Southside Family Charter School

Support Social Justice Education with your monthly gift! 

Your monthly donation will provide us with the ability to grow our mission and expand our vision of raising up a generation of change makers for social change.  

This year, we have successfully transitioned  from a K–8 school with traditional leadership, to a K–5 teacher-powered school. We have proudly stayed true to our social justice mission throughout this process. Amidst unprecedented challenges, including growing financial disparities, as well as the stress and trauma so many families face, we continue to find joy, deep connection, and a love of learning together. 

Thanks to the support of donors like you, we were able to return to one of Southside’s most beloved traditions: Travel Studies. Historically, these trips were reserved for middle school students. But with our new structure, we opened this experience to all K–5 students and their families. The results were amazing. In late September, nearly our entire school community joined us on a journey to Mille Lacs, Minnesota. 

In the weeks leading up to the trip, students studied Anishinaabe/Ojibwe history and culture. One of our alumni returned to share stories from his life and read from a book he authored about Anishinaabe traditions and contemporary culture.Our first stop was the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post, where students explored Ojibwe traditions through the Four Seasons exhibit, practiced vocabulary and sign language, experimented with ancient pictograph writing and played traditional games.

Everyone got to swim in Mille Lacs Lake!We shared dinner and gathered around a campfire for stories and s’mores.

The next day, we visited the Mille Lacs Cultural Grounds, where members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe taught us about the cultural and ecological importance of wild rice. Students learned how to parch wild rice.  They also learned how to dance on the wild rice, with special moccasins, to remove its husks, and adults tried their hands at winnowing. We ended the trip with a shared meal and some lakeside fishing before returning to Minneapolis.

Monthly donations enable us to sustainably cover our expenses as we continue to provide the high quality social justice education that we are committed to offering our students. 

Protecting small class sizes, funding field trips, exploring service learning, and building collaborations with community leaders, activists and business owners - as a charter school we depend on the donations from our supporters to provide these necessary resources for students. 

We invite each of you to partner with us in growing and building toward our dreams and visions for our children’s education with whatever amount feels generous to you - whether you have the capacity to contribute $5 or $500 a month to the work of our vision, every single contribution matters.

Thank you for your generosity and inviting others to share the same!  

To make a donation directly to the school via check or money order, please send to:  

Southside Family Charter School

4500 Clinton Ave S

Minneapolis, Mn 55419