Residents discuss future of Herman-Norcross

Community provides input to help shape the future of the small school system

By Chris A. Ray
Grant County Herald

A group of nearly a hundred concerned citizens met Jan. 12 at the Herman-Norcross (H-N) school for a community conversation about District 264’s future. 

The group also included H-N school board members and most of the school’s faculty and staff. Superintendent Jessica Dietz, who led the gathering, said, despite the rumors, this meeting was not about closing the school.

“This meeting is to give the school board input for strategic planning,” she said, adding, “Leadership is a community effort.”

Dietz explained the group would brainstorm on three main questions: what are the school’s strengths? What are the school’s weaknesses? And what opportunities are open for the future?

Breaking into smaller groups, the participants talked about the school’s strengths. What does H-N do well? What is unique about H-N? What does H-N do better than its competitors?

Small class sizes were mentioned by many of the groups, and lots of electives for the school’s size. There is a great elementary school, an involved school board, community support, and the support of parents. All students are treated fairly, and the school has lots of one-on-one involvement. 

Dietz then asked the group to discuss the school’s weaknesses: Which school initiatives are underperforming? What can be improved? What resources are available that could improve the school’s performance, and how does H-N rank against its competitors?

Like the first question, small class sizes were mentioned by most groups. Dietz admitted that small class sizes can be both a good and a bad thing. She added that currently the school has a K-12 enrollment of 86, with 13 kids in preschool. This means some grades have as few as three students.  

One participant said when she graduated from H-N in the early 1970s… its heyday… and her grade had around 50 students. 

Small enrollment led to other weaknesses such as less options for students, limited electives, long bus rides, and sharing sports programs with neighboring schools, leading to even more long bus rides, as well as limited social interactions.

Other weaknesses included the lack of after-school programming, limited performing arts programming including music and drama, old buildings and outdated facilities, the lack of promotion for the school district, including limited coverage in the county newspaper, the loss of students to open enrollment, limited career training programs, and the lack of someone to write grants for school improvements such as a school greenhouse, etc. that neighboring schools have.

Dietz said the group would next talk about what opportunities were open for the H-N school district: What resources can be used to improve weaknesses? Are there gaps in service? What do competitors offer, and where do they outperform H-N? And what changes in education are cause for concern?

Many groups mentioned that the school allows parents on field trips and some community members are used as learning resources for students. The school also offers several events for families.

The school’s small class sizes offer lots of hands-on learning, unlike some larger districts, as well as learning life skills but could offer more online classes.

Several groups said there are opportunities for the school to publish a community newspaper and have an electronic community billboard to publicize school events, as well as community happenings.

One group said the school could spearhead a Welcome Wagon with information about the community, school, churches and organizations for people moving in.

Some felt the school had the opportunity to switch to a four-day school week, add night classes for electives, a robotics class, a family gym night and more school/community events.

Someone said the school needs to take the opportunity to have parents work with the school instead of against it.

“This is huge,” Dietz said. “The school board will be using this information (as well as a community survey) for strategic planning for the next five years.”

She then asked, “What is the ultimate goal for all of our students?”

“Independence,” “A well-rounded education,” “To prepare for the future in life and a career,” “To become a contributing member of society, a leader in the community,” “To be proud of where they are from and to come back and raise their family here,” “To respect other people,” were the answers she got.

Dietz then asked, “What values should our larger community model to help students reach these goals?”

“Be engaged,” “Volunteer,” “Encourage involvement,” were among the answers she received.

The group left with a quote by Margaret Wheatley, “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”