Principal Update - BHS Families

• Upcoming Events this Week
• 1st Day of School Bus Transportation
• Off-Site CTE, Dual Enrollment, and DEEP Students' First Day
• First Day of School - Schedule Included
• Student Drop Off Information for Parents
• Missed Registration?
• Ordering Your Student's Class T-Shirt
• Smokin' Jazz & BBQ Blues Festival Road Closure (Commute Impact)
  
• Academic Letters
• Pink Week Events and Shirts
• Pink Week Sponsorships and Donations
• Incoming Senior Specific Information - *Includes Senior Information Sheet from Sr. Class Council, and New Information on Senior Fee and Senior Sunrise (this week)
• Opportunities to Meet with BHS Administration
• BHS Counseling Department - *August Newsletter Information Included
• BHS Students - Opportunities to Get Involved
• Big Red Barrel Project
• BHS Football Game Student Section Themes
• School Meals for the 2024-25 School Year

Tuesday, September 3rd - 1st Day of School

• Freshman only attend starting @ 7:30 am
• Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors attend starting @ 12:00 pm

Thursday, September 5th - Freshman Class Council Election Meeting

• Interested in running for Freshman Class Council? Mandatory meeting @ 2:30 pm in Media Center

Friday, September 6th - Senior Sunrise Breakfast @ 6:30 am in the BHS Stadium

Friday, September 6th - 1st Home Football Game @ 7 pm in the BHS Stadium

• BHS Student Section theme is Orange Out
• Youth Night, so make sure to get to the game early because it will be crowded

As a reminder, there is a different schedule on the 1st day of school for our incoming 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. As shared previously, there WILL still be bus transportation for our upperclassmen. Bus information shared by the Transportation Department can be found below:

9th grade: Pickup will be at your regularly scheduled time that has been provided to you by the Transportation Department. This will get students to BHS by 7:00 or shortly after that and give them plenty of time to get to their 1st hour class by 7:30.

10th, 11th, and 12th grades: Transportation has shared with us that pickup will be 4.5 hours after the regularly scheduled pickup time (i.e. if normal pickup provided by transportation is 6:30 am, pickup on the FIRST DAY ONLY would be at 11:00 am). This will get students to BHS by 11:30 or shortly after that and give them plenty of time to get to their 1st hour class by 12:00.

Specific bus information (bus number and pick up/drop off time) can also be found in ParentConnect. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

For students who have off-site CTE classes, dual enrollment classes, or are a part of the DEEP program, they should prioritize attending these classes on the first day of school. If they are absent from any BHS classes as a result of their attendance in these classes due to the adjusted schedule, we will excuse their BHS attendance accordingly.

As in the past, we like to give our incoming Freshman the opportunity to attend their classes on the 1st Day when there are only other incoming Freshman in the building. This gives them the opportunity to get acclimated to the high school, their class locations, and their teachers with as much support as possible. The schedule can be found here, but important things to know include:

• Only incoming Freshman report to their 1st Hour class by 7:30 am on Tuesday, September 3rd
• Incoming Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors report to their 1st Hour class by 12:00 on Tuesday, September 3rd
• There will be a later bus run to pick up any Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors and get them to school for the later start
• All students will attend their regularly scheduled classes together from 7:30 am - 2:20 pm starting on Wednesday, September 4th

If you are planning on dropping your student off in the mornings, or picking them up in the afternoon, please make sure you are following the appropriate guidelines. They are included below:

• Parking lots and the transportation lanes on the Athletic Department/Pool side of the building are reserved for busses. All student drop-offs should take place on the front side of the building (enter off of 7th St.). Pick-ups at the end of the day can utilize the loop, as well as open spaces within the parking lot.
• If you are dropping off your student, please do so from the drop-off loop. Drop-offs should take place from the lane closest to the curb. All three doors on the front side of the building are open for student entry in the morning, so your student DOES NOT need to enter through the Main Office Door (middle door)
• Please refrain from entering the parking lot and dropping off from the Main Lot in front of the school, if at all possible. This lot is for cars that are parking. Drop-offs in the parking lot limit available spaces for those entering the building and can also create safety concerns with students walking out from in between cars when there are cars moving throughout the lot.
• BHS Security Staff will have cones out and will also be outside to help direct traffic to the best of their ability.

