As we say goodbye to 2020, we reflect on all of the unprecedented challenges we've faced throughout the year. We are incredibly grateful for each and every single member of Team WB. Together we have met these challenges and overcome so much while focusing on what's best for students, staff and their families. We look forward to a brighter 2021 and hopefully a return to some normalcy.

Have a safe, relaxing and restorative Winter Break, Team WB!

We will "see" you in 2021.

As you may be aware, the West Bloomfield School District’s Board of Education has been studying how to operate our schools and school district more efficiently while simultaneously maintaining and enhancing quality educational opportunities for all of our students. This action has been taken based upon several factors including recent demographic data showing a steady decline in enrollment, funding uncertainty created by the economic crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the excess capacity currently present within our five elementary schools.

The Board of Education received the School Efficiency Study Task Force report and

recommendations at the December 7th Special Board meeting. Following that presentation,

Board members discussed the report and its recommendations using the Six Thinking Hats

protocols. In this regard, the Board viewed the recommendations from different perspectives

including:

• Red Hat – Feelings Hat – Emotional Perspective
• White Hat – Information – Facts Hat – Look Objectively
• Black Hat – Judgement Hat – Negative Perspective
• Yellow Hat – Benefits Hat – Positive Perspective
• Green Hat – Creative Hat – Think Creatively
• Blue Hat – Thinking Hat – Big Picture

During the Board’s discussion, the complexity of the decision before the Board became

apparent. Several factors were highlighted that require additional information and

consideration for the Board to make a fully informed decision on whether or not and how to

move from a five elementary school configuration to a four elementary school configuration.

Some of those factors and considerations include:

• Detailed building utilization reports
• Student migration analysis
• Real Estate Marketability study of buildings that could be closed
• Cost to move administrative services from ACS
• Renovation costs to establish a central administrative services facility
• Costs and program impacts associated with relocating PreK programs
• Costs and program impacts related to relocating Transition Center and Adult Education programs
• Costs of keeping Transition Center and Adult Education programs at the J&S building
• Projected impact on School of Choice numbers
• Transportation analysis including a potential move to a three-tier versus a four-tier bussing system
• Traffic studies for impacted elementary schools
• Demo costs, if any
• Financial plan to cover all costs of any changes
• Financial impact of consolidation of elementary schools and resulting relocation of educational programs and central administrative services

At its meeting held on December 14th , the Board discussed the above items. At that meeting

the Board accepted my recommendation to study this complex issue more fully. Further study

will provide the Board of Education the opportunity to make a more fully informed decision

regarding the SES Task Force recommendations. Additional recommendations include the

following:

• Establish a District Strategic Plan Committee to address the issues raised above
• Update the District Facilities Master Plan
• Create a timeline with relevant milestones, including periodic reports to the Board, staff and community, regarding this work
• Target August, 2021 for completion of the updated District Facilities Master Plan, with Board decisions to follow

There will be additional opportunities throughout this process for staff and community

participation and feedback. Thank you for your continued interest, involvement and

partnership as we strive to offer the best educational opportunities to all WBSD students.

Regards,

Gerald Hill, Ph.D.

Superintendent

Ife Martin receives 2021 National YoungArts Foundation award

The West Bloomfield School District is proud to recognize Ife Martin, WBHS student, as a recipient of a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) award for her caliber of artistic achievement. Ife is among 659 of the most accomplished young visual, literary and performing artists from across the country and was selected through YoungArts’ prestigious annual competition by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process.

Ife has been named a YoungArts honorable mention in Writing/Spoken Word.

YoungArts award winners gain access to one of the most comprehensive programs for artists in the United States in which they will have opportunities for financial, creative and professional development support throughout their entire careers. A complete list of the 2021 winners, all 15–18 years old or in grades 10–12, is available online at youngarts.org/winners.

YoungArts awards are given in three categories: Finalist, Honorable Mention and Merit. This year, YoungArts award winners at all levels will receive cash prizes between $100 and $10,000 and the opportunity to learn from leading artists such as Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Frank Gehry, Wynton Marsalis, Salman Rushdie and Mickalene Thomas. YoungArts award winners become eligible for exclusive creative and professional development support including a wide range of fellowships, residencies and awards; virtual and in-person presentation opportunities in collaboration with major venues nationwide; additional financial support; and access to YoungArts Post, a free, private digital network for YoungArts artists to connect, collaborate and learn about additional opportunities.

Congratulations Ife!

In our continued efforts to ensure our student information system, PowerSchool, provides reliable connections and support, we are migrating our system to the PowerSchool Cloud over winter break. Moving to the PowerSchool Cloud will ensure our system is up to date with the standards required to run the system seamlessly for our staff, students and families. During the migration process, the system will be unavailable for the following dates.

December 18th at 6:00pm through December 25th at 6:00 pm.

We ask that you plan accordingly during this time. After the migration is complete, please use the following link to access our newly hosted PowerSchool Cloud hosted domain. Your account information will not change due to this upgrade. Please update any local bookmarks/favorites in your browser settings with the new link below.

https://westbloomfield.powerschool.com/

We are excited for the opportunity to continue to provide the entire learning community of West Bloomfield with world class education and system support.

