August 21, 2025 Update
Good afternoon,
This email has two important parts.
First, school starts this coming Monday – August 25.
As a staff we have spent time preparing for this important day. Throughout the summer our staff has moved furniture, cleaned rooms, finished some and started other construction projects, enrolled students, and connected new technology like network switches and student devices.
Just this week, our staff has thought deeply about continuing to create a positive school culture, reviewed safety protocols, focused on how to ensure our students learn, reviewed bus routes, continued our exploration of artificial intelligence and its application in schools, and ensured that our school breakfast and lunch menus are ready.
As you look forward to the first day of school on Monday, August 25, be sure to review school day routines with your children.
- What time will we be getting up?
- What time will we be going to bed?
- When do we leave for school?
- Am I walking, taking the bus, or being driven to school?
- Where do we pick up the bus?
- What time does the bus come?
- Am I packing a lunch or getting lunch at school?
- When will I do homework?
- Where will I do homework?
- Where do we go after school?
Talking through the school schedule and the school day with your children will be very helpful as the first day of school arrives.Most students will have some level of anxiety. That is normal. Listen to your children. Reassure your children. Everyone at school wants your child to have a great experience on their first day. If they have questions they can ask the adults in the school.
Together we will get through the first day, and the first few days, of school successfully.
We are excited to welcome your children back to a great school environment.
I also wanted to update you on an important issue in Lansing that could impact our students, staff, and programs in the coming months.
State law mandates that lawmakers approve a K-12 school funding budget by July 1 each year so districts like ours can plan and operate with certainty. That deadline has passed, and no agreement has been reached. And it appears that no agreement is near.
We are moving forward trying to anticipate what will come. That is challenging and uncertain. We have even heard talk that this may drag on until the end of September. If no agreement is reached by September 30th, there is a possibility of a state government shutdown. That could possibly delay our state aid payment scheduled for October.
At the heart of the deadlock is a proposal to redirect dollars from the School Aid Fund – the fund voters were promised would be dedicated to K-12 education – to other priorities, including road repairs. While there are many important priorities in our state, education is certainly one of them. The school aid fund, approved by voters in 1994, was established to provide fair and equitable statewide funding for public schools.
Our last 2024-2025 school aid payment was sent to us on August 20th. We receive no additional state aid until October 20th. We cannot operate indefinitely without resources. The solution seems simple: lawmakers should approve a K-12 budget that safeguards School Aid Fund dollars for their original purpose – educating Michigan’s children.
I would encourage you to reach out to our state representative and state senator to urge them to work together to pass a school aid budget.
I have reached out to our elected representatives to urge them to pass a school aid budget. But, it would be very helpful if our parents would reach out as well.
The message is simple:
- Strong public schools should be a priority
- School aid needs to be a priority
- Public schools received no additional state aid in the 2024-2025 school year
- Public schools need a boost to make up for the lack of a cost-of-living increase in 2024-25 and the rising costs in 2025-26
- School aid needs to support K-12 education as much as possible
- Higher education is important but they can raise tuition or expand enrollment to generate revenue.
- K-12 public school districts do not have those options.
- School aid needs to be funded with continuing funds – not one-time budget gimmicks.
- Critical funds for transportation, school meals, and school safety and mental health needs to be part of the school funding package
Our State Representative is Bryan Posthumus, BryanPosthumus@house.mi.gov Office: 517-373-0830Our State Senator for Rockford and Plainfield Township is Mark Huizenga SenMHuizenga@senate.michigan.gov Office: 517-373-0797 and for Algoma, Cannon, Courtland, Grattan, and Oakfield Townships is Rick Outman SenROutman@senate.michigan.gov Office: 517-373-3760.
A simple email from you highlighting these key points would be helpful.
Thank you for any time you could give to this important matter.
All of us look forward to seeing your children at school on Monday, August 25.
Steve
Dr. Steve Matthews
Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools
Parkside Discussion:
Questions about Teacher Collaboration
This document is intended to answer questions that have arisen as we have begun a conversation about repurposing Parkside Elementary to an Early Childhood Center.
The importance of teacher collaboration:
When schools have only one teacher per grade level, students miss out on the advantages of a collaborative teaching team working together daily. This includes teamwork, shared expertise, and differentiated instruction. Having at least two grade level sections in each building where teachers are collaborating together ensures that every child receives a high-quality, well-rounded environment that supports their learning.
1. Stronger Teaching Through Collaboration and Consistency in Learning
- When teachers work together in a building, they easily share ideas, lesson plans, and strategies that help improve instruction for all students.
- Research shows that when teachers collaborate, student achievement improves significantly (Visible Learning, Hattie, 2009).
- With multiple teachers at the same grade level, all students at a grade level in the building receive a similar, high-quality education.
- Schools that follow the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model (DuFour, 2004) see higher student success rates because teachers meet regularly to discuss student progress and adjust instruction based on data.
- Research (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) shows that when teachers work in teams, they are less stressed, more motivated, and stay in the profession longer.
2. Better Support for Different Learning Needs
- Every child learns differently, and when multiple teachers work together, they can group students flexibly to give them more personalized instruction.
- Struggling students get extra help, and advanced learners receive challenges that keep them engaged.
- Studies on differentiated instruction (Tomlinson, 2001) show that when teaching is tailored to a student’s level, learning improves dramatically.
- When teachers work as a grade level team, they can identify areas where students are struggling and quickly provide support to keep them on track.
- Common assessments across classrooms help ensure that every child is making progress and getting the support they need.
- In multi-section grades, students may have opportunities to interact with different teachers, which helps them adapt to different teaching styles and personalities.
- Flexible grouping across classrooms allows students to work with peers at similar academic levels, keeping them challenged and engaged.
