Today is a Professional Development Day for teachers, and since it is also Pi Day, we had to start the day by surprising all of our World Class Teachers with a slice of pie!

Smith Middle School was named a 2025 Michigan State School of Character! Smith Middle School’s application highlighted initiatives such as its WEB peer mentoring program and advisory sessions. Principal Ryan Brinks noted, “We've been working toward becoming a State School of Character for several years. Each year, we continue to refine our programming and introduce new opportunities for our students. Over the past two years, we've implemented our WEB mentorship program and weekly Advisory meetings, which have been key to fostering and maintaining a caring, positive community at Smith.”

Today, teachers from across the district gathered at Troy High and Athens for Professional Development. Staff members engaged with national experts and colleagues, collaborating to enhance their skills and continue providing a World Class education to our students.

Thank you to everyone who attended one of our first three Attendance Area Community Meetings. We appreciate you taking the time to listen and share your thoughts with us. Based on community feedback, we have added an additional date for families who are unable to attend the Thursday, March 20, meeting at Larson due to its proximity to Spring Break. We hope you will join us for the second meeting at Larson on Tuesday, April 8, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

For more information on the Attendance Area Review Process, please visit our website.

📚 Student Equity Council’s District-Wide Read-In! 📚

Join the Student Equity Council for a special Read-In event as we celebrate March is Reading Month! We invite students, staff, families, and community members to bring a book, a blanket, and a love for reading as we gather in a shared space to enjoy the power of storytelling together.

🌟 What to Expect:
📖 A Read-Aloud Kickoff by the Student Equity Council
☕ Light Refreshments Provided
📚 A Cozy, Community Reading Experience

Let’s come together to celebrate literacy, belonging, and the joy of getting lost in a good book!

🗓 Date: March 19, 2025
📍 Location: Central Office - Board Room
⏰ Time: 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Tag us in your reading moments and use our event hashtags:
📢 #BooksForBelonging
📢 #ReadInCommunity
📢 #MarchReadIn

See you there! 💙📚✨

TSD Director of Security, Todd Gilevich, shared some helpful tips to keep your home secure while traveling for Spring Break. You can read more on the TSD Torch Blog or by downloading the infographic linked below.

Students and teachers share their experiences of organizing and leading Athens Charity Week and Troy High Activist Week.

Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, celebrates the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and renewal, which falls on Friday, March 14. Festivities begin with Holika Dahan the night before, where bonfires symbolize burning away negativity. The next day, communities come together to throw vibrant colors, dance, and share festive treats, fostering joy and unity. Holi is more than just colors—it’s a celebration of togetherness, forgiveness, and cultural appreciation, reminding us of the beauty of shared traditions. To learn more, explore these resources:

At the March 18 School Board meeting, the School Board will be asked to approve the purchase of new furniture for Barnard, Bemis, Hill, Martell, Morse, and Troy Union Elementary Schools. This is the second phase of furniture purchases for our elementary schools. The photo above shows furniture that was purchased last summer for Costello, Hamilton, Leonard, Schroeder, Wass, and Wattles Elementary Schools.

The Board will also be asked to approve Phase 1 of furniture purchases for Troy High School.

THS Model UN definitely took a BITE out of the Big Apple this past weekend when 11 Troy High School students competed at the National High School Model United Nations International Conference. This was Troy High's first time ever at this prestigious event! Competing against students from over 250 schools and 70+ countries, Troy High delegates showed incredible dedication and skill.

At the Conference, two Troy High delegates received Best Delegate awards (1st place), one was selected as the student speaker for the closing ceremonies to represent his committee room, and the Troy High team earned the Award of Excellence as a Delegation (2nd place). Receiving this delegation award signifies that each Troy delegate placed among the top ranks in their respective committee rooms.

The students also had the unforgettable opportunity to tour the UN building and meet with Mozambique's UN delegate — an incredible experience for all, but especially the delegates representing Mozambique. Congratulations Troy High Model UN!

Athens Japanese Quiz Bowl teams swept the competition bringing home six trophies from the 30th Michigan Japanese Quiz Bowl, held at UM Ann Arbor. Students involved included:

Japanese 1, 2nd place: Samil Ahmed, Ella Bunao, Isabella Carnacchi, Arnav Nikam

Japanese 2, 1st place: Brandon Clark, Toni Rose Valentino, Miah Baker

Japanese 3, 1st place: Indya Banks, Corynn Lewis, Great Popescu, Suriyaa Sabaribala

Japanese 4, 3rd place: Lucia Bonino, Joshua Petrisor, Emma Walters

Japanese AP, 1st place: Aryan Vadlamudi, Ava Bunao, Sarah Soria, Joshua Gallega

Japanese AP, 1st place: Yashvanth Aravinth, Evie Feuti, Zahra Khan (TH), Vaishnavi Paliwal (TH)

Congratulations to these students!

Congratulations to the Troy High Math Club on being named Grand Champion at the UM-Flint Math Field Day last week! Their hardwork, problem-solving skills, and teamwork led them to this victory. Team members include William Dong, Michael Li, Benjamin Sheng, Ethan Wang, and Patricia Mao. Congrats to all!

Students in Grades 8-11 are encouraged to apply by May 31. For more information, or to apply, please visit the Leadership Oakland website.

The Larson 7th grade band performed at Band Festival for the first time in 20 years. Students share their thoughts on the opportunity and how they prepared for the performance.
🎥 by Anna Holt, a ‪@TSDCreativeGuild‬ Student Producer.

