Minneapolis – The Minnesota Business Partnership (MBP) today announced that Monroe Elementary School in Brooklyn Park will be presented with the 2023 Minnesota’s Future Award. Since 2006, the Minnesota’s Future Award has recognized high-performing schools and education programs for innovation and success in helping all students succeed.
Monroe Elementary School will be honored tonight in front of about 1,000 business, civic, and political leaders at the Minnesota Business Partnership’s Annual Dinner at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Principal Amy Oliver will deliver brief remarks at the event, and a video spotlighting Monroe’s approach to literacy education will be shown (see award video).
Located in Brooklyn Park and part of the Anoka-Hennepin School District, Monroe Elementary School is comprised of 74% non-white students and 54% students living in poverty. 28% of students are English learners and 15% are special education students.
Monroe was selected for the award by the Minnesota Business Partnership Education Committee for its commitment to transforming the way students are taught to read. Recent Minnesota Comprehensive Achievement (MCA) results demonstrate that Monroe is showing strong gains in literacy for key student cohorts: current fourth graders made an 18% jump in reading proficiency from 2022 to 2023; current fifth graders made a 25% jump.
“The leaders and educators at Monroe Elementary have made a concerted, school-wide effort to shift to the science of reading, and they are getting impressive results,” said Archie Black, Chair of the MBP’s Education Committee and Executive Chair of SPS Commerce. “Literacy – the right to read – is an important economic issue and civil rights issue, because today’s readers are tomorrow’s leaders.”
In 2023, the Minnesota legislature passed the Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act, known as the READ Act. The goal of this legislation is for every student, beginning in kindergarten, to read at or above grade level every year. The READ Act funds professional development, evidence-based curriculum, and other tools grounded in the science of reading to help support schools transforming their reading instruction.
“The state made important progress with the passage of the READ Act, but there is still work to be done to ensure that every child in Minnesota can read well at every grade level,” said Kurt Zellers, CEO of the Minnesota Business Partnership. “Business and education leaders will be looking to Monroe Elementary as a guide for our efforts to improve literacy throughout the state.”
Event Details
2023 Minnesota Business Partnership Annual Dinner
Wednesday, October 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Monroe award at approximately 7:30 p.m.)
Minneapolis Convention Center Ballroom