@e e l

807 NE Broadway
M IN N E A P OLIS
S C H OOL S
P U B L IC
Urb a nE d u c a t io nG. lo b a lCit iz e n s .

BernadeiaH. Johnson
Minneapolis,
Minnesota55413-2398 Superi ntendent of SchooIs
Phone:612.668.0200
Fax: 612.668.0195

October 8, 2o1o

of NorthCommunityHighSchool:
DearFamilies

TheMinneapolis PublicSchoolsarecommittedto providingeverystudentin the citywith a highqualityeducation.

in a schoolwhereyourfamilyfeelswelcomedandrespected.
classes
Thatmeansyourchildreceivesall essential As
the numberof familieschoosingNorthCornmunity HighSchoolhasdeclined,we havebeenchallenged to offer the
activitiesavailable
studentsat Norththe rangeof coursesandextra-curricular highschool
to other Minneapolis
students.

Forthis reason,nextTuesdayI will recommendto the Boardof Educationthat we phaseout NorthHighSchool

beginningnextschoolyear.Theboardisscheduled to vote on the recommendationon November9.Youcanwatch
the meetingon Minneapotiscablechannelt5, whichairsthe boardmeetingliveat 6:oop.m.,or listento the meeting
that eveningat B:oop.m.on radiostationKBEM88.5.

Thisyear'sninth-gradestudentswill be the finalclassto graduatefrom North.Northwill no longerbe offeredasa

highschooloptionfor currenteighth-grade students.CurrentNorthstudentsmaycontinueattendingschoolat
Northuntiltheygraduateor they maychooseto attenda differentcomprehensive highschoolin theirattendance
area.Northwill remaina citywideoptionfor the highschoolclasses of zo'tz,zot3 andzot4.

I knowthat thischangewill be painful.Northhasa richhistoryanda strongconnectionto the community.We value

the effortsthat families,alumniand individualcommunitymembershavemadeto helpincrease enrollmentand
supportNorthstudents.Despitemanyreformandrecruitmenteffortsat North,enrollmentandacademic
performance we onlyhaveone option:we mustdo better.
continueto decline.As far as I am concerned,

I am committedto makingcertainall currentstudentscontinueto receivethe highestlevelof educationthroughout

their time at North.I want you to be awarethat this planis dependenton enrollingthe minimumnumberof
studentsnecessary to sustainan academicprogram.'//eneedto havean adequatenumberof studentsattending
Northto continueofferingits schoolprogramfor currentstudentsthroughtheirgraduations. lf we do not receive
sufficientrequests for North,the programphase out would not be possible
and outrightclosurewouldoccur.

on Monday,October11.Youareinvitedto learn
PrincipalBirchJoneswill addressNorthstudentsat an assembly
moreaboutthesechangesandwhat they meanfor youat a schoolmeetingon Thursday, October14,at 6:00p.m.in
the auditoriumat North.At the PrincipalJones,
meeting, Associate
Superintendent
Mark and I will discuss
Bonine
the planand addressquestionsandconcerns.I hopeyouwill be ableto ioin us.

BernadeiaH.Johnson
Superintendent
of Schools