Dear Northfield School District Families:

The district wants to thank our voters for their support of the Reimagine Northfield High School bond referendum. As I shared with you earlier this week, all three questions passed:

• Question 1 passed, 59.49% in favor

• Question 2 passed, 53.65% in favor

• Question 3 passed, 56.44% in favor

We are also grateful to Carleton College for their pledge of $2 million toward the projects associated with Question 1. The gift will reduce the total amount that the district bonds for by $2 million.

We value the trust and faith voters showed in the school district on Tuesday. We do not take that for granted, and we will continue to work hard to earn your trust and faith.

Sincerely,

Matt

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Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.

Superintendent

mhillmann@northfieldschools.org | 507-663-0629

We will work with Wold Architects and Engineers and Knutson Construction again to design and manage the projects — these are the same partners that the district worked with on the construction of Greenvale Park and the additions and renovations at Bridgewater, Spring Creek, the Northfield Community Education Center, and the District Office (former Longfellow School.)

Here are the next steps in the process.

• Establish a core planning team and schedule its meetings. This team will set the criteria and goals for the projects and develop the building diagram and adjacencies. Activities will include tours to create a common understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different building element configurations. The team will consist of various stakeholders, such as students, teachers, staff, administrators, parents, community members, and board members. For instance, the core planning team for the new Greenvale Park comprised over 30 individuals. We will soon invite people to apply for membership on the team. The team will begin meeting in December and continue into the new year, with an expected six to eight meetings total.

• Plan for user groups. User groups consist of stakeholders who use specific spaces. For instance, there may be a user group dedicated to the music classrooms, while another group concentrates on the locker room renovations. There will be several user groups formed, primarily involving staff, but they could also include students, parents, and community members, depending on the space in question. These groups are set to begin meeting in late spring and will meet two to three times each.

While we don’t want to think about it quite yet, winter will arrive in Minnesota in the near future. While last year’s winter was mild and caused no school cancellations, Minnesota winter weather has been known to disrupt our schedule. Some key items:

• 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.

You can read more about the district’s response to weather related disruptions here.