News

North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced that Dr. Connie Hovendick, the superintendent of the North Dakota School for the Deaf Resource Center, will be retiring at the end of June.

Paraprofessional Appreciation Day honors paraprofessional educators, who may also be known as paras, instructional assistants, or teacher aides. Paraprofessionals support students with instruction, behavior, language, physical assistance, and more. They perform a variety of teaching-related tasks and, while they assist teachers in classrooms, they may also work independently.

Gov. Doug Burgum and State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler praised the Bismarck public schools’ Career Academy as an example of what education innovation and career and technical centers can do for North Dakota students.

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Wednesday invited North Dakotans from two groups of counties to apply for the Board of Public School Education, which plays a crucial oversight role in the North Dakota’s education system.

A few weeks after North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler took office in 2013, she received an email from a high school principal who “wanted to do things differently.”

When work first began on how to improve the way North Dakota students learn, it became apparent that what was good for one district was not going to work in another. School districts were going to need to communicate what changes were desired and of course, not all school districts saw the need for change. Over time, the concept of allowing innovation to grow locally took shape and during the 2017 legislative session, SB 2186 was passed. This precedence-setting legislation allows public and nonpublic schools to have more local control and flexibility over the design and delivery of learning in their schools. 

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced Thursday that Bret Dockter, North Dakota’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, has been awarded a $15,000 grant to promote the teaching profession and education. It is the first grant of its kind in state history.

The STARS user interface is getting an overhaul on March 10th! Improvements were made based on user feedback we obtained through surveys, as well as from our STARS advisory group. This is a multi-phase initiative.

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Tuesday announced the start of a competition for 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants for the 2022-23 school year.

Recently, representatives from Emerado Elementary School and Mt. Pleasant High School in Rolla traveled to New Orleans to be recognized as National Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Distinguished Schools at the 2022 National ESEA Conference. The four-day event was attended by educators, administrators, and state association members from across the U.S. and addressed a common goal – how to best meet the needs of disadvantaged students.

North Dakota is leading the way in educating students in computer science. We are the first state to have computer science and cybersecurity standards for curriculum. To encourage participation and interest in computer science and cybersecurity, the first-ever Cyber Madness Tournament was held February 10 - 12 at Bismarck State College. Thirteen teams of high school students from eleven school districts across North Dakota competed.