Andrea Johnson/MDN Kendo Carlson is the NDAESP Distinguished School Principal.

Washington Elementary principal Kendo Carlson, a former school counselor, said building relationships with students and their families is crucial for learning.

“That’s one of the keys,” said Carlson, who was named North Dakota Association of Elementary School Principals Distinguished Principal at a conference last month. He is one of 50 principals across the country who have been recognized for their outstanding performance. Mike Arlien, principal at Jim Hill Middle School, was recognized at the same conference as a Bell Ringer and John Hoeven Elementary Principal Joy Walker, who is retiring after this school year, was recognized for her years of service.

“It’s an amazing honor,” said Carlson. “That’s about as big as we can get (for school principals).”

Carlson, a Parshall native, attended Minot State University and has been an educator for over 20 years. He taught or served as a school counselor at different area schools before he moved into school administration. He has been principal at Washington for nine years. He and his wife, Niki, have three sons who attend Minot Public Schools.

Carlson acknowledged that this has been a particularly challenging year for educators in the school district, but he said building those relationships has helped. Kids feel more secure and learn better when they have those relationships and it makes it easier for him to have difficult conversations that sometimes must be had if students and parents trust school personnel and feel their concerns have been listened to.

One of the major success stories for the Minot Public Schools was the return to face-to-face classes last fall. Minot was the only large school district in the state that has continuously offered face-to-face classes. Distance learning was still offered as an option for students but Carlson said only about 10 percent of Washington students are still enrolled in distance education classes, which are taught virtually by teachers at other buildings. Carlson said there are about two distance learning classrooms per grade districtwide for each elementary class.

Carlson said there are inevitable learning gaps for kids whose education has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic but teachers are working hard to help kids learn and kids have been having successes. It is fun for him to see how far they have come this year.

The Washington Elementary neighborhood also has a lot of needs – about 56 percent of students at the school last year came from families that met federal income guidelines for free and reduced price school lunch – that Washington helps fill as a “full service community school.” A coordinator helps put families in touch with community resources they might need, including mental health providers or other types of assistance. The school also has a food pantry that helps fill community needs.

Carlson said educators also want to teach the students ways they can give back to the neighborhood and to the full community.

In past years, the school has rented a garden plot at Rainbow Gardens where kids grow vegetables that serve the food pantry and families. This year Carlson said educators have thought about starting a garden plot on school grounds.

The school building hosts a Community Learning Center after school and summer daycare program for school children and the garden has been one of its activities in the past.

Kids have had positive attitudes this year about requirements to wear masks and to stay socially distanced, said Carlson, who like everyone hopes for more normalcy in the future.

“Kids have been really happy to be here,” he said, and so have their teachers.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or call 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to eogden@minotdailynews.com.)