2.18.26 Superintendent Update
Communication Survey
Part of our Family and Partnership pillar is assessing our communication practices. We do a great deal of communicating; from the classroom, building, and district, hundreds of communications are sent each week. Are you receiving the communications you want? Are you receiving them the way you want? Do you feel that you have a way to engage in two -way communication with the district? Let us know by taking a moment to answer six questions about communication with Alpena Public Schools. Click here to answer the questions.
Strategic Plan Summit
It is hard to believe, but our third annual Strategic Plan Summit is coming up. Please join us at the Wildcat Den on February 23rd, from 6-8 pm. We will be sharing updates on the progress of the Strategic Plan. This summit is an opportunity for two-way communication between the community and the district. It has been a very busy year moving forward with the strategic plan. I hope you will join us to hear about all that we are focusing on and the plans going forward.
Reimagine Our Future: Together Update
Alpena Public Schools has faced 50 years of declining enrollment during the same time, the median age of Alpena County has doubled. Once serving over 9,200 students, APS currently enrolls just over 3,600 students. 13 schools have been closed, and we now have one school for every 67 square miles of our district, whereas some districts in Michigan have 23 school buildings in a 70-square-mile range. We spend over $2.5 million a year on transporting our students. Unlike other times in our history, the district is in a wonderful position, financially, to be proactive in thinking about the footprint of the district. Thus, we have engaged in long-term planning with our staff, community, and Kingscott Associates through our Reimagine Our Future: Together project.
Thank you to the 248 people who filled out the Reimagine Our Future: Together survey. This past week, a team of administrators, along with Robert Atkins and Laura Casai from Kingscott Associates, reviewed the feedback provided thus far. There is still time for you to provide your feedback as we work together to reimagine the future of APS. You can view the community forums and fill out the survey by going to our website www.alpenaschools.com.
We will be providing an update on the work we are doing with Kingscott Associates at our Strategic Plan Summit, and we also have plans to do another community forum shortly before Spring Break this year.