Read Newsletter (136 KB) 
November 5, 2009
November 3, 2009
High School Principal’s Notes 11/3/2009
The flu has made its way to the high school. While the elementary schools are recovering and increasing their attendance rates, the high school is starting to decline. This progression is fairly typical. The little ones get hit first and then the high school kids get it a week or two later.
The girls volleyball team won last night and will face Shelby on Wednesday at 5:30 at Newaygo. I wish I could be there but I was asked to substitute at GVSU for the night and will follow through on my promise. I hate missing those big games. On Friday, I will be joining the cross country team at MIS. The team always goes down the night before and I serve as the district representative. That means I won’t be able to see the girls volleyball team on Friday if they win on Wednesday. Too many good things going on this week!
In the coming weeks, you’ll start hearing about a new community service day at FHS. The staff and I were presented with a community service idea from Tressa Wenk. The staff overwhelmingly supported the idea. The plan is to take one day out of our calendar and perform community and environmental projects. The goal is to teach students about community responsibility and being good stewards of our environment. We hope for it to become an annual project.
November 2, 2009
October 28, 2009
October 27, 2009
October 20, 2009
Packer Pink Out – 10/23/2009
Packer Pink Out-will be held at the varsity football field of Fremont High School October 23 at 7:00 p.m.Fremont, MI. This is a cancer awareness event we’ve been selling pink t-shirts to raise money/awareness for cancer, a cause for a cure. The money raised will go to the oncology department at Gerber (Hospital) Memorial Heath Services. Fans will be wearing the pink shirts, football players will be wearing pink jersey’s with names on them of local community members affected by cancer.
High School Principal’s Notes 10/20/2009
I appreciate all of the emails on the dress code subject. The vast majority of responses that I have received advised letting parents set the standard. That gives me a good idea of where our FHS Packer parents stand.
Lots of talk about H1N1 in schools. Currently, the Health Department is encouraging schools to remain open during this outbreak of flu. We had a large group of students absent yesterday but not even close to the 25% of the schools that closed. We have asked our custodians to pay special attention to “community surfaces” and to be liberal with disinfectant. Understandably, there is a lot of fear over this pandemic.
The budget…I hate to even speak about this as it is such a political issue but it is permeating schools. Yesterday, Governor Granholm signed the school aid bill knowing that the school aid budget was short even with the $165 reduction. You can see the memo from the Treasury department here: http://www.masb.org/Portals/0/pdf/School%20Aid%20Fund%20Memo.pdf . In response to the legislature not passing new revenue legislation, she has said that the largest earning districts (some receive more than $4000 more per student than we do) will be significantly reduced. You can see the foundation allowance per student here: http://www.msbo.org/services/biz/2009/hfa_conf_distimpact0910.pdf . I warn you, you may be a little upset after seeing how much other districts receive per student. The foundation allowance was created during Proposal A to fund higher earning districts at what they were at when Prop A passed. The reason this is important is that the districts Governor Granholm is targeting for a larger reduction are primarily Republican strongholds. I believe her goal is to make the Republicans deal on tax increases in order to protect their schools’ funding. The Republicans are saying that those schools will simply loose their funding. Pretty tough talk from both sides of the aisle.
October 16, 2009
High School Principal’s Notes 10/16/2009
I’m looking for some input on the subject of dances and dress codes. Currently, we don’t have a dress code at dances because formal wear often comes with a backless, strapless, etc. design. There are very short designs and there are designs that are longer but with a very high slit. (I am certainly not a fashion consultant and have difficulty dressing myself in the morning let alone commenting on the styles of today.) With that being said, I have heard a few parents comment on how short the styles have become and that the school should enforce a dress code at dances. I am more than happy to enforce a dress code at formal dances but it is a slippery slope. I have always looked at formal dances as more of a “family rules” night. What I mean by that is for the vast majority of parents, formal dances are special events. Pictures are often taken with moms and dads. The parents certainly know what their child is wearing and I would hate to have a family spend hundreds of dollars only to be refused at the door. On the other hand maybe parents don’t know what their children are wearing. Maybe we have reached the point where we need a dress code. We could send a letter home detailing the rules but I would still have a bunch of people showing up in outfits that are against the rules. What are your thoughts?
People have been asking about the following dates:
May 1 – Prom – Fruitport Golf Club
June 3rd – Mandatory graduation practice – All graduating seniors must be present from 11:30 – 5:30
June 6th – Graduation 2:00 pm at the varsity football field
October 13, 2009
October 9, 2009
October 7, 2009
October 6, 2009
High School Principal’s Notes 10/6/09
Pam Stenzel came in today to speak about abstinence and the danger of sex. I was pleasantly surprised at the student’s reaction. I spoke with about 10 different groups of students today and all but one of the groups really enjoyed the presentation. Pam’s presentation style was “straight talk” oriented with humor mixed in. I was most surprised at the staff. Many staff members came down to tell me that Pam’s presentation was the best they had ever seen in their years of education. I thought the presentation was informative and entertaining.
Women’s Volleyball is home tonight.
Our second installment of PT conferences for fall is tomorrow from 3:30-6:00.
October 5, 2009
High School Principal’s Notes 10/5/2009
We have a very busy schedule this week. Today, October 5th and on Wednesday, October 7th we will have our first parent-teacher conferences of the year. Conferences will be held in the multi-purpose room from 5 – 7:30 on the 5th and from 3:30 – 6:00 on the 7th (this is a change by ½ hour from what has been printed due to a negotiated change in the school calendar).
On October 6th we will have a special presentation for the entire high school entitled “Sex Has a Price Tag” by Pam Stenzel. “Pam has traveled worldwide, speaking in person to over 500,000 young people each year about issues of sexuality and the importance of abstinence – her videos are viewed by millions worldwide.” Pam is sponsored by The American Decency Association. If you would like to have your child removed from the program, please call the high school office at 924-5300. We will be happy to provide an alternative setting for your child.
