Stephen-Argyle Central School District #2856 (commonly shortened to Stephen-Argyle or SAC) is a school district located in northwest Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

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The school district consists of the elementary located in Argyle

Argyle, Minnesota

Argyle is a city in Marshall County, Minnesota, United States, along the Middle River. The population was 639 at the 2010 census. Old Mill State Park is nearby.-History:Before James J...

 and the high school, which is located in Stephen.

Stephen, Minnesota

Stephen is a city in Marshall County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 658 at the 2010 census.Stephen was founded between 1875 through 1878. Stephen was the first town founded in Marshall County...

 Stephen-Argyle is well-known for its athletics, particularly football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

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Early history

Before the schools of Argyle and Stephen consolidated in 1996, the schools shared faculty beginning in the early 1980s. Positions such as counselor, learning disabled instructor, and speech therapist were the first to be shared. In 1990, the elementary principal and librarian were shared. Sharing health and physical education teachers began in 1991. Plans for consolidation began during the period of 1989 to 1995 when the school boards met and public meetings were held in both cities. In 1996, the two school districts joined under the name Stephen-Argyle Central.

Academics

Stephen-Argyle is notable for its outstanding scores on standardized tests. Average class sizes are 14.38 per section for kindergarten through third grade and 18.75 per section for seventh through twelfth grade. College-in-the-high-school courses are offered. The school also has its own newspaper, the Storm Watch.

Athletics

Athletics are a major part of Stephen-Argyle. In the fall, football and volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 is offered. Boys' and girls' basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 is available in winter, and track

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 and golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

in the spring. The school does not charge a fee for participating in sports. The fee is covered by the sports boosters group. The football team set a state record for most consecutive wins.