Three major themes came through in recent conversations with Minnesota educators. I asked their advice for families as a new school year begins.<\/p>\n
Two educators offered very practical questions. Nate Rudolph, superintendent of Cambridge-Isanti Public Schools, suggested, \u201cInstead of asking, \u2018How was school?\u2019 try, \u2018What was the best part of your day?\u2019 \u2018What was hard today?\u2019; or \u2018Who helped you or who did you help?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Brandan Wait, executive director of Paladin Career and Technical Academy in Coon Rapids, advises families of secondary school students. \u201cEarly in the year, ask your child\/student, \u2018Who is one adult at school that you trust and who really knows you?\u2019 If attendance, motivation or connection starts to slide, reach out to that staff member sooner rather than later so home and school can work together to understand what\u2019s getting in the way. It really does take a village.\u201d<\/p>\n
Encouraging curiosity was a second theme. Chris Swenson, superintendent of Monticello Public Schools, urged, \u201cTake this year as an opportunity to explore new curiosities and focus on the growth you may experience in all that you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linda Wallenberg, the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year from Eden Prairie, wrote, \u201cMake room for boredom, curiosity, and especially, let those kids play\u2014and give them the confidence to rise when they fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Wolhaupter, president of the Anoka-Hennepin Education Association, encourages students to \u201cBe curious. True learning is not just a list of facts to memorize; it is exploring the corners of the world \u2013 through books, activities, relationships \u2013 to build a deeper understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third, not surprising, but important set of suggestions involved sharing information and building positive connections with your youngsters\u2019 teachers. David Davis, the 2026 Minnesota Teacher of the Year from St. Louis Park wrote: \u201cTo help teachers adapt to your child\u2019s uniqueness, consider sharing a brief note at the start of school sharing their specific passions, cultural background, and any learning concerns. For example, passing along a favorite song, artist, or genre to their music teacher. We get the most from education when we replace top-down compliance with a collaborative triangle: teacher, family, AND student voice working together as equal partners.”<\/p>\n
Rachel Hilyar, director of student services, ISD 728 (Elk River Area Public Schools), responded, \u201cWe hope families see us as a partner and work alongside us to help every child feel safe, supported, and successful. Families can strengthen this partnership by attending conferences and school events, staying connected with teachers, asking questions, sharing insights about their child, and reaching out early when they have concerns or need support. By engaging in regular conversations, assuming positive intent, and working together with school staff to problem-solve and celebrate progress, families and educators can create a strong foundation where students thrive, grow, and prepare for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan Kaufman, who has been a teacher and now is on the St Louis Park School Board, explained: \u201cOne of the most important things you can do to help your student is to make connections so you can be the best advocate for your child. Although not every parent can attend back-to-school night or volunteer in the classroom, you can send an email or speak with the teacher by phone. Then, when a concern arises, both sides are in a better position to have a constructive dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leah Olk, principal at Rippleside Elementary in Aitkin, agreed and offered a way to help make this happen. \u201cA strong partnership between families and school is one of the most important parts of a successful school year! [For new families] we have entrance conferences planned before the start of school, giving families the opportunity to meet one-on-one with their child\u2019s teacher, discuss goals, and share information that will help the teacher get to know their child and better support their learning. Entrance conferences are available to all enrolled families [both new and returning students] and are scheduled by the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan Boler, Caledonia\u2019s Middle\/High School principal wrote: \u201cMy number one piece of advice is communication. Successful education relies on early, proactive communication between families and schools. When students share specific learning roadblocks and parents discuss concerns early, small issues can be resolved collaboratively before they turn into larger challenges. Schools and parents must work together to provide the best educational experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Princeton Superintendent Patrick Devine suggested: \u201cTake the time to read the emails\/newsletters and review the website to get your information about school … social media is not always accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over a 50+ year career as an educator, parent and advocate, I\u2019ve found each of these ideas can contribute to an outstanding year. That\u2019s my wish for every student and educator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three major themes came through in recent conversations with Minnesota educators. I asked their advice for families as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,32374,124574,11301,9,24,63,299,28611],"class_list":["post-331001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-columnists","tag-deprioritize","tag-free","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-opinion","tag-psa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}