Above all else, please be careful and take your time. It will be very congested in both the mornings and the afternoons as new drivers and parents new to BHS get used to the flow of traffic at pick-up and drop-off time. It will improve as all parties involved get used to what drop-off and pick-up look like.

As a reminder, all Emergency Action Plans and Medication Administration Forms must be renewed for the new school year. Forms and orders from last year cannot be used. Medication listed on any of our forms MUST be accompanied by medication in the matching, original container. Our student health website includes any and every form parents may need related to medical information.

We will have our medical staff present on both Registration Days in order to collect forms and medications.

Schedule

• Student schedules are currently visible in their StudentConnect account. Locker and bus information is also included there as well
• If your student would like a hard copy of their schedule so that they have a printed copy, they can stop by the Main Office, Back Office, or Counseling Office before school, after school, or during passing time and we will get a copy printed for them

Parking

• All students who plan to buy a parking pass to park at BHS this year must turn in a Brighton High School Parking Application at the time of purchase
• In addition to the application, students must also bring their driver's license AND vehicle registration. We will not sell you a pass without BOTH items.
• Parking applications must be signed by BOTH the student AND the parent in order to obtain a parking pass
• Parking passes can only be purchased by students with a valid driver's license, not in advance. In order to buy a parking pass once a valid driver's license is obtained, purchases can be made in the Main Office.

Pictures

• If your student missed Registration, they can still get school pictures taken. They will need to utilize Picture Re-take Day. Picture Re-take Day will be on Tuesday, October 15th.
• We have a new school picture provider this year, schoolpictures.com. Pictures can be purchased in-person or online, and can be purchased in advance, or you can wait to see them before purchasing.
• In order to purchase pictures, you can use the order form (digitally or in-person), or the direct link.

Athletic Passes

• Information on purchasing athletic passes to attend home sporting events for both middle and high school can be found here.
• Payments can be made via ParentConnect the same as you would any other SBA payments.
• After your student receives their Student ID card, please make sure they stop by the Athletic Department table to have their BAS Athletic Pass put on their Student ID card.
• Until they have a Student ID card with an athletic pass on it, students can show their proof of purchase on their SBA Account to ticket staff to gain entry into applicable athletic events.

As you may be aware, each year the elected Class Council designs and sells Class T-Shirts. Students wear these class shirts periodically throughout the year, including at the school-wide Homecoming Assembly in October. In order to get students their t-shirts in time for Homecoming, orders need to be placed sooner rather than later. If your student is interested in getting a Class T-Shirt, please order the appropriate size via Parent Connect (purchases can be made via their SBA Account like any other purchase) ASAP.

*Senior Class T-Shirts are included as part of their Senior Fee (more information on this is included in the Incoming Senior Specific Section below). In your SBA account, you would just select the Senior Fee with their appropriate shirt size.

The Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce and Bank of Ann Arbor are putting on Brighton's Smokin' Jazz & BBQ Blues Festival this weekend (September 6th and September 7th). The festival will run from 5 pm to 10 pm on Friday and then from 12 pm to 10 pm on Saturday.

As a result, Main St. will be closed starting at approximately 8 am on Friday, September 6th. We are letting you know as this may impact your/your student's commute home and you/they may need to consider an alternate route. In addition, if you plan to be at BHS at all on Saturday, September 7th, there will be a shuttle from BHS to downtown and back running from 12 pm to approximately 10:15 pm. Based on this, there may be more traffic coming in/out of the school parking lots on Saturday.

Each year, Brighton High School students are eligible to earn their Varsity Academic Letter for accumulating a 3.5 (or higher) grade point average for two consecutive semesters. If your student is a first-time recipient, they will receive their Varsity Academic Letter and a certificate. If your student has earned their Academic Letter previously, they will receive their bar and certificate at the Academic Letter Lunch on November 8th! All parents of students receiving their Academic Letter and students receiving their Academic Letter will be invited to the Academic Letter Lunch on Friday, November 8th, during their regularly scheduled lunch time.

