Washington Elementary received a Minnesota School of Excellence award and board members heard details Wednesday about the school’s recent academic and social‑emotional work.

Principal Anne Haggerty told the Mankato Area Public Schools board she and staff used stakeholder surveys, focused professional learning and a set of strategic priorities to guide improvement. "We were chosen as a Minnesota School of Excellence. We're 1 of 13 elementary schools in the state," Haggerty said during the presentation.

The principal and Travis Olsen, director of teaching and learning, said Washington’s work centers on three areas: more rigorous, spiraled instruction, regular professional learning community (PLC) practice and schoolwide attention to social‑emotional learning (SEL). Haggerty described weekly PLC meetings that set an “essential skill or competency” for teams to measure and respond to, and said the school has added formative SEL screeners to track belonging and respect among students.

Olsen summarized the district process that produced the vision metrics the board later approved, saying the strategic roadmap and the new vision cards will let the district report progress on teaching and learning, operations and equity goals.

Board members asked for specifics. Haggerty said Washington had increased the percentage of students consistently attending school — reporting it rose from about 86 percent two years ago and that the school’s goal for the coming year is 92 percent. She also said the school reduced the number of chronically absent students, from an end‑of‑year total of 45 to “fewer than 30” by the time of the presentation.

Haggerty highlighted DIBELS early literacy screening results and said spring benchmark rates for several grades were in the 90s. She credited a combination of higher instructional rigor, a spiraled curriculum and strong collaborative practice for the gains.

Board members and Superintendent Peterson praised the leadership and staff for intentional steps to raise outcomes. "They took a good hard long look at where they were, and through some courageous conversations . . . there were very intentional steps that Anne led and the staff followed," Superintendent Peterson said.

The board did not take a formal action tied directly to the Washington recognition; the item was presented as an information/recognition item. The presentation included plans for a public rally and a principals’ conference appearance in February to mark the award.

Washington’s presentation also described tactical efforts such as home visits to address attendance barriers, use of a reading wall and an added attendance wall to make data visible to staff, and a move to a new SEL curriculum for tier‑1 lessons.

Board members said they appreciated the mix of data and practical examples. The district will continue to track the vision‑card metrics that align to the strategic roadmap and report to the board on them.