This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

September 14, 2009

This Week’s Good News!

• Welcome to the first full week of the new school year and the first edition of the 2009/2010 edition of “This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.”  For those of you who are new to our district, each week I share good news items submitted by staff, students and community members.  It is my pleasure to share the accomplishments, awards and accolades of our talented students and extraordinary staff in this format. You may send any good news items directly to me at robertst@aaps.k12.mi.us I look forward to hearing from you.
• I want to recognize and thank all of you for helping our students adjust to a new school year and settle in to a new routine.  The first day of school went very smoothly in spite of the rainy weather.  I heard many positive comments about how staff members were out in full force welcoming and assisting students and parents find their way.  This is wonderful feedback to receive and a good way to begin on a positive note.
• I also want to recognize and thank our custodial and maintenance staff members for all the work they did during the summer to make our schools ready for the students to return.  For those of you who are still living with construction and renovation projects, I thank you for your patience and ask that you keep in mind how good it will be when completed.
• We also had instructional staff working during the summer.
• The elementary Summer Learning Institute provided additional support in math and literacy.  Approximately 570 incoming 1st, 3rd and 4th grade students attended the four-week program at Ann Arbor Open and 120 incoming 6th grade students were at Forsythe Middle School.  This program also offered co-teaching partnerships with general and special education staff for 20 ESY students.  In addition parent workshops were held each Friday. There were 42 classroom teachers, 50 ELMAC University of Michigan student teachers, 20 World Language student teachers, 10 classroom volunteers, 4 high school "office runners" and 1 tech specialist.  Thanks to all of the above for their good work.  Special thanks also to Principal Che Carter, Chuck Hatt, Dawn Anderson, Michele Madden and Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley for organizing and supporting this program.
  There were 660 middle and high school students enrolled in summer programs.  At the high school level we had 341 in-district students and 30 out-of-district students; 170 students took on-line courses and 20 students enrolled in Community Resource courses.  There were 129 incoming 6th and 7th grade students in Read 180, Math Prep and My Access classes and incoming 8th and 9th  grade students in Algebra Prep and Biology Prep.  There were 16 high school teachers, 9 middle school teachers and 9 on-line teachers.
• The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority incorporated, Delta Psi Omega Chapter, hosted a successful Back to School Educational Summit at Skyline on August 29.  Thanks to Ruth Williams and Natasha York for their work in organizing the event.
• The Pioneer choirs had a successful trip to China in late June.  In addition to their scheduled performances, the students gave many short, impromptu concerts while sightseeing at the request of other tourists.  One of their highlights was to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” from atop the Great Wall.
• The AAPS Environmental Education program received a $19,000 grant from the James A and Catherine Knight Foundation to develop an interactive website, based on the outdoor field trips we offer our students, for their parents to visit and explore.  The goal is to increase awareness and stewardship of local ecosystems.
• Tappan Middle School’s Agrarian Adventure received a $16,000 grant from the Women’s Farm and Garden Association to expand its mission to connect students with food, health, community and agriculture.  Tappan’s garden and greenhouse was featured on the Association’s Garden Walk in June.
• The First Steps Washtenaw Program received a $3,000 grant from the Target Corporation for literacy work for the 4th year in a row.
• Pioneer Social Studies teacher, Tracey Van Dusen, was one of three national finalists selected to participate in C-SPAN's annual teacher fellowship in Washington D.C.  From June 18th through July 18th, Tracey worked on:  Curriculum revision and planning for C-SPAN's educational support materials; Planning and presenting at C-SPAN’s teacher conference; Development of web-based learning including the design and content of C-SPAN's website; and Collaborative instruction across school districts nationally through use of social networking sites.
• Pioneer parents Becky and Norton Fogel sent appreciation to staff members.  They wrote,  “Caleb enjoyed working with Ms. O'Connor so much when he was on student council.  It's always nice to know that our kids have "parents" away from home. (Ms. O'Connor is a class secretary at Pioneer).  I would also like to commend three teachers who have made an enormous difference in my sons lives.  Mr Klemmer has been very supportive of Caleb this year.  Not only is he an excellent math teacher, to which my older son will attest as well, he has helped Caleb work through some of his test anxiety, and has even built his confidence in his athletic goals.  Mr. Ashley is also a dedicated teacher who has inspired and challenged both of my sons. Mr. Emch is another teacher who goes the extra mile.  When Caleb expressed interest in Astronomy during his physical science class, Mr. Emch suggested that he do an independent study.  Caleb and two other students designed and successfully completed a course last fall which culminated in their running a planetarium show!   I am grateful to them all!”
• Rose Murphy, Director of After School and Summer Programs, sent appreciation to Transportation Director Brad Mellor.  She writes, “I just wanted to let you know that I am very impressed with your entire transportation department.  They have been very helpful with our summer program and we've enjoyed many fun and educational trips because of you.  DeQuanda, our bus driver, is always pleasant and ready when we are.  It has been a pleasure working with her.  Each and every time I call your department, I am cheerfully greeted and the person on the other end is always more than willing to help me with whatever I may need.  Thank you very much for your entire department's hard work - both my summer campers and I really appreciate it!”
• More accolades for Transportation from Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley, “I just want you to know that the transportation to and from our summer school SLI program this year has been nothing short of outstanding. This was no small feat since we more than doubled the size of the program which caused us to bi-locate on two campuses. The expanded program included many students with special needs--physically and otherwise. Road construction kept popping up around town without much notice. The drivers welcomed our children every morning and took special care to make sure families and students felt valued.  Brad, Pam and all the drivers should be commended for serving our children so well. Thank you to everyone!”
• School Nurse, Debita Graham, praises the cleaning crew, “I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to Ann Anglim, Terry Shock (head custodian at Lawton), and Bobby Gaines (afternoon custodian at Lawton).  After meeting with an incoming kindergartener's family to establish a health plan for school, it was determined that for medical and academic reasons it would be best to have covered trash cans in this student's kindergarten classroom.  I contacted Ann Anglim the week before school started to request this accommodation.  Within two days the covered trash cans arrived at Lawton.  (yeah!)  I delivered the trash cans to the classroom and told both Terry and Bobby about the special trash cans. They very willingly sought out bags that would fit these new trash cans and indicated that there would be no problem dealing with these different trash cans on a daily basis.  I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance in helping to provide this accommodation so willingly and in a timely manner.  We were all set for the first day of school!  The parents were also most appreciative.  I am truly fortunate to be able to work with such outstanding staff!!”

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent