ENG 2025-26 Family Update No. 8
October 30, 2025
Dear Northfield Public Schools Families:
We have completed the first quarter of the school year! Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to prepare every student for lifelong success.
As we’ve shared in Family Updates No. 2 and No. 6, it is time to review the plans for responding when Minnesota’s winter weather causes travel disruptions.
Our goal is to have our students attending in person every day we are scheduled to have school.
Unfortunately, from time to time, winter weather creates enough disruption that we have to cancel school, start later than usual, or dismiss students earlier than normal.
We collaborate with Benjamin Bus, the National Weather Service, law enforcement (when necessary), and city, township, and county road crews (when necessary) to make the best decisions possible with the information available at the time. Over a decade of making school-related weather decisions, I have learned that we will get most of these decisions right. We will also make errors. In those cases, we ask in advance for your grace because the weather does not always cooperate with the forecasters' predictions.
Here are a few additional items related to school closings and e-Learning days:
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.
Please pay special attention to how we handle late starts that occur on a Wednesday.
Please review the information you have in Skylert to ensure that you receive timely information about weather-related disruptions. You can learn more here.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me with feedback or questions about the school district.
Sincerely,
Matt
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Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent
mhillmann@northfieldschools.org | 507-663-0629
Posters showcasing renderings and a QR code link to a video tour of the Reimagine Northfield High School project will be on display at conferences. Please take a moment to stop and preview the plans.
The Northfield School District partners with KYMN radio to produce the “Doing Good Things for Kids” podcast. During the year, Superintendent Hillmann will interview members of our school community who demonstrate high performance.
On this episode, Dr. Hillmann talks with educational assistant Teri Quamme, who was named the 2025 Educational Assistant of the Year by the Northfield Education Association, about her origins in education, watching students learn and grow over the years, and more. You can listen to the podcast here.
There is no school Friday, Oct. 31 and Monday, Nov. 3. Students will return to school Tuesday, Nov. 4.
At Northfield Public Schools, we value our strong community partnerships. To better connect families with local events and resources, we've created a community events newsletter. This newsletter is linked to our district newsletters, making it easy for families to stay informed about upcoming opportunities and important community resources.
This week's newsletter includes local events, as well opportunities from the Northfield Basketball Association, Cub Scouts, the YMCA, wrestling and more!
