ENG 2023-24 Family Update No. 6
Sept. 29, 2023
2023-24 Family Update No. 6 | Oct. 12, 2023
⏰ Reading time: Four minutes, six seconds
💬 Superintendent's Message
Dear Northfield School District Families:
Thank you for all of your effort to help us get into the groove of the school year — what I sometimes refer to as the “cruising altitude.” In this message, I want to highlight something that none of us want to think about, but we may encounter during the school year: conflict.
Schools are people-centered organizations. It is expected to encounter conflict when we bring so many people together every day. I have learned that most conflict arises from two areas: a misunderstanding or a mismatch in expectations.
District policy 103’s procedures guide how we address conflict, using “the chain of responsibility. ” The first attempt to resolve the conflict should be a conversation between the people directly involved. While directly addressing conflict can be uncomfortable, it is almost always the best approach and can often improve relationships.
Here are three tips for directly addressing conflict:
Assume positive intent. While two parties may view a situation differently, we all share the same goal — doing good things for our kids. Keeping this in mind can assist in finding a mutually beneficial solution.
Start by being curious and seeking the facts. Using a phrase like “Can you help me understand this situation more? I am thinking there is more to it than what I currently know” is a helpful way of centering the conversation on the facts. Staying curious helps us remain objective. Moving forward together is more manageable when working from an objective understanding.
Communicate tactfully. Communicate productively — we can be transparent and tactful. Owning our individual parts of the conflict and sharing the impact that a situation has had on you, your student, and your family is an excellent way to be productive in this conversation.
In most cases, direct conversation can resolve the conflict. From time to time, it doesn’t. In those cases, you should move to the next link in the chain of responsibility — this most often is the school principal. If the conflict isn’t resolved, you can bring it to my attention.
It is best to deal with conflict as it arises so it doesn’t fester and damage our school-family partnership.
As always, I invite you to contact me directly with any feedback or questions you have about the district.
Sincerely,
Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
mhillmann@northfieldschools.org | 507.663.0629
🪧 Indigenous Peoples’ Day and new Indigenous Cultural Liaison
Oct. 9 was the first official statewide observance of Indigenous Peoples Day in Minnesota. The observance is intended to honor the contributions of the people native to this land. You can learn more through the Minnesota Historical Society’s Our Home: Native Minnesota exhibit website.
The district has hired a part-time cultural liaison specifically to support Indigenous students and families using categorical funds provided by the 2023 Minnesota Legislature. Sybil Betsinger, who has been part of our Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee and currently serves as a part-time social worker at the Northfield Community Education Center, has been hired to fulfill the cultural liaison role.
🍏 National School Lunch Week
It's National School Lunch Week! The National School Lunch Program serves nearly 30 million children every school day. President John F. Kennedy created National School Lunch Week in 1962 to promote the importance of a healthy school lunch in a child’s life and the impact it has inside and outside of the classroom. Thank you to our child nutrition staff for their hard work to provide quality nutritious meals that support the growth and development of our students to fuel their learning! Learn more about our child nutrition department here.
💡 Alumni spotlight
Northfield High School Alumni Ben Wang returned to Northfield High School and supported our high school drama department as they are preparing their production of Twelve Angry Jurors (presented on Nov. 3, 4, 10, 11, and 12).
Ben graduated in 2016 and most recently has starred in the Disney+ series American Born Chinese. You can read more about Ben and his work in this Northfield News article. (A subscription is required.)
☎️ District phone software update
The district’s telephone system will be offline on Oct. 19 (Thursday of the MEA break when students will not be in school) for software updates. These updates are essential to maintaining the phone system’s security and effective operation.
🌨️ Weather-related disruptions and cancellations
While we don’t want to think about it quite yet, winter will arrive in Minnesota sooner rather than later. You can learn more about weather-related disruptions and school closings here. Some key items:
Unfortunately, Minnesota’s winter weather can sometimes disrupt our ability to hold in-person classes.
You can learn more about what goes into decisions to close school, start late, or dismiss early here.
The first full-day closure due to weather is a true “snow day.”
The district uses e-Learning days for the second and subsequent full-day closures. You can read the e-Learning plan here.
🪧 Oct. 9, 2023 School Board Update
The school board held a regular meeting on Oct. 9.
Board packets, table files, and meeting videos are located on our website.
- You can listen to my recap on KYMN radio.