Bobcat Innovation

Families,

We are excited to get the 24-25 school year underway and connect and work with our students and families! Please read this entire newsletter as there is A LOT of important information.

Please view our beginning of the year resource document at https://tinyurl.com/BobcatInnovation-Forms. Here, you will find information and forms that you need to get ready for the new school year. You can print the forms and have them filled out and bring them to our Open house on Wednesday, August 21st.

As most of you already know, the Innovative Educational options at Grand Blanc Community Schools (Perry Innovation Center and Bobcat Virtual Learning) were merged together throughout the course of last school year into one entity - Bobcat Innovation. This merger is now complete. Perry Innovation Center is now Bobcat Innovation In-Person. Bobcat Virtual is now Bobcat Innovation Virtual. Finally, our new hybrid option (currently 2nd-5th grade) is Bobcat Innovation Hybrid. Bobcat Innovation In-Person and Hybrid are going to be housed in the Perry Center. Bobcat Innovation Virtual lab and offices are going to remain at Grand Blanc High School West Campus.

All Bobcat Innovation students are able to participate in clubs, athletics, PTO events, and field trips. Virtual students also have access to school libraries. We currently have more flexibility than ever before to make sure we are meeting all the needs of our students, and provide the best comprehensive education no matter what path you choose within Bobcat Innovation. If you ever have any questions about ancillary options or opportunities within your specific program, please do not hesitate to reach out.

The next step for Bobcat Innovation, is to develop a middle school hybrid program. Our current goal is to have this program in place for the 2025/2026 school year. Middle School students will have the opportunity to take some of their classes virtually, and others in person at either East or West Middle School. We will have a virtual lab at both buildings that hybrid and virtual students can utilize for extra support, work space, etc., just as high school students currently do at High School West Campus.

At our open house on Wednesday, Aug. 21st, we will be kicking off an annual Raffle Ticket fundraiser. We are asking each student to sell 15 raffle tickets this fall. The proceeds from this fundraiser make it possible for our students to participate in amazing experiential and supplemental learning activities such as attending camp, going on field trips, and much more.

All students, both new and returning, must have their online registration updated each year. We are still missing several online registrations. If you have not yet, please update your student's registration information at: https://www.gbcs.org/for-parents/online-registrationenrollment.

Our PIC office is open 8:00 -11:00am. and 12:00-3:00pm daily through Aug. 22nd, and then at 7:00am - 3:30pm starting Aug. 26th, our first day of school. Our BVL office is open for phone support daily from 6:30am - 2:30pm. All offices will be closed on Friday, August 23rd. Please contact us if you have any questions!

Warm regards,

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

(810) 591-6077

ahall@gbcs.org

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

(810) 591-6375

kkeilitz@gbcs.org

August

* Tuesday, Aug. 20 @ 5:00 - 7:00pm - Bobcat Innovation Virtual 6th-12th grade Open House - HS West Campus Virtual Lab

* Wednesday, Aug. 21 @ 5:00 - 6:30 pm - Bobcat Innovation In-Person and Hybrid Open House

* Wednesday, Aug. 21 @ 6:30 pm - Mandatory Parent meeting for k-5 Virtual and Hybrid Parents - Perry Center Cafeteria.

* Monday, Aug. 26 - First day of School. It is a half-day. Bobcat-Innovation In-Person hours are 7:35 a.m. - 11:12 a.m.

* Friday, Aug 30 & Monday, Sept. 2 - No School; Labor Day Weekend

* Friday, Sept. 27 - Half Day; Homecoming

The open house for Bobcat Innovation In-Person, Hybrid, and Elementary Virtual (k-5th grade) will be a drop-in event at the Perry Center from 5 p.m. - 6:30pm on Wed., Aug. 21st. Make sure to view our beginning of the year resource document at https://tinyurl.com/BobcatInnovation-Forms before coming to the open house. This will allow you to view, download, print the following documents: Walking Field trip permission form, peanut allergy form, volunteer forms, and if applicable medication form and free/reduced application. Some can even be filled out virtually! The forms that cannot be filled out virtually should be dropped off with your classroom teacher during the open house. Forms will be available in the cafeteria during the open house also if you are not able to print and fill out ahead of time. There will be a mandatory meeting for k-5 Virtual and Hybrid students immediately following the open house at 6:30pm in the cafeteria.

Upon entering Perry's lobby, families will receive a map and handout. Upper School (grades 6th-8th) will also receive their schedules. Please visit your student's classrooms and meet their teachers. We will also have tables set up in the cafeteria for transportation questions, car tags for parent pick-up, tech support (learn how to log into Jupiter to track grades, etc.), PTO, and of course, snacks! :) We are so looking forward to seeing our families!

The Open House for Bobcat Innovation Secondary (6th-12th grade) will be a drop-in event from 5:00pm - 7:00pm on Tue., Aug. 20th. This will give parents and students the opportunity to meet their Grand Blanc teachers and mentors, set up a parent observer account, and review the BVL expectations.

All 2nd and 3rd grade students, please bring your current chromebook (if you have one), case and charger to the Open House on August 21st. We are in the process of replacing 3rd grade chromebooks and issuing/replacing 2nd grade chromebooks. We will have a table in the cafeteria, please be sure to visit us to exchange or pickup your new chromebook, case and charger. Thank you.

Do you like being creative and solving problems? Do you like building structures? Do you like performing and being part of a team?

If you said yes to any of these questions, then OM is for you! OM is the world’s oldest international creative problem-solving competition and the only Grand Blanc team is at Bobcat Innovation!

OM is available for students in grades 2nd through 8th. There is a time commitment of at least one hour every week after school. In addition, there will be a Saturday in January or February that you will be required to perform your skit. If we move onto the state competition, another Saturday will be required in March. The closer the competition gets, the more time might be required from the group depending on how things are going.

Each group MUST have one or two adults (anyone with a completed background check) who can commit to supervising the team every week. Mrs. Cramer will be available for team support, help getting started, planning activities and paperwork, but OM is a lot of work and we will need hands-on help to make it happen.

Please email Mrs. Cramer at jcramer@gbcs.org if your child is interested in participating in OM this year and indicate if you are able to provide any help to the team. Some teams will choose a STEM problem where they will be required to create a structure. This group benefits from engineer-minded adults who can assist with technical work. Unfortunately, if we don’t have help with teams, we will have to limit participation.

Our Robotics season starts early this Fall. Our 6th-8th grade team is all set and ready to go with Mr. Nick Clute serving as the coach. If you missed the Spring sign-up for Middle School Robotics, please reach out to Mr. Hamilton. We have a limited number of slots still available.

2nd-5th grade students learn about Robotics in their Technology Exploration class. However, if you are interested in coaching a 2nd and 3rd grade team, or a 4th and 5th grade team as an after school activity, please reach out to Zach Hamilton at zhamilton@gbcs.org

The State of Michigan requires us to report on the status of immunizations for our 7th graders. Please help ensure that your 7th graders are up to date and contact our offices (Bobcat Innovation In-Person and Hybrid - 810-591-6078; Bobcat Innovation Virtual - 810-591-6391) with any questions. Thank you!

Please see the Athletic website below for information on opportunities for our PIC and BVL 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to participate in sports. A physical and signed Athletic Handbook must be on file prior to participation in practice.

7th and 8th grade Bobcat Innovation students can try out and participate in all sports offered at the middle school level. Students will participate with East MS during Fall and Winter 1 sports seasons, and with West MS during Winter 2 and Spring seasons. 6th grade students can participate in Cross Country (Fall), Wrestling (Winter 1), and Track (Winter 2).

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

Grand Blanc East Middle School Fall Athletics Newsletter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_r_X39BRlT6_Q_9ysmZlTzGvmSkvTdbQ4ZpdXKmwhKk/edit?usp=sharing

All families are invited to participate and support our PTO, and are welcome to attend monthly meetings. Meetings are generally on Wednesday evening at 6:00pm and our first is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18th. All families have the right to vote on decisions made at the meetings. Additionally, we arrange to have valuable informational presentations and guest speakers at the meetings.

Our Innovative Programs PTO has ONE major fundraiser each year - a raffle ticket sale - to fund supplemental learning opportunities. Our PTO has graciously approved a variety of learning experiences this past year and now need to replenish their account with a goal of $30,000 for the raffle ticket fundraiser this fall! You will be receiving more information about our fundraiser at the Open House, and the next newsletter.

Other than selling tickets, one thing that our families can help with is to consider businesses and other organizations who might like to sponsor either our raffle ticket sale (and have their business recognized on social media and on our marquee). Becoming a sponsor is a win-win for businesses as we provide advertising/marketing and they help fund our students learning experiences! Please contact Steven McGovern (stgovern@outlook.com) for more information if you know of a potential sponsor. Thank you!

Students in our Innovative Programs are invited to walk in the parade with our truck and trailer. Speaking of parade, we are in need of a trailer to borrow that can be decorated and that students can ride on. We also need a volunteer to drive in the parade and pull the trailer. Please contact Kevin Keilitz (kkeilitz@gbcs.org) or Zach Hamilton (zhamilton@gbcs.org) if you can help us out! More Homecoming details will be shared soon! Thanks in advance for any support you can provide.

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