15735 Portico Dr
Wayzata, MN 55391

Wayzata has been the best experience I could ever ask for from a school district. Our daughter started in the district Kindergarten and is now in 9th grade. We couldn't be more pleased with how this district handled both sports and academics through the pandemic and how they made sure our students were successful and safe throughout their shift into high school.

The principal and staff do a great job of setting high expectations, while providing students with the skills to achieve success. Both of my kids graduated from this school and were well prepared middle school.

I have worked in education for a long time, and I feel compelled to share my experience about this building. The teachers are the heartbeat of this building. They are compassionate, resilient, strong, and determined. I watched these teachers go out of their way to provide exceptional educational experiences to students at home during the pandemic. The community of teachers here is truly wonderful and strong. What is happening behind the scenes at this school is heartbreaking. Most of the community is familiar with the district cost containment by now. With the district experiencing financial losses, there unfortunately has to be a reduction in the teaching staff. While many districts are experiencing financial losses post pandemic, the way this building has decided to handle the staff reductions has been incredibly demeaning and sad. I watched several colleagues, all of whom were outstanding educators, lose their job because they were simply "too educated." Of course, in the education system, being more educated means the district must pay you a greater salary...and hence these teachers are the first to go. As teachers, it is our goal to nurture lifelong learning amongst our students. Why is this penalized from administers in the district? How can one be punished for pursuing higher education as a teacher? The way administration handled some of these layoffs was done without compassion, empathy, or kindness. I would love to ask the principal team, "How would you feel if your son or daughter was fired from a job because they were too educated?" In turn, don't we want our students in the community to experience teachers who have mastered their craft? As someone who has had to stand by and watch, it has been painful to see the way this building has started to devolve from the top. With so many teachers fleeing education, we need to be working endlessly to keep them around. The admin team unfortunately is still struggling with this. I hope they are able to find a way to partner with their teachers and to treat them with respect and empathy, just as we are expected to do with our students. I truly hope that community members ask the board more questions about how they are handling staff reductions. I also hope that superintendent Chace Anderson is able to address some of these pivotal issues as the year continues.