Education trends to watch this year

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: Kids are heading back to school this week across the region, and as the new academic year kicks off, Sioux Falls Simplified is looking at some emerging education-related trends to watch in the coming year. Here's a look at what we're watching.

Microschools

The one-room schoolhouse model is coming back as more microschools open up in Sioux Falls.

  • Microschools fall somewhere between private schools and home-schooling, though the state technically considers microschools to fall under the home-school umbrella (i.e. "alternative education").

Examples of microschools in Sioux Falls include Acton Academy, The Pelican School and Genesis Academy.

  • Genesis Academy co-founders – and former Tea Area School District teachers – said they see microschools as a way to provide really individualized learning and focus on helping kids grow and learn over several years.
"As a public school teacher, you teach a kid for nine months and then it's 'goodbye, on to the next,'" co-founder Tessa Ziemba said. "We stay with them for six years (K-5)."

Continued (and stabilizing) growth

The Sioux Falls metro area is no stranger to seeing new schools go up, but this year will bring a milestone for the Sioux Falls School District as it constructs what will likely be the last new elementary school building in a long time.

Growth continues at a rapid pace in neighboring districts, though, leading to a number of ongoing construction projects in the region to accommodate more and more families.

  • That includes the new Liberty Elementary in Harrisburg (which also just opened a new middle school last year), an expanded school in Baltic, a new high school in Tri-Valley and a high school expansion in Tea.

Cell-phone use

South Dakota schools are seeing more conversations about banning cell phones and other devices in the classroom.

  • Those conversations are as extreme as Gettysburg School District's new cell phone ban.
  • But more of what we'll see in Sioux Falls is an approach of encouraging thoughtful technology use and a push for "responsible digital citizens," as Superintendent Jane Stavem said in a column earlier this summer.
"We want our teachers and administrators to focus on education and support rather than policing phone use throughout the day," Stavem wrote.

Meanwhile, local parents are also talking about smarter cell phone and device use. The "Low Tech Families of Sioux Falls" are looking to create a community where parents don't give their kids cell phones until high school.

Improving attendance

The Sioux Falls School District last year received a three-year, $1.5 million grant to help reduce chronic absenteeism (i.e. kids who miss about three weeks of school or more).

  • Early results show it's working, albeit at modest rates. The early data shows personal connection like phone calls, home visits, etc. have the biggest impact.

As that grant continues, district spokeswoman DeeAnn Konrad said next week the district will be announcing some "exciting details" about a new campaign to improve student attendance.

After-school options

Finding adequate after-school care has been a perennial discussion in Sioux Falls – especially knowing that thousands of kids have nowhere to go between the time classes end and their parents get home, per a 2018 study.

There's been a good amount of work since that study came out, though, and it'll continue this year. The Sioux Falls School District is coming off of its first full year of having Community Learning Centers at all 22 elementary schools.

  • It'll be worth watching if/how that program evolves into its second year.

Now, attention is turning toward options for middle schoolers, as the Boys & Girls Club builds a new facility at George McGovern Middle School.

  • It's likely after-school options will also come up in ongoing citywide discussions about the need for more indoor recreation options – and even more specifically, as the city looks at potentially repurposing the convention center.