Flint schools to start earlier, end later to reduce ‘brain drain’

Flint Community Schools Superintendent Derrick Lopez, with Freeman Elementary students El’Geno Garland, Mickial Sadler, and Dejuane Carroll, said the district tried a balanced calendar at the school for three years, with good results. (Photo: Daniel Mears / The Detroit News, The Detroit News)

By Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit NewsPublished 12:01 a.m. ET July 15, 2019 | Updated 10:03 a.m. ET July 15, 2019

Flint — The calendar in Flint Community Schools will start classes earlier in the summer, end them later in the spring and include six multi-day breaks as part of a new effort to keep children academically engaged and let teachers recharge.

Flint public schools is positioning itself to be the largest urban district in Michigan to have a “balanced” calendar for all of its schools for 2019-20, a move education experts say can reduce summer learning loss and provide more learning opportunities for students who lack them.

A balanced calendar features 180 days of instruction just like a traditional school calendar, but students in Flint will start the school year Aug. 7, end classes June 18 and get six breaks of four to 10 days — called “intersessions” — throughout the year.

Students will be in class for roughly 35 school days to study defined units of work, followed by an intersession, Flint Superintendent Derrick Lopez said.

Students who have not mastered the material will be asked to go to school during the intersession where they can get help from teachers and other staff before moving on to the next unit, Lopez said.

Intersessions will include both instruction periods and activities, giving students both mental and physical stimulation during break periods, school officials said.

READ – SHARE – DISCUSS – LEARN MORE HERE – https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/education/2019/07/15/flint-schools-start-earlier-end-later-reduce-brain-drain/2517153002/

WUS Mourns Loss of Student — A Message From: Tom Cutler, Principal Wayland Union High School

July 15, 2019

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian: It is with sadness that I inform you of the death of Ethan Mutschler, a senior at Wayland Union High School. Ethan died from injuries suffered in a car accident which occurred on Friday, July 12.

Visitation for Ethan will be this Friday, July 19 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm and 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Wayland Union Fine Arts Center.

The funeral will be Saturday morning at 11:00am, also at the WUFAC. Parents are encouraged to attend the funeral with their student.

Students will have varied reactions to the death of a peer. Any reaction is normal in the grief process and can range from withdrawal to crying and anger. I encourage you to openly discuss with your student their reactions and feelings regarding the death of Ethan.

Our Guidance Counseling Staff will be available at Wayland Union High School on Tuesday, July 16th from 10am-2pm for any students or staff who would benefit from the support of a counselor as we grieve the loss of Ethan Mutschler.

Counselors can also be contacted by emailing Lisa Gulch at gulchl@waylandunion.org

Sincerely,

Tom Cutler, Principal

Wayland Union High School

Wayland Union Schools Hires New Athletic Director/Assistant Principal

Contact:  Laurie Zywiczynski, Director of Community Relations, lauriez@waylandunion.org

District Hires New Athletic Director/Assistant PrincipalWayland, MI– Wayland Union Schools has hired Matthew Moffett as the new Athletic Director/Assistant Principal at Wayland Union High School.

Moffett has been an Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Homer High School and most recently was a Physical Education Teacher and Head Football Coach at Forest Hills Northern. He received his undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University in Physical Education/Health Education where he played baseball and was the Team Captain. He earned his Master’s degree from University of Michigan-Flint in Educational Leadership. He is married to his wife Kim and have two children.

“I am really excited to get Matt on board!” said Tom Cutler, WUHS Principal. “With his past experience as an Athletic Director coupled with his enthusiasm and passion for students and educational athletics, he will continue to build on the programs and traditions at Wayland Union High School.”

Moffett will begin on July 29. He is replacing former Athletic Director, Santino Di’Cesare who filled the WUHS Assistant Principal position.

###

Beware! Powerful Koch Network Starts New Group to Fight Public Schools

Diane Ravitch's blog

Charles Koch and his network of wealthy donors have created a new Astroturf organization called “Yes Every Kid” to promote school choice and take public money away from public schools.

Yes, they are targeting “every kid” as a prime prospect for a charter school or a voucher.

Yes, they want to shrink public schools so that they are no longer the “choice” of 90% of American families.

Koch in June announced the Yes Every Kid initiative as the latest addition to his sprawling network of wealthy donors, political groups and tax-exempt advocacy organizations best known for pushing anti-regulation, small-government policies. Its political arm, Americans for Prosperity, has made waves supporting the tea party and fighting former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The Yes Every Kid group is tasked with monitoring statehouses where it can be influential on school choice, said Stacy Hock, a Texas philanthropist who is among hundreds…

View original post 617 more words

The Privilege of Positivity by John Pavlovitz

Yesterday a friend on social media challenged me to “only post positive messages for one whole day.” It felt like part social media campaign, part enthusiastic dare, and part gentle personal scolding. I hear a similar sentiment by many people in a myriad of ways expressing the same concern to people around them: you’re producing […]

Read more of this post

John Pavlovitz | July 6, 2019 at 9:42 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: https://wp.me/p7ka6l-7AF

The Science and Science Labs that Students Miss at a Time When Science is Critical – by Nancy Bailey

by Nancy Bailey Why are students being held back from being the best they can be in science? Making scientific advancements through exploration involves good preparation of the ninety percent of students who attend public schools across the country. We need good scientists to fix our problems. Climate change, antibiotics, drinking water, pollution, overpopulation, diseases, microplastics and garbage, […] Read more of this post

Line 5, Labor Unions and Democratic lawmakers in Michigan

Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Last week, several Michigan news sources, including Michigan Advance, reported that at least six Democratic State Representatives signed a letter in opposition to the lawsuit that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5.

Michigan Advance reported that six Democratic State Representatives – Brian Elder (D-Bay City), Tenisha Yancey (D-Harper Woods), Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette), Wendell Byrd (D-Detroit), John Chirkun (D-Roseville) and Terry Sabo (D-Muskegon) – signed on to a letter, that was critical of the Attorney General’s desire to shut down the Enbridge run Line 5.

The article also stated:

The Democrats added that Line 5 is critical for transportation fuels, consumer goods and home heating energy, something echoed by Republican senators last month.

Not only are there Democratic lawmakers in Michigan who support Line 5, there are several labor unions that do as well. One of them signed on to a letter

View original post 366 more words

Despite Cruel Conditions at the Border and Threatened ICE Raids, Educators Across U.S. Strive to Serve Immigrant Children

janresseger

There is a disconnect between the education policy debates and what is really happening in public schools.  In Wednesday’s NY Times, Miriam Jordan captured that reality.  Jordon’s story describes public school educators’ work across the country to serve the needs of children whose schooling has been delayed and interrupted by the journeys they and their families have undertaken.

While legislators have been haggling over the state budgets that generally underfund our public schools, and while our U.S. Secretary of Education and her fellow advocates promote various kinds of school vouchers and privately operated charter schools, Jordan describes the hard work of school district professionals trying to serve the needs of immigrant students who may worry about threatened ICE raids, who may have survived harrowing border crossings, or who may have endured long stays in the detention centers where children are being warehoused.

The 1982, U.S. Supreme Court decision in

View original post 797 more words