[9]

The school had 842 students in the school year 2006–2007. 95 percent of the student body was of Caucasian descent with the remaining 5 percent being of American Indian/Alaskan, Asian, Black, and Hispanic descent. 2.7 percent of the student body is eligible for free lunch.[10] 91 percent of the students graduating OHS are enrolled in post-secondary education.[9]

The school has 49 teachers and an average class size of 32[9] with a student teacher ratio of 18.8:1.[10]

The school year starts in September and ends in June and is based on a semester schedule.

The required curriculum consists of English, social studies, science, mathematics, physical education/health, and fine arts. Around 60 elective courses are offered at OHS, including fine arts, business/marketing education, technology education and world languages (German, Chinese, and Spanish). The school has AP classes in the following subjects: Art History, Language and Composition, Literature and Composition, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Biology, Environmental Science, Psychology, Human Geography, Music Theory, World History, US History, Chemistry, Physics, German, and Spanish. Advanced and enriched courses are also offered.[11] The school has dual high school and college enrollment programs.[9]

GPA at the high school is calculated on an unweighted 4.0 scale.[11]

Until the end of the 2010-11 school year, there was a unique FLEX schedule where three times a week, one out of the seven periods during the school day was "flexed" and replaced with a study hall where students could go to the classroom of their choice to work on homework and make up tests. Starting in the 2011-12 school year, FLEX was replaced with Spartan Hour. Each week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each class period is shortened by about 10 minutes. An additional 40-minute period on these days is called Spartan Hour. During this time, students report to an assigned room where they do homework or study. The Spartan Hour classes are composed of four to six students from each grade, 9-12. They have the same teacher all four years.

There is a 15-minute "snack break" from 9:30 am to 9:45 am.[12]

The school's academic teams consist of: Debate team, DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), history club, literary magazine, math team, mock trial, National Honor Society, newspaper, quiz bowl team, science team, speech team, Student Senate, and yearbook.[13]

In the Spring of 2009, two Orono High School DECA participants (Athena Feldshon Camille Transgrud) won First Place at the esteemed DECA National Competition in Anaheim, California. At only their first year participating in the program, their innovative idea, to bring Chipotle to Sweden, and source local ingredients, was selected against hundreds of other projects.

The school has three bands: concert band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble, as well as two jazz bands, a pit orchestra, marching band and pep band. The school also has four choirs: men's chorale, treble choir, concert choir, and chamber choir. The drama department puts on three theatrical works a year: a fall musical, a winter play, and a spring children's play.

Orono is a member of the Wright County Conference and Minnesota State High School League. The school offers the following 22 sports for both girls and boys:

  • Boys' Football
  • Boys' and Girls' Soccer
  • Boys' and Girls' Tennis
  • Boys' and Girls' Swimming and Diving
  • Boys' and Girls' Basketball
  • Boys' and Girls' Ice Hockey
  • Boys' and Girls' Golf
  • Boys' and Girls' Lacrosse
  • Dance Team
  • Track and Field
  • Softball
  • Baseball
  • Cross Country
  • Volleyball
  • Alpine Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Wrestling
  • Gymnastics

Many of these teams compete at state tournaments.

In Fall 2008, the Orono football team won the section conference game and played at the State Conference level for the first time in 21 years. Head football coach Jeff Weiland received the award of Metro Coach of the Year by Kare-11 television.

In February 2006, the Orono dance team was awarded fifth place in the Minnesota State High School League competition at the Xcel Energy Center while captained by seniors Laura Sievert and Jackie Lee, as well as being ranked among the top ten teams in the state of Minnesota in 2003, 2005 and 2009.[14]

The girls' soccer team won the state title game in 2009, defeating the Blake School.

The boys' golf team won three consecutive state titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2011, the Orono boys' basketball team won the Class 3A State Championship, defeating Columbia Heights.

In 2013, the boys' lacrosse team made their first state appearance after beating Wayzata 11-10 in overtime in the section 8 championship. (Highlights of Section 8 championship game) It was only their second year in the MSHSL, and they claimed the consolation championship in the state tournament.

In November 2016, the Orono Girls Swim Team's 200 Medley Relay won 1st place at the state championship meet and earned an All American Consideration Time.

Orono Middle School

Orono Middle School (OMS) is the newest school in the district. It was built in 2000 and houses grades 6 through 8. The principal of OMS is Dr. Patricia Wroten and the associate principal is Kimberly Van Eyll.

The hours of the school day are 8:00 am to 4:20 pm.[15]

630 students attended OMS in the 2006–2007 school year, with a student to teacher ratio of 17.9.[16] The average class size is 26 students and the total number of staff is 64.[1]

The five exploratory programs at OMS consist of Art, Computer Applications, General Music, Performing Arts, and Jan's Class. [15] The Music Department consists of ukulele and choir.

