Our Goals

Our mission is to inspire, empower, and accelerate student learning

Strategic Priorities

In 2022, the Austin School Board approved a strategic plan to guide our district’s long-term planning. Our primary goals include:

  • Provide support and resources to ensure a safe and welcoming learning environment.

  • Create a “Packer Profile” for all learners, which includes building strong character qualities – responsibility, resiliency, learning, communicator, and contributor. 

  • Ensure district-wide, multi-tiered systems of support for all learners.

  • Demonstrate efficient and equitable management of dollars and resources.

A plan shaped by our community

During the 2021-22 strategic planning process, students, staff and residents collaborated on five characteristics they want to see in graduates of Austin Public Schools.

APS graduates are entering an ever-changing world filled with endless possibilities. To support our students in achieving their dreams after high school, APS staff will model and guide students toward their development of the Packer Core Values. The core values will hold our system accountable for focusing our instruction, student engagement, and community collaboration in supporting our students to make a difference in the world.

Our Core Values

  • Responsible: Demonstrates accountability to self and others.

  • Resilient: Develops perseverance and self-confidence.

  • Learner: Challenges self to think critically.

  • Communicator: Listens actively and shares learning and experiences.

  • Contributor: Engages as a productive member of the community and global society.

Principles of the Packer Profile

The Packer Profile is a direct result of feedback from students, staff, and family stakeholder groups during the 2021-22 strategic planning process. It identifies the community's shared aspirations for students and what it means to be a graduate of APS. The Packer Profile reflects 3 key principles to guide student experience throughout their education at Austin Public Schools:

  • Career Pathways Exploration: Students will leverage their interests and abilities to connect with local professionals and explore future careers and educational opportunities.

  • Meaningful Learning Experiences: Core content and instruction will provide students with meaningful lessons and skills relevant to their relationships, community, and future careers beyond Austin Public Schools.

  • Packer Portfolio: Beginning with the class of 2027, students will celebrate their progress by sharing a digital portfolio with the community that demonstrates their journey and growth in the Packer Core Values.

learn more about the results of our 2023-24 community survey

In the News

Check out the most recent coverage of the great things happening in Austin Public Schools and how the new strategic plan is already having positive impacts on student learning.

Strategic Community Partnerships

Austin Public Schools is grateful to our many community partners who enrich and expand the student experience in areas such as music, science, business development, technology and more. These partnerships include:

  • MacPhail Center for Music

  • Pi Academy 

  • The Mower County CEO Program

  • The Hormel Foundation

  • The Hormel Foundation Austin Assurance Scholarship

  • The Hormel Foundation Gifted and Talented Symposium

  • The Hormel Institute

  • Post-Secondary Enrollment Opportunity (PSEO) and Concurrent Enrollment (CE) 

  • Austin Aspires 

Strong Resource Management

Our district is focused on organizational fiscal health through fiscally responsible budgeting and streamlining of programming and staffing.

  • Austin Public Schools was named a recipient of the 2023 School Finance Award by the Minnesota Department of Education. The award is given annually by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Division of School Finance, to recognize schools for meeting statutory deadlines for submission of audited fiscal financial data and reporting criteria.

  • As a district, we continue to receive exemplary ratings from independent audits by the Minnesota Department of Education, which are the most desirable audit results expected by taxpayers, the school board, and regulators.

  • In 2022, the Austin community passed a referendum that will help Austin Public Schools continue our strong financial position as we head into the future.

Have a question or comment about our district’s strategic goals?