Free fresh food for families in need will be available at the Gerry Kulick Community Center, thanks to Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Distribution is from 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm.

• July 7
• July 21
• August 4
• August 18
• September 1

See the flyer for pick-up procedure, full details.

Agenda

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth. Juneteenth​ is a festival held annually on​ June 19th​ ​to commemorate emancipation from slavery in Texas.

Why Texas, you may ask?  Throughout the Civil War, ​Texas was not as closely monitored as other battle states​.​ For this reason, many slave owners went to Texas in order to keep those they’d enslaved as long as possible. After the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect (Jan. 1, 1863), people enslaved in war-torn states often escaped behind Union lines or fought on its behalf, ultimately winning the war (April 9, 1865). However, approximately 250,000 enslaved people in Texas had no idea that their freedom had been secured. 

On​ June 19, 1865,​ Union General Gordon Granger led thousands of federal troops to Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended over two months earlier, and everyone had been freed. In the 1870s, ​a group of those recently freed pooled $800 together through local churches to purchase ten acres of land and create Emancipation Park to host future Juneteenth celebrations in modern-day Houston. ​In 1980 ​“Emancipation Day in Texas” became a legal state holiday in recognition of Juneteenth. State offices, however, do not completely close, as it is considered a "partial staffing holiday." Elsewhere, the holiday is also referred to as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day. Many continue to celebrate Juneteenth. Throughout the nation people host cookouts, parades, and other gatherings to commemorate.

In 2019, ​Opal Lee of Fort Worth, TX began walking across the nation at the age of 92 to bring awareness to her campaign for Juneteenth to be a ​National Day of Observance​. "Now​, ​46 states have it as a state holiday​ and there's no reason for it not to be a national holiday," she said. Opal kicked off her movement in Detroit in July 2019, specifically to gain the attention of the 20 presidential candidates in town for the CNN Democratic national debate. She, her family and friends, as well as Detroiters, walked from Hart Plaza along the Riverwalk through downtown to the historic Second Baptist Church (she walked to Washington DC as well). There is currently a proposal in the United States Senate to declare Juneteenth a widely observed holiday. For more information on Opal Lee's journey, check out ​opalswalk2dc.com

Get more background on Juneteenth and the history leading up the annual celebration from The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture.

Read more about Juneteenth 

Summer is here, and the summer slide poses an especially large challenge after 3 months of distance learning. To keep students intellectually engaged and learning throughout the summer, our educators have organized the IXL Summer Challenge. Students only need to login to IXL using their Clever accounts and start practice their skills online. Reward will be given for reaching the learning hour milestones below.

K-5 Reward Levels

• 250 minutes
• 500 minutes
• 1000 minutes

6-12 Reward Levels

• 500 minutes
• 750 minutes
• 1000 minutes

Contact your teacher for ideas on which Subjects and Standards to focus on. Have fun and enjoy your summer!

Starting on July 1st, Ferndale Schools will be transitioning to a new communication platform, replacing Q Communication with Remind.  While we understand how frustrating it is to learn a new system, this decision was made after careful deliberation and consultation with many staff and community members.  

What is Remind?

If you're not already familiar with Remind, it's a classroom communication tool that makes it easy to stay involved with your child's learning. Remind is free to use, and you'll be able to get and send messages on any device—even a simple text message from your phone!  Remind uses email, text, and telephone calls to help you communicate with individuals or groups quickly and safely.  Many staff, parents, coaches, and students may already be experienced in using Remind.

How does this impact me?

Families are automatically signed up to receive communication from their child's school, teachers, and Ferndale Schools. In order to receive emails, telephone calls, and even text messages, all you have to do is maintain your contact information and manage your personal preferences within our student information system, MiStar. Click here to update your contact information in MiStar.  If you do not remember your login information, please email mistarhelp@ferndaleschools.org.

