It's that time of the year again. Kids from across the county will soon be returning to school for another year of education, sports and more.

The Ticker connected with leaders at all the county’s school districts to hear what’s new, including everything from breaking up grades, something called the "Comet Club" and lots of new faces.

Suttons Bay Public Schools (Casey Petz, Superintendent)
The operations and maintenance team has been especially busy this summer making upgrades all across the campus. We completed upgrades to the auditorium, our athletic fields, high school classrooms, and added instructional technology for all K-12 teachers. We are confident that our students and families will come back on September 3rd to a school that they are incredibly proud to attend. 

In addition to the improvements around our campus, the District Leadership Team took some time to reflect on what is working well in SBPS while also setting some goals for the upcoming school year.  We settled on three areas of focus that will make a tremendous, positive impact on all our students.  Our goals for the 2024-2025 school year are to create joyful learning experiences in school with highly engaging instruction and programs, build strong connections and trust with all students, staff, and families, and establish and communicate a clear and consistent plan for student accountability.  

We invite all SBPS families to join us on August 29th from 4:30 to 6:00 for our annual open house to meet our new amazing staff, visit classrooms, and get ready for the upcoming school year.

Leland Public School (Stephanie Long, Superintendent)
Staff and administration have been busy this summer preparing for another great year at Leland. We are excited to welcome many new staff. Shelagh Fehrenbach has joined our team as our new K-12 principal, and we added a new position to LPS this year, assistant principal. Jeremy Peplinski, long-time LPS science teacher, has assumed that role. Also joining us are Kevin Sams as a K-12 Physical Education and Health teacher, Lisa Migazzi in our multi-age first/second grade, Alayna Neilly as middle school science teacher, Justin Lazar as middle school social studies teacher, and Jennifer McDanial in kindergarten.

We have also been busy updating our HVAC system with four new roof-top units and updated air conditioning in our performing arts center. We created a new classroom for an additional special education teacher we are still hoping to hire. With bus drivers hard to come by, a new 10-passenger van will help us provide transportation to smaller groups of students and athletes, and we upgraded teacher technology as part of our commitment to providing students and staff with up-to-date high quality learning materials.

We are also excited to launch our new Comet Club to provide before and after school, personalized academic intervention and enrichment in math and reading for our K-5 students in addition to expanding our middle school academic intervention program. We are eager and ready to welcome our students and families back to school at our Farm-to-Table dinner and open house on August 29th to launch the 2024-2025 school year.

Glen Lake Schools (Jason Misner, Superintendent)
Over the summer we have replaced classroom windows with upgraded, energy efficient models, built an entirely new septic system and have built secure vestibules at both entrances of the building to enhance safety.  All of these needed facility improvements are focused on giving students the opportunity to excel in a high-quality learning environment and have been funded with district general fund dollars and are part of our board of education’s ten year facilities plan(s).

This school year, we look forward to continuing the great gains that have been made in student academic growth and achievement. We remain steadfast in our mission to Grow Learners and  Graduate Leaders. To achieve this mission, we are committed to the continued strengthening of our partnerships with families and community to allow the children we serve to excel.

Northport Public School (Neil Weatherbee, Superintendent)
For the 2024-25 school year, Northport Public School is breaking up the grade. The middle and high schools are joining the elementary school in standards-referenced grading. Students’ academic grades will reflect how well they’ve mastered their academic standards while their non-academic “grade” will measure how well they played the game of school – turning in homework, participating in class, being a positive role model, etc. This will allow us to meet the needs of our students both academically and in our pursuit of helping our students become high-quality adult humans.

This change has been years in the making and will certainly have some hiccups along the way; however, we are excited to implement this honest and transparent grading system. Change can be difficult, but progress can’t occur without it. It should be a year of learning, and we’re looking forward to it.

Leelanau School (Rob Hansen, Head of School)
The Leelanau School is expanding its programs to serve today's adolescent students and their future goals through a renewed strategic plan, new offerings, staffing, and professional development investments.

Recently, the school dedicated the Charles E. Scripps Jr. Creativity Center on its campus, housing a ceramics studio, a newly donated woodworking shop, and a Laser Engraving program. The Center is aligned to the school's tradition of hands-on and entrepreneurial learning. These applied arts programs teach creativity, design, and the discipline needed to turn ideas into reality.

In addition to expanding its applied arts program, Leelanau has invested in professional development to enhance social-emotional support for students and staff. For the 2024-25 school year, Leelanau welcomes several new staff members to serve our students, including Mr. Kiernan Dean-Hall, Mr. Nathan Rogers, Mr. Michael Gaden, Ms. Avery Kostrzewa and Ms. Meagen Kopacki.

St. Mary School (Megan Glynn, Principal)
St. Mary School is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Leelanau and is the only Catholic school on the Leelanau peninsula. Soon, the hallways will be filled with students PK through 12th grade, as teachers and staff welcome them back to the seven-acre campus. Students will experience a robust curriculum comprised of core classes, electives, opportunities for dual enrollment and enrichment. Enrichment options include art, music, physical education, Spanish and technology/business classes.

Fall kicks off MHSAA sports for St. Mary athletes including cross country and volleyball. Other fall coop sports include boys’ soccer, football and tennis. Winter sports include boys’ and girls’ basketball and coop skiing, while spring brings baseball, softball and track. Spring coop sports include girls’ soccer and boys’ golf.

Many improvements await students as they return to campus. Through grant funding the school boasts new STEM resources for the library and playground equipment additions including a sandbox, spring rider, musical instruments, picnic tables and storage shed. Grant funding also provided new lockers and furnishings, along with technology upgrades to equipment, servers, laptops and desktop computers. Freshly painted walls can be found in the cafeteria, hallways, library and administrative offices. New underground holding tanks were installed as well and thanks to generous donors and benefactors, a new boiler was purchased.

St. Mary is still accepting new student applications. 

NOTE: Some responses have been edited for length.