District Downlow - September

Posted Date: 09/04/26 (04:00 PM)

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THE DISTRICT DOWNLOW

Superintendent's Newsletter

September 2026 -- Issue No. 1

The stuff worth knowing. The people worth celebrating. The work moving NPS forward.

No jargon. No 47-page reports. Just the Downlow. 😎

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE…WELCOME TO THE DISTRICT DOWNLOW.

Your once-a-month peek at the people, ideas, celebrations, and work shaping NPS.

We’ll keep it real. We’ll keep it useful. We’ll have a little fun.

Let’s get to it.👇🏽

Somehow we went from summer to we are fully back in approximately twelve minutes. And what a start.

Our buildings are alive again. Scholars are learning, laughing, reconnecting, and settling into the rhythm of a new school year. I’ve spent these last couple of months doing a lot of what I promised I’d do when I arrived in Northampton: listening, learning, asking questions, showing up, building relationships, and probably drinking more cortados than I should. ☕️

There is a lot happening across the Northampton Public Schools. Some of it is big. Some of it happens quietly behind the scenes. Some of it is still taking shape. And some of it is just plain cool.

WE DID IT WITH SOUL.

600 PEOPLE. ONE AUDITORIUM. COFFEE. MUSIC. AND A WHOLE LOTTA ENERGY.

We kicked off the 2026–27 school year with our district-wide Convocation and a simple challenge: DO IT WITH SOUL.

The goal was simple: bring our people back together, reconnect, create some joy, and start the year thinking about possibility.

There was music. There was cheering. There were laughs. There was a whole lot of energy. And there may have been a superintendent dancing. Allegedly.

But underneath all the music and fun was a bigger message about change, possibility, and believing in what we can create together.

One idea seemed to especially resonate with staff:

EMBRACE THE SQUIGGLE.

We love to imagine that progress looks like this:

Start → Plan → Execute → SUCCESS! Voilà!

Cute.

Real life looks a little more like:

Start → Try → Wait, what? → Adjust → Small win → Detour → Learn some more → Big win → Keep going.

That’s the squiggle.

Change is rarely a straight line. Neither is learning. Neither is leadership. And neither is building a great school district.

The goal isn’t to avoid the squiggle. It’s to get comfortable learning inside of it. To try things. Stay curious. Listen when something doesn’t work. Adjust without treating adjustment like failure. And keep moving toward where we want to go.

That’s the kind of organization I want NPS to become: one that isn’t afraid to innovate because we might not get everything exactly right the first time. Apparently, that message landed.

Staff repeatedly used words like energized, hopeful, excited, uplifted, connected, optimistic, joyful, and inspired to describe the experience.

They also told us what we can do better next year.

Good, because that’s kind of the whole point. We’re creating a Culture of Continuous Learning and Improvement.

📵 LOOK WHO’S TALKING.

Our new districtwide bell-to-bell cell phone policy officially launched this school year. And despite what may have been a few bah humbugs from our scholars, something pretty cool happened:

Our hallways started sounding like hallways again.

Scholars were talking to one another. Laughing. Hanging out. Someone pulled out UNO. We witnessed a dramatic reduction in the highly advanced sport of walking through a crowded hallway while staring directly at a screen.

And because there’s been a little chatter about what all of this is costing taxpayers, let’s do something wild and look at the facts. 😎

Wait…did we hire people for this?

Nope. Zero new positions. Our schools are implementing the policy through the educators, administrators, and staff already serving our scholars every day. Why? Because we didn’t need additional staff to pull this off.

Yeah…but what did implementing the policy actually cost us?

The pouches cost $47,000. But then this happened: NPS was awarded a $50,000 grant to support the cell phone initiative, helping offset implementation costs and protect local dollars for other district priorities.

Well…I heard scholars are just bypassing the self-service station and heading to class? What’s up with that?

Well…that would be tricky, because there is no self-service station.

At the beginning of the school day, scholars report to their first-period class and lock their own Yondr pouches in front of their teacher. That’s the system. No kiosk. No unattended station. No mysterious phone-pouch drive-thru where scholars can simply wave as they pass by.

So, for anyone keeping score:

New personnel hired: 0

Scholars supposedly bypassing self-service stations: 0

Grant funding secured: YES

Sky: Still not falling. ☀️

Beneath all the noise, the reason for doing this hasn’t changed: less distraction, more learning, more connection, and more actual human interaction.

Is implementation perfect? Of course not. We’ll keep listening, learning, and adjusting where needed.