As part of this rollout, official accounts will be created for all the educators, parents, and students in Ferndale Schools. Around the 1st of July, you'll receive an email or text message from Remind. All you need to do is follow the steps in the message to finish setting up your account. Watch a video demo here to see how Remind works »

Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we roll out this new system. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.

Dear Ferndale Family,

What an end to a school year that no one could have predicted. I wanted to thank the community, staff, families, and students for doing everything in your power to ensure our students had the best possible remote online learning experience. I also want to assure you that we have been planning for the 2020-2021 school year and will continue to do so into the summer. Returning to school while ensuring the health and safety of our students and staff is our top priority.

As we plan and make decisions for next year, the District is in regular contact with the Oakland County Health Department, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Department of Education, and Superintendents in neighboring school districts to ensure our decisions line up with research-based best practices.

The District also has a Return to School Committee that will ensure we have the proper protocols, training, disinfectants, and personal protective equipment readily available at the start of the school year. This team is developing multiple plans to ensure we are prepared for various scenarios. A lot of our planning is dependent on guidance from the Governor and the Michigan Department of Education.

Ferndale Public Schools is committed to provide students with an exceptional teaching and learning experience, no matter how it might look next year.  While hope is to have a traditional start to the 2020-2021 school year–as we know online instruction can never replace in person instruction–it may be necessary to utilize distance learning if it is unsafe to hold school in the traditional manner due to COVID-19.

We appreciate your continued support and feedback as we continue to plan for the fall. One more way to support our efforts is by reaching out to our local elected officials and asking them to support public schools financially. As we prepare for any eventuality in our return to school this Fall, one thing is certain: we will need resources to ensure we are able to address needed safeguards. Please consider contacting your government officials.

Find your representative »

Find your senator »

The FERNDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT announces the sponsorship of the Summer Food Service Program for children. Free meals will be made available to children 18 years of age and under or persons up to age 26 who are enrolled in an educational program for the mentally or physically disabled that is recognized by a State or local public educational agency.

Breakfast and lunch will be available at three locations, three days a week, starting July 1st.

• Ferndale High School - 881 Pinecrest Dr.
• University High School - 2521 Bermuda St.

• Royal Oak Township Community Center - 21272 Mendota Ave.

Meals will be served from 10:00 am to Noon - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - until August 28th.

Agenda

Blessings in a Backpack would like to give a giant thanks to everyone who helped or reached out to help during remote learning to pack and deliver bags to the 255 students on the program! The district bus garage became the packing and storing location and the entire bus garage staff helped deliver bags.

We also had staff members Elaine Zold, Ashley Balogh and Dina Rocheleau and her son help out too! Community members John Gonska and Scott Tokarczyk maintained social distancing while helping pack bags every other week also. And, of course, Lindsay Gonska led the effort.

Without this crew, this program would not have been able to continue. From the bottom of our heart, THANK YOU!

FHS and UHS seniors celebrated a major milestone this past weekend, and the commencement ceremony is available for viewing anytime at FerndaleSchools.org/grad or on our district facebook page. Congratulations, Seniors!

FHS senior Branden Nicholas just received a $10,000 scholarship through the Midnight Golf Program, a leadership development program that teaches students how to navigate life through golf. Branden received a Zoom call from former Detroit Lions player, Devon Kennard, to accept the scholarship.

In conjunction with Lighthouse, St David's Episcopal Church in Southfield will be distributing 20 lb boxes of fresh produce every Thursday through August. Boxes will contain potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, apples and strawberries. The hours of the distribution are Thursdays,  9:30 am – 1:00 pm. The church is located at 16200 12 Mile Rd, Southfield, MI 48076.

Thursdays 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
St David’s Episcopal Church
16200 12 Mile Rd, Southfield, MI 48076

Weekly E-blast - May 29th, 2020

Weekly Eblast - May 22nd, 2020

Weekly Eblast - May 15th, 2020

Weekly Eblast - May 1st, 2020

Weekly Eblast - April 24th, 2020