education

St. John’s to open school with face-to-face learning model

Aug 19, 2020

Editor’s note: The Graphic asked St. John’s Lutheran School Principal David Zabel to describe how learning will take place as the school year begins and the process that led to those decisions. His full response follows. Once the Governor made his decision to “let local schools districts decide...

School board meets Tuesday on reopening plans

Jul 29, 2020

On Thursday (today) Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce whether Minnesota public schools students will begin the school year on Sept. 8 in class, in distance learning, or a hybrid model incorporating aspects of both. Soon after, parents in the district will receive a brief questionnaire from the...

Filing open for four school board seats

Jul 29, 2020

Filing for four seats on the Lake City School Board opened Tuesday and ends Aug. 11. At the July 20 Lake City School Board meeting, Heath Oeltjen and Michelle Larson said they would seek reelection. Jack Rol and Patrick Dwelle said they were undecided. School board candidates must reside in the...

District formulating plans for uncertain school year

Jul 22, 2020

Lake City Public Schools is working on three plans for operating during the pandemic in the upcoming school year, and it might end up using all three. On Monday administrators previewed some of the issues and draft plans for members of the Lake City School Board at its July meeting. Lincoln High...

Homebuyer education classes available

Jul 1, 2020

SEMMCHRA is continuing to offer its in-person homebuyer education class, Home Stretch, online. Participants will be emailed a link to join an on-line video conference where they will be able to listen to presentations by homebuyer counselors, lenders, real estate agents and home inspectors. ...

St. John’s kindergarten teacher retires

Jun 17, 2020

In June, Denise Steffenhagen will be retiring from 25 years as a Lutheran elementary school teacher. For the last seven of those twenty-five years, she has been the Kindergarten teacher at St. John’s in Lake City. After fourteen years as a stay-at-home mom, Denise Steffenhagen began her...

Parade narrows gap between students and school staff

May 28, 2020

After months of distance learning that took place predominantly online, students and staff at Lake City Public Schools and St. John’s Lutheran School got to see one another in person – if only briefly and from a physical distance – May 20 during a parade organized by Bluff Country School Bus...

SEMMCHRA offers online Home Stretch classes

May 13, 2020

SEMMCHRA is now offering its in-person homebuyer education class, Home Stretch, online. Participants will be emailed a link to join an on-line video conference where they will be able to listen to presentations by homebuyer counselors, lenders, real estate agents and home inspectors. Participants...

Graduation plans unmade

May 13, 2020

Lake City Public Schools thought they had a plan that would allow Lincoln High School seniors to have a commencement ceremony safely this year. Developed with feedback from students, parents, staff, and school administration, the plan was to have the ceremony outdoors at the Lake City High School...

From a distance, for the rest of the school year

Apr 30, 2020

Lake City Public Schools had a relatively smooth transition to distance learning thanks to some technology adopted in the last few years, but what about prom, and commencement? Students in the Lake City School District had their last day in the school buildings on Friday, March 13. Distance...