South Education Center

South Education Center is a special education and alternative school in the 7400 block of South Penn Avenue in Richfield, Minnesota.[1] It is part of Intermediate District 287.[2] Eleven school districts from Minneapolis and environs send their students to the center.[3][4] The population served is from pre-Kinder to 21 years of age. The school defines its upper-age limit as "Transition".[5] In 2022 there were 200 students.[6] In the early 2020s, the school served about 80% minority students.[7] Federally, the school is classified as suburban.[8]

Built for 350 students, the $25.4 million building construction began in 2006, and has lockdown capability: classrooms and areas can be electronically isolated.[9] The school features an Accessible Art Garden opened in 2012,[10] and in 2020 the students and teachers extended their art practice to the school's fence.[11] In 2016 the school phased out its use of metal detectors and instead provided with school safety coaches.[12][13] The school trained its staff in "trauma, crisis and de-escalation".[14]

In September 2021, the Superintendent said that the school "serves some of the highest-needs students in the state".[15] In 2022, she added that the school's focus is to provide "destigmatized mental health support".[16] That same year, following the fatal shooting of a student outside the South Education Center, the school district reinstated the metal detectors it had retired in 2016 because of "concerns about criminalizing student behavior."[17]

  1. ^ "Police identify shooting suspects outside South Education Center; 1 still in critical condition". KSTP-TV - ABC 5. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022. the South Education Center — a special education and alternative learning school
  2. ^ Paul Walsh; Eder Campuzano (1 February 2022). "2 arrested after shooting outside school in Richfield kills one student, injures another". Star Tribune. Retrieved 7 February 2022. South Education Center, an alternative school in the Intermediate District 287 that serves students from pre-K to age 21. Police found the two students wounded outside the school, in the 7400 block of S. Penn Avenue
  3. ^ John Bacon (2 February 2022). "'Altercation' among students sparked shooting that left 1 dead, 1 injured at Minnesota school". USA Today. Retrieved 7 February 2022. South Education Center serves several school districts
  4. ^ Jennifer Lewerenz (2 February 2022). "Police: Previous Dispute Likely Lead Up to Fatal Shooting Outside Richfield School". KNSI. Saint Cloud. Retrieved 7 July 2022. South Education Center, which houses an alternative high school and special education programming and serves 11 school districts from Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs
  5. ^ "South Education Center".
  6. ^ Neil Vigdor; Isabella GrullóN Paz (2 February 2022). "Student Killed in a Shooting Outside a Minnesota School". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2022. South Education Center in Richfield, Minn., a school that serves about 200 students with special and alternative-learning needs from prekindergarten to age 21
  7. ^ South Education Center Academy US News
  8. ^ "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for South Education Center Academy".
  9. ^ Adam Johnson (24 October 2006). "Function and flexibility governs the design of South Education Center in Richfield". Finance and Commerce (Journal). BridgeTower Media Holding Company, LLC. ISSN 8750-6149. Retrieved 7 February 2022. $25.4 million project at 7440 Penn Ave. S. [...] will serve about 350 students [...] The building also will possess lockdown capability, with electronic locks that can isolate sections and classrooms
  10. ^ "GALLERY: Richfield SEC Students Turn into Artists". 23 April 2012.
  11. ^ "Students, teachers create George Floyd tribute on Richfield fence". 2 June 2020.
  12. ^ Paul Walsh; Mara Klecker (2 February 2022). "Students' dispute led to shooting at Richfield school, police say". MSN. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Hicks added that South Education Center previously phased out the use of metal detectors at school entrances
  13. ^ "Alfredo Rosario Solis, Fernando Valdez Alvarez ID'd As Suspects In Fatal Shooting Outside Richfield School". CBS Minnesota. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022. The district had previously made the decision to remove its metal detectors and hired school safety coaches to be positioned in the buildings
  14. ^ Elizabeth Shockman (4 February 2022). "Superintendent sought student mental health help months before shooting at Richfield school". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Within the last several years the district has made investments to become more trauma-responsive — training staff in trauma, crisis and de-escalation
  15. ^ Kim Hyatt (10 September 2021). "Student in custody after bringing gun to District 287 school in Richfield". Star Tribune. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski said [...] "As a school district that serves some of the highest-needs students in the state
  16. ^ "Alfredo Rosario Solis, Fernando Valdez Alvarez ID'd As Suspects In Fatal Shooting Outside Richfield School". WCCO-TV - CBS 4. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Superintendent Sandra Lewandowski said [...] focuses on destigmatized mental health support.
  17. ^ "South Education Center will install metal detectors after student was shot, killed outside school". Star Tribune. The district did away with metal detectors and school resource officers in 2016, citing concerns about criminalizing student behavior and opting instead to rely on safety coaches