School Board Proposal

There is real momentum in Winona Area Public Schools and a powerful sense of possibility. In 2014, the School Board set a bold vision for the district: In 5 years, all WAPS students will learn in buildings that embody 21st-century standards of excellence. The School Board and administration has articulated a set of guiding principles that the district in turn used to develop a plan with specific recommendations for renovating and replacing all of its school buildings, starting in the 2015-16 school year. 21st CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING To be successful in preparing students for success in college, career and life, students must have the right mix of knowledge and skills to be competitive with peers from other educational settings,

So while program spaces in schools must be designed to incorporate technology (such as Wi-Fi with adequate bandwidth, network data connections and power stations in the walls, floors and furniture to support student work and expanded opportunities for communication), they must also invite impromptu socializing and structured collaboration inside and outside of class time. They should accommodate a multitude of uses, including small performances, dining and community use after school

Research shows that schools with involved parents typically also have high levels of student achievement, and schools that are connected and integral to their communities help secure the health of—and spur improvement in—those communities. The successful integration of schools and communities requires a vision of partnership and collaboration that allows for joint use of school buildings with, for example, multifunctional spaces that are used by the school during the day but available to the community after hours. School buildings should accommodate mentoring programs for students, activities by partner organizations to support students and families and community access to resource and meeting space, as well as to recreational facilities and