School Board Meetings
Avalon's School Board typically meets on the second Tuesday of every month, at 5:30pm. Dates are listed below.
Next meeting: Avalon's School next full board meeting will take place Tuesday, November 12th
Board Meeting Location and Virtual Link
Avalon School 700 Glendale Street. St. Paul, MN 55114
Time zone: America/Chicago
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/qfm-kdui-rpz
Or dial: (US) +1 225-532-1865 PIN: 835 061 229#
Meeting Dates 2024-2025
- August 20th, 6pm
- September 10th, 5:30pm
- October 8th, 5:30pm
- November 12th, 5:30pm
- December 10th, 5:30pm
- January 14th, 5:30pm
- February 11th, 5:30pm
- March 11th, 5:30pm
- April 15th, 5:30 pm
- May 8th, 5:30 pm - Annual Meeting
- May 13th, 5:30pm
- June 10th, 5:30pm
Meeting Minutes
Avalon School Board's Meeting minutes can be found here:
Board Bylaws & Policies
Avalon school complies with all state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination. A copy of these laws is available free of charge upon request. Email Carrie (Carrie@avalonschool.org) for details.
Board Elections
The 2025 Avalon School Board Elections will take place virtually from May 2nd to May 9th.
Eligible voters will receive ballot instructions electronically in May. Questions regarding the board elections can be directed to Carrie.
Check back as the date approaches for information regarding Board Candidates.
Avalon Board Elections happen annually at our Annual Board Meeting in May. For more information, see Avalon School Board Bylaws.
School Board Goals 24.25
Board Governance Committee:
Create a meaningful board evaluation tool that centers equity and reflects Avalon’s collaborative governance model, streamlines board function, and sets strategies for board governance improvement. The Board Governance Committee will begin regular meetings in January.
Financial Committee:
Ensure our resources are applied where most needed to support Avalon’s equity goals, evaluate current needs, and consider new expenditures in light of the changes related to the pandemic.
The Finance Committee meets at 5:00pm on Board Meeting days. Please email tim@avalonschool.org for more information.
Board Members
After graduating from St. Olaf in 2008 with a degree in Art and Education, Sarah was thrilled to find work in Northfield area schools. She spent the first decade of her career as a Middle School Advisor and Art Teacher at Arcadia Charter School (with a bit of quality time spent teaching K-8 Art at the Cannon River Stem School). At Arcadia, Sarah had many great students, friends, and mentors and fell in love with Project Based Learning. In 2016, she returned to school to earn her MA in Special Education and shortly after (2018) joined the Avalon staff. Sarah has been a full-time Special Education Teacher ever since. Sarah is passionate about reading and writing instruction and is currently pursuing her Orton Gillingham Certification
Sarah loves art, words (spoken and written), fractions, dogs and cats equally, green olives, long walks, and frequent trips to DQ.
Kevin Ward is an advisor at Avalon School. He joined Avalon in 2002 and feels lucky to be here. A graduate of Oberlin College with a BA in English, Kevin has also attended Northwestern University (MS in Secondary English Instruction) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA in English Literature). He lives in the Hamline Midway neighborhood of St. Paul with his wife Jess and two kids Murray and Olive. Kevin likes reading and working with students, so the whole thing is a pretty good deal for him.
...coming soon.
Bio to come!
Over the past twenty years, Tamara's career has been dedicated to social justice, elevating others, and creating equity for all. Her work in Human Resources, progressive politics, and the labor movement encompasses everything from creating best practices for workplaces through policies and procedures using employee engagement metrics to budget analysis to ensure competitiveness in the market.
She lives in southeast Minneapolis with her family, and is the parent of four wonderful children, all attending Avalon School, and who are thriving in Avalon's unique approach to student-centered learning.
Ben is a special education teacher at Avalon School. He started working at Avalon as an Education Assistant while completing his Masters in Teaching at Hamline University and hasn't gone anywhere since. Ben is dual licensed in special education and language arts and loves teaching reading, writing, and research skills through the project-based-learning process.
Esteban Castillo is a 2020 High school graduate of Avalon School and the Entrepreneur Fellowship Director. He is a social entrepreneur, organizer, and artist. His father was born in Mexico and mother was born in Colombia. His parents' very different lives and backgrounds have allowed him to connect with all walks of life.