I started teaching at Lake Harriet School beginning at the upper campus with 3rd grade for the 2005-2006 school year.  I then moved to a 5th grade classroom position for the next 4 years.  Then, I moved to the lower campus to teach 2nd grade in Room 204 on second floor.  Now I work with first grade learners.  I taught 3rd grade my very first year in the Minneapolis Public Schools way back in 1993 at Hale School, and so working with younger learners is something I really enjoy after having spent many years teaching middle and intermediate grade students.   Go Dragons!  Seeing the tremendous growth each year with such motivated young readers and writers at Lake Harriet is truly a tremendous teaching treat. 

I live in the neighborhood about 8 blocks from the lower campus.  It has always been a dream of mine to work at a community school and to live in that same community, so I am really excited to be teaching and living in Linden Hills.  

I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and later moved to Plymouth, Minnesota, where my parents raised me along with my 3 older sisters and a younger brother.  I played sports in high school, including football (running back), hockey (bench warmer), and track (middle distances).  Mountain biking, though, is definitely the most demanding sport I have ever done.   I have a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from Winona State University and an M.A. in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction and an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas.  Personally, I am a student of Marshall Rosenberg's Non-Violent Communication philosophy and have participated in various workshops and practice groups to grow in my understanding and use of his Principles of Compassionate Communication.  A large part of my educational philosophy is contained in the following quotation:  "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – W. B. Yeats

I am excited to be teaching at Lake Harriet Community School and cannot honestly say which group of kids has ever been my favorite as they've all been great to work with, even though I tell each year's class they are, indeed, my favorite group of kids:)

(revised 8-23-23)

Best way to contact me is by email:  scott.devens@mpls.k12.mn.us. (I have never checked my work VM)