COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — When Northwest Local School District hired a Minnesota woman to be its new superintendent, some people worried she was so used to snow that she'd never call off school.

        Three days after Kathryn Hellweg started her new job, she passed muster, ordering a two-hour school delay because of a light snowfall.

        Ms. Hellweg, assistant superintendent at Rochester School District in Rochester, Minn., started her job Jan. 1. The 55-year-old Lincoln, Neb., native replaced Ken Dirr, who retired in December.

        Another misconception was that she was brought in to make budget cuts at Northwest, the second-larg est school district in Hamilton County with about 11,000 students. Ms. Hellweg suspects people worried because she helped cut $10 million from the Rochester district's operating budget.

        But she assured district residents that she has something else in mind for Northwest. Student achievement is her No. 1 goal.

        “We have to make sure the kinds of things we're doing from an institutional standpoint are producing results. We have to make decisions on what's best for kids in order for them to be successful leaders,” Ms. Hellweg said.

        She intends to start by looking at the district's “incredible data” and doing a better job of using that information to help drive the instructional program.

        “My concern is if we have kids not being successful early on in the elementary grades, then unless we do something to shore up their skill level, they're not only going to be shortchanged in high school, but a lot of doors are going to be closed to them in society.”

        She said was attracted to this state because of its emphasis on continuous improvement, and the similarities between Ohio and Minnesota in terms of state standards.

        “I actually came to this and five to seven other dis tricts to see if they were places where I would be comfortable. You don't just come for the job, but you come to be part of the community.”

        Ms. Hellweg anonymously circulated in the Northwest community, asking people what they thought of the schools. She soon learned that people valued the school district and were committed to quality education.

        She was also impressed by Northwest's school buildings. She didn't pursue some superintendent jobs after she saw the condition of buildings in those districts. To her, that signaled those communities didn't value education.

        William Lambert, a Northwest School Board member, said Ms. Hellweg appealed to the board because she is an experienced administrator who had a wide variety of responsibilities in a large district. Rochester has 16,000 students.

        “She is very knowledgeable and has very high standards. I think she's going to challenge our faculty and our students to higher performance,” Mr. Lambert said.”

        Ms. Hellweg intends to keep intact the strong business partnerships that Northwest has established. It's a way for the public to know what's going on in education, she said.

        “I wasn't brought in to make a huge number of changes, but to move the organization forward. It's an excellent district. I expect to help make it a world-class district.”

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