Welcome to Ferndale Schools

On Tuesday, The International Day of Peace, seven 4th and 5th graders who were from the Montessori "Sassafras Room" were invited back to help the current students paint peace poles. They were so helpful and all of the students and teaching staff loved having them back!

Montessori Teacher Amy Pommereau said, "Because I have had the children for 3 years, from 1st–3rd grade, we get very close and are able to build a close classroom community. We call our classroom the Sassafras Room because the Montessori method tells us that the classroom belongs to the children, not the teacher. So, it's not named after me. Often Montessori classrooms are named after trees, flowers, or other things found in nature. We always say, "Once a Sassafras, Always a Sassafras!" 

Congratulations to FHS student Alicia Erlandson who is being honored by Mata Jr. for her amazing compositional work! Alicia's award-winning original composition, Lemonade, will be performed and live streamed October 17, 2021 @ 7PM at matafestival.org/mata-jr-2021

From MATAfestival.org

Music at the Anthology (MATA) is an incubator for adventurous emerging artists experimenting with composition, multi-media, collaborative performance art, and every imaginable sound in between. We present, support, and commission the music of early-career composers, regardless of their stylistic views or aesthetic inclinations. Founded by Philip Glass, Eleonor Sandresky, and Lisa Bielawa in 1996 as a way to address the lack of presentation opportunities for unaffiliated composers, MATA has since developed into the world’s most sought-after performance opportunity for young and emerging composers.

University High School students can now enjoy outdoor seating during the day. The metal, weather proof tables are outside of the building near the UHS Learning Garden.

Additionally, the UHS Media Center has been fully renovated and features new flexible seating! Thanks to the community for your overwhelming support of the 2020 Bond which fully funded this project.

As the weather grows colder and traditional flu season approaches, please remember that it is essential that we do not send students to school if they are not feeling well. In addition to traditional signs of illness, we are asking you to watch for these symptoms of potential illness due to unique coronaviruses in circulation.

If your students are exhibiting any of the following symptoms, please keep them at home until 24-48 hours after the symptoms are gone:

• fever
• cough
• sore throat
• congestion or runny nose
• nausea or vomiting
• diarrhea
• fatigue
• muscle or body aches
• headache
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• new loss of taste or smell

If a student has TWO or more of these same symptoms, families should seek advice for further guidance from the health department, school, or primary doctor while staying at home.

Tuesday was a great night for Ferndale athletics! Varsity volleyball defeated Thurston 3-0 and varsity soccer defeated Oak Park 6-0 (with a weather stoppage). The Boy's Soccer team played again on Thursday, celebrating Senior Night with another impressive victory over Fitzgerald: 8-0. Go Eagles!

Our amazing emotional support dog, Kiddo, is back in the classroom giving out free snuggles and love. The students have been so excited having Kiddo in class and serving up as much love to him as he gives. Don't worry if your child isn't that into dogs. Kiddo has learned to stay back from children that seem a little nervous of him until they invite him closer. We can't wait for Kiddo to be in all the classes!

For more info about Kiddo, you can read the Emotional Support Dog FAQ from FUEL!

Congratulations to Jonathan Turner, our newly appointed Board Trustee. Mr. Turner is a graduate of Ferndale High School. We are sincerely thankful to all of the candidates who were interviewed. Jonathan's board member profile will be added to the Board Member Profiles page in the coming days.

Earlier this week, we received updated guidance from MDHHS with regards to our quarantining process with regards to close contacts of a COVID-19 positive case.

In the past, we have been advised by MDHHS and Oakland County Health Department to quarantine any close contacts (within 3 feet for 15 minutes, unvaccinated) of a COVID-19 positive case for 10 days.

However, this week, MDHHS revised their guidance.  We are no longer required to quarantine every close contact, provided that:

• masks were being worn by both parties
  • the COVID-19 positive individual
  • the individual close contact
• the close contact is asymptomatic
• the close contact agrees to be tested each day prior to entering the school building (7 days).

Close contacts who were eating lunch with masks removed will most likely not qualify for this new guidance, because masks were removed for a significant portion of the contact time (over 15 minutes.)

MDHHS is also supplying free rapid tests for us to use to conduct this testing, so it will be free of charge for all families.

While we are eager to comply with this new guidance in order to minimize the impact on students and families, it will take some time to initiate this protocol. Our plan is to create a central testing location at Ferndale High School which will offer daily rapid testing for any students deemed a close contact from 7:30 am–9:30 am each morning. We hope to begin offering this within the next week, provided we are able to secure enough tests to begin.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this new process.

Agenda

Agenda - Meeting Packet

Agenda

Agