"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.
In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity."
- John F. Kennedy
We have had our share of crises, but we move forward with great optimism. As many of our colleagues have taken the opportunity created from the state to retire early from their positions with West Bloomfield schools, new faces and changes abound with renewed energy in West Bloomfield School District. Now we are seeing enthusiasm and excitement. Every building is hiring and we are getting outstanding, experienced staff who are pleased and eager to come and work in West Bloomfield.
Athletics
The new Athletic Program will begin the first week in August. Useful information about the start of the sporting seasons can be found on the high school website. Go to www.wbsd.org, click on schools to locate WBHS, and there you can click on the Athletics link with the anchor logo.
In addition, you can access all West Bloomfield sports schedules by logging onto www.highschoolsports.net, select the state (Michigan) and the drop down will reveal West Bloomfield High School. Complete seasons schedules will be available as well as the current day’s schedule at the top of the screen.
Jump Start
At Jump Start, students get their schedules, books, all student I.D. pictures taken, 9-11 school pictures taken and they can order and pay for pictures, order yearbooks, student directories, buy Laker Fan Club athletic passes, and Seniors can obtain their parking passes.
Volunteers are needed for Jump Start which runs from:
August 24 for Seniors
August 25 for Juniors
August 26 for Sophomores and
August 27 for Freshmen
Make-up Day on Monday, August 30
7:30 am – 10 am, and 11:30 am – 1:00pm
Atrium of WBHS
Please contact Karen Sorgen at 248-865-6770 to volunteer. This is a good way to get involved and become familiar with what your students will experience during their next year at the high school.
Oakland Opportunity Academy
I am very excited about our newly developed Oakland Opportunity Academy, a new opportunity for West Bloomfield School District students to prepare themselves for a successful future in a competitive, global marketplace.
The Oakland County Consortium of School Districts in collaboration with Oakland Schools is introducing a new program to begin this fall to provide Alternative Education through their vocational center at the OSTC (Oakland Schools Technical Center) Southwest Campus in Wixom.
The unique facet to this program is that there are career paths along with its alternative learning which has skills and experiences tied to it. The advantage over the previous high school alternative education program known as Laker Academy, is that there are opportunities for students to be exposed to more enrichment. Oakland Opportunity Academy will allow students to actively engage and feel empowered while experiencing self-directed and small group learning. They will have the chance to explore exciting careers reflecting their interests while learning with the latest software, equipment, processes and teachings, at the same time building marketable lifelong skills.
Learning is provided through several career clusters offering Computer Sciences which includes Business Management and Computer Hardware and Software Applications, Careers in the Health field including Nursing, EMT, Pharmacy Tech and Dental, and also in Culinary Arts/Hospitality focusing on Catering Services, Cooking Processes and Food & Beverage Preparation.
Oakland Opportunity Academy is located at 1000 Beck Road, in Wixom, 48393. For information, go to the Oakland Schools website: Departments>Learning Services>Oakland Opportunity Academy,
or to http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Departments/LearningServices/OaklandOpportunityAcademy/tabid/2966/Default.aspxOaklandOpportunityAcademy/tabid/2966/Default.aspx
Students can contact their school counselor or contact
Marlana Krolicki, Ed.D., Alternative Education Consultant,
Oakland Schools, 248-209-2025.
Partnerships
We are so fortunate in West Bloomfield to have established many partnerships with local organizations, schools and community businesses, such as Oakland Early College with Oakland Community College, and many of our middle school programs held in conjunction with WB Parks and Recreation.
One of the programs, Summer Reading, is part of our partnership with West Bloomfield Township Public Library. Summer Reading is a fun way to keep reading all summer long. Research shows that children who read five or more books during summer vacation gained more in reading achievement than classmates who took a break from books. In addition, research consistently shows that struggling readers lose ground over the summer. Of even greater concern is the fact that these losses are cumulative, creating a wider gap each year between more proficient and less proficient students. … by the time a struggling reader reaches middle school, summer reading loss has accumulated to a two–year lag in reading achievement. The Library’s Summer Reading program makes it easy to fit at least five books, magazines, audiobooks, graphic novels or other reading experiences into your summer plans. Summer reading runs June 12 – August 27, 2010. Register for Summer Reading at the Main Library or Westacres Branch or online anytime throughout the summer.
Oakland Community College, Oakland County Parks and Recreation and the West Bloomfield Township Public Library all have millage renewal proposals on the current primary election ballot and I encourage you to VOTE in this important election on Tuesday, August 3!
Incentives
Many of you have had questions regarding the VSI incentive that has been a part of the contracts of several employees who have elected to retire from our school district. The intent of the VSI when it was developed was to provide approximately $1.1 million savings to the school district. This allowed 50 top salaried teachers to retire and allow us to either not replace them or replace them with first year salary (less expensive) teachers.
What could not have been foreseen by the Board of Education or the administration was the state employee retirement reform legislation that also made it possible for some of our administrators to take advantage of this incentive. This will prompt an amendment to the budget in late fall. We will realize additional savings for teachers who elected to leave this spring as many are not being replaced or are being replaced with less expensive teachers.
Negotiations
We continue to negotiate with the WBEA and there have been no changes since our last communication. We are in Fact Finding at this time. Rick Arnett, Assistant Superintendent of Labor Relations, Human Resources and Pupil Accounting, and I will continue dialogue along these lines.
As you are aware, the state aid has found additional new resources for schools. While we are always pleased with any additional resources, we are continually mindful that this is an election year, and there are still those who may want to raid the fund and what is given could be taken away at the January Revenue Conference. We continue to work with legislators asking for their support of positive school funding.
Walking Distances
Another reminder that we will begin walking distances this fall. Ours will be a ONE MILE radius, WHERE APPROPRIATE. As stated before, students will NOT be asked to cross busy streets without crossing guards as safety is our #1 priority.
We encourage you to make arrangements with neighbors for “walking pools” and practice walking with your children to prepare them for this fall so that they AND YOU are familiar and comfortable with their route.
Board Meetings
Please note that the West Bloomfield School District Board of Education will conduct the following meetings:
Special Board Meeting
Monday, August 2, 2010 WBHS 8:00 am
Closed Session 7:30 am
The purpose of this special meeting is to accept bid awards, approve personnel actions, and other matters that may come before the board.
Special Board Meeting Closed Session
Monday, August 9, 2010 ACS Building 6:30 pm
Closed Session
The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss negotiations and other matters that may come before the board.
Regular Board Meeting from August 9 Rescheduled
Monday, August 23, 2010 WBHS 7:00 pm
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