Author: Jim Bayer

Eden Prairie Schools reports updated 14-day COVID-19 cases among students and staff every Friday. EPLN will report that information in this location each week. August 22 – November 5, 2020 Staff – 10 cases Students – 6 cases (Note: Eden Prairie Schools has 1,825 staff members and 8,768 students. Total staff is all district employees, including coaches, advisors, and reserve staff.) (Source: Eden Prairie Schools) EP COVID-19 updates: City of Eden Prairie/Hennepin County 14-Day Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie report 14-day COVID positive rates per 10,000 residents. EPLN will report information for Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and…

Graduation rates for Black and Hispanic students in Eden Prairie Schools continue to show a steady increase over the past four years, according to district data. Eighty-seven percent of Black or African American students graduated in 2020 compared to 59 percent in 2017, a 47 percent increase over the time period. Hispanic/Latino students graduated at a rate of 85 percent in 2020 compared to 65 percent in 2017, an increase of about 31 percent. White and Asian students graduated at rates of 98 and 99 percent, respectively. Overall, the graduation rate for Eden Prairie students increased from 87 percent in…

Schedule changes in Eden Prairie 2nd through 6th graders’ current hybrid learning model won’t happen anytime soon. The as-is status update is based on a recommendation from Superintendent Josh Swanson at the October 26 School Board meeting. Based primarily on the current rolling 14-day COVID-19 case rate in Eden Prairie, Swanson recommended to the board that no transition to a different learning model be implemented at this time. Instead, he recommended continuing to monitor monthly data with the goal of moving toward full-time in-person learning once it’s safe to do so. Case rate data is based on the number of…

Carolyn Henning loves golf and bike riding. And she is very grateful that she has been able to pursue those pastimes during a very unusual year that has involved a sea change in her job as school nurse at Eden Prairie High School. Henning, a registered nurse, a licensed Public Health Nurse and a licensed school nurse, has been in her job for 29 years, far and away the most senior of nurses in the Eden Prairie school district. The district has four others licensed nurses – one at Central Middle School and four others that move between the district’s…

Parent-teacher conferences are taking place Oct. 6 and 8 for Central Middle School (CMS) and Oct. 8, 9, and 13 for Eden Prairie elementary schools. All Eden Prairie (EP) school conferences will be virtual or by phone. All Eden Prairie schools are using online scheduling systems to make appointments.  The Eden Prairie High Schools (EPHS) scheduler is closed, according to a posting on the district website. EP Online K-6 students will have conferences in October but will not use the pick-A-time tool. CMS and EPHS online students should schedule conferences through the school.

One month into a challenging school year, the coordinator of Eden Prairie School District’s COVID-19 response says students and teachers in school under the current hybrid system are doing well keeping one another safe. “It’s been great,” said Dr. Ashley Schaefer, Ed.D., the district’s special programs coordinator who also supervises the district’s school nurses. Mask wearing, social distancing, vigilant hand washing and extensive cleaning protocols have been at the core of keeping students and staff safe, she said. District guidelines require that students are temperature checked each morning and staff members are required to complete a health screening via an…