Principal outlines pacing guides, career pathways and district goals

Principal Swatsky presented the board with four building goals the district is pursuing this year, placing particular emphasis on a guaranteed, viable curriculum backed by pacing guides and on career and college pathways for secondary students.

"This is the work that our teachers have been doing on the early out and late start days," Swatsky said, describing pacing guides that include timelines, key vocabulary and links to common assessments so new and existing teachers can implement standards consistently.

Swatsky said the district intends to align K–12 power standards and hold a vertical alignment activity on April 2 to make grade‑level transitions clearer. He also described a career‑pathways visual for 7–12 students that maps classes into the Minnesota Department of Education career pathways and said staff aim to place an interactive version on the district website. A district career fair for grades 7–12 is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22.

Board members questioned whether pacing guides are mandatory; Swatsky replied that the guides are expected and tied to Minnesota standards and MCA‑linked assessments so teachers can ensure coverage of essential benchmarks. He said the documents will be living resources, continuously updated as teachers add assessments and resources.

Swatsky also described school practices to promote student connection — leadership walk‑throughs, student forums and social‑emotional learning through the SOAR team — and said these supports complement the curriculum work. The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff will continue development of the pacing guides and online materials and report back as visuals and web features are finalized.