Hiawatha Community School

MESPA Home > Honors > Minnesota Schools of Excellence > 2007-2008 Validations > Hiawatha Community School

Rosalind Robbins, principal

2007-2008 MESPA Minnesota School of Excellence
Minneapolis Public Schools, Special School District #1

“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

Rosalind Robbins is the principal of Hiawatha Community School, a K-5 community school located in south Minneapolis, serving approximately 300 students. It is a Title One school that celebrates a culturally diverse, urban student body, including an English as a Second Language program. In the fall of 2005 Hiawatha merged with Howe Community School, which was closed. The combined Hiawatha-Howe staff members recognize the many steps of a child’s developmental growth and take an active daily interest in the personal and academic gains of each child, fostering a welcoming and caring learning environment within the school.

The adult learners at Hiawatha participate in Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Robbins and teacher leaders teach whole group professional development sessions, focusing on the Principles of Learning, “frameworks” developed at the University of Pittsburgh. Working collaboratively, classroom teachers apply these researched-based frameworks to best practices as they examine student work, data results, and determine the necessary interventions and resources needed to ensure student success.

As principal, Rosalind Robbins believes, “Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” (Author Anonymous, though sometimes attributed to Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832) Every morning at Hiawatha Community School the staff members set the tone for the day by enthusiastically greeting the students. They strive to create a safe learning environment of mutual respect that fosters self-esteem, a sense of community and reflects high expectations for all students. The school also creates a welcoming climate for parents. Staff members encourage parents to become more meaningfully involved in their children’s learning by working on school projects together. Recently staff and parents collaborated to raise funds and construct playground equipment, a project that benefited the school and the neighborhood. Hiawatha provides a supportive environment so parents, staff, and children can work

MESPA Executive Director P. Fred Storti presenting MESPA Minnesota School of Excellence plaque to Rosalind Robbins, principal, Hiawatha Community School.

together for a common cause.

Hiawatha Community Minnesota School of Excellence Celebration:
February 11, 2008
9:30 a.m.
For a slide show of celebration photos, scroll to the bottom of the page!

Hiawatha Community School will hold a celebration to honor its Minnesota School of Excellence validation on Monday, February 11, at 9:30 a.m. in the school gymnasium. This will be a vibrant, active event – with children, families, school staff, and community dignitaries. The celebration is being held in conjunction with National Family Involvement Day. “The focus will be on our students,” said Robbins. “The award ceremony will be a community assembly, with a performance or presentation from each grade level of Hiawatha students, concluding with a rendition of the Hiawatha School song sung by the entire school.”

In addition to the community of school parents, community and education dignitaries will include: Minneapolis Superintendent Bill Green and MESPA Executive Director P. Fred Storti, who will present Hiawatha Community with a Minnesota School of Excellence plaque.

Light refreshments will be served following the assembly. Parents and guests then will be invited to the computer lab to learn how to surf the Internet and view a brief demonstration of the school’s projector and capabilities of their new computers.

“I would love to show the parents the Minnesota Say Yes to No Web page and Dr. David Walsh’s book ‘No, Why Kids -- of All Ages -- Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It,’" said Robbins. Minnesota Say Yes to No is a grassroots campaign igniting community conversations around raising healthy, self-reliant kids so they will be successful in school and life. MESPA -- along with a coalition of parent, education, and health organizations, enthusiastically support this statewide campaign to read Dr. David Walsh’s book during the 2007-2008 school year. The optional program is highly encouraged for PTAs, parent groups, and staff as a tool that will help develop self-discipline in students – resulting in greater student achievement.

The celebration will conclude with lunch; all guests will be invited and are welcome to stay for school lunch at around 11:30 a.m.

Image Gallery: Hiawatha Community Minnesota School of Excellence Celebration

Mission: The Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association is dedicated to promoting and improving education for children and youth, strengthening the role as educational leader for elementary and middle level principals, and collaborating with partners in education to assist in achieving these goals.

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