May 2, 2025 - Weekly Update
Calendar: May 6 - No School - K-12 Students
AAPS District News
The AAPS District News shared an Exceptional Profile of a Haisley music teacher. We shared that Pioneer’s A Cappella Choir earns top state honor, Burns Park rings in 100 years with historic celebration and AAPS gymnasts soar to second place at Eastern National Championships. We also shared a Two Minutes at Haisley video, Skyline Theatre presents ‘Hadestown’ May 2-4 and challenges facing public education in Washtenaw County discussed at Town Hall. Read all of the AAPS District News stories here.
AAPS Board of Education
The next Board of Education Regular Meeting is Wednesday, May 7th, at 7:00 PM at 3700 Earhart Road.
Teacher Appreciation Week
Next week, May 5th—9th, is National Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to recognize the commitment and dedication of our exceptional AAPS teachers. A quality teacher makes all the difference in student growth and learning today and throughout a child’s development. Our AAPS students benefit tremendously from their learning experiences in our classrooms under the guidance of our extraordinary AAPS teachers.
We celebrate our teachers during this Teacher Appreciation Week and every week in the AAPS. We are grateful for their role in achieving our critical mission of caring for and serving our students.
On behalf of the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Board of Education, we recognize and thank our teachers for all they do every day for our children, their families and our community.
National School Lunch Hero Day
Today, the Ann Arbor Public Schools celebrated National School Lunch Hero Day. Our AAPS food and nutrition team truly serves as superheroes every day throughout the school year. The team works diligently to prepare and provide children with nutritious meals each school day across our 32 school locations. By the end of this 2024-2025 school year, they will have served more than a million meals, all while keeping the health and safety of our students and staff as their priority.
We salute our school lunch heroes who work hard to achieve our goal of ensuring quality food and nutrition support so our students continue to stay healthy, grow and learn each day.
National School Nurse Day
During National Nurses Week, we join school districts nationwide, Wednesday, May 7th, in celebrating National School Nurse Day to recognize school nurses who serve as valued members of our school teams in supporting the whole child.
National School Nurse Day was established more than 50 years ago to foster an improved understanding of the role of the school nurse in schools and to recognize the essential contributions school nurses make to student, school and community success. In recent years, the responsibilities of the school nurse have become increasingly more significant and vital for our students, school teams and families, especially those for whom access to quality healthcare beyond the school setting continues to be a challenge. Students with chronic conditions may miss school more often than others, affecting their academic performance. For these students, school nurses offer critical daily help in managing their conditions so they can learn and grow at school.
On behalf of the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Board of Education, we thank our school nurses for their dedication to what they do every day for our students, families and colleagues.
AAPS Enrollment
Neighborhood pre-enrollment is available for new students for the 2025-26 academic year! Applications are also being accepted for In-District Transfers, Non-Resident Children of Employees and Schools of Choice through May 14th. Schools and grades with space availability are posted at the links above. Approvals are based on space availability and are not processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
AAPS PLTW and CTE Expo
The AAPS PLTW and CTE Expo is Tuesday, May 13th, from 6 to 7:30 PM at Skyline. The expo will include a showcase of student work from Young 5s to 12th grade, hands-on interactive STEAM demonstrations, district robotics team and CTE Programs. More information here.
AAPS Freeman Spring Environmental Festival
Please join us on Saturday, May 17th at the Freeman Environmental Education Center (3540 Dixboro Lane) between 1 and 3:30 PM for an afternoon of family fun and educational activities - trivia, arts & crafts, native plants, high school student presentations, stewardship activities and more! We will have both indoor and outdoor activities, so please dress for the weather. Long pants and sleeves are recommended for the outdoor stewardship activities. Elementary and middle school students should be accompanied by a parent/guardian. More information and an RSVP form are available on the EE Program website.
Picnic Pops
Ann Arbor Public Schools Bands present Picnic Pops on Sunday, May 18th, on the Pioneer High School lawn. This free event includes performances by AAPS middle school, K-8 and high school bands, food trucks, games and more. More details here.
PTO Council District-wide Fundraiser
The Ann Arbor PTO Council, a support organization for AAPS PTOs, is writing today to share about our 2025 District-wide Fundraiser. Together with the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, our fundraiser raised over $55,000 in 2024, all of which was distributed to Title I school PTOs with no strings attached. This year, we hope to raise even more and would love your help. We launched our online fundraiser on March 6th with the hopes of boosting PTO funding at Title I elementary schools, and we are already seeing excitement build in the community.
How can you help? You can share information from our Facebook page. Thanks for any help you can provide in getting the word out! We are grateful for this community and partnership. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. PTOC Co-Chairs, Nicole Collines/Brittany Sayles: ptocchairs@gmail.com
Care Solace - AAPS Mental Health Partnership
Care Solace is AAPS’s free Mental Health and Substance Abuse Care Coordination Service. Care Solace is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to connect students, staff and their families to mental health, substance abuse and ABA service providers.
