Superintendent says NCSD’S success rooted in aspirations, strategic plan

NOVI — Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka’s annual State of the District address Feb. 25 shared the district’s high rankings throughout the state and across the country, as well as the things he said the district is doing within each category of the Novi Community School District’s strategic plan.

“I am going to highlight a couple of things that, quite frankly, we don’t highlight a lot because we are always thinking, ‘What can we do to be a little bit better?” Mainka said. 

He then shared that the district has been ranked by niche.com as the top district in the state of Michigan for the last four years. He said that the district climbed 40 spots in the national rankings this year to be named the 13th best district in the country. In addition, every elementary school in the district was named in the list of the top 10 elementary schools in Michigan. 

Mainka then, as he did in 2025, discussed various things the district is doing within the five categories of its strategic plan. These categories include “innovative academics,” “staff support,” “wellness and safety,” “student passions and interests,” and “financial and infrastructure management.” 

“This is an aspirational graphic. This is a graphic that we believe strongly will be the foundation of the future of education,” Mainka said. “With the advent of artificial intelligence, what we know is that we have to focus and prioritize skills that are uniquely human.”

According to Mainka, businesses are looking to hire graduates who have the ability to communicate effectively, think critically, understand how to solve problems, be empathetic while collaborating with others, and understand how to seek purpose both in their personal and professional lives. 

Mainka said that is what the district as a whole aspires to instill in its graduates so that when they leave high school, they will find success personally and professionally. 

 

Innovative academics
After “tremendous success” with implementing literacy resources within grades K-4, the district is now working to implement resources in grades 5-12.

“Early indication from our fall to winter i-Ready data is that we’ve seen tremendous gains not just overall, but also within our various subgroups of students as they’ve looked at their ability to speak, write, read and listen — unbelievable success in this area,” Mainka said. 

The district is also focusing on “consistent grading reform.” According to Mainka, the idea is to have the same grading system throughout the school, rather than each teacher having their individual grading system. That way, students will be able to calculate their grades with ease.

With funding from a 2019 bond, the high school now offers a mechatronics program, through which students can get their Fuji Automatic Numerical Control certification before leaving high school. 

“Which is an incredibly awesome thing and something we are going to continue to build on as we think about different pathways for student learning and careers,” said Mainka. 

According to Mainka, the district is also excited to be looking into updating its math program and resources. 

 

Staff support
Mainka said that district teachers and staff will have a voice in the decisions about any initiatives that are being considered or implemented in the district. 

“We believe that the lifeblood of our school is giving our staff the support that they need,” Mainka said. 

The district has also started doing “stay interviews” in which staff members are asked within their first five years of employment what the district can do to ensure that they stay on long-term. 

The district has started a culture and climate committee meant to ensure that staff, students and families have the atmosphere they deserve, Mainka said. 

 

Wellness and safety
The district’s 2026 Parent Camp was the largest to date, according to Mainka. Parent Camp is a weekend seminar featuring guest speakers and workshops on topics that are challenging for parents today. 

The district is also using certain words to standardize the various types of safety situations that may occur within the schools. 

“So, when you think about ‘secure mode,’ that is not a lockdown, that’s something different. If you think about ‘shelter,’ that means something different,” Mainka said. 

He said the terms are posted on the district’s website. He said that he hopes that they are getting to a point where when they use a specific term, it will effectively communicate a specific situation with the school community. 

NCSD has partnered with Hospitality House in Walled Lake to help get food to families who can’t afford it. He said there has been a tremendous number of families signing up for the assistance, which also includes sending backpacks filled with food home with students to supply the household with the students’ nutritional needs while they are off for the weekend. 

The district also now has a partnership with Care Solace to help connect parents and staff with mental health providers to meet their needs. 

The school system will also open a wellness support center later this year. 

 

Student passions and interests
NCSD has expanded its club offerings for elementary students. The schools now offer running clubs, chess clubs, music clubs, and drama clubs. 

“It’s an opportunity for us to expand extracurricular activities to help students understand what their passions are and what they might be interested in,” Mainka said. 

He said this has led to the vast number of clubs now offered at the high school level.  

The career day the district held at Vibe Credit Union Showplace had hundreds of students in attendance to learn about some of their various career choices. 

Students are now able to have a voice as well in things the district is doing that directly impact them. Students at the high school, middle school, and Novi Meadows are meeting with administrators to discuss things that are important to them and that they would like to see happen. 

The district also had a team of high school students weigh in on school design decisions and make recommendations to the designers about what would make the best learning environment for them. 

The district has also implemented a positivity project to look at the strengths that people have as individuals. 

“We talk a lot about how students are able to read, write and do math, and all of those things are very important. That’s kind of our bread and butter, but we’re also talking to them about how to be good human beings,” Mainka said. “We’re talking to them about how to see the strength in other people and that other people matter.”

He said the positivity project gives students a way to understand themselves and others better 

 

Financial and infrastructure management
Voters passed a zero tax increase bond last November for $425 million. The funds will be used for an array of projects, including modernizing the playgrounds and revamping the high school, and building a large STEM facility at the middle school. 

The transportation program went through a lot of changes in the last few years.  

“There’s been a lot of bumps in the road,” Mainka said. 

He said they have been able to solve a lot of those problems, and they now have a lot of bus driver retention. However, he said that there is always a need for more school bus drivers. 

 “There’s a great culture within that department and we’re really excited about the work that our drivers do,” Mainka said. 

Prior to Mainka’s speech, the community was able to partake in the districts award winning culinary delights and peruse booths manned by representatives of various organizations that impact students and families, both inside and outside the school system. 

Agnes Filipowski said the district goes above and beyond in putting on the State of the District event. 

“It’s not just the school, it’s the whole district,” she said. “You see the community partners here, other organizations that support our youth, and I feel like that is going above and beyond. It’s looking at the whole student, like the wellness of the student overall. Just thinking about that is what makes it special.”