Instruction and Learning

Using a variety of curricular resources and instructional approaches, teachers in St. Louis Park Public Schools adhere to the Minnesota Academic Standards. Learn more about the Minnesota State Standards.

The purpose of the Achievement and Integration (A&I) for Minnesota program is to pursue racial and economic integration, increase student achievement, create equitable educational opportunities, and reduce academic disparities based on students' diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds in Minnesota public schools.

• Read Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.861
• Read Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.862
• Read Minnesota Rules, parts 3535.0100 to 3535.0180 of the School Desegregation/Integration rules

View the 2023-2026 Achievement and Integration Plan

If you come across any classroom materials that you have questions about, we encourage you to have conversations with your student's teacher and/or principal. We also encourage families to review the following school board policies:

• Policy 604 (addresses parental curriculum review)

• Policy 606 and 606 Procedures (addresses the selection of textbooks and instructional materials and the procedure to request alternative instructional materials)

• Policy 632 (addresses teaching about controversial issues)

Families can pursue alternative instructional materials by completing the form available on our website and sending it to their teacher or school principal. The form is designed to gather the necessary information to better understand your specific preferences and work collaboratively to answer questions and to find suitable alternatives.

Access Fillable PDFs

• English Form
• Spanish Form
• Somali Form

Want to help review what is taught in St. Louis Park Public Schools classrooms? We invite families to apply to join the District Instructional Programs Advisory Council (DIPAC). You do not need any educational background to join. The Committee will review the process of our curricular and instructional program offerings.

• No background required (just your interest to participate!)
• Seeking diverse perspectives
• Attend approximately 4 meetings (1.5 hours each).

What We Do

• Support the development of curricular and instructional programs that are anti-racist and promote racially equitable learning experiences for all students.
• Bring together academic interests that support achievement for all students across the district.
• Provide advice and insight to support the Superintendent in the development of curricular and instructional programs.
• To review and provide feedback on District policies, practices, procedures and programs that impact curriculum and instructional programs.
• Gather feedback from parents and students throughout the district regarding how to share decisions and progress of district Program Design Teams with the greater parent and student community.

DIPAC has the authority to make recommendations to the Superintendent regarding curricular and instructional programs.

Meeting Schedule

All meetings will take place at the District Office on Mondays from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Membership

DIPAC membership is based on interest, not educational expertise. Members include up to two representatives from each elementary school and up to four representatives from each secondary school, one school board member, district teachers and administrators, and up to four high school students. The length of term is two years.

DIPAC will strive to reflect the racial, gender, language, and ability balance of the school district and will actively recruit participants from underrepresented groups, if at the end of the application process, we do not see an adequate response. The district Teaching and Learning team and the Superintendent shall work together to ensure underrepresented groups are equitably represented from across the school district. These appointments will be endorsed by Principals at each of the representative sites from across the school district.

Our goal is to provide students with research-based, rigorous reading and writing instruction focused on enrichment and inquiry, regardless of the classroom they are assigned. In past practice, only a handful of teachers were responsible for literacy intervention and practices included some that were remedial and segregated, contributing to unsatisfactory outcomes for students. Although pull-out remediation may seem like an easier way to get the results we want, literacy outcomes are complex. A student’s literacy identity is connected to expectations that we have for them as a reader and writer, as well as their success in literacy and the ways they see themselves in the curriculum.

The 5 Pursuits of Culturally Relevant Literacy

Teachers approach the student experience and our classes through the following five pursuits. These pursuits are part of the St. Louis Park Public Schools strategic plan. Enrichment isn’t always about offering students with high skill levels more work; it’s also about helping students find joy, work on criticality, and deepen their discovery of all of the pursuits. While some students are strong in each pursuit, others accelerate in some pursuits more than others. Enrichment isn’t always about offering students with high skill levels, more skills, it’s also about helping students find joy, work on criticality, and deepen their discovery of all of the pursuits. Rigor comes from and through all of the five pursuits.

• Identity - students discover who they are, who others say they are, and who they desire to be
• Skill - students demonstrate proficiency in reading (decoding, vocabulary, phonics, etc.)
• Intellectualism - citing textual evidence and writing and expression of ideas
• Criticality - critical thinking, students understand power, humanity, inequities, oppression, anti-sexism and anti-racism
• Joy - students express happiness and a love for learning