Over 200 languages are supported, and help is available to those with and without insurance.
Using Care Solace is easy!
- Call 888-515-0595 anytime. A dedicated Care Companion will help you every step of the way to research options, secure appointments and follow up with you to make sure it's a good fit.
- Search anonymously by visiting caresolace.com/aaps
Information about Care Solace is available in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin.
AAPS Free On-Demand Learning Resource For Students
The Ann Arbor Public Schools, in partnership with Varsity Tutors, is making a free set of 24/7 learning resources available to our students via Clever. Our 5th - 12th graders now have immediate access to a learning platform with the following:
· Chat Homework Help
· Asynchronous Academic Support Courses
· College Preparation Tools and Courses
· SAT Prep
· Myriad Live and Asynchronous Extracurricular Courses like coding, chess, comic drawing and more.
The Varsity Tutors Platform gives students more opportunities to learn at their own pace. We invite you to view this short video overview of the platform and resources.
AAPS Securly Tip Line
AAPS is pleased to offer this anonymous tip line for students, staff and families to address bullying, mental health concerns or important “See Something, Say Something” concerns. The Securly Tip Line can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play, and a bookmark will be placed on all student Chromebooks. Students, staff and parents can initiate an anonymous tip outside the app via phone: 1-833-300-STOP, email: tipline@securly.com or their website: https://www.securly.com/tip.
AAPS Securly Parent Portal
In the Ann Arbor Public Schools, we utilize a cloud-based web filter called Securly to keep students safe on their district-issued devices. To help parents monitor their child’s online activity at home, AAPS offers the free Securly Home app. This application allows web-based filtering and parental controls on district-issued devices at home. Parents may set rules to allow or disallow certain websites, pause the Internet connection to the device as desired and receive weekly usage reports.
Rec & Ed
This weekend! Kidfest 2025 Family Concert Calling all families with young children! You’re invited to the annual Kidfest Family Concert on Saturday, May 3rd, from 3 to 5 PM at the Leslie Science and Nature Center. Sing and dance with popular local musician Joe Reilly. Proceeds fund scholarships for Rec & Ed’s early childhood programs. Click HERE for event information and to purchase tickets.
Only 6 weeks until Summer - Sign up now for Summer Camp! Rec & Ed’s summer camps are filling up fast, but spaces are still available. View all camps here.
Summer Camp Spotlight: Project Lead the Way (PLTW) STEM Camps!
Taught by certified AAPS Project Lead the Way Teachers, these NEW camps feature PLTW modules not taught during the school year. Camps engage students in STEM projects on how animals adapt to their environments, the science of flight, and patterns in the universe. Learn more and link to registration here:
Speaking of Summer…Time is Running Out to Apply for Rec & Ed's High School Volunteer Program (HSVP) - Deadline is Friday, May 16th. Learn more about this program here. Questions? Contact Elyse Bairley at bairley@a2schools.org.
Youth Baseball, Softball and T-Ball Registration is open for Y5-8th grades. The season will run from June 16th through the beginning of August. More information and a link to register are here. Games and practices are held at local fields throughout Ann Arbor. All skill levels welcome - no experience necessary!
Register now for a Spring or Summer Rec & Ed Class Come take a walk on the fun side! Registration for youth and adult after-school, evening and weekend classes is now open. Our instructors are subject matter experts, our classes are convenient and affordable, and most importantly, our welcoming environment helps strengthen our community. There are class options for all ages and skill levels, and many scholarships are available! Register today at aarecedonline.com.
Community Events and Information
Washtenaw County Health Department Offering Measles Vaccines
The Health Department is providing walk-in MMR vaccinations on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 3 PM at 555 Towner in Ypsilanti. The Health Department can check vaccine records if you’re not sure of your status. They can vaccinate those with Medicaid, Medicare, Washtenaw Health Plan, BCBS and those with no insurance. More information here.
Support Children Facing Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
May’s WISD Mental Health Workshop on Tuesday, May 13th at 7 PM will focus on supporting children facing anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Dr. Emily Bilek, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, will provide an overview of these concerns and “do’s and don’ts” for caregivers. Learn more here. Register here.
Recordings of past WISD mental health workshops for parents can be found on WISD's website here. Scroll down, click the + next to Parents/Guardians and then click on the video you'd like to watch.
How to Address a Concern in the AAPS
If you have a concern in the AAPS, we want to hear directly from you. Please reach out directly to an adult, teacher, counselor or the principal at your child’s school. If additional assistance is needed with school issues beyond the school level:
For early childhood and elementary level issues, contact Melita Alston, Executive Director, Early Childhood and Elementary Education: alston@a2schools.org
For High School, Middle School and K-8 school issues, contact Dr. Roberta Heyward, Executive Director, K-8, Middle and High School Education: heywardr@a2schools.org