July 7, 2025 Update
Good morning,
I wanted to update you on the North Rockford Middle School Principal position.
After the school year ended, Lissa Weidenfeller informed us that she intended to retire from her North Rockford Middle School principal position effective July 1. Ms. Weidenfeller has guided North for many years and, along with her staff, has elevated North to one of the best middle schools in our region and in our state. She will be missed.
As with any position in our district, we want to make sure that we have the right people in the right place. So, we have taken some time to think through what would be the best next step.
Part of our decision making has also been driven by an examination of our administrative staffing and our budget. Ms. Weidenfeller’s retirement, while unexpected, has given us an opportunity to review our current administrative staffing and examine our administrative staffing relative to our budget.
Given these multiple factors and working to ensure that we have people in the right place, I have decided to move Al Reickard to North Rockford Middle school to serve as the principal. Mr. Santillan will continue to serve as the assistant principal.
As you know, Mr. Reickard was the Freshman Center Assistant Principal during the past year, but he is no stranger to North. Mr. Reickard previously served as the Assistant Principal at North and has been in our district for many years; first as a student and later as a teacher, coach, and administrator.
Mr. Reickard understands our district. He is also well prepared to continue moving North forward, ensuring that our students have an outstanding academic environment and providing our students with multiple co- and extra-curricular opportunities.
I am excited for Mr. Reickard. He will be an outstanding principal at North.
I am also excited about our leadership team at North – Mr. Reickard and Mr. Santillan. They will do great things together and our students and staff will benefit from the leadership that they will provide.
Steve
Dr. Steve Matthews
Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools
Parkside Discussion:
Questions about Teacher Collaboration
This document is intended to answer questions that have arisen as we have begun a conversation about repurposing Parkside Elementary to an Early Childhood Center.
The importance of teacher collaboration:
When schools have only one teacher per grade level, students miss out on the advantages of a collaborative teaching team working together daily. This includes teamwork, shared expertise, and differentiated instruction. Having at least two grade level sections in each building where teachers are collaborating together ensures that every child receives a high-quality, well-rounded environment that supports their learning.
1. Stronger Teaching Through Collaboration and Consistency in Learning
- When teachers work together in a building, they easily share ideas, lesson plans, and strategies that help improve instruction for all students.
- Research shows that when teachers collaborate, student achievement improves significantly (Visible Learning, Hattie, 2009).
- With multiple teachers at the same grade level, all students at a grade level in the building receive a similar, high-quality education.
- Schools that follow the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model (DuFour, 2004) see higher student success rates because teachers meet regularly to discuss student progress and adjust instruction based on data.
- Research (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) shows that when teachers work in teams, they are less stressed, more motivated, and stay in the profession longer.
2. Better Support for Different Learning Needs
- Every child learns differently, and when multiple teachers work together, they can group students flexibly to give them more personalized instruction.
- Struggling students get extra help, and advanced learners receive challenges that keep them engaged.
- Studies on differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2001) show that when teaching is tailored to a student’s level, learning improves dramatically.
- When teachers work as a grade level team, they can identify areas where students are struggling and quickly provide support to keep them on track.
- Common assessments across classrooms help ensure that every child is making progress and getting the support they need.
- In multi-section grades, students may have opportunities to interact with different teachers, which helps them adapt to different teaching styles and personalities.
- Flexible grouping across classrooms allows students to work with peers at similar academic levels, keeping them challenged and engaged.
