The Au Gres-Sims School District

It has finally arrived, the return to learning for the 2022-2023 school year. If Wednesday night's Open House event is any indication then you are all as excited as we are for the new year to begin.

In case you missed it, last week's newsletter included:

• New cell phone policy
• High School Scheduling changes
• Half of the new faces on our staff (the other half is in this newsletter)
• Class supply lists
• Printable school and sport calendars

Be sure to check it out here: Weekly Wolverine Update - August 19, 2022

Stay organized this fall with our school calendar. We have provided it here for you in two formats.

August/September Dates:

AUGUST

• 29th: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

SEPTEMBER

• 2nd: No school - Student and Staff Holiday
• 5th: No school - LABOR DAY - Student and Staff Holiday
• 9th: Hall of Fame Induction Football Game/Ceremony
• 14th-16th: Middle School Fieldtrip to Hartley Outdoor Education Center
• 19th: Board of Education regular meeting 6pm in the Elementary Library
• 21st: Early Release at 1pm
• 23rd: Homecoming Football Game
• 24th: Homecoming Dance

We have a new time and procedure regarding student drop off in the morning. As always, students can still be dropped off at 7:45, but they will not be able to go into their classrooms until 7:55. Prior to 7:55, all students must go to the Multipurpose Room. Hopefully, all students will take this time to enjoy a free and healthy breakfast. FYI, we also have free lunch for all students again this year, too! Although breakfast and lunch are free, there is still State paperwork that we need you to fill out and return to the school.

Attached are the bus routes for this school year. As always, please be patient on these beginning days as all of the little bugs on the schedule, such as late registrations affecting pickup/dropoff times, are worked through. Please allow 5-10 minutes leeway before and after the designated times until these times become more consistent. Bus routes can also be found on the school website. For our Career Center families, the bus will leave the parking lot at 6:35 promptly. This is 10 minutes earlier than normal, but accounts for construction and making sure we are early at the beginning of the year. If students choose to ride OR drive to the Career Center, they MUST have a permission form on file in the main office first. Failure to do so may jeopardize future driving opportunities. This policy is for safety purposes.

For MS/HS families, if you were unable to pick up your schedules and chromebooks at our Open House and Schedule/Chromebook pick up, these can be picked up first thing in the morning on our first day of school next Monday, the 29th. Chromebooks can be picked up in the RTC room, MS schedules can be picked up from Mrs. Socha in the MS hallway next to Ms. Rinn’s room (Mr. Cruff’s old room), and HS schedules can be picked up from Mr. Ostrander in the hall next to the Innovation Lab. When picking up your chromebook, fliers are also provided offering the opportunity to purchase insurance for the school year. The cost is $22 for HP Chromebooks and $28 for Dell Chromebooks. This offer ends September 26. Insurance must be purchased online using the link below:

https://gpo.worthavegroup.com/gpo/agsschools/

At our Open House on Wednesday night there was a misprint for the 9th grade locker combinations on the schedules that were distributed. The fix is pretty simple, the correct combination for your new locker in the high school is the same as last year, the lock was just moved.

If your student does not remember their combination from last year they have a couple of options:

• It can be looked up in Skyward Family Access under Student Info (preferred option) - OR -
• Student may go to the main office on Monday to get it from Ms. Vollbach

It will likely not come as a surprise to anyone, but there are supply chain issues within the food service industry. As such, we will likely be publishing the lunch menu on a week-to-week basis rather than our monthly posting. Please look for it here in the Weekly Newsletter and through our school website and social media postings.

With the transition from emergency pandemic response to a more standard approach for controlling respiratory viral diseases by the CDC, MDHHS, and CMDHD, we have updated our protocols for COVID-19 for this school year.

We ask that you continue to monitor your child(ren) for symptoms of COVID-19 and keep them home when they are sick. The attached letters provide the details of our protocols.

We have a large number of new staff members joining our team, as well as current staff members who are taking on new roles here in our district. We are excited to introduce you to our newest members of the Wolverine family!

Next week we will introduce you to a few more new faces as employees return to campus.

Over the summer AGS went through an audit process of our safety and security and made some upgrades to our system. We have been actively working with the Arenac County Sheriff's Department throughout the process and are excited to share some of the improvements that we have made.

• NightLock Devices (pictured) were installed to all classrooms and offices
• Installation of the SAFE system - audio and video coverage for every classroom that can notify administration of an emergency with the touch of a button by teaching staff
• New Buses that have 4 security cameras on each
• Revision of our Critical Incident Plan with input from local police that includes best practices and the incorporation of new systems
• Instructional staff training on disruptive behaviors and cues to look for
• Active shooter police training conducted on our campus

In our continued effort to build a unique and special culture for Au Gres-Sims Middle School, our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students will once again be travelling to the Hartley Outdoor Education Center in St. John's for a 3-day, 2-night outdoor learning and team-building field trip. Our first time attending last year was successful and since that time our staff has been working with administration and the Hartley staff to create an even better experience for our students.

The trip will take place Wednesday, September 14th through Friday, September 16th, with students and teachers spending two nights at Hartley. While there, our students will participate in hands-on learning activities, House-centered team-building, and relationship building with their teachers and peers. To promote participation for this experience, both middle school football and volleyball teams will not have practice nor games during these days.

The head of Hartley, Eric Rutherford, will be on campus during our open house to field any questions that you may have about the trip. Additionally, the administration of AGS and Mr. Beardsley are great resources to get your questions answered. The cost of the trip is $20 and we encourage all students to participate. Grades will be given during the trip and students who choose not to attend will still be expected to do an alternative series of assignments during those three days.

Attached below this post are documents that will need to be completed and submitted prior to participation on the trip. Please don't wait and get started now on filling out and turning in these forms!

If you are interested in ordering Hartley Gear, the time to do so is now. Check out the attached order form below for details.

Fall sports season is upon us, with our high school teams kicking off games this week.

Schedules for the Fall Sports Teams are listed below, and are available to print with the attached documents.

The Sandlot Sports Au Gres-Sims Football Fan Wear Store is open. Make sure you check it out and get your gear ordered quick before the window closes on Wednesday, September 7.

A big thank you to the voters of the community who approved our non-homestead operating millage renewal on August 2nd.

In order to run the most efficient campaign in the future and maximize our resources accordingly, we are asking that you take 3 minutes to complete this short, 3 question survey about the methods used to spread the word.

AGS Successful Millage Feedback Survey

AGS is still looking for a morning and afternoon bus driver to complete our full compliment for the 22-23 school year. If you are someone you know is interested please check out the job vacancy listing and contact the administrative office for more details.

Job Posting - Bus Driver

Job Opportunities at AGS

We are also always on the lookout for substitute teachers. If interested, please inquire with Mrs. Miller in the district administration office, (989) 876-7157.

https://www.ags-schools.org/employment-opportunities--95

Email: web@ags-schools.org
Website: www.ags-schools.org
Location: 310 South Court Street, Au Gres, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 876-7150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuGresSims/?ref=br_rs
Twitter: @agsschools