[HSGuardian] PCS Weekly Update for 8/22/25 - A New Year Begins with Important Info!!
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'Rick Todd' via PCS Guardian
Aug 22, 2025, 11:31:40 AM8/22/25
to PCS Staff, PCS Guardian, Board of Ed
Hello Pirates and Happy "IT'S GO TIME" Friday!!
Welcome to the first of my weekly Friday updates and if you are new to our Pirate Family, know that you can expect a weekly communication directly from me every Friday that will provide information that may be pertinent to our entire school community and equally important, I will try to highlight many of the great events and people we have to celebrate here in Pinckney Community Schools. As a fellow parent, I know how important timely communication is and we look to provide multiple tools to keep you informed that includes district emails, which will include our district Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/pinckneymipirates), X (formerly Twitter) (https://twitter.com/pinckney schools), Web Page/LiveFeed (https://www.pinckneypirates.org/) and our district texting, which can be enabled in your students MiStar Back to School Registration under the contact section:
As I shared in a previous email, we will be enhancing our ability to communicate at the classroom level with what is referred to as "Rooms", which will be accessed through our Pinckney Community Schools App (can be downloaded from Apple Store or Google Play Store). I know parents are eager to get logged into this, but what needs to happen first is that our teachers will need to set up their classes in their version of Rooms and once everything is all set on their end, parents will receive an email, inviting you to join the "Room", which will then show up on the app. Given this is new to everyone, it will take us a little time to get this up and running for everyone, so we just ask for patience and grace as we work through the process.
Everyone at PCS has been working tirelessly over the past days, weeks and months in preparation for the beginning of the school year, which once again, begins this Monday, August 25 with students attending a half-day of school (dismal times can be found at each schools webpage). Although I know our amazing teachers work throughout the summer in preparation of students returning to their classrooms, we were excited to officially welcome them all back this past week as we spent the last two days together reconnecting with our Pirate family, while spending much of the time learning together, collaborating together and planning together. We also were able to welcome 13 new Pirate teachers as they represent the next generation of Pirates who will be teaching, mentoring and loving our children for years to come!!
Country Elementary:
Kassidy Davis - 2nd Gr
Stacy Wooster - Special Education
Farley Hill Elementary:
Rebecca Early - 1st Gr
Navigator Elementary:
Grace Campbell - 4th Gr
Johanna Decker - Special Education
Pathfinder Middle School:
MacKenzie Fratarcangeli - Special Education
Crystal Lewinski - Consumer Science
David Rice - Social Studies
PCHS:
Luke Larm - Math
Kelly Milliner - Science
Becky Glenn - ELA (Returning to PCS)
Kim Milton Hahn - Consumer Science/Psychology
Kathy Kibbie - Science (Long Term Sub)
Danielle Borton - ESL (English as Second Language) Teacher
Our opening day with staff this past Wednesday morning was spent reflecting on the hard work and successes of last year, with a commitment to continue our district-wide implementation of the Positivity Project, with a focus on providing lessons with more intentionality and relevance, especially for our high school aged students. We also spent time focusing on our commitment to use what we have learned about the negative impacts phones/digital devices can have on the learning process, mental health, development of personal relationships and student behavior. As a district, we are committed to creating an environment where our students understand the "Why" in limiting cell phone usage and equally important, making sure we as the adults are modeling the culture we are looking to create. We appreciate your support with this initiative as it will take all of us working together to help change the habits and mindset of our students.
After spending the past 30 years in education, with the past 12 serving as superintendent, I can honestly say that I am not aware of any other profession that goes from 0 to 60mph in what feels like a snap of the fingers, but that is exactly what happens at the beginning of each school year. There are so many moving parts that seem to instantly occur simultaneously in getting the school year in motion that includes transporting students on buses, managing the parent drop-off/pick up lines, managing medications & student health conditions, teaching students to open a locker for the first time, getting students to their classrooms, learning the cafeteria processes/routines which includes providing breakfast and doing this all with students as young as 5 years old (3 or 4 years old for our preschool students), all while making sure our students are safe, happy and feeling comfortable is nothing short of amazing!
With this being said, I will ask all of us to have patience and grace, especially during the first week as it will take us some time, especially with our youngest of Pirates, to teach them our systems, routines and process as once again, keeping them safe at all times will be the number one priority. Although I expect that our buses will be close to arriving at their designated times for pickup in the morning, I can say from experience that we can expect them to be running quite late (possibly 30-45 minutes) late when dropping off as we MUST ensure that all of our youngest of students get on the correct bus and we will not let our buses leave the schools until we are 100% each student is accounted for. I am confident that by the end of next week, this process will significantly improve as our students will learn and adapt very quickly, but once again, patience will be the key for everyone, including our parents who will be picking up their children at the end of the day as this process is equally important in getting your children to you safely.
**Once we have an estimate on how long the buses are running behind, I will send out both a text and email to parents so that you can have a better idea on when the buses will be arriving.
This same request for patience and grace holds true for Tuesday when our students will have lunch for the first time of the year and getting 200 plus students through the lunch line, fed and cleaned up in 25-30 is no easy task and once again, will take a little time for everyone to learn the processes. This will be especially important as once again, all of our students will have the opportunity to have free lunch and breakfast throughout the entire school year (Type A lunch) and the number of students taking advantage of this will continue to be high.
**I know there is a lot of talk in the media about the State budget not being completed and that the "Free breakfast/lunch" being funded by the State is in jeopardy for schools, which it is. But please know that because PCS qualified last year under the Community Eligibility Provision (a Federal Program), students attending PCS will continue to receive Free Breakfast & Lunch for the entire year, regardless of what happens with the state budget, which is great for our kids and families!!
Given my previous experience, I am sure we will encounter some bumps in the road, but at the same time, I am confident and fully trust that everything will quickly improve as our entire staff does an extraordinary job in supporting our students through these new experiences and when we come back from Labor Day break, things will be running efficiently as expected.
Thank you for being engaged and informed as I know this was a long email and we truly appreciate the support and trust you have in us as we are honored to be gifted with the safety, education and future of your most treasured possession, your children. I hope you all can have a great weekend and although this past week felt more like fall, summer is still here as it is never too late to take advantage of another trip on the lake, a dip in the pool or even a trip up north.
It was amazing visiting with so many of our students and families at our elementary open houses last night as the smiles, hugs, fist bumps and hand shakes truly reflects how special it is when our Pirate community comes back together. Thank you again for your support and trust as we can't wait to see our Pirates on Monday as we begin to set sail on the 2025-26 school year! LETS GOOOOOOOO PIRATES !! WE'VE GOT THIS!!!!!🏴☠️🏴☠️
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