Team #66746 Electro Eels from Wass Elementary School won the 1st place Champion's Award as the best all-around team. This advances them to the FIRST World Championship event in Houston, TX that will be held from April 16 - 19, 2025. They are one of 2 teams at the elementary level advancing to the World Championship out of 816 teams across the state!

If you'd like to help them as they raise funds to attend the World Championship next month, you can donate here.

Each year the David Purvis Agency hosts a March is Reading Month contest to reward teachers. This year, Wass teacher Ms. Berschbach was selected as their first winner! She was given a $100 gift card to Scholastic Books along with a basket of goodies for her and her class!

Yesterday, Kathleen Haener was honored as a recipient of a Dove Award from The Arc of Oakland County! To learn more about the award, and to see photos from the Dove Awards Program, visit The Arc of Oakland County's website.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is William Shakespeare’s most magical comedy and one of his most popular and widely performed plays. It follows two sets of couples - Hermia (senior Reagan Feld) and Lysander (senior Rishabh Rao), and Helena (sophomore Quin VanAmberg) and Demetrius (junior Omar Atasi) - who flee to the woods to escape the laws of Athens. There, they find themselves in the dreamlike world of the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon (senior Jason Graf) and Titania (sophomore Kate Brokenshire), along with the mischievous Robin Goodfellow (freshman Michael Tananko), where their romantic entanglements grow even more complicated. Adding to the chaos, a troupe of actors also stumbles into the forest to rehearse their play.

Performances are on Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 16, at 2 p.m. All seats are reserved and sold online at http://troytheatreensemble.seatyourself.biz. All tickets are just $10! General admission tickets will be available at the box office 30 minutes before showtime.

In this episode of Life Unfiltered, Athens Track and Football coach, Coach Culk, talks about discipline, grit and lessons learned through sports. The Athens student hosts of the podcast are then joined by Gabrielle Robinson to speak about how Coach Culp's mentorship has shaped her into the successful athlete she is today.

On Saturday March 8, 2025, the Troy United Synchro Team competed at the State Routine Meet in Ann Arbor. The Troy team walked into the meet down by 8 points and currently in 2nd place overall due to points earned at the State Figure Meet back in January. Despite having some of the best and highest scoring performances of their season, the Troy team was ultimately unable to defeat the team from Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. Troy United ended their season as the runner-up earning 167 points while Pioneer earned the state title with 187 points.

The Troy United Synchro Team did not go down without a valiant fight and turned in the following results overall:

1st Place Duet and All-State Recognition – Greta Burt (AHS) and Ana Sofia Hernandez Gomez (THS)

1st Place Trio and All-State Recognition – Erin Choi (THS), Ana Sofia Hernandez Gomez (THS), and Gwen Schaefer (AHS)

2nd Place Combo – Greta Burt (AHS), Erin Choi (THS), Jessica Deng (THS), Ana Sofia Hernandez Gomaz (THS), Sei Park (THS), Lucie Rosati (THS), Gwen Schaefer (AHS), Parker Silagy (THS), and Isabel Thommana (THS)

3rd Place Tech Team – Jessica Deng (THS), Faith Frederick (AHS), Shatakshi Gupta (THS), Anna Holt (AHS), Sakina Nagai (THS), Lucie Rosati (THS), Parker Silagy (THS), and Isabel Thommana (THS)

5th Place Combo – Blessing Batumike (THS), Isha Chawla (THS), Aashima Garg (THS), Sihyeon Jun (THS), Elizabeth Knox (AHS), Kashvi Mohan (THS), Sridevi Swaminathan (IAE), and Bella Vieau (AHS)

6th Place Duet – Shatakshi Gupta (THS) and Sei Park (THS)

Athletic Links:

Athens Athletics: https://RedhawkAthletics.org

Troy High Athletics: https://TroyAthletics.org

Facebook Links:

Troy High: https://www.facebook.com/troyhighathleticboosters

Athens: https://www.facebook.com/AthensBoosters

Booster SignUpGenius Links:

Troy High: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4BA4AC29A4F4CF8-troy#/

Her passion for law and government started when she was a Troy student, and today Maureen McGinnis is now a district court judge serving the Troy community. In this TSD ALUMNI PROFILE, we learn the value of being true to who you are and why you should surround yourself with supportive and positive people.

• Monday, March 24 - Monday, March 31 - No School, Spring Break
  
  
• Saturday, May 31, 2025 - Athens and Troy High Graduation at the O'rena on the campus of Oakland University
  
  
• Sunday, June 1, 2025, 4 p.m. - IAE Graduation at Pine Knob
  
  
• Wednesday, June 4, 2025, 6 p.m. - TCCHS Graduation at Troy High

Join the team and make a difference in a student's educational development. If you're caring, dedicated, reliable, and love working directly with students and staff to help create a healthy learning environment for all, we need you. What we offer: On the job training, opportunities for advancement, work during school hours, work extra and summer hours. Apply today! Visit our site: https://www.applitrack.com/troy/onlineapp or contact us at the special education department, (248) 823-5096.

The Troy School District is searching for qualified candidates for the 2025-2026 school year! To learn more about teaching in Troy, visit https://tinyurl.com/Why-Troy and visit https://tinyurl.com/TSDJobOpp to see openings.

If you are interested in employment in the Troy School District, click here to access our Frontline Recruiting and Hiring System.