Dear PACT Families,

We are off to a great start this school year, and I want to sincerely thank each of you for helping make the first month a success. Your support, flexibility, and engagement truly make a difference in our school community.

We’re excited to share that our Elementary MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) scores in both Reading and Math have risen compared to last year! This improvement reflects the hard work of our students, the commitment of our staff, and the support of our families. Thank you for keeping learning a priority, both at school and at home!

Keeping our students safe is always our top priority. This year, we continue to emphasize safety protocols through regular drills and the use of our Standard Response Protocols led by our trained Response Team. These routines help ensure that students and staff are prepared and confident in case of an emergency.

In grades 2–5, we’re beginning to implement our flexible skill groupings during WIN Time (What I Need) as well as throughout Reading and Math blocks in grades 4-5. This allows us to meet each student at their current level and offer more targeted instruction. We're eager to see how this approach will support the growth of all our students!

Many of our teachers have started incorporating DEAR Time (Drop Everything and Read) into their daily routines. These continuous reading moments help students improve stamina, develop a passion for reading, and enjoy books of their choice.

We’re updating our Character Awards philosophy to be more deliberate and selective. This change helps us recognize students who consistently embody our core values in meaningful ways. We look forward to celebrating these students throughout the year in a manner that feels special and intentional.

I believe it’s important to regularly review our practices to ensure they align with our mission and values. Starting this year, we are enhancing our approach to the Character Awards to better match the model already used at our Secondary Campus.

Instead of giving an award to every student, our teachers will be more intentional and selective, recognizing students who have consistently demonstrated strong character traits in meaningful, authentic ways throughout the year. This change allows the awards to better reflect merit and personal growth, helping our students see that character is something we work toward, not just something we receive.

This change does not imply that we have never valued character development in the past. It simply aligns our recognition practices more closely with our philosophy: that character is cultivated, demonstrated, and celebrated when it truly influences our school culture and community.

We remain strongly committed to developing strong character in all students, and we will keep demonstrating and teaching those qualities in our classrooms and throughout the school. This update is another step toward helping students understand that character matters—and that truly living it out makes a difference.

Looking for a way to support our teachers directly? We’ve created an Amazon Wish List with classroom items that would benefit students across various grade levels. If you're able, we invite you to take a look at this link.

Once again, thank you for partnering with us. We truly appreciate your involvement and support as we work together to make this year one of growth, safety, and joy for every student.

Warmly,

Dr. Lara Bronson

Principal, PACT Elementary