As many of you know who have experienced it, Pink Week is one of the best weeks of the year at BHS! Our entire school and the Brighton community come together through both school and community-wide events to raise money for the Trinity Health Cancer Center in Brighton. More information will be coming out as the week gets closer, but we do want you to have a few key dates now to be able to plan accordingly as it will come quick. We appreciate any and all support this week as it is a fantastic opportunity to raise money for a great cause and to keep funds local! We also have shirts available for purchase via the BHS school store, The Paw as well as through Ivory Vines.

The week's events are outlined below:

• Monday 9/16 - Powderpuff Football Game at BHS Stadium @ 7pm. $5 entry fee. All are welcome and encouraged to attend!
• Wednesday 9/18 - Pink Run/Walk 5K (we also will have a kids run/walk that is shorter)
• Thursday 9/19 - Brighton Idol (Downtown at the Millpond); Downtown Shopping Event (still to be confirmed)
• Friday 9/20 - Pink Out Football Game; Survivor Ceremony on the field at halftime

As mentioned previously, BHS' school store, The Paw is OPEN for Pink Week ONLINE pre-orders starting Monday 7/15 and running through 9/2. There is a limited amount of pre-order online inventory available. This year there are also some YOUTH t-shirts (but not a lot). The remaining inventory will be sold in The Paw once school starts.

Link to order BHS Pink Week Items from The Paw

Pre-orders will be available for pick up (or delivery to BAS employees) starting on 9/11 and running through 9/20. As always, 100% of proceeds generated by The Paw from Pink Week items will go toward BAS' donation to the Trinity Health Cancer Center in Brighton.

One of our Title Sponsors, Ivory Vines, also has a number of Pink Week items available for purchase. Apparel can be purchased online via their online store, with additional items available for purchase in-store. Online store purchases need to be made by 9/13.

We hope to see you at the week's events!

In addition to participating in BHS' Pink Week events, we are also offering businesses the opportunity to serve as Pink Week Sponsors or make donations to our Pink Week Raffle. If you or someone you know may be interested in participating in either of these opportunities to support a great cause, feel free to share our Pink Week Sponsorship and Donation Flyer.

Senior Class Council has put together a 1-page document with important information for the upcoming year that will be made available to all students at Back to School Registration, and can also be found here. However, there are some dates included below that you may want to put on your calendar now and your student may want to participate in.

Friday, September 6th - Senior Sunrise in the BHS Stadium starting @ 6:30 am

Wednesday, October 23rd - Senior Meeting in the BCPA during 1st and 2nd Hour

Wednesday, February 5th - Junior vs. Senior Volleyball Game in the BHS Fieldhouse @ 7:30 pm

Wednesday, March 5th - Senior Class Council 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament

Tuesday, April 22nd - Staff vs. Student Basketball Game

Friday, April 25th - BHS Lip Dub

Monday, May 19th to Friday, May 23rd - National Honor Society's Senior Survivor Week

Tuesday, May 27th - Seniors' Last Full Day

Wednesday, May 28th to Friday, May 30th - Senior Exams

Thursday, May 29th - Senior Sunset in the BHS Stadium starting @ 8 pm

Friday, May 30th - Cap and Gown Pick Up starting @ 8 am

Friday, May 30th - Senior Walk at BHS starting @ 9:45 am (family and friends encouraged to attend)

Friday, May 30th - Senior Picnic in the BHS Stadium following the Senior Walk @ approx. 10:30 am

Friday, May 30th - Senior Elementary Walk (more information to come) @ approx. 11:30 am

Wednesday, June 4th - Summa Cum Laude Breakfast (invite only) in the BHS Cafeteria @ 8 am (parents invited)

Wednesday, June 4th - MANDATORY Graduation Practice in the BHS Fieldhouse @ 10 am

Friday, June 6th - Brighton High School Commencement Ceremony in the BHS Stadium @ 7 pm (rain date is Saturday, June 7th @ 7pm)

Saturday, June 7th - Senior All-Night Party at BHS from 10 pm - 4 am

We have received a few questions about the Senior Fee you may have seen in your student's SBA account that you can pay for, and would like to clarify what is included in this fee. The Senior Fee includes:

• Class T-Shirt (when you select a Senior Fee to add to your student's account, pick the one with their correct shirt size)
• Senior Gift (selected and distributed by the Senior Class Council later in the year)
• Yard Sign (these are the signs with your student's picture on them that are posted in front of the school at the end of the year and outside the stadium during Graduation that will go home with you following Graduation)
• Graduation Expenses (including unlimited tickets for each student)
• Other Senior-Only Events during the year

*If you have not done so already, please pay this Senior Fee as soon as possible as it will allow our Senior Class Council to order the correct number of each size shirt. This will enable us to have all Senior Class T-Shirts on hand prior to the Homecoming Assembly and also for the 1st Senior Class Meeting in October when we will be taking the class composite picture.

