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Northfield Middle School named Blue Ribbon select; school outlines SEL, safety and academic goals
Summary
Middle School Principal Greg described the school’s selection as a National Blue Ribbon School and presented goals to standardize social-emotional learning, increase adult support and aim for 80% of students meeting academic standards. The district said the federal Blue Ribbon recognition program was canceled this year but the Minnesota Department
Northfield Middle School leaders told the school board on Oct. 14 that the school was selected as a National Blue Ribbon School and outlined goals to standardize social-emotional learning (SEL), strengthen adult–student connections and pursue an 80% academic proficiency target over a multi-year period.
"Northfield Middle School had been selected as National Blue Ribbon School," Principal Greg said, adding the school was recognized in both award categories the program uses: exemplary high performance and closing achievement gaps. He said the U.S. Department of Education canceled the national recognition program for this year, but the Minnesota Department of Education plans to recognize awarded schools.
Why it matters: The Blue Ribbon designation is an external affirmation of academic results and gap-closing work at the middle school. District leaders said the recognition underscores curriculum, instruction and practices that the school attributes to measurable gains.
Highlights and goals
Principal Greg reported student engagement measures: 76% of students said they feel connected to at least one adult, and 84% said they were excited to attend at least one class. Participation in after-school or extracurricular activities was reported at 302 students for the current fall term.
The middle school also described staff experience metrics (42% of teachers at the school for 20+ years; 63% for 10+ years) and set three site goals for 2025–26: raise academic proficiency to 80% (with a 3% staff-support perception increase target over three years), implement a more consistent SEL program using the SSIS measurement system, and sustain visible adult supervision and consistent enforcement of conduct expectations to improve perceptions of safety.
Board and district remarks
Superintendent Dr. Mike Hillman and board members congratulated the staff and students. Hillman said the district will follow up after the winter program review to convene a community group to consider longer-term middle-school schedule options that surfaced during budget discussions. Board members asked about activity counts, community (non-school) activities and schedule impacts on instruction; Greg said consistent messaging to families about extracurricular participation and daily schedules have supported steady activity numbers.
Ending
The board did not take action on the middle school goals at the Oct. 14 meeting but directed staff to continue work on SEL definitions and to report back with proposals following the program-review timeline.
