District Profile
Ipswich Public School Profile
The Ipswich School District is located in eastern Edmunds County, South Dakota, and the City of Ipswich serves as the county seat for Edmunds County. The Ipswich School District includes Mina Lake with its opportunities for water sports and lake living. The City of Ipswich, population 943, is a full-service community located at the crossroads of US Highway 12 and South Dakota Highway 45. The Ipswich area is blessed with rich farmland with farming, ranching, and agribusiness dominating the economics of the area. Great Lakes Ethanol Plant opened in June 2008 with a 100 million gallon per year production goal. Health services include: Sanford Health Clinic, Golden Living Center, health and fitness site, physical therapy, chiropractic and dental offices, pharmacy services, several day care facilities, and the Tiger Post after school care program. There are several churches: Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, UCC and Wesleyan. The City of Aberdeen, South Dakota's third largest city just 26 miles east of Ipswich, is home to Northern State University and Presentation College. A wide array of recreational opportunities are available in the Ipswich community including: a community swimming pool, summer baseball and softball leagues, Ipswich Soccer Association programs, active 4H clubs, Trail Days rodeo/bullarama/concert sponsored by the Commercial Club, and summer golf league. In the fall of the year, the area provides many opportunities for hunting pheasant, waterfowl and deer.
The District
The Ipswich School District serves a 535 square mile area with a $600 million tax base. Over 400 students are served Pre-K through 12th grade, including three Hutterite communities, each with an attendance center. Contracted district buses travel approximately 675 miles on regular routes each day and transport 180 of the district's students to the Ipswich attendance center. The State of South Dakota and the Advanc-Ed accredit the Ipswich School System. Parental involvement is encouraged in many ways such as: Parent/Teacher Organization, co-curricular booster clubs and summer activity booster clubs.
Major strengths of the Ipswich School District include: K-12 Advanc-Ed accreditation-currently the district is in process of the accreditation cycle; a 12.8 -1 student teacher ratio; a 0% dropout rate at the central attendance center; and a strong staff development program. The district has quality educational facilities including: a 1971 elementary classrooms and gymnasium addition, 1977 industrial tech.-wrestling-weight room addition, 2000 Middle School classrooms, vocal music, and instrumental music addition and 2015 High School addition, including 7 High School classrooms, K-12 Library, auxilary gym and 500 seat Performing Arts Theatre. In 2007 an upgrade of the track and football complex was completed in 2009 Smart Boards were installed in each classroom throughout the district.
The school district maintains up-to-date: teaching materials, supplies and technology hardware and software to support the efforts of the dedicated, highly qualified and student-oriented teaching staff. The teaching and support staff are a blend younger people and seasoned professionals who provide quality programs in a safe, attractive and supportive environment.
Additional offerings include: strong programs of art and co-curricular activities including: the full spectrum of boys and girls athletics, drama, instrumental and vocal music. Currently, all students in grades 1st -12th are each given a laptop computer to use each day for their daily studies.
Board of Education
The Board of Education consists of five members who are elected to serve three (3) year terms. The incumbency of the board members ranges three to fifteen years. The board recognizes the importance of community involvement in the operation of the school. To this end, board policies encourage stakeholders to express their ideas, concerns and in general become active partners in the education of their children.
Name Occupation
Carol Pond .................. Ag Business
Justin Davis ................. Board Chairman Ag Business
Dustin Geditz ................ Project Coordinator
Todd Hettich ................ Aerospace/Defense Industry
Tadd Thorson ............... Anesthetist
Committees:
Grounds: Dustin Geditz & Todd Hettich
Extra-Curricular: Tadd Thorson & Justin Davis
Strategic Planning: Todd Hettich & Carol Pond
Policy Review: Justin Davis & Carol Pond