Greatest Year Ever
A teacher was joking with me by pointing out, “If this is the greatest year ever, then what do you call next year?” Those teachers…they’re a funny bunch at times. Perhaps the “greatest year ever” is a bit hyperbolic, but, for sure, this year is filled with greatness worthy of celebration.
From an operations standpoint, there is certainly a lot of “greatness” to celebrate. Within the last year alone, WLPS refinanced its bonds again saving taxpayers another $1.5 million (added to the $4.5 million saved a couple of years ago), invested $250,000 in instructional technology and infrastructure, balanced another budget while maintaining a healthy fund balance, and completed another successful inspection of our old, but effective, bus fleet with a 100% pass rate!
Academically, our elementary students continue to benefit from a robust and newly aligned English and Language curriculum which pushes us even further away from a “one size fits all” teaching model to one that digs deeper into meeting each child’s individual needs. Our math curriculum has WLPS test scores in the top five districts in Livingston/Washtenaw counties! Our middle school students continue to use STEM activities to engage their learning AND have had their science and social studies instruction enhanced by integrating technology for more differentiated instruction. With adding Advanced Placement Calculus for the 2019/2020 school year, WLHS continues to build its strong academic profile in this highly competitive region of the state. These are great accomplishments!
The Board of Education spends a good deal of time monitoring the district’s budgets and students’ achievements. However, as part of its Strategic Planning, the Board also values the cultural and community needs of our students. Consequently, WLPS offers a host of programs and opportunities aimed at engaging all students, helping them get the most out of their experience at our schools. Here is a quick highlight of some programs and opportunities available to our students:
- MS and HS Robotics clubs
- MS and HS Drama clubs
- Expanded Athletic offerings
- Added wrestling in 17/18
- Added Clay Target (Trap) in 18/19
- Added Hockey in 19/20
- Manufacturing Careers tours
- Trips to Mackinac Island, Holocaust Museum, 5th/6th Camp, Washington DC, Cedar Point Physics Day, Europe and the list keeps growing
- Marching Band competitions
- College tours at every high school grade
- Swim lessons for all 1st-4th graders
- Fun Fests, Pumpkin Decorating, North Pole Night
If you want a more complete look at all we have to offer, you can check out the Get Involved Guide available HERE.
Whether you want to look at the operation, financial, academic, or extracurricular side of WLPS, even though we are just wrapping up the month of October, there are already lots of reasons why we could declare this the greatest year ever. But we are making that declaration not so much out of judging that this will, in fact, be the greatest year, but more as a challenge to inspire each other to seek out opportunities to make this year (and every year here at WLPS) the #BestYearEver.
It’s a great year to be a Trojan.