ENG 2023-24 Family Update No. 6
October 26, 2023
Dear Northfield School District Families:
Our district’s vision is to prepare every student for lifelong success by developing critical thinkers who are curious and ready to engage in our society. We aim to help every student not just be college-ready or career-ready, but choice-ready. Being choice-ready means you have the skills and dispositions to successfully pursue your dreams after graduating high school.
I recently discussed this topic with KYMN radio’s Jeff Johnson. In the segment, we focused on the Class of 2023’s ACT scores and the return of agricultural education to the Northfield School District.
📊 Why do ACT scores matter?
While it is one measure of a student’s overall performance, the ACT does give relevant information about a student’s readiness to tackle post-high school academics. Recent news reports indicate that this past year’s ACT scores were the lowest in 30 years. However, Northfield High School students’ results showed something different:
The Northfield High School class of 2023 earned an average ACT score of 22.5, up from 21.7 in 2022. These results bested the state average of 20.8 and the national average of 19.5. A perfect score on the ACT is 36.
The ACT includes subtests in English, mathematics, reading, and science. Northfield students bested the state average scores for each subtest by an average of 1.7 points and the national average for each subtest by an average of three points.
We should be proud of our students’ outstanding academic performance on this nationally normed test!
🚜 Agriculture Education Returns to NHS
This fall, Northfield High School began offering agriculture education courses for the first time in 33 years. The district also offers an Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) outreach course for students in Grades 7-12 through community education.
The first AFNR class meeting took place on Oct. 16, with nearly 40 people in attendance. These classes allow students to participate in FFA — which will also return to Northfield High School for the first time since the early 1990s.
In this Northfield News article, Kristin Harner shares that there are more than 60,000 unfilled jobs in the agriculture industry, highlighting the opportunities for students who choose a career in this field.
The photo below shows local agriculture education supporter Joe Johnson, his son Gunnar Johnson, and Northfield High School agriculture teacher TJ Austin with a Northfield FFA sign that was used in the 1960s and stored by alumni Rene Koester for over 50 years. I am thrilled to see this vital program make a triumphant return. Agriculture education is an ideal convergence of science, technology, mathematics, business, and leadership. This program is another way for us to ensure Northfield graduates are choice-ready.
If we genuinely aim to prepare every student for lifelong success to develop critical thinkers who are curious and ready to engage in our society, they need the skills and dispositions to make that choice for themselves when they graduate. Our ACT results and investment in agricultural education are two examples of how we deliver on that vision.
As always, please connect with me when you have any feedback about the school district.
Sincerely,
Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
mhillmann@northfieldschools.org | 507.663.0629
The Northfield High School boys soccer team finished a remarkable season on Tuesday night in a 0-1 overtime loss to No. 1 seed Orono in the first round of the state tournament. The Raiders demonstrated incredible resilience — they began their season with only one win in their first seven matches but didn’t give up. They won eight of their last nine matches and beat Faribault in the section championship to advance to the state tournament. We are proud of these sensational student-athletes!
On Monday, the Board of Education began discussing a timeline that would result in a decision about how to address the substantial facility deficiencies at Northfield High School.
The district needs our families to be involved in this process. The high school facility has been well cared for but is facing serious liabilities in its core systems for things like heating and cooling.
The board approved a contract with Morris-Leatherman to conduct a tracking survey similar to the survey conducted in 2022. This survey uses a random stratified sample of 400 voters. It will provide updated information for the district about the community’s perception of potential solutions to the high school facility deficiencies and gauge how much voters are willing to pay to address those deficiencies.
You will start hearing more about the potential 2024 bond referendum in the coming weeks. I encourage you to make your voice heard about what pathway you think is the best for the board to take.