But a week in, scholars are talking more, our schools have implemented the policy without adding personnel, and we’ve now brought in outside funding to help support the work.

I’d say that’s a pretty darn good start.

💙 A LITTLE BELONGING GOES A LONG WAY.

Before school even opened, JFK hosted its first Sixth Grade Step-Up Night and Northampton High welcomed new scholars through orientation.

Both events gave scholars and caregivers the chance to explore their new schools, meet people, ask questions, and feel a little less nervous about what came next.

There’s a simple message behind experiences like these:

We were expecting you.

We prepared for you.

You belong here.

That matters. A lot.

WHY “SCHOLARS”?

I know. I know. Some of you love it. Some of you are still side-eyeing me. But hear me out.

When I call our young people scholars, I’m not suggesting they all walk around carrying leather-bound books, and quoting Shakespeare.

For me, scholar is a statement of belief. It says that every young person who walks through our doors is already capable of thinking, creating, questioning, solving problems, leading, contributing, and doing things that may surprise us.

The word carries hope, possibility, belonging, and high expectations, not just for the kids who have already figured out how to “do school” well, but for every single child…because all means all.

Am I launching a district-wide investigation if you call them students? No. But am I giving up scholars? Also no. 😂 You’re stuck with that one. 😎

💃🏽 ¡VAMOS, NORTHAMPTON!

Hispanic Heritage Month is almost here!

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins September 15, and your superintendent might be just a little excited. 💃🏻

For the next month, schools across NPS will have opportunities to celebrate the histories, cultures, voices, stories, music, food, brilliance, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities.

Hispanic heritage isn’t something that lives in a textbook. It lives in families. It lives in language. It lives in music and food and art and traditions.

Stay tuned. We have a few things cooking for Hispanic Heritage Month. 👀

ANNIE’S STILL LISTENING…

When I started my Listening & Learning Tour this summer, my goal wasn’t to shake 100 hands, collect 100 selfies, and check a box. That’s not listening.

I’ve been sitting down with educators, staff, caregivers, scholars, community members, elected officials, organizations, and partners and asking questions like:

What do you hope never changes? What needs to change? What keeps you up at night? What could Northampton Public Schools become?

And now that school is open, we’re taking that work even deeper.

This fall I’ll continue meeting with staff, caregivers, community members, and scholars so that people’s lived experiences can be considered alongside our quantitative data. Those themes will help inform my Entry Plan findings later this year. But we’re also creating structures that will last well beyond my entry process.

COMING THIS FALL:

Superintendent’s Educator Advisory Council (SEAC)

Educators and staff helping think through real district questions and shape decisions.

Family and Community Engagement Roundtable (FACE)

Caregivers and community partners helping shape district initiatives earlier in the decision-making process.

Superintendent’s Scholar Advisory Council (SSAC)

Scholars helping improve the schools they experience every day.

These aren't gripe sessions. They’re working tables. We’ll wrestle with questions. Test ideas. Challenge assumptions. Look at problems from different perspectives.

We do with people. Not to people.

That one isn’t changing.

👀 WHAT’S NEXT?

September is going to move FAST, so keep an eye out for:

Hispanic Heritage Month beginning September 15 💃🏽
Staff Listening & Learning opportunities across our schools
Caregiver Listening & Learning opportunities
Recruitment for the Superintendent’s Educator Advisory Council (SEAC)
Recruitment for the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Roundtable
Opportunities for scholars to join the Superintendent’s Scholar Advisory Council (SSAC)
Lots and lots more and probably a surprise or two because what fun would it be if I told you everything?
And just in case you need the calendar at your fingertips, here you go (English / Spanish)

NOT ENOUGH DOWNLOW FOR YOU?

Follow my Superintendent Facebook page for district updates, School Committee agendas, celebrations, random observations, and whatever else finds its way onto my feed. https://www.facebook.com/share/19XGVj6A6W/?mibextid=wwXIfr

AND THAT’S THE DOWNLOW.

Beautiful People, we’re just getting started.

There’s a lot happening in NPS, and plenty more ahead.

Thank you for welcoming our scholars back, supporting our educators and staff, asking good questions, sharing ideas, celebrating what’s working, and helping us imagine what could be.

Building a great school district isn’t one person’s work.

People do it.

Relationships do it.

Communities do it.

And I’m pretty excited about what this one can do.

Until next month…

Stay fabulous. Find some joy. And whatever you do, do it with soul. 💜

Superintendent Annie

LEARN. LEAD. LIFT.

Education with Soul.