Bays Bulletin

Happy Winter

I hope everyone has been enjoying the winter this year. Our snow and temperatures seem back to 'normal' levels, which means lots of shoveling, snow blowing, plowing, and bundling up. I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy our winter wonderland, whether that be with skiing, hockey, snowmobiling, ice fishing, hiking, sledding, tubing, or simply snow angels!

Black History / African American History Month

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements, contributions, and history of Black Americans. This year, the theme for the month is African Americans and Labor, which hopes to encourage reflections and intersection between African American's work and workplaces, and their labor contributions to our country. This month serves as an opportunity for students to learn about the leaders, innovators, and trailblazers who have shaped our nation. At Brimley Area Schools, we honor the past while inspiring future generations to continue the journey toward equality and justice. Please join me in celebrating Black History Month.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher Conferences for the second semester will be held on Thursday, February 13th, 2025. As with the first semester, we will hold a regular day of school on this day. Conferences will be held from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you for conferences.

Winter Break & Staff Professional Development

Winter Break this year will be held Friday, February 14th. Our final professional development day will be held on Monday, February 17th. Students will not be in session either of those days.. Please enjoy the four-day weekend and see you on Tuesday, February 18th (Happy Valentines Day).

Weather Closures

We are in the time of year when weather may affect the opening of school. Whenever there is inclement weather, a decision to either close school for the day, or to delay the opening of school must be made by 6:00 a.m.

If school is closed , or the opening is delayed, we will send a message via our parent notification system, School Messenger. This message will be sent by phone, email, and text, if you have provided that information to the school.

Closings and delays will also be reported over local radio stations and television stations.

If there is a two hour delayed opening, school will start at 10:15 instead of 8:15. The buses will run two hours later than normal. Breakfast will not be served when there is a delayed opening.

Each day, our seven buses transport approximately 330 students over 300 miles. The safety of our children on these buses is our number one priority. Whenever a decision needs to be made regarding the closing of school, or to delay the opening of school, the decision will be made with the welfare of our students and faculty/staff in mind.

Cold Weather Closures

As winter pushes forward into February, there may be times when the temperature dips below zero. Sometimes the temperature dips well below the zero mark which can cause alarm for parents. When making decisions to close or delay school due to extremely cold temperatures the following guidelines will be used: Brimley Area Schools will use the Weather Channel App to check for temperatures, both straight temperature and wind chill temperature. When the regular temperature is sustained at -30 below zero a decision will be made to either close school or delay the start of school. When the wind chill is sustained at -30 below zero a decision will be made to either close school or delay the start of school. This decision will be made with the information provided by the Weather Channel App for Brimley. We do take into consideration the safety and welfare of our students when making such decisions to close or delay school. If you feel it is too dangerous to send your children to school due to cold temperatures, by all means keep them at home.

Distinguished Alumni Award and Athletic Hall of Fame Nominations

We are currently accepting nominations for our school’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Brimley Area Schools Athletic Hall of Fame. Nominations for each of the awards are due by March 31, 2025. Copies of the nomination forms are included below, or you may obtain a form at the central office.

Principal Recognition

We would like to take this opportunity to recognize Brimley Area Schools principals, Mr. Hugh Clarke, elementary principal and Mr. Aaron Noordhoek, middle/high school principal. Mr. Clarke is in his 4th year as elementary school principal and Mr. Suggitt is in his 1st year as our middle/high school principal. Previously, Mr. Noordhoek spent several years as a middle and high school assistant principal in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brimley is very fortunate to have two extremely dedicated individuals serving as principals of our schools. I am pleased to say how proud I am to have both of these outstanding administrators on our team.

Research has found that one of the reasons behind a school’s success is the longevity of its administrators. Schools that have longer serving administrators achieve at a greater rate than those who do not. Brimley is fortunate to have two very good principals working to make our school the school to attend in the region. During the month of February, please take the opportunity to express to each of these individuals your appreciation for the fine job each does in service to our school and communities.

Respectfully,

Tom Suggitt

We are so proud of the many achievements of our middle and high school students first semester. Congratulations to all of our students who qualified for the honor roll. We look forward to celebrating students who made the honor roll for the first three quarters at our honor roll banquet on April 16. We are so excited to see what students will accomplish in semester two.

After school tutoring is available every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:20 PM to 4:45 PM. Bussing is available for students who stay for the full tutoring period.

Attendance - Be Here to Succeed Here! Parents can monitor student attendance in SKYWARD. Our truancy policy coincides with the Chippewa County Truancy Protocol. Please note that absences greater than 12 may result in a referral for truancy. This semester we will be reaching out to families at certain thresholds as outlined in our handbook. Please discuss the importance of arriving to class on time with your student. Students who are tardy to more than two classes in a week will receive an after school detention. We are eager to partner with you to ensure your student is at school and in class on time, please call the office if you have questions or need support.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held on Thursday, February 13 from 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Middle and high school conferences will be held in teacher classrooms. Parents should stop by the office upon arrival to pick up a student schedule and map of teacher classrooms. We look forward to seeing our Brimley parents at conferences!

The first week of February was our homecoming spirit week. Students and staff showed their Brimley spirit by participating in a variety of spirit day activities. Congratulations to our freshman class who took first place in our spirit week competition. We are so proud of our homecoming court; a special congratulations to our homecoming king and queen. Thank you to Ms. Duchacek, Mr. Bathey, and our high school student council for making our homecoming basketball games and dance such a success.

Congratulations to our latest Student of the Month winners: Isaak Morrison for Middle School and Dylan Kabelman for High School. Isaak is an 8th grader. According to his teachers and classmates he demonstrates character, leadership, academic and social achievement, and has an impeccable work ethic. Ms. Gravelle noted that “Isaak is consistently an example to his peers and someone that students look to when they need guidance. His character speaks volumes, he has been fulfilling his role of student council president extremely well and continues to put forth exemplary effort in his schoolwork and in his work to be a good, well-rounded citizen. He is humble, kind to everyone, and a standout human.” Dylan Kabelman is a junior on the high school student council. Dylan’s English teacher, Ms. Baker shared that “Dylan is kind to all classmates, respectful to staff, and responsible with his class work.” Dylan was nominated for student of the month for his outstanding character work ethic; infectious leadership; and overall academic achievement. Isaak and Dylan will each receive a t-shirt, certificate, BLAZE tickets, and Sugar Daddy Bakery Gift Card, and be recognized at our honors banquet in April. We are so proud of them!

Nut Free - as a reminder, Brimley is nut-free K-12 this year with a number of students with nut allergies at the secondary level. Please be conscious of this when bringing items to the building or sending them with students.

Thank you for all you do for Brimley Area Schools and our community.

Aaron Noordhoek