November 21 - Half day Elementary Only

November 22-24 - Thanksgiving Recess

November 29 - PLC Early Release

December 13 - PLC Early Release

December 25 - January 5 - Christmas Recess

It is so exciting to see the bond 2020 construction and renovation work taking shape in our school district. With gratitude and thanks to our community we are excited to announce that the new St. Clair gym addition will be open for the first boys basketball game on November 28 and the first girls home game on December 5. The new gym addition also includes new bathrooms, a hall of champions, locker rooms and a new concession area.

The gym and locker room addition that was constructed on the St. Clair High School campus will be home to the high school teams and the current gym will be the home court for the middle school teams once the middle school and high school become one campus.

The MC campus renovations are also making great progress. The complete renovation of the cafeteria is nearing completion with new windows, new floors and a remodeled food service court. The media center and commons area on the MC campus are also nearing completion. The next phase of work for this project will be the renovation of the fine arts wing and pool/locker room area.

Our elementary building renovations will begin their design process this winter and into the spring.

I am proud to part of a community that continues to support our schools and shows that support by providing updated facilities and technology for our staff and students.

With Gratitude,

Suzanne Cybulla

Principal, Rachel Card, Amy Langmesser, Jackie Franklin, Claudia Packan, and Lindsay Kierszykowski presented their LINKS program at the October 23, 2023, Board of Education Meeting. Students were on hand to add "Why" they enjoy being a part of this program.

ECEF also presented at the October 23, 2023, Board of Education Meeting. Congratulations to the 13 teachers who were recipients of their fall 2023 grant: Chris Blackstock, Virginia Weichert, Michelle Davis, Lori Hannon, Jessica Jones, Chris VanSice, Jennifer Ptaszek, Jodi Guzowski, Lisa Higgins, TJ Schindler, Scott Fryer, Jason Diller, and Laurie Gardner. There are exciting things happening in the classrooms!

Students in our Environmental Science classes are working on their ecocolumn projects. The ecocolumns are composed of three different chambers. The top chamber represents a terrestrial environment which includes soil, dead leaves, plants, and detritivores (worms, insects). The bottom chamber represents an aquatic environment which includes aquatic plants, fish, and snails. The middle chamber contains gravel and sand and works as a filter system between the terrestrial and aquatic environments. For the next month, students will monitor critical factors in each chamber such as pH, temperature, nitrogen levels, oxygen levels, soil fertility, etc. and, based on their data, they will make informed decisions on what to add, alter, or remove from the various chambers in order to maintain a balanced and self-sustaining ecosystem. The ecocolumn project helps clarify and reinforce student understanding of the flow of matter and energy through an ecosystem in a “hands on” project.

Advanced Physics students worked on calculating the final velocity and time from their reactions to dropping a meter stick. Using the acceleration and gravity they just needed a distance and initial velocity to figure out two unknown variables.

Congratulations to our Marching Saints on their Division 1 Rating at MSBOA Band Festival.

Project Lead the Way Engineering students volunteered their time and participated in NHS Haunted Halls. Students debuted their launch devices and target boards during Haunted Halls. Kids of all ages were able to play the engineered games and earned candy prizes for hitting the designed targets on the game boards.

Introduction to Engineering and Design is a class that is open to students from ninth grade to twelfth grade. Students collaborate and work through the Design Process while engineering and designing new projects.

What's next for our engineering students?

Engineering students will be learning Computer Aided Design via Fusion 360 Software. Students will create a charm design in Fusion 360, then their designs will be 3D printed using our 3D45 Dremel Printers.

The Health classes at SCHS had guest speaker Lindsay Chopp, a Prevention Educator with the St.Clair Child Abuse and Neglect Council. Along with Chief Assistant Prosecutor

Stephen M. Guilliat. To play a Jeopardy game about ways to stay safe online, in high school and college.

Superintendent Suzanne Cybulla can be reached at scybulla@ecsd.us or by calling the East China School District at 810.676.1018.

Email: info@ecsd.us
Website: www.eastchinaschools.org
Phone: 810-676-1000
Facebook: facebook.com/EastChinaSchools