My second district success visit for 2023-24 was in Scandia, headquarters of Pike Valley USD 426, which has a Postsecondary Effective Rate of 68 percent, 18% higher than the predicted rate of 50 percent, and a graduation rate of 100 percent, 8.4% higher than the predicted rate of 91.6% based on enrollment size and percent of high needs students.  

KASB Leadership Field Services Specialist Marcia Weseman and I were welcomed to the district office by school board member Bryan Rickard, where we met with Superintendent Steve Joonas and a team from the elementary school in Courtland before walking across the parking lot to the junior/senior high school. I immediately heard about strong community support, a recent successful bond issue to improve the Career Tech Ed facilities and a community volunteer workday to improve a playground.  

The elementary leaders presented a detailed report on state assessment results, showing general improvement but also areas of concern, and discussed steps they’ve taken, such as: 

• A ten-year-old preschool program open to all students in the district. 
• A new science curriculum. 
• Quick intervention when students are falling short of standards. 

“We schedule MTSS time (time for specific individual intervention and support), and that time trumps everything else,” said elementary principal Michael Gritten.  

That intervention time also includes social-emotional learning. Like every district I’ve visited, they say they are battling deeper social, emotional and behavioral issues among young children. “If students don't know how to behave in a classroom and what's expected in the classroom, it's hard to teach your kids that way.” said kindergarten teacher Christel Nelson. “A class that truly has social-emotional learning issues is harder to teach them academics if they're not prepared.”  

The district created a summer school program called Summer Exploration to help elementary students who may be falling behind, which has been funded for the last three years with federal COVID-19 aid. It’s open to all students grades K-8 and has attracted 75-80 students annually. Leaders say the program supports learning but encourages enough “fun” to attract students, and many students participate. They’ve also adopted an elementary STEAM program, giving students a choice between coding and robotics or art studio every other Friday.  

At the high school, we met with Andrew Garmen, a senior who has been building his own business since seventh grade after teaching himself welding, providing services to farming businesses in the area, and moving into manufacturing and marketing across several states. Now, with several part-time employees, he is held back from owning an incorporated business only because he hasn’t turned 18.  

Andrew’s story raises questions about the purpose and evaluation of education. It’s pretty clear Andrew is poised to be “successful” regardless of how he does on standardized tests or taking college courses, which he frankly admits he is not interested in. In fact, Superintendent Joonas wanted us to meet Andrew because he said he “hated” school a few years ago because it didn’t meet his interests. But by supporting Andrew in creating his own learning plan, he has become a school leader and a Future Farmers of America officer. He is so knowledgeable that he has helped advise the district on equipment purchases.  

The goal of helping students pursue their career interests has led to expanding career technical education pathways, and despite already being well above the expected rate of students having postsecondary success, Pike Valley is expanding offerings, meeting the demand in areas such as certified nursing assistants. The 1A high school currently offers CTE pathways in Agriculture, Business and Computers, Construction and Design, Teaching and Training and Health Sciences.  

"We are looking at how we can expand our food science with our ag department and the health piece and utilize maybe some nutrition and wellness stuff together, and start expanding that as well,” said Joonas. “So, we're continuing to look for expansion opportunities through CTE.” An expanded CTE shop, funded by a recent bond issue, is expected to help.  

The high school staff also credit their success to a strong – and improved – MTSS effort. Every student is involved. “In the past, if a student was strong in reading, to get them more help we would take them out of a class they really liked, such as an ag class, so it was seen as a punishment,” said special education teacher Stephanie Jensen. “Now, we have time set aside to give them the help, and for students who are ahead of their benchmarks, they get enrichment, so everyone can continue to grow.”  

Board member Bryan Rickard agreed. “We’ve really tried to help catch all kids, including those in the middle that don’t get special services or attention. It’s helped move our scores from one and twos to the third level (on state assessments, where Level 3 is considered effectively prepared for postsecondary education).”  

Bright idea: Pike Valley school board meetings include a “curriculum corner” to focus on teaching and learning, with presentations from administrators and teachers throughout the year. “The vast majority of our board meetings focus on curriculum,” said board member Bryan Rickard. “Before, we maybe just looked at test scores once a year. Now it's ongoing.” School staff say presenting to the school board is an extension of expectations to share professional development with their peers.  

District Profile: With just 205 students, Pike Valley USD 426 is one of the smallest districts in the state and ranks in the bottom third of the 0-500 student group. It's 71.6% low-income plus students with disabilities population is about 4% higher than the state average. But Pike Valley’s Postsecondary Effective Rate of 68% is 17.6% higher than the predicted rate of 50% based on enrollment size and percentage of high-needs students. Its 100% graduation rate is 8.4% higher than the predicted rate of 91.6 percent. (Pike Valley’s state assessment results, change in assessment rates and change in graduation rates are all at least five percent higher than predicted.)