Senior Sunrise is this week! On Friday, September 6th at 6:30 am out at the BHS Stadium, we will have our annual Senior Sunrise Breakfast. Much planning by the Senior Class Council and their advisors goes into this event and making it one our Seniors will remember. Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to help pull this off, either by donating your time or provided the resources needed to feed a hungry group of students on Friday morning!

We are still looking for donations for a number of items for Friday morning if you are interested in contributing. The sign-up for donations can be found here. Thank you for considering!

Earlier this summer, Mrs. Richards sent out the BHS Bulldog Senior Bulletin. It includes information on the college application process, including tips for completing applications, admissions essays/personal statements, and letters of recommendation. Mrs. Richards also shared information about the Michigan Achievement Scholarship and Community College Guarantee that you may find useful as you investigate postsecondary options available to your student.

In addition to this, each year the Senior Class Council produces an information sheet that is a one-stop shop for all things Senior year. View this year's Senior Class Council Information Sheet here. We would encourage you to have your student follow the social media accounts listed and also join the Remind App listed at the bottom of the page based on their last name to receive updates over the course of the year.

As a reminder, Common App officially open for this year's Seniors. If you have any questions prior to applying, please don't hesitate to reach out to the BHS Counseling Department or to any BHS Administrator and we would be more than happy to assist you. Common App can be a great option depending on your application plans, but there is no rush to get your applications in as soon as it opens. You want to make sure your application is as strong as possible prior to submitting and we are here to assist with that to the best of our abilities.

You may not be able to apply to some schools via Common App, or you may make the decision to apply directly to a certain school via their website. You will, however, still need to submit a copy of your transcript as part of the application process. For prospective college athletes, you will also need to send a copy of your transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center to ensure you are eligible to compete. If you need to send a copy of your transcript to a school for any reason, you have the ability to submit a request via Parchment. All schools have the ability to receive transcripts through this method. Directions for how to create an account and request a transcript be sent via Parchment can be found here. Please do not request transcripts be sent to a personal email address via Parchment. We can get your student a copy of their transcript, but we do not utilize Parchment to do this. They can stop in the Counseling Office at any point in time to receive a copy of their transcript directly.

We held our meeting for the parents of all incoming Seniors last spring in preparation for students' Senior year. Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Grossfeld, and Ms. Farina discussed a number of different things that are part of a student's Senior year, including the college application process. Scholarships, FAFSA, and financial aid are all a part of that.

If you were unable to attend the meeting, linked below are three documents to help get you organized for your big senior year.

Class of 2025 - Future Senior Presentation

Future Senior Quick Info Sheet (this is a one-pager condensed version of the presentation)

Future Senior FAQs (we will continue to add questions and answers to this document as they arise)

We want Senior year to be a year students and parents enjoy, not something that is stressful for them! Having the right information and getting your questions answered is an important part of helping make that happen. We are here to help!

We are regularly looking for potential scholarship for our students to help offset the cost of any type of postsecondary education our students pursue. One of these options is the scholarship directory. Within this directory, you can find scholarships available for a variety of different categories. Scholarships specific to this year's Seniors can be found here. You will find scholarship information for a multitude of scholarships dated as far out as August 31, 2025. You may also be interested in some of the Michigan-specific scholarships listed as a separate category. This page is one of many resources available for students when it comes to potential scholarship opportunities so we would encourage you to check it out! Our counseling website also includes pages for both local/state and national scholarships that your student may apply for.

