The School Year Is Off and Running – October 2006
Dr. William C. Skilling
Our students and staff are off to a great start to the new school year. It is great to see our athletic teams being so competitive this fall. As of this writing, our golf team has a commanding lead in the conference, our football team has a winning record of 3 -1, our girls’ basketball program is being competitive and we have a men’s and women’s cross country team. For the third year in a row our fall participation numbers are up in athletics.
Congratulations to our middle school teaching staff who just learned of an honor they will be receiving in November. After being one of three schools to receive the MASB Education Excellence Award for their Academic Personal Best Program in the category of improving student achievement for at-risk students, they learned that their program will be receiving the top honor in that category as well, Michigan’s Best Award. Therefore, they have been invited to attend the fall conference for the Michigan Association of School Boards to give a presentation and to receive their award at a luncheon. More information will be provided in the November district newsletter.
Our elementary school is working hard on their application for the Michigan Exemplary Schools Blue Ribbon Award. This is a very difficult and challenging award to receive. However, we have an outstanding elementary staff and we have excellent programs. Their application will be reviewed in October and they will hear by November whether they will receive a site visit and be given further consideration. I want to applaud the elementary staff for this undertaking and commitment to excellence. It takes on average over 700 hours of time to complete an application for the Blue Ribbon Award.
As of this writing our enrollment is up again this year. We have over 673 students in our district compared to 650 students at this time last year. After eleven years of declining enrollment we have had three years of enrollment increases which equates to a 9% increase in our enrollment overall. I attribute the increases in enrollment to the strategic plan that our community and staff members helped to craft, the quality of staff we had and the quality of new staff we have hired over the last few years, for the leadership of the school board and building principals, and most importantly, the support we have had in the community for our educational excellence focus and the passage of the 2002 and 2004 bonds and sinking fund.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the community members, parents, and the Webberville Teachers Association (WEA) for their continued support of the direction we are going with the school district. It is difficult to bring about as much change as we have done collectively without some opposition. The Board of Education and administration team greatly appreciate the willingness of community members and the WEA to stand-up for the efforts we are making towards excellence! The strategic plan is working thanks to you! Please do not hesitate to call, email, or stop by with any questions or concerns you may have.