ENG 2025-26 Family Update No. 20
April 15, 2026
Dear Northfield Public Schools Families:
One of our strategic plan benchmarks is that all parents report satisfaction with their children’s educational experience. As part of that commitment, we conduct an annual parent/caregiver survey.
Thank you to the 228 people who have responded so far. Our goal is to have 700 responses. The survey responses help us to identify areas of success and areas for improvement. We use the feedback you provide to improve our school district. The survey also allows for open-ended comments, as well as a space to recognize our educators’ great work through the “shoutout” question.
Take the Parent/Caregiver Survey
Your input helps us improve our school district.
The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
The survey will be open until Friday, April 24.
If you have students in more than one school building, the survey will prompt you to complete a separate response for each building.
New this year: At the end of the survey, you will have the opportunity to be entered into a drawing for $10 in Northfield Chamber Bucks. There will be 12 winners, 2 from each school.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your feedback. We are grateful for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Matt
--
Matt Hillmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent
mhillmann@northfieldschools.org | 507-663-0629Photo: Dr. Hillmann received the Friend of HCI award on Wednesday, April 15. District Youth Council Members Delphine Hawkins and Atticus Mayer presented the award.
As shared in Family Update No. 19, construction bids were significantly higher than expected with substantially fewer bids submitted than anticipated. We continue working to respond to that reality.
Why did this happen?
The main reasons appear to be:
Global instability, mainly due to the Middle East conflict, has affected petroleum products, which are integral to construction projects.
- There are continued concerns about tariffs and their impact on material costs.
- There are additional market pressures. One example is that the rapid construction of data centers has impacted the precast concrete and steel industry, both in production and scheduling.
What will we do next?
Wold and Knutson are communicating with companies that chose not to bid to more fully understand their reasoning.
The district is working with Wold and Knutson to rebid some packages, review and adjust design, and integrate existing funds, such as earned interest from the first bond sale and existing long-term facilities maintenance funding, to supplement the project.
For clarity, the district will not use the unrestricted general fund to support the project, nor will there be additional tax impact or increases beyond the taxing authority already approved by the voters.
While this news is not what we were expecting, we are committed to finding solutions that lead to student-centered, effective, and fiscally responsible decisions for the Reimagine Northfield High School project. Overall, we continue to look forward and are optimistic about what lies ahead. We appreciate your ongoing interest and support, helping Northfield Public Schools prepare every student for lifelong success.
A printed annual report will be mailed to all district residents and should arrive in mailboxes later this week or early next week. This report, recommended by the district’s communication committee, is an opportunity to connect with district residents who do not regularly receive updates from the school district. It also provides QR codes to allow them to learn more about the district and to sign up for district newsletters.
Northfield is excited to host this year’s Big 9 Music Festival on Friday, May 1. This one-day festival includes performances and clinician feedback throughout the day for high school musicians, culminating in a grand finale concert, held this year at 7:30 p.m. at the Northfield High School auditorium. More information, including a schedule of events and a link to purchase tickets, can be found here.
To accommodate the music festival, Northfield High School students will not have school that day, and Northfield Middle School students will have an e-learning day. Elementary students will have class as normal. Watch for additional communications from your student’s building.
Join us for Arts á la Carte on Friday, April 17 from 5:30-9:00 p.m. at Northfield High School. Admission is $5 per person, and includes hands-on art activities, clay cup sale, student gallery show, glitter tattoos, face painting, robot art, RoboRaiders, Henna, musical performance, student film festival, shrinky-dinks, caricatures, clay wheel lessons, raffle prizes, Lego League, food for purchase, and more!
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 information about registering for summer Community Ed activities, the Minnesota Girls Basketball All-Star Series, Earth Fest, and more!
