Baraga Area Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2023 Baraga Area Schools Approves New Strategic Plan Baraga, Mich.—The Baraga Area Schools Board of Education approved a new Strategic Plan intended to guide the work of the district the next five-years. Stakeholder feedback was important to the board and superintendent in this process and included the voices of more than 100 students, staff and community members. The process also included data collection and other efforts to create a shared vision and goals for the future of the district and strategies to achieve them, all while using scarce public education resources in the most effective and efficient way. Stakeholder input, along with essential district data, provided the basis for the district to choose five priority goals to be implemented over the next five years. The benefits of the strategic planning process are many. Most notable are: • Provides integrated, important input from community and staff • Sets focused strategic goals that identify target areas to improve student achievement • Clearly delineates the role of the Board of Education and the superintendent/staff in strategic planning • Uses data to set goals and make important decisions • Helps identify areas to allocate increasingly scarce resources • Aligns Board priorities with school improvement processes Ms. JoAnne Danielson, the Baraga Area Schools Board of Education President stated, “As school board members, we have to make the best decisions in these challenging, changing times. It is essential we use data forecasting and stakeholder input to make decisions and set shared priorities for the future of our district.” Although the Pandemic put the plan on hold for a number of months Debbie Stair, M.N.M.L., Assistant Director of Leadership Development at the Michigan Association of School Boards, along with Craig Allen, Consultant, MASB worked with the leadership team to recently complete the strategic plan. Stair said, “Baraga Area Schools and MASB worked together to design a customized process that ensured broad stakeholder involvement and will result in an effective strategic plan implementation.”

Reminder - No School October 13

Here is the information on next week's Spirit Week activities. Enjoy!

Here is the second edition of the BAS Newsletter! Enjoy!

Izzie W., one of our digital art students, won a design contest put on by the Keweenaw Wild Bird R.E.C. Way to go Izzie! Digital Art (graphic design) is a major part of our daily lives. It involves a lot of computer science as well. I'm glad we can offer this class at Baraga.

10/09/2023 LUNCH: Monday – Chicken Alfredo with noodles, peas, fruit, 1% milk Tuesday – Fajitas, salsa, corn, fruit ,1% milk Wednesday – Chicken tender wrap with sweet chili sauce, lettuce, and cheese, fruit, 1% milk Thursday – Hot dog, beans, chips, fruit,1% milk Friday – No School In-Service After-School tutoring: Mondays with Ms. McElroy in Rm 216 Tuesdays with Ms. Cavanaugh in Rm 213 Wednesdays with Mrs. DeShambo in Rm 211 Thursdays with Mrs. DeShambo in Rm 211 Don’t forget you can request the song in the morning for a $1. The money goes to the Senior Class. Every Friday and Monday mornings at 8:00 Ms. Dunham will be providing smudging in her room, Rm 223. Teachers, students are only allowed to come to the HS office for snacks in between classes. An ear bud was found in the bathroom. If it’s yours, please see Michele in the main office. Students make sure you have your VIKES cards handy! The teachers have been challenged to identify as many positive behaviors as possible. If you are in need of a new card, please come to the office. Students that leave for any reason during the school day – You are now required to re-turn using the front entrance, ONLY! The 2 nd Annual Turkey Trot will be November 18 th . Please see the fliers around the school for Information. Student Council meeting today at high school lunch time. Grab your lunch and bring it to Mrs. Rinkinen’s room. Mrs. Pruett is not in today. ATHLETICS: Upcoming Sporting Events: Monday, 10/9 – MS girls basketball vs Ontonagon @ home 5:30 Tuesday, 10/10 – Wednesday, 10/11 – Thursday, 10/12 – MS girls basketball vs Houghton @ home, JV Football vs Gwinn @ home 6:30, F/JV/V Volleyball @Lake Linden – Hubbell 5:30, Cross Country CMC Finals @ Ironwood 4:00 Friday, 10/13 –

This year, we are continuing to celebrate our staff members by posting Staff Shout Outs. Today's staff member is Helen Jondreau. Helen has been a member of our school family for 25 years! We can't imagine our school without you, Helen! Thank you for all you do!

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING BARAGA AREA SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION SINKING FUND NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THERE WILL BE A COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE BARAGA AREA SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION SINKING FUND COMMITTEE, ON THE 9th DAY OF OCTOBER AT 3:45 A.M./P.M. IN THE BARAGA HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY TO DISCUSS: 1. Project updates 2. Bleacher replacement options

A survey to collect input on the exploration of consolidation between L'Anse and Baraga Schools is available on the school website and LiveFeed. Community input is a vital part of the decision making process so please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Responses will be collected through October 27th. https://www.baragaschools.org/live-feed

Community members are invited to take the following survey on potential consolidation. Responses will be accepted through October 27th. https://forms.gle/XWmdHbb2vu497ZXu7

Due to technical difficulties, this is last week's newsletter. Sorry for the delay!

The Baraga Student Council is selling Sayklly's Caramel Apples again this year! Orders will be taken until Oct 11th and delivery is scheduled for Oct 25th. See a Student Council member, or email arinkinen@baragaschools.org to place an order!

Please see the attached flyer for information on an in-home daycare training opportunity - the scholarship deadline has been extended to October 2!

Please see the attached flyer for information on a Community Grief Awareness event.

Sign up for discounted Internet Connectivity. Learn more and find options available using the links below: https://getinternet.gov/ https://www.everyoneon.org/find-offers

STEM Night hosted by KBIC Promise Neighborhoods

Dear Baraga Area School Families, We are excited to welcome students back to school today. Below are some reminders for the 23-24 school year. We will continue using our messaging system that allows us to email, call, and/or text families information in the event of school closing, snow days, emergencies and other urgent or important announcements. We plan to test this system in the coming weeks. Please make sure to update phone numbers and email addresses on the student back to school forms. If your contact information changes throughout the year please call the office ASAP, so we can make those changes in the system. You will receive calls from 906-353-6664 and texts from 98900. There is a brief pause before the message begins so please wait on a voice call to let the message play. The building is open for students starting at 7:50 AM and the kitchen will be serving breakfast at that time. Download our school app from the app store to stay current on menus, events, staff directory, alerts, and all the great things going on at Baraga Schools. Remember to turn on notifications to get instant push notifications. Get logged in to your PowerSchool portal and be sure to check it often to stay updated on student progress. Contact your student’s teacher with questions or concerns relating to classes and contact the office for help with PowerSchool accounts. School lunches and breakfasts will continue to be free to all students. The Application for School Meals and Summer EBT with the Michigan School Meals Program collects information needed to ensure the school receives state and federal funding for education programs. Please continue to fill out this application for free and reduced meals, even though meals are free for all. Without this information, Baraga Area Schools could lose important state funding for educational programs that our students are entitled to receive. Thank you for your continued support as we look forward to an outstanding school year. Go Vikings! Sincerely, Lori Wisniewski Superintendent

Please join us for the Open House and 6th Grade Orientation today - starting at 1:30pm!

Scheduling Update

Due to a syncing problem between the Powerschool site and app, middle school class schedules will be delayed. Sorry for the inconvenience.