September 22, 1999 - The University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus has been transformed this year into a huge construction zone. There's an unprecedented number of building projects underway, and one of the biggest began today. Riverbend Commons will eventaully add much needed student housing and parking space on the East Bank campus.
September 15, 1999 - Students in Minnesota and throughout the nation gathered early this morning around the flagpoles at their schools to proclaim their religious faith. The student-led prayer service, known as "See You at the Pole," began in Texas in 1990 and has grown every year. Students say they feel a growing need these days to talk about God, even at school.
September 9, 1999 - A national organization opposed to racial preferences in colleges admissions is taking on the University of Minnesota. The Washington, D-C-based, Center for Equal Opportunity released a report today, charging the university unfairly admits minority students at the expense of white students. U of M officials are defending their admissions policies and call the report misleading.
September 8, 1999 - Eleven Saint Paul schools have begun a new school year on academic probation. School board members last night approved a district accountability plan that turns up the heat on under-performing schools. Superintendent Pat Harvey is pushing tough new rules aimed at improving student test scores, and more reforms are on the way.
September 7, 1999 - Classes begin at the University of Minnesota today, two weeks earlier than the traditional start of the acacdemic year. This is the first time in 75 years the university has operated under a semester-based calendar. Planning for the conversion from quarters to semesters began four years ago and touched every aspect of the university.
September 1, 1999 - At the start of another school year, officials in the Minneapolis school district are telling students to show up everyday. Superintendent Carol Johnson says her goals for the school year include a 95-percent attendance rate for all students. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire visited one Minneapolis school that's already surpassing the goal.
September 1, 1999 - Minnesota schools begin a second year of classes this week under the graduation standards system, known as the Profile of Learning. The complex system of applied-learning requirements was expected to be dumped or dramatically altered during the legislative session, but neither happened. Now, school districts and teachers are expected to push ahead and make the Profile work. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire looked at how one district is coping and filed this report.
August 31, 1999 - Minnesota schools are having an increasingly hard time hiring good principals. Superintendents say fewer people are applying for principal jobs, and many of those applicants lack the experience needed to meet the growing demands of the job. It's a nationwide trend that some predict is reaching crisis proportions.
August 30, 1999 - The comfort level in many schools changed forever last April when 14 students and a teacher died in Colorado's Columbine High School. The school year ended last spring under a cloud of fear and confusion. Threats and rumors of violence disrupted the routines in many Minnesota schools. Most Minnesota students return to school this week, and school administrators say they're trying hard to assure parents their children will be safe.
August 13, 1999 - Since 1961, more than 150-thousand Americans have served in the Peace Corps in 134 countries. About 700 of those former volunteers are in Saint Paul this weekend for a gathering of their national aluMinnesotai organization. The Peace Corp has experienced a resurgence in recent years, and the veterans of the humanitarian agency say its mission is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s.