St. Charles Schools

10/30/2026

Celebrating Academic Excellence at St. Charles High School!

St. Charles has so much to be proud of, last night we celebrated something truly special academic excellence!

Congratulations to the outstanding students recognized at the Academic Excellence Banquet! These students have demonstrated dedication, hard work, perseverance, and a commitment to making academics a priority.

🏆 What does this award mean?
The Academic Excellence Award recognizes students who maintained a GPA of 3.5 or above during the school year.

Academic letters are awarded to students in 9th through 12th grade who earned the following GPA.

9th Grade = 4.0
10th Grade = 3.75
11th Grade = 3.5
12th Grade 3.5

Academic Excellence has been a part of the Saint Charles School district since 1985. Students are honored annually for their achievement.

📊 Did you know? An impressive 44% of St. Charles High School students earned this academic recognition!

What an incredible reflection of our students, the teachers who challenge and inspire them, and the families who support their success.

We often celebrate achievements on the field, court, and stage, state fair, but this is about shining the spotlight on excellence in the classroom! 🧡🖤

Congratulations to all our honorees! You make St. Charles proud!

10/30/2026

🎃This Halloween weekend, our community will be filled with costumes, laughter, and children making memories. Behind every costume is a child with dreams, potential, and a future worth investing in.

Our schools are an important part of that future. They are where our children learn, build friendships, discover their strengths, and prepare for what comes next. Approximately 90% of children living within the district attend St. Charles Public Schools, and we 🧡 support them.

Here’s how St. Charles Public School District could use your help, and why your public school is asking for your local financial support. We continue facing difficult financials, including:

📉 State funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation. While schools have received funding increases, those increases have fallen short of rising costs over the past 20-plus years. Today, districts have about 18.6% less purchasing power per student than if funding had kept pace with inflation.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Enrollment is declining. About 90% of children living within our district attend St. Charles schools, but birth rates have also declined across Minnesota. As enrollment declines, state funding declines—even though the costs of buildings, buses, and staffing don’t decrease at the same rate.

🏫 St. Charles starts with less local school property tax support than many other districts. In the 2025 school property tax comparison, St. Charles is listed at $895, compared with $1,343-1,486 for Dover-Eyota and Houston, $919 for Lanesboro, and $939 as the state average.

We ask our community to consider additional local support to help maintain current programming, teachers, and student support. Since January 2023, the district has taken steps to reduce expenses and strengthen its financial position.

📈 Rebuilt the district's fund balance from -3.83% to +9%.

👩‍🏫 Reduced 8 classroom teaching positions, saving approximately $704,000 annually.

👥 Reduced overall staffing by 15%, from 131 to 111 employees.

✂️ Made additional budget cuts to supplies, athletics, transportation, and other areas.

To learn more visit https://www.saintsstrong.com/.

Please consider all the information to make an informed vote on Nov 3rd. Strong Schools. Strong Community. 🧡🖤

10/30/2026

SCHS National Honor Society will be picking nonperishable food items on Halloween night from 6-8 pm for the Saint Charles Food Shelf!

If we miss your home, feel free to contact us by calling the school or bringing the items to the Food Shelf as well!

10/30/2026

🕯️ Candle Sales End Soon—November 4!

If a St. Charles junior class student hasn’t reached out to you yet and you’d like to order, let us know!

Your purchase helps support our April 24, 2027 after-prom activities. 🎉

10/29/2026

Thank You, St. Charles Community!

Thank you to everyone who attended our final informational session about the upcoming St. Charles Public Schools operating levy vote on November 3.

Your willingness to attend, ask thoughtful questions, and learn more about the challenges facing our district shows how much you care about our students, schools, and community. We appreciate your engagement!

Couldn’t attend? There’s still time to get informed! Visit www.saintsstrong.com for information about the proposed levy, school funding, and what the ballot questions mean for our district.

Get the facts. Ask questions. Be informed before you vote on November 3!

Strong Schools. Strong Community.

10/27/2026

10/27/2026

📊 An Update to Our School Funding Comparisons

As we continue sharing information about the upcoming operating levy, we want to highlight an update to one of our graphs on SaintsStrong.com.

A data point was incorrectly positioned at approximately $562 instead of $650. This was an unintentional oversight, and we've corrected the graph.

With so much information being prepared and shared by school staff, board members, and community volunteers, mistakes can happen. We are all working hard to provide accurate, helpful information so our community can make an informed decision.

We’re also sharing a new graph comparing the starting levels of local taxpayer support among area school districts. It illustrates that St. Charles starts with significantly less local support than many neighboring districts.

Transparency and accurate information matter. We appreciate everyone taking the time to learn more.

Visit www.SaintsStrong.com for additional information.

10/26/2026

Congratulations to our Students of the Week!

Alivia Spaulding - 1st Grade
Peter Cada - 6th Grade

These students both show kindness & have positive attitudes! They also have a fun sense of humor and are wonderful to have in class!

Keep being great, Saints!! 🧡🖤👏

10/26/2026

Support our St. Charles Junior Class!

Reach out to a junior class student to place your Country Corn Crib candle order and help raise funds for after-prom activities.

Candles will be delivered in early December - what a great holiday gift!

Thank you, Country Corn Crib for partnering with the After Prom Committee, and thank you to everyone supporting SC students!

10/26/2026

📊 WHAT HAS ST. CHARLES PUBLIC SCHOOLS ALREADY DONE TO REDUCE SPENDING, AND WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

Before asking taxpayers to consider an operating levy, St. Charles Public Schools made several difficult financial decisions.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY — ACTIONS ALREADY TAKEN

Since January 2023, the district has taken steps to reduce expenses and strengthen its financial position.

📈 Rebuilt the district's fund balance from -3.83% to +9%.

👩‍🏫 Reduced 8 classroom teaching positions, saving approximately $704,000 annually.

👥 Reduced overall staffing by 15%, from 131 to 111 employees.

✂️ Made additional budget cuts to supplies, athletics, transportation, and other areas.

Approximately 74% of the district's General Fund budget supports teachers, educational support staff, and employee benefits. Reducing expenses has meant making difficult decisions involving people, programs, and student opportunities.

LOOKING AHEAD — WITH OR WITHOUT THE LEVY

The district has developed financial projections for both scenarios.

📚 WITH additional operating revenue, the district would work to protect class sizes, teachers and support staff positions, educational programs, and student opportunities.

⚠️ WITHOUT additional operating revenue, the district anticipates increasingly difficult budget decisions that could mean further reductions affecting staffing, programs, and students.

📊 WHAT DO 73% OF MINNESOTA SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE THAT ST. CHARLES DOESN'T?

73% of Minnesota school districts ALREADY HAVE an operating levy in place? St. Charles is among the MINORITY THAT DOES NOT.

As school districts face rising costs and funding challenges, many rely on voter-approved operating levies to help support teachers, classroom instruction, student programs, transportation, and everyday operating expenses.

🧡🖤 Take a few minutes to review the information at: 👉 SaintsStrong.com

Be informed. Vote November 3.