The West Bloomfield High School Debate Team recently competed in the State Championships with our Lakers finishing 2nd place overall in Public Forum Debate!

Additionally, the team had two seniors win individual awards during the competition. Christina Sylvester took 10th place overall and Rave Andrews took 2nd place overall in their respective disciplines/competitions.

Congratulations everyone!

No cost meals are available for curbside pick up to all children in the community.

Each child will receive:

• 7 breakfast and lunch meals.
• Please pre-order meals on the West Bloomfield School District Food Service page or at the linked order form.

Winter Break Pick up Days: Dec. 23 and Dec. 30!

Pick up sites:

• West Bloomfield HS main entrance (4925 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield)
  • Pick-up day: Wednesday or by special arrangement
  • Times: 11:30am-12:30pm or 3:30pm-4:30pm or by special arrangement
• Roosevelt Elementary main entrance (2065 Cass Lake Road, Keego Harbor)
  • Pick-up day: Wednesday
  • Time: 11:00am-1:00pm

West Bloomfield High School is pleased to announce a Signing Day event for six student-athletes was held on Wednesday, December 16th. Due to current COVID protocols, the event looked a little different this year than in the years past. There were be three separate signing ceremonies, with two student-athletes being honored in each ceremony.

The athletes included in the event were:

• Maxwell Hairston – Football – University of Kentucky
• Donovan Edwards - Football – University of Michigan
• Grace Allread – Volleyball – Liberty University
• Logan Lewis – Basketball- IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis)
• Gavin Hardeman - Football – Air Force Academy
• Jordan Hoskins - Football- Missouri State University

As you may already know, our district utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages, straight to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts and more. This resource is on top of the emails and phone messages you already receive from SchoolMessenger.

You can participate in this service just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our district’s short code number, 67587.

You can also opt-out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our

messages with “Stop”.

SchoolMessenger is compliant with the Student Privacy PledgeTM, so you can rest assured that your information is safe and will never be given or sold to anyone.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE CLASS OF 2025 ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED.

• Access the on-line application form HERE.

The deadline for applications for the class of 2025 is January 24, 2021

Virtual Enrollment Meetings

Come join us to learn more about the International Academy and the enrollment process for current 8th graders. Please pre-register for the dates listed below by clicking on the link for the registration form. We will email you a link to a pre-recorded video we ask that you watch before attending our live question and answer sessions on Zoom. The Zoom links will be sent to everyone who pre-registers and they will be posted on the www.iatoday.org website.

West Bloomfield Lottery Date

Tuesday, February 2, 2021
3:00 PM – West Bloomfield H/S. Media Center,
4925 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield
248-865-6720

Please feel free to contact the enrollment office (248) 341-5900 if you have further questions.

Reading Lists for Kids

• Christmas

• Cooking with Kids

• Kwanzaa

• Winter Wonderland

NEW! Winter Reading for Grades K-5 through Sunday, February 14

Elementary students can read for fun 30 minutes each week and earn rewards for reaching reading milestones. Choose to read books, eBooks, graphic novels or magazines. Registration is open to K-5 students who live in the Library’s service area and K-5 students enrolled in the West Bloomfield School District with a WBTPL student card. To register, library cards must be in good standing.

Register for the Winter Reading program online or in-person. A packet of information with a reading log will be available after registration.

Virtual Cirque Amongus

December 22 @ 10:30 AM on Zoom

Enjoy this dazzling presentation of circus skills that will delight and amuse all families!

Register to receive connection details

Virtual Dungeons and Dragons (Grades 6-12)

January 11 @ 4 PM on Zoom

Whether you are a seasoned gamer or new to D&D, join us for some fantasy adventure and roleplaying.

Register to receive connection details

Virtual Shake It Up Baby, Twist and Shout Storytime

December 29 @ 10:30 AM on Zoom

Award-winning storytelling troupe, Sadarri & Company, amaze with their unique blend of music, movement, and hilarious character voices.

Register to receive connection details

Virtual Tinkercad (Grades 6-12)

January 9 @ 10:30 AM on Zoom

Tinkercad is a 3D design program that is accessed via the Internet. In each session, follow along as a different object is created, which will then be printed on the Library's 3D printer. Register to receive connection details

The West Bloomfield Township Main Library and Westacres Branch are open for Phase 3 services.

In Phase 3, our priorities continue to be the health and safety of staff, users and the community at large and providing convenient access to collections of materials in all formats. An additional goal of Phase 3 is providing access the Library’s public computers, scanners and printers, equipment that we recognize not everyone in our community may have at home. Please see the Library’s website for the latest updates and temporary hours.

Renew or request a library card

Ask at the Main Library Reception desk or the Westacres Branch Circulation desk. You can also continue to renew or request a library card on the Library’s website.

• Employment Opportunities

• New Middle School Updates

• GWB Historical Society Events

• WB Township Library News and Events

Preparing our students to be their best IN and FOR the world!

Email: daniel.durkin@wbsd.org
Website: www.wbsd.org
Location: 5810 Commerce Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 865-6420
Facebook: facebook.com/WestBloomfieldSchools/
Twitter: @wbloomfieldschl