Kindergarten Roundup for children entering school in the fall will be March 18 at Lake Ripley Elementary School, 100 W. Pleasure Drive, Litchfield.

To be eligible for kindergarten, children must have their fifth birthday by Sept. 1 of the year they enroll.

Registration begins at 5:45 p.m. in Ripley Elementary’s main hallway, at which time children will be assigned a classroom for the evening. An informational meeting for parents/guardians, as well as classroom activities for children will follow. Roundup will conclude with snacks in the cafeteria.

The School of St. Philip will have a kindergarten open house from 6 to 7 p.m. March 16 at the school, 225 Third St. E., Litchfield.

The open house is available to all those with children entering kindergarten in the fall. The open house offers parents and children a chance to look at St. Philip School and learn about its all-day, every-day kindergarten program.

During the open house, the kindergartners-to-be will join teachers in the kindergarten room for fun activities, while parents have a short meeting.  

Saint Paul – The following is a statement from Gov. Tim Pawlenty regarding the draft K-12 education standards of the Common Core State Standards Initiative released today by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association.

“The math portion of the draft K-12 education standards unveiled today would water down Minnesota’s rigorous standards that require students to take algebra by eighth grade. In a hypercompetitive world, Minnesota should not adopt less rigorous standards than we currently have in place.”

Kindergarten Roundup for children entering school in the fall of 2010 will be held at Lake Ripley Elementary School on March 18. to eligible for kindergarten, children must have their fifth birthday by Sept. 1 of the year they enroll.

Registration begins at 5:45 p.m. in Ripley Elementary’s main hallway, at which time children will be assigned a classroom for the evening. An informational meeting for parents/guardians, as well as classroom activities for children will follow. Roundup will conclude with snacks in the cafeteria.

Litchfield public school students and those at the School of St. Philip will start school two hours late Wednesday, March 3, so teachers can spend time in workshops.

Changing from five school days to four each week remains a possibility for the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District.

School Board members and Superintendent Sherri Broderius discussed some of the pros and cons Feb. 4 associated with shortened school weeks that would have longer school days.

“As far as I’m concerned, to be fiscally responsible and educationally responsible, we need to go forward with it,”  board chairwoman Judy Raske said.

Eight children were injured Friday morning in a school bus crash near Kingston.

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School Board members bid goodbye to fellow board member Dan Tait when he resigned Thursday, and then said hello to him as the district’s new business manager minutes later.

Tait, who has served on the School Board since 2007, will replace Connie Dallmann, who is retiring June 30 as business manager. Tait will start working with Dallmann on Tuesday to learn the job, and she will reduce her hours to four days a week.

Due to the early closing of school on Monday, Litchfield School District's Registration Night for eighth through 11th grades was rescheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 22.

The district spelling bee was rescheduled to 7 p.m. Feb. 22.

The Litchfield School Board meeting also was rescheduled to Feb. 22.