Park Rapids Schools prepare students for future

Park Rapids Area Schools enrolls approximately 1,650 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

The district’s history of vision, excellence and success is summed up in its vision: “Preparing today’s learners for tomorrow’s challenges.”

Doors to student success begin with a voluntary pre-kindergarten program and an all-day, every-day kindergarten, and continue through high school.

The Park Rapids Area School District employs about 300 professionals, including a faculty of 145 teachers. Approximately 56% of the teaching staff has a master’s degree or its equivalent.

Century School, located west of the high school, has eight “schools” within the facility. Grades K-6 each have their own “pod” and special identity, while 7th and 8th grades are in mixed pods. This system enables the district to offer specialized education for each grade level according to various age groups’ unique needs.

A comprehensive preK-12 curriculum provides a multitude of offerings for students, integrating technology to transform learning.

The district offers one of the finest early childhood programs in the state. Early Childhood Family Education, School Readiness, Head Start, Early Childhood Special Education and Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten programs and other family services are located at the Century School.

Park Rapids Area High School prepares students for the future with Panther Tracks. Participating in the College in the High School program can earn students an equivalent of two years of college credits while staying in Park Rapids and saving families several thousand dollars toward their students’ education.

Panther Tracks pathways are designed to provide our students with an individualized high school plan, to guide them towards a post-secondary pathway based on their interests, skills, and values by utilizing the Career Wheel model and YouScience aptitudes testing.

We want our students to be successful in the new economy. We want our students to find out how they are wired and what they are interested in building skills, explore careers, find out what they value in the workplace and build a plan to get there.

Panther Tracks enables students to explore the six nationally recognized career fields to eventually find their pathway to success. These include agriculture, food and natural resources; arts, communications and information systems; business, management, and administration; engineering, manufac- turing and technology; health science technology; and human services.

Each of these tracks is further broken down into 16 career clusters that contain career pathways, each with a sequence of courses designed to help students explore fields of interest to better prepare them for life after high school.

Students who complete one or more Panther Tracks, along with their foundation knowledge and skills requirements, real-world experience and career certificate options, will graduate with a certificate and medal for each track completed. Career and postsecondary readiness is the wave of the future, and PRAHS Panther Tracks are paving the way for success in our schools today. Excellence is achieved with focused learning ideals, and Park Rapids Area Public Schools are the gateway to the future.

The district’s website can be found at www.parkrapids.k12.mn.us.

Continued on page 44