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Brandon Today!
As 2016 comes to an end, we look forward to another great year in 2017. The 2016-17 school year is going well as our students continue to learn and grow at excellent rate. While we are pleased with the district's progress, we continue to work to make the Brandon School District the best that it can be. As such, we have three new study groups that are working to take our district to the next level. The following are our work groups and targets for the 2016-17 school year:
- Communication Study Group - While the volume of communication has increased greatly over the past few years, we have a work group that is specifically looking at the effectiveness of our two-way communication as a school district. I invite you to read the section below on streamlining district communication.
- Parent Study Group - Last month, a group of parents from across the district met to begin discussing the parent role in education. Our first topic was district communication and this month we will discuss learning at home. We will meet, strategize and share tips related to how the district can better utilize the powerful role that parents hold in student learning.
- Homework Study Group - I would invite you to read the article below on homework. Extending learning beyond the school day can be extremely valuable, but it must be done in the most effective manner possible to maximize student learning. We are committed to making the most of these learning opportunities.
As we continue our work to be the best that we can be, I want to thank you all for your partnership and for choosing the Brandon School District. Go Blackhawks!!
Dr. Matthew S. Outlaw
Superintendent of Schools
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From the Classroom:
Curriculum & Instruction
High Quality Homework
One of the areas of study for the Brandon School District this year is homework. As we consider homework as educators, we are reviewing the purpose for homework, the amount, the delivery mechanism and the student's ability to do the assignment without help from a professional. Ultimately, we want to ensure that homework truly extends learning and is the highest quality that it can be. While we review and continue to refine what we do as educators, I wanted to share a few of the many ways that parents can help support homework at home:
- Set a regular time and place to study. Be sure to remove distractions to maximize their focus on learning.
- Show an interest and let them know that you too value homework.
- Be available to help when necessary, but make sure that they are doing the work.
- Review completed assignments and offer positive reinforcement for their efforts.
Thank you so much for making homework a priority. We greatly appreciate your help!
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Parent's Corner
This fall, one of our initiatives has been to improve the quality of communication across the district. The following are a few areas that the district sees as needing improvement:
- Too many emails, eblasts and reminders are being sent by the district. Parents have expressed that it is overwhelming and leading many to not even open communications.
- Communication formats dramatically vary between buildings and even between teachers within those buildings. Our communication work group identified more than 20 different ways that district employees are currently communicating with parents with many requiring varying passwords for entry. Parents are again feeling overwhelmed.
- Communication is typically one-way and allows little voice for parents.
The following are a few of the ideas that the district is actively pursuing towards the objective of improving communication:
- Prioritizing communication - We cannot allow less important communications such as fliers for community events to crowd out essential communication that may be coming from teachers.
- Regimenting communication - We are considering having standard days for all principals and the district to ensure that teacher communication remains our highest priority. For example, you will be receiving this communication on the first Monday of each month.
- Streamline our formats of communication
- Website for all - We would like to have every teacher have a uniform website that would be the central point for communication with parents.
- A district recommended learning management system - Perhaps all K-3 teachers would use Seesaw and 4-12 teachers may use Google Classrooms if they choose to use a learning management system.
- Virtual bulletin board - Many less important fliers and announcements could be shared on a virtual bulletin board rather than being sent directly to parents.
- More parent voice - More work is needed in this area, however we have experimented with parent/student goal setting this fall to help increase the parent voice.
We will continue to work on this, but we appreciate your patience and feedback as we work to be as effective as possible as communicators.
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Inclement Weather Procedures
With winter upon us, I would like to share the following information related to inclement weather days. Please review the following for current district procedures Brandon Inclement Weather Procedures |
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Operations Updates
In my first three years with the Brandon School District, one of the biggest surprises has been the drain on district resources that comes from operating our buildings. While this is similar for all school districts, I thought that I would share a glimpse into some of the operational costs that can affect any district's budget:
- Waste Water Treatment
- Approximately $100,000 to address the septic field issues at Harvey-Swanson/HT Burt in 2015.
- Approximately $200,000 to replace the waste water treatment plant at BFIS.
- Approximately $200,000 in the last two years for hydrogeology studies, test wells and legal fees as demanded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
- $1,500,000 for the replacement of the high school/middle school treatment plant by November of 2019.
- Boilers – We have two boilers at Oakwood that are being replaced at a cost of $67,000.
- Fire alarm repair – We had a surprise failure of our high school fire alarm system for a cost of approximately $120,000.
- Climate control – We had climate control issues during 2015-16 at the middle school for a cost of over $100,000.
- General upkeep – In addition to these bigger projects, we spend around $300,000 a year on general upkeep for our buildings such as fixing toilets, electrical, heating and cooling and so much more.
This isn't unlike our own homes. The older they get, the more expensive the upkeep can get. As a district, we are working to be very proactive and to ensure that our buildings are optimal for student learning. |
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Staff in the Spotlight
Please join me in congratulating this month's Extraordinary Blackhawk of the Month
Brian Moore, Brandon High School & Brandon Virtual School
If you have been involved in just about anything with the Brandon School District, you have likely met Brian Moore. Mr. Moore is involved in so many things in our district and he positively impacts our students in countless ways. He is a successful economics teacher at the high school, the founder of the Brandon Virtual School and he works as a communication specialist for the district. He is also a part of many district committees, he works with the BFIS running club and he is part of the team that works to get the good word out about what Brandon students are doing. We are blessed to have him on staff and we thank Mr. Moore for his dedication to Brandon.
If you would like to nominate a staff member for the Extraordinary Blackhawk of the Month, please email me at moutlaw@brandon.k.12.mi.us or submit the following form to mschubring@brandon.k12.mi.us ( nomination form).
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Upcoming Events
There's always something exciting happening in the Brandon School District
Here are just a few of our upcoming events:
- December 7th - MS/HS holiday choir concert - 7 p.m. at the PAC
- December 10th - District kindergarten and early childhood breakfast with Santa - 9-10:30 a.m. at Oakwood
- December 15th - HS holiday band concert 7 p.m. at the PAC
- December 19th - Board of Education Meeting
- December 22nd-January 2nd - Holiday break
*Each school has individual schedules, so please refer to their individual school web-sites for specifics.
There are Athletics events happening every day. For the complete schedule, click here: Athletic Schedule
Note to Parents:
If you know of any Brandon special events you'd like to share with your fellow parents, please email me the information at moutlaw@brandon.k12.mi.us Thank you!
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