Norman superintendent says annual school visits build relationships that support student and teacher success

Nick Migliarino, superintendent of Norman Public Schools, said he makes a point each year to visit all district schools at the start of the academic year to meet students and new teachers.

Migliarino, speaking informally at the start of his remarks, said the visits are about visibility but, more importantly, relationships. "If you don't have a relationship with teachers, with the administrators, then you have no chance to be successful," he said.

He traced the practice back to his childhood in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where he recalled superintendents visiting schools and riding buses. Migliarino said he did not have that experience when he first taught in Norman, so he adopted the visits as a consistent practice once he became superintendent. "This is my ninth year to go out and visit all of the teachers and the students at the beginning of the year," he said.

Migliarino described the personal payoff of the visits: meeting children, "high 5[ing] the kids," and sharing moments that he said "pour into my teacher heart." He acknowledged that schools sometimes say his presence is a disruption, but added that the interactions—selfies, handshakes and short conversations—energize him and, he suggested, strengthen the school community.

Closing his remarks, Migliarino emphasized intentionality: "Where there's an intention there's an opportunity," and invited others to "come visit us, come see us and you'll see why we feel like we're really special. Good things happen here."