Bobcat Innovation

I hope that everybody had a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break, and got to spend quality time with family. We had a great first week back at Bobcat Innovation, and our last marking period of the year is underway. We started State Testing this week as our 11th grade students took the WorkKeys, and our 6th through 8th grade students took the MSTEP and PSAT. The kids were very focused and did great! Makeups for 6th-8th grade MSTEP will be Monday morning, and 8th grade PSAT will be Wednesday morning. Makeups for these tests will take place at Perry Center.

Our next PTO meeting is next Wednesday at 5:30 in the Perry Center Cafeteria. The meeting will be followed by the Talent Show at 6:30 in the gym. Come to the meeting and stay for the show! If you would like to attend the meeting virtually, here is the link: https://meet.google.com/bvd-pebw-ujr

Next week our 4th and 5th grade 100% in-person students will be taking MSTEP on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our high school virtual 9th-11th grade students will take the PSAT or SAT on Tuesday as well. Encourage students to get good sleep, eat a good breakfast, and do their best on all the upcoming tests. Also, students need to come to testing with charged chromebooks.

Our PTO fundraiser is under way!! Because our Fall fundraiser didn't do as well as we needed it to, we are not going to have enough money to fund our trips to begin the 2025-2026 school year, and may not even have enough to fund everything THIS school year. See below for more details. We have activated a school pay account to collect online donations/pledges. Please visit or click the QR code below: https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/BOBCAT-INNOVATION-WALKATHON/SgvbZH

Capture the memories of the school year by ordering a yearbook! Order your 2024/2025 Bobcat Innovation yearbook today online at ybpay.com with yearbook ID Code: 11359625 - Order deadline is April 27, 2025. Paper order forms will be coming home soon.

Warm regards,

Zach Hamilton, Director of Innovative Programs (Daily oversight of Bobcat Innovation In-Person and Hybrid)

(810) 591-6077

zhamilton@gbcs.org

Kevin Keilitz, Asst. Director of Innovative Programs (Daily oversight of Bobcat Innovation Virtual)

(810) 591-6375

kkeilitz@gbcs.org

March

• Tuesday 4/15 and Wednesday 4/16 - 4th and 5th grade MSTEP testing for full time in-person students only.
• Wednesday 4/16 - PTO meeting at 5:30 and Talent Show at 6:30
• Thursday 4/17 - 1/2 day for students
• Friday 4/18 and Monday 4/21 - No school for students

Please join the Grand Blanc Optimist Club for Breakfast with the Easter Bunny this Saturday, April 12th from 9:00am-12:00pm. Kids under 12 eat free, all others are $5. Pictures with the Easter Bunny, treats, and acitvities will take place at the VFW 822 at 5065 S. Saginaw, Grand Blanc Township.

At the February meeting, the PTO treasurer presented an end-of-year financial projection that raised cause for concern about our ability to fund anticipated end of year activities and to be prepared to support early fall funding requests. The combination of already approved funding requests and anticipated end-of-year expenses means we will likely begin the fall 2025 school year with less than $500.00. The revenue from our raffle fundraiser is not fully deposited until early November. We have created a school pay link to make it easy to donate: https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/BOBCAT-INNOVATION-WALKATHON/SgvbZH

Why does this matter? Last fall our raffle fundraiser fell well short of our goal. The PTO (all families) has typically funded major field trips for students early each fall (Camp Tamarack and the Frankenmuth Aerial Park). We will be unable to fund anything before mid-November given our current financial situation. This means that activities will not happen or individual families will be asked to pay (and teachers will have the added work of managing those individual payments).

We need approximately $6000.00 to fund our anticipated spring activities and begin the fall in a position to sponsor our usual activities.

Now What? After much discussion, PTO members voted to approve a motion for a donation-based FUNdraiser that will be followed by a walk-a-thon if we fall short of our goal. They directed the PTO Board to submit this request to The Board of Education. The Board approved the request at its March 17th meeting.

This is EASY! If 175 students donate a minimum of $40.00 each, we will more than achieve our goal and we won’t have to do anything else. We know that some families will not be able to contribute at this level and that others may contribute more – this is what it means to be part of a community. Please know that we will not track WHO contributes, only the contributions themselves. We hope that this simple plan will allow us to continue to support the activities that are central to the mission of Bobcat Innovation and that we will not have to ask for volunteers to coordinate a walk-a-thon! Look for details coming soon!

Use the QR code above to donate through school pay!

Elementary virtual and hybrid classes invited ForMar Nature Preserve to present to students. The guest presenter shared her goal of passing along an appreciation for nature to children. The interactive presentation was titled Birds of a Feather and gave students the opportunity to take an up close look at a variety of birds through an investigation activity. They identified adaptations while comparing and contrasting physical traits of birds. In the end, the students had the chance to hold a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

Election day is May 6, 2025.

The money generated from the .9915 mill Sinking Fund Renewal is used to make repairs and improvements to the 19 classroom, support buildings and surrounding property owned and operated by Grand Blanc Community Schools. Sinking Fund money is not allowed to be used for supplies, salary, or benefits. However, it protects the General Fund, which does pay for those things, from large, sudden repair expenses. This property tax would cost a homeowner just under $100 per year for every $100,000 of the home’s taxable value. This renewal would be for 10 years.

Recent examples of expenses covered by Sinking Fund Dollars just right here at the Perry Center:

• Window Replacements

• Smokestack and Coal Bin Removal

• Resurfacing of Entry Walks & Pavement

• Second Boiler Added

• Electrical Upgrades

• Room AC Units

GBCS maintains 19 buildings totaling over 1.5 million sq. ft. The Sinking Fund allows us to have a
preplanned maintenance schedule which prevents larger maintenance issues from developing.

For more GBCS voter information, go to www.gbcs.org/voters!

Credit Recovery: Any students behind on credits have an opportunity to catch up through the Credit Recovery program. To sign up for Credit Recovery, contact your counselor for details and costs. BVL counselor: juhl@gbcs.org.

Bobcat Innovation Athletics Website: https://bobcatinnovation.gbcs.org/for-students/pic-athletic

Email: zhamilton@gbcs.org
Website: https://bobcatinnovation.gbcs.org/
Location: 11920 South Saginaw Street, Grand Blanc, MI, USA
Phone: (810) 591-6078
Facebook: Visit us on Facebook at: Bobcat Innovation