South metro school briefs

Families can attend meetings about new magnet schools Students and parents can learn more about new magnet schools and programs that are opening next fall in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District at several meetings this month. Each meeting will include a quick overview of all the magnet schools, as well as more detailed information about that building's program and the registration process.

• A magnet school for gifted and talented students in kindergarten through sixth grade will be discussed at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 15 in the media center of Harriet Bishop Elementary, 14400 O'Connell Road, Savage.

• A magnet school focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) will be covered at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 in the media center of William Byrne Elementary, 11608 River Hills Drive, Burnsville.

• A STEM program for seventh- and eighth-graders will be discussed at 7 p.m. on Jan. 20 in the media center of Metcalf Junior High School, 2250 Diffley Road, Burnsville.

•The district is also opening a performing arts magnet school for high school students that will be based out of Burnsville's new arts center. Meetings about the arts program will be held at these times: 8 p.m. on Monday in the media center of Nicollet Junior High School, 400 E. 134th Street, Burnsville; 8 p.m. on Jan. 15 in Room C 180 of Burnsville High School, 600 E. Highway 13; and 7 p.m. on Jan. 27 in the commons area of the Senior Campus at Diamondhead Education Center, 200 W. Burnsville Pkwy.

New names chosen for Farmington schools The Farmington school board picked new names last month for three schools that will be put to new uses when the district's new high school opens next fall.

A new elementary school in what is now Middle School East will be called Riverview Elementary, a nod to the nearby Vermillion River.

Middle School West will be renamed Levi P. Dodge Middle School. Dodge, a school board member who served for 27 years in the late 1800s, established the first public library in Dakota County and insisted that teachers be college-educated, according to the district.

The current high school will become Robert Boeckman Middle School. Boeckman, a former Farmington superintendent, oversaw construction in the early 1970s of the building that will bear his name.

District seeks public input on boundary changes, start times The Prior Lake-Savage School District is looking for feedback on proposed changes to elementary school attendance boundaries, as well as the possibility of changing school start times for all students.

Maps of the proposed boundary changes, prompted by the opening of Redtail Ridge Elementary next fall, will be presented to the school board on Monday. The maps will be posted in elementary schools and the District Service Center the following day. A committee of parents, school board members and staff members will gather public input on the maps and make a recommendation to the board on Feb. 9.

The committee will hold meetings to get feedback about the maps at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Five Hawks, Glendale, Grainwood, Jeffers Pond and WestWood elementaries. A meeting at Edgewood School will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 20, and the District Service Center in Prior Lake will host another one at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21.

District officials also want to know what families think about changing school start times, partly because the Minnesota Medical Association has long urged high schools to consider later start times for teenagers. The district is conducting an online survey through Jan. 16 that is available at the district's website, www.priorlake-savage.k12.mn.us.

SARAH LEMAGIE