Our Program on Tuesday, October 18th was our new Superintendent Dr. David Law. Dr. Don Draayer introduced David and recounted his high regard for our new superintendent and that he had David as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Law started his remarks by expressing his high esteem for Dr. Draayer and how many things Don had to sh
are with the class made a lasting impression on him as a superintendent. David’s family was from Burlington Iowa and had seven kids in their family but moved seven times in seven years. He thinks that is where his passion for public education originated and also his work as a lifeguard as he and his siblings were all competitive swimmers. David was also a good sized person who played football throughout high school and college. He reflected on his career and noted that “teaching is all about helping people” and he started out teaching in math. He then explored the legal world by attending William Mitchell School of Law. Then he went back to the U of M for his doctorate in School Administration and there met Don Draayer. He worked as Superintendent of Anoka-Hennepin School District for eight years prior to coming to Minnetonka. He and his wife have six children with the oldest being a senior in high school.
are with the class made a lasting impression on him as a superintendent. David’s family was from Burlington Iowa and had seven kids in their family but moved seven times in seven years. He thinks that is where his passion for public education originated and also his work as a lifeguard as he and his siblings were all competitive swimmers. David was also a good sized person who played football throughout high school and college. He reflected on his career and noted that “teaching is all about helping people” and he started out teaching in math. He then explored the legal world by attending William Mitchell School of Law. Then he went back to the U of M for his doctorate in School Administration and there met Don Draayer. He worked as Superintendent of Anoka-Hennepin School District for eight years prior to coming to Minnetonka. He and his wife have six children with the oldest being a senior in high school.Dr. Law then launched into his views on the Minnetonka School District. “The Minnetonka School District has amazing programs!” and praised the great leadership within the district and the amazing support of the community for public education. He noted that parents are supportive but expect schools to be the same as when they were young! He recounted his amazement with the Advanced Learning opportunities like the student doing advanced research in stem cells in the H.S. lab that was better equipped than most colleges! “Our kids are doing amazing things and I don’t know where the “naysayers” are coming from about public education.” He did admit that immediate communications causes its share of challenges as many times perception and interpretation are not reality that public schools are not safe. Some of that negative narrative is probably accounts for the short tenure of superintendents in districts across the nation.
Dr. Law then went into a litany of praise and facts about Minnetonka Schools and Community Education. He talked about our supportive School Board and all that changes in its leadership that will change over the next few years. He noted that we had 37 National Merit Scholars in the past two years in spite of Covid! Also that Minnetonka is always in the top three in testing within the state and most of the time in first place. MHS has 85% of students in AC classes and has a 99% graduation rate! Post-Secondary, 86% of students attend 4 year and 8% two year programs. He cautioned that there is a high expectation of parents for their kids to get a 4 year degree, but that is changing and Minnetonka is building new facilities to meet that challenge. The Advantage and Pathways Programs, Construction/Physics, and Automotive Technology Programs are part of the new building and curriculum. He also praised the remarkable staff and teachers in the district and the Language Immersion K-12 Program. He concluded with praise for Service Learning with the Ukaine Project that raised $10,000, the tradition of excellence in the Arts and Sports programs and our own Tour de Tonka, Minnetonka Online School with 200 students in grades 6-12 and a financial rating of AAA. He ended by saying “Success begets Success!”