[PSGuardian] PCS Weekly Update 1/27/23 - Proposed 6 Period Day Presentation Included

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Rick Todd

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Jan 27, 2023, 9:35:53 AMJan 27
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Hello Pirates and Happy Friday!

I think it is safe to say that the Michigan winter we all know and love (or hate) has finally arrived as not only have we experienced our first major snow storm, but the temps next week are expected to be extremely frigid with low's close to 0 degrees on Monday, which means our kiddos definitely need to be prepared with the proper winter attire to remain safe and warm (I know this is easier said than done for those of us with middle school/high school age students).

Over the course of the past two snow days, we received some feedback from both parents and staff who did not receive a text message and/or robo call that was sent on Wednesday morning and evening. First and foremost, I apologize for this as we pride ourselves on providing prompt communication, especially in significant situations such as cancelling school and we are working to resolve this issue as obviously there is a glitch in the system that needs to be resolved.

In December, I shared a detailed update to our 5-year strategic plan that reinforced our commitment to creating a foundation of financial stability, strategic resource (financial, human and structural) management and academic excellence. As part of this work, we moved our 6th grade this year to Pathinder as a means to address the gap in curriculum alignment, along with providing our 6th graders with more academic and extra-curricular opportunities and as shared in December, we will be moving our 3rd grade to Navigator Elementary in 2023-24 as we look to expand our preschool program at both Country and Farley Hill Elementary Schools, which now fits in line with the Governor's goal of providing preschool to all 4 year-olds in Michigan within the next four years as shared in this week's State of the State address.

Although much of the intentionality in our strategic plan is being driven by our commitment to create an supportive, successful and positive educational experience for all our students, we must also continue to address the challenges that are presented to us through the ongoing teacher shortages, lack of certified teachers in specific content areas (CTE), change in enrollment and manageable workloads that respect and honor all bargaining agreements. 

Our goal and commitment in our strategic plan is to continue using all of these challenges as opportunities to not only reflect on our current practices, but to maximize our current financial, human and structural resources to further transform our district/programs in a way that will support our students, district and community in the years to come.

A large part of this work was presented to our Board of Education on January 12 as PCHS Principal, Julia McBride and Pathfinder Principal, Lori Sandula provided an extremely detailed plan to transition their respective programs from the current 7-period structure to a 6-period structure for the 2023-24 school year that would not only address some of the challenges previously mentioned, but would continue to provide our students with a quality and relevant learning experience in grades 6-12.

We do fully understand that there will be questions and concerns when a change of this significance is presented and the team of staff members who have worked on this over the past year have been very intentional in addressing all of the expected concerns some parents/students may have and in an effort to be fully transparent with all of this information, Mrs. McBride and Ms. Sandula have created a very detailed presentation that will walk through all of the changes, the rational and the impact. Although this presentation is over an hour in length, we felt that it is important for all parents to have access to the same info that was shared to our Board of Education on January 12.


Although I am confident that much, if not all questions/concerns are addressed in the provided presentation, our Board of Education will provide time at next week's meeting on February 2 to continue the discussion around this proposal with the option to vote for approval on Feb. 2 or at latest, Feb. 23. If specific questions/concerns are not addressed in the presentation, I encourage parents to reach out to Julia McBride (jmcb...@pinckneypirates.org) or Lori Sandula (lsan...@pinckneypirates.org) or feel free to address them and/or the Board personally at the meeting on February 2 at 7pm.

Have a great weekend, stay warm and as always, GO PIRATES!! 

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