Minnesota Rural Urban Connections Project

Last month we had our first rural urban connections video conference.  The topic of that video conference was Innovative Education Initiatives in SE Minnesota.  We had 5 video conference sites with presenters in both Adams and Houston, Minnesota. They discussed successful online, interactive learning programs in their communities and the connections that have resulted from these projects.

Below is a brief summary about their respective initiatives.

Minnesota Virtual Academy, Houston, MN

The Houston Public School District serves over 450 local kids.  In 2002 they started their 1^st online school, the Minnesota Virtual Academy, with grades k-2.  Now they have K-8 and High School online learning programs and they serve 1600 students across MN.  While the majority of their students live in the Twin Cities Metro area, in 2009, they served students in all but three counties in Minnesota.

In 2009, the Minnesota Virtual Academy was approached by a community leader in NE Minneapolis, to assist them in learning how best to reach out to and serve the growing Somali population in Minneapolis.

For more information, contact Kim Ross, Superintendent, Houston Public Schools

Southland High School, Adams, MN &  Riverland Community College, Austin, MN

Since 2008, Southland High School has been part of a pilot study with Riverland Community College to show the effectiveness and cost savings of implementing Distance Learning Interactive Television into their regular school setting.  They have found it to be a very successful partnership both academically and financially for both institutions.  They have just completed their first semester with all of their students achieving grades no lower than a B+, while saving the school district about $25,000 in Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) costs for their first semester.  They believe that this model can be applied across Southeastern Minnesota, not only to PSEO courses, but also in their regular high school curricular areas.

For more information, contact Ryan Luft, Principal, Southland High School in Adams, MN

What types of rural and urban education connections are happening in your community?

Check out our video conference page for future video conference dates, locations and topics.

Share your rural and urban connections with us!