Tidbits - Oct 2025

NEW SCHOOL BUILDING
Saint Paul Public Schools held the ribbon cutting of the new Bruce Vento Elementary School on Oct. 2, 2025. The district’s first new building since 2018 serves families with children from birth through fifth grade. This includes early childhood programming, wraparound services, and a state-of-the-art learning environment that will enrich the education of students for generations. The new school also serves an expanded attendance area as Bruce Vento moves from being a neighborhood school to an environmental magnet school.
The building’s sustainable features include cutting-edge technology such as a geoexchange system that uses the natural aquifer under the school to heat and cool the building. Bruce Vento is the first newly built school in Minnesota to install this technology. Other energy efficiencies include high-performing exterior systems; solar panels; reusing stormwater and using low-flow fixtures; promoting biodiversity; restoring soil health; and reducing carbon from the air by planting more than 40 new trees and installing prairie landscaping.

‘THE HOUSE ON RONDO’
Author Debra J Stone will celebrate the publication of her new middle grade novel, “The House on Rondo” (University of Minnesota Press), with a series of events in the Twin Cities. Rooted in the lived histories of Minnesota’s Black communities, The House on Rondo offers a deeply personal window into the destruction of a thriving neighborhood through the eyes of a young Black girl coming of age during an era of national civil rights protests. As Zenobia joins forces with her neighbor, the unforgettable former cowgirl Mrs. Ruby Pearl, to fight against the demolition of her grandparents’ home to make way for the new interstate highway, readers witness not just the heartbreak of displacement but also the power of community, protest, and memory. A launch event is set for Oct. 11, 1 p.m., Black Garnet Books (1319 University Ave W). Additional events: Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m., Hennepin History Museum (2303 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis), and Dec. 7, 1 p.m., Sumner Library (611 Van White Memorial Blvd, Minneapolis), in conversation withArleta Little.

MIDTOWN STRONG OCT. 11
Food, music and community spirit will fill the heart of Minneapolis this October at YWCA Minneapolis Midtown Strong, a free celebration of resilience and connection. On Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., all are welcome to gather in the YWCA Midtown parking lot to enjoy food trucks, family-friendly activities and live music by Buffalo Function Music Band. YWCA Minneapolis will also be celebrating 25 years as a cornerstone of the community. At noon, YWCA Minneapolis President and CEO Shelley Carthen Watson will deliver remarks honoring the 25th anniversary of the facility and its role in the community.
“Midtown Strong is more than a celebration – it’s a moment to remind ourselves that even in the face of violence and hardship, our community cannot be broken,” Carthen Watson said. “We are resilient, we are connected and together we will rise.”