The middle school has a special layout of "up", "middle", and "down" houses for each grade level.

Orono Intermediate School and Schumann Elementary School

The Orono Intermediate School has 581 students in the grades three through five. The student teacher ratio is 19.0[17] and the average class size is 25.

The principal is Mrs. Mary Jodl.[18]

The Intermediate School building, built in 1950, was the district high school until 1968 when it was used as the middle school for the district until 1983, when the new Orono Middle School was built and opened.[8]

School hours are 9:10 am to 3:40 pm.[18]

Connected to the Intermediate School is Schumann Elementary School, which houses grades kindergarten through grade 2, and the multi-age classrooms. It is the only elementary school in the Orono School District and is the second oldest school building in the district, constructed in 1956.[8]

Mr. Adam Lamparske is the principal and the staff consists of 55 faculty members. The average class size is 21.

School hours are 9:10 am to 3:40 pm.

The multi-age classroom includes grades one and two and allows children of both grades to participate in classes together as opposed to a single teacher option.[19]

Marshmallow Weekly

Marshmallow Weekly is the school's weekly newsletter, operated entirely by students. The newsletter aims at providing information to the students about upcoming events, fundraisers, and more. In addition, there is a weekly online poll that the students can fill out to cast their vote on important school-wide decisions, such as whether the school should be unified under the same mascot. (this decision was concluded by students from Marshmallow Weekly)

Pictured: the frontpage of the Marshmallow Weekly magazine. Designed by Orono High School students.

As the name implies, Marshmallow Weekly is released on Monday of every week. It often includes information about activities and events that take place through that week.

Orono Plus

Orono Plus, (stylized Orono PLUS) is a district-wide attempt to connect students of the school to adequate technology for education purposes. The students are provided a school-owned Chromebook or Eee PC, which they are responsible for during the school year.

Software

The Orono PLUS Chromebooks are running ChromeOS, with additional Securly web filtering installed on them. The school-owned Eee PCs are equipped with Windows. The school uses a mix of the cloud-based G-Suite for Education, and local-based Microsoft Office applications for their educational use.

They also use a service called Schoology, which is terrible for the students.

EOL Service

Due to the slow and old age of the school's Eee PC netbooks, they are being phased out of operation, deemed "unable to perform the tasks required for education". By 2020, the school expects to have an all-Chromebook fixture, with the previous Eee PC generation being recycled and forgotten.

Lawsuit of 2008

Seven residents of the Orono School District area filed a lawsuit against the school district after approval of a $39 million bond referendum. The residents claim that this should have been completed via the Postal Service, however, the school district completed it through the district office. [6]

This vote was to spend this bond on improving the quality of the school districts buildings. [6]

Superintendent of schools, Karen Orcutt responded to the resident's concern, "We're certain we've done everything correctly. We're turning this over to our lawyers." [6]

The lawsuit was concluded, as decided upon by Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren, who said the referendum was "educationally and economically advisable." [6] The lawsuit was later dismissed. [7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Orono Public Schools, About Orono Schools, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  2. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, District Detail for Orono Public School District, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  3. ↑ Minnesota Department of Education, 2006-2007 Number of Instructional Days-Average by Public School District Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine., School and District Statistics, published March 28, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  4. ↑ Orono Public Schools, Calendar, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  5. ↑ Brett Stursa, "Orono voters say yes to referendum", Lakeshore Weekly News, published February 18, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Patrice Relerford, "Residents sue Orono schools, claim referendum not conducted correctly", StarTribune.com, published February 19, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  7. 1 2 Patrice Relerford, "Lawsuit challenging Orono referendum is dismissed", StarTribune.com, published March 6, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 Orono Public Schools, Executive Summary of Proposed Project, Building Minds, Minding Buildings, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Orono High School, About Us, published October 29, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  10. 1 2 National Center for Education Statistics, School Detail for Orono Senior High, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  11. 1 2 Orono High School, Registration Guide 2008–2009, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  12. ↑ Orono High School, Orono High School Flex Schedule, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  13. ↑ Orono High School, Academic Teams, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  14. ↑ Orono Public Schools, "Honors keep coming for the OHS football team", retrieved February 10, 2009.
  15. 1 2 Orono Middle School, General Information, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  16. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, School Detail for Orono Middle, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  17. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, School Detail for Orono Intermediate Elementary, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  18. 1 2 Orono Intermediate School, General Information, published October 30, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.
  19. ↑ Schumann Elementary School, General Information, published October 30, 2008, retrieved February 10, 2009.

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