Mr. Matt Evans (incoming 10th Grade), Mrs. Tracie Richards (incoming 12th Grade), Mr. Nate Grabowski (incoming 11th Grade), and Mrs. Jennifer Napuli (incoming 9th Grade) have been at BHS this summer working hard to ensure that BHS is maximizing opportunities for our students and is firing on all cylinders when the students return for Back to School Registration at the end of August. If you need to meet with your student's Grade Level Principal for any reason, please don't hesitate to reach out. If your student has a 504 and is returning to BHS this fall, you should have received an additional communication offering you the opportunity to have your student's support plan continue as written, or the chance to meet to address any necessary changes. If your student has a 504 and is an incoming Freshman, you have received an additional communication asking you to set up a time to meet to discuss the plan in greater detail, in order to help facilitate a smooth transition to a new environment in the fall. To contact your student's Grade Level Principal, please see the information below:

Mr. Matt Evans (incoming 10th grade)

Phone: (810) 299 - 4101

Email: evansm@brightonk12.com

Schedule an Appointment Directly

Mrs. Tracie Richards (incoming 12th grade)

Phone: (810) 299 - 4114

Email: richardst@brightonk12.com

Schedule an Appointment Directly

Mr. Nate Grabowski (incoming 11th grade)

Phone: (810) 299 - 4103

Email: grabown@brightonk12.com

Schedule an Appointment Directly

Mrs. Jennifer Napuli (incoming 9th grade)

Phone: (810) 299 - 4112

Email: napulij@brightonk12.com

Schedule an Appointment Directly

The August Edition of the BHS Counseling Newsletter can be found here.

You can also view the BHS College and Career Calendar here.

As a reminder, if you would like to meet with your student's counselor for any reason, you can reach the Counseling Office at (810) 299-4150. You can also schedule an appointment with their counselor using the following links below:

Incoming 9th Grader: Mrs. Petit - https://bit.ly/MrsPetit

Incoming 10th Grader: Mrs. Caverly - https://bit.ly/MrsCaverly

Incoming 11th Grader: Mr. Miner - https://bit.ly/MrMiner

Incoming 12th Grader: Mrs. Grossfeld - https://bit.ly/MrsGrossfeld

Each year we remind students of the importance of finding ways to get involved within their school community. In addition to being academically engaged, another excellent way to accomplish this is through participation in BHS athletics or extracurricular clubs. We share this information now as many of our fall athletics teams have tryouts/practices prior to school starting. The same is true of some of our clubs/teams. For more information on these groups, please see the information below:

Brighton High School Fall Athletics Information

Brighton High School Clubs/Extra Curriculars

This year we will be bringing the Big Red Barrel Project to Brighton High School! After numerous deaths throughout Livingston County that were attributed to drug overdoses, the Big Red Barrel Project was created as a place to allow community members to safely dispose of their unwanted medications. Since it began, the Big Red Barrel Project's efforts have resulted in the secure and environmentally safe disposal of over 30 tons (or 60,000 pounds) of drugs.

Volunteers will be set up at BHS Football games on September 20th and October 25th with the goal of providing attendees the opportunity to dispose of unused medications/sharps/etc. safely. For more information on the Big Red Barrel Project, click here.

Brighton High School's student section, Ruff N Rowdy, has announced the themes for this year's football games. Themes for each week are listed below:

• 8/29 @ Saline - White Out
• 9/6 vs. Salem (Youth Night) - Orange Out
• 9/13 @ Northville - Hawaiian
• 9/20 vs. Novi (Pink Week) - Pink Out
• 9/27 @ Hartland - Neon
• 10/4 vs. Canton (Veteran's Game) - USA
• 10/11 vs. Plymouth (Homecoming) - Black and Orange
• 10/18 @ Howell - Student Choice
• 10/25 vs. KLAA Crossover (Senior Night) - Country vs. Country Club

The Michigan School Meals program was approved again for the 2024-2025 school year. We will provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to students or families again this year. Families are still encouraged to fill out an Education Benefits Application, formerly known as the Free/Reduced Meals Application. You can do this online through MiStar, download a PDF from the BAS website or request a paper copy.

Please see the Michigan School Meals Flyer for more information on the program or review the information from the Student Nutrition Department on accessing this program within Brighton Area School.

Matt Evans, Lead Principal, Grade Level Principal Class of 2027

Website: https://www.brightonk12.com/Domain/465
Location: Brighton High School, Brighton Road, Brighton, MI, USA
Phone: (810)299-4100
Twitter: @BrightonHS