By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Last Monday, the Northfield School Board heard the annual report from Prairie Creek Community School which is one of the two charter schools authorized by the district. School director Simon Tyler led the presentation and provided an opportunity for the board and community to learn about the school.
Prairie Creek is an Elementary School located in Castle Rock. Overall, the school is quite small, with only 20 students in each classroom and 179 students overall. Tyler says that the school has four main goals: to be a community school, to be a child-centered school, a progressive education school, and to make the world a better place. Tyler stated that “it is wonderful that mission has essentially remained unchanged since the school founding:
“We have a strong commitment both to student achievement, to accountability, to all the financial governance care that any public school should have, and part of why I come this evening is to, you know, assure you that’s happening. But also, we have a charter school commitment to innovation.”
– Simon Tyler, Executive Director of Prairie Creek at the 1/13/2025 Northfield School Board Meeting
Tyler also discussed Prairie Creek’s connections to the community, particularly the arts. Last year the school hosted a month-long artist residency of St. Olaf College faculty and students and will host artist Ross Sutter this year. Tyler shared that the school is working to expand its community garden:
“You can see in the picture we’ve got a photograph of a hoop house that was built in collaboration with St. Olaf Environmental Studies students a couple of years ago, we’re now writing grants to extend that out into a community garden and we will be working again in the second-half of the year with St. Of students to expand that.” – Simon Tyler, Executive Director of Prairie Creek at the 1/13/2025 Northfield School Board Meeting
One particular program that has received significant recognition is the all-school book club. Will have more details in future news stories about the program.
While Prairie Creek is a charter school, it is still a public school and reports the same test scores such as the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment or MCA test. Tyler stated the school is consistently above state averages in scores.
The contract between the Northfield Public Schools and Prairie Creek is up for renewal in the next year. When asked by Board member Corey Butler if Prairie Creek would seek to renew their contract with Northfield, Tyler emphasized the importance of the relationship between the two schools:
“One thing I talk about is having a collaborative, not an antagonistic relationship with your local traditional districts is central. I truly believe This is why Prairie Creek and Arcadia have been successful is that we’re supported by the supported by. Dr. Hillman and superintendents before him and the board as a partnership. It’s seen as a win-win. We’re a small, very small component of the Northfield educational landscape, but I think we spark questions and ideas. And opportunities that make us an important part of that landscape.” – Simon Tyler, Executive Director of Prairie Creek, at the 1/13/2025 Northfield School Board Meeting
You can learn more about Prairie Creek at https://prairiecreek.org/
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