Meet the new Solon Springs superintendent: Pete Hopke
Aug. 16—SOLON SPRINGS — Solon Springs Superintendent Pete Hopke has been learning the culture and lay of the land in the school district since July.
The district houses four educational choices under one roof — a traditional 4K-12 public school, a virtual school, a public Montessori school and a project-based learning school for grades six through 12.
Add in a school forest for outdoor education, a child care center and a community that in 2016 approved a $500,000 recurring referendum to keep the district from closing its doors.
"There's a lot of great opportunities, and they do a lot of great things for kids to get them outside and understanding the environment and understanding where they live," said Hopke, who has 22 years of experience in education. "I was really impressed with that."
The welcoming school board and staff were also big selling points.
"Great people and just very positive, forward-thinking people here and I really appreciate it," the new superintendent said.
As a full-time administrator, Hopke expects to be more visible than former Superintendent Frank Helquist, who served part-time.
"I will be more actively engaged, not only in the school district, but in the community as well," Hopke said, and he will take on more overall management duties.
The father of four adult children, Hopke lives in the Shell Lake/Spooner area and runs Hopke's Windy Acres Farm with his wife.
"We've got a smorgasbord of stuff, so we have a large garden, where we sell produce. We have chickens; we sell eggs, as well as meat birds. And then we have sheep as well as beef cows," Hopke said.
The 53-year-old has served 31 years in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, including three deployments — Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 2004, Iraq in 2009 and with a Kuwait-based military engagement team in 2014. He is currently a lieutenant colonel with an artillery unit out of Milwaukee and is seeking to transfer to a unit closer to Solon Springs. Hopke said he initially joined to pay for school, but it became a bigger and more important duty to him. Two of his children also chose to serve with the National Guard.
After earning a bachelor's degree in organic chemistry, Hopke initially worked in the medical field. He became a special education teacher when the couple started their family, and discovered a rewarding career.
"There are kids that have more significant challenges, and I think often don't have or have difficulty getting a voice in their education ... I liked that challenge and I liked that opportunity to help those that are struggling and need a little extra support, whether it's educational, emotional or whatever," Hopke said.
His work history spans a number of districts in the area — New Richmond, Shell Lake, Superior and most recently, director of pupil services and special education for the Spooner Area School District.
As a leader, Hopke said, he's big on process and procedure, clear guidelines and organization.
"And I want to have a positive environment. And part of that is just through collaboration. I like to collaborate, come up with a plan and a decision together as much as possible," he said.
One of the first things Hopke plans to do is sit down with the school board to develop a five-year strategic plan. He's also interested in moving school board meetings to a YouTube format, so people can tune in live or watch them later. Both the Maple and Superior school districts post full board meetings on district YouTube channels. Other plans include exploring ways to increase community involvement in the school and building a list of mental health providers to come in and provide student services.
"I like to get to know people and I want to truly understand how we as a district can improve our process to provide education but then also to ... just make a larger connection with the community and provide different opportunities for the community," Hopke said.
