Are you safe during this season? Are you concerned about your children’s education? Where would you live to enjoy one of the greatest school systems around? Lake of the Woods, Baudette, MN is the home to Lake of the Woods School. This is the one and only school in the county but is one of the finest physical facilities in all of northern MN. The campus itself houses pre-school through 12th grade. Lake of the Woods School 
ranks among the top 10 in education in the state of Minnesota.
Features of this facility include a swimming pool, 3 gyms, walking track, weight room, shop and an adjacent state of the art ice hockey arena. The commons area, where students have their lunches, is gigantic in size and the auditorium seats 400 people with comfortable seats and a stage to have any event whether concerts or speakers in the area.
Education has had its extremes during this COVID-19 season. However, Lake of the Woods Board of Education along with Superintendent Nelson and our new HS Principal, Mary Merchant, and other staff members have worked tirelessly to see that Education is not neglected but instead is enhanced and safely executed this year. Lake of the Woods Sporting Events will take an adjustment this season as well as the football and volleyball seasons have been moved to the spring season with only Cross Country competing this fall. They are in compliance with regulations set by the Minnesota State High School League.
Baudette, MN is a great small town with around 1,100 people in residence. Lake of the Woods County numbers about 4,000 residents and SAFETY is a great reason to live in this north country. Many folks come up to vacation and enjoy the great fishing and hunting available year around and decide that this is where they want to relocate. “Get Hooked for Life” is a great slogan adopted by our city fathers encouraging many folks to live here showing all kinds of features of the area and even employment opportunities.
As a service to many in the area who are wondering what Education at Lake of the Woods Schools will look like this fall, I have included some of the newest information from a letter recently written by our HS Principal.
“Lake of the Woods School is making plans for implementing in-person learning for elementary students (K-6) and hybrid Learning high school students (7-12). In general, we will be operating elementary and high school classrooms to meet the 50% occupancy and 6 foot social distancing. Elementary students will be in-person everyday Monday through Friday. High School students will be attending in-person two days per week and working remotely two days.”
“The School Board has approved the method which our school year will begin. Students in grades 7-12 will have 50% of students in the building at a time. Group A students (last name beginning A-K and by households) attend in person Monday and Wednesday. Group B students (last name beginning L-Z and by households) attend in person Tuesday and Thursday. Students will have assigned seats for every class. Friday is a day for teachers to work with students (small groups in person, Google Meet or Zoom Meetings).
Students will be encouraged to eat outside as weather permits. Students will all be asked to carry all items for the day in a backpack or school bag. Lockers will not be used until needed for winter coats. Students are encouraged to use their own personal computer if they have access to one. If not, a device will be provided upon request. Students will be asked to use water bottles as the water fountains are no longer in use. Touchless water refill stations are available to fill water bottles. Teachers will collect data weekly from students to provide a support for student success with Scenario 2. The school day has been shortened and will run from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Check In – When students are not in the building, they will have to check in with their first hour teacher. This is for all 7-12 students including Fridays. Student schedules are open on Synergy. Students please check your schedule and if you need any changes please send me an email so we can make changes prior to September 8 th . 7 th Grade Orientation will take place on Wednesday, September 2 nd . Students whose last name begins with A-K report to the gym at 5:30 p.m. with a parent, no siblings. Students whose last name begins with L-Z report to the gym at 6:15 p.m. with a parent, no siblings.”
Education, Safety, Jobs, Recreation of all kinds are all great incentives to visit Lake of the Woods and also consider making it your permanent home.
Last modified: 08/30/2020
