DULUTH — Despite the holiday closures, Duluth’s schools had plenty going on during January. From college campuses to K-12 classrooms, here are a few stories we didn’t want to miss from last month.
As students returned from a long holiday break, the University of Minnesota Duluth celebrated the grand reopening of its main production kitchen, which has been under renovation for approximately 20 months.
Since 1971, UMD’s production kitchen has been serving meals on campus, though demands look a bit different today. In its early years, kitchen staff served around 500 meals a day. Some 50 years later, that number has ballooned to an average of 7,500 daily meals as the university’s population has grown. While the needs have changed, much of the equipment didn’t, leaving the kitchen staff with some appliances as old as the kitchen itself.
“This really is an impactful upgrade that allows our team to expand our from-scratch cooking and baking, explore diverse global flavors, and operate more sustainably than ever before,” said Betsy Helgesen, director of UMD Dining. “It’s a transformation that reflects our commitment to quality and innovation, but more importantly, it means the thousands of students and community members we serve every day will have improved access to an even bigger variety of nutritious and delicious foods than ever.”
Contributed / University of Minnesota Duluth
Funded through dining services revenue, savings and debt service, the $25 million remodel project expands UMD’s production space while adding new technology and equipment to improve sustainability, reduce strain on staff and better meet student needs.
A reception was held on Jan. 15.
‘Superior’ community engagement
Across the lake from UMD, the University of Wisconsin-Superior was one of more than 230 colleges to receive recognition from the Carnegie Foundation, highlighting the university’s commitment to community engagement.
Duluth Media Group file photo
On Jan. 14, UWS announced that the University had earned a 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation awarded by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Developed by the Carnegie Commission of Higher Education as part of an extensive classification system, the community engagement designation is awarded to institutions based on demonstrated, meaningful partnerships with their larger communities.
“I am thrilled to share that UW-Superior has earned this distinguished designation once again,” said UW-Superior Chancellor Renée Wachter. “This milestone is a direct reflection of UW-Superior’s passion, dedication and commitment to academic excellence and impactful research.”
This is the second consecutive designation for UWS, joining more than 500 colleges and universities across the U.S. UWS was recognized for its strong, campus-wide commitment to integrating engagement into teaching, research and service.
During the Jan. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Duluth School Board reviewed a series of changes to social studies classes, adjusting curriculum and courses to meet the new standards set by the state in 2024. The new standards include increased curriculum around economics, geography, citizenship and the sovereignty of tribal nations.
As part of the curriculum realignment, several courses are being removed from the district’s catalog. Classes like Civics — an introductory course to government and civic engagement — and International Studies — a global perspectives class typically offered to upperclassmen — will no longer be offered in the high schools next year.
Several new classes, including Ethnic Studies and Global and Indigenous Sports, will be launching at Denfeld High School next fall.
These changes come as a result of the Minnesota Department of Education curriculum evaluation and updates, which take place every 10 years. The state’s social studies standards underwent review during the 2020-2021 school year, with changes approved in 2024.
Review of the state’s health standards is ongoing, with
on newly proposed rules open until Feb. 9.
Emma McNamee joined the Duluth News Tribune in February 2025 as a reporter covering K-12 schools and higher education in the Duluth area.