The elementary school staff recently finished a book titled The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. The book looks at the rising anxiety and stress levels among kids and adolescents and connects the fact that technology and social media may be contributing. Here are a few ideas and themes that stood out to us as a staff:
Kids need real-world experiences. One major takeaway was the importance of play, problem-solving, and face-to-face interaction. These everyday experiences help children build confidence, resilience, and social skills in ways that screens can’t replace.
Independence builds confidence. Children grow when they are trusted with age-appropriate responsibility—things like solving small conflicts, taking safe risks, and learning from mistakes. Struggling a little is often part of learning!
Connection matters more than ever. Strong relationships with caring adults and peers are one of the best ways to combat anxiety. Feeling known, supported, and safe at school makes a real difference.
Technology is powerful, and needs boundaries. The author talks about something many of us already feel: technology isn’t all bad, but it works best when paired with limits, balance, and guidance from parents and teachers.
The discussions and reflections we had as a staff were helpful from a teacher lens as well as a parent lens, and it’s a book I’d recommend!
Important January dates:
January 19th: No School for students- teacher professional development day
Important contact information:
Elementary School phone number- (701) 636-4711
Brenda Muller email- Brenda.Muller@k12.nd.us
Spencer Ruebke email- Spencer.Ruebke@k12.nd.us
Thank you,
Spencer Ruebke
Students & Parents — don’t miss these important deadlines for the ACT at Mayville State:
🗓 First Registration Deadline: January 9
⏰ Late Registration Deadline (late fees apply): January 23
✏️ ACT Test Date: February 14
Register on time to avoid extra fees! ✔️
Hello Parents and Students,
This is simply some information about the calendar and the feedback I received. There were a number of comments about graduation. We can't graduate students before the last day of school or we will lose some state funding money. Next year all of our graduation options will be on different days than Central Valley's graduation since they will graduate on the 16th or 23rd of May. They are starting earlier in August, that is why theirs would be different.
All the options currently have us done before Memorial Day. If we ever have school after Memorial Day, Memorial Day will always be a vacation day, that is State Law. State Law also mandates that we take off Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and Good Friday.
Some parents encouraged me to think more about families than sports for our days off, the problem is that when we have school on days of state sports we often have large numbers of students not in school. The Friday of State Football, I think we had about seventy-five students at the high school gone, and that was without having a team playing in a game that day. The same thing happens on State Cross Country or State Wrestling Days.
I had a few comments that Christmas Break was too long, and others comment that they liked the length because it allowed them time to get everywhere and have time with their families. I had a few comments about Minnesota schools. Minnesota requires ten less student contact days than North Dakota law requires. That doesn't mean that schools in Minnesota don't go more than 165 days, but it provides them with more flexibility and the ability to begin after Labor Day and still get done close to Memorial Day, even if they take vacations through the year.
Attached are three options for you to look at and make comments on. The only difference between Option 2 and Option 3 is that Option 3 has graduation on June 6, 2027.
Option 1 has two full weeks at Christmas with three weekends. Option 2 starts a day early and gives that day back on January 4th and then has two less days at the beginning of the Christmas Break and gives those two days back towards the end of April.
The earlier parent survey had 62% of people that wanted some kind of a break at the end of April. Half of the parents wanted Christmas break to start on December 18th, 40% wanted it to start on the 22nd, and 10% wanted it to start on the 21st. 59% wanted to have State Cross Country off again, this coming year which we don't have to worry about because it lines up with Admin/Teacher's Convention. 8% wanted us to start school on August 19th, 15% wanted us to start on August 24th, 42% wanted it to start on August 26th, and 32% wanted it to start after Labor Day. 56% wanted more short breaks in the spring and 41% wanted a longer spring break. 59 people responded to the survey.
There is a place for comments at the end of the parent/student survey.
Here is a link to the calendars: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HNSBp5zIugL4eE_J7qFy_fpqzeT5F_Y4/view?usp=sharing
Here is a link to a survey that you can provide your response to the calendar ideas:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddLiR4G8f7NoIBHGpDdiNYj1cvXOuawwZA2Qc6iabxCm6u8g/viewform?usp=publish-editor
Thank you for your feedback,
Mr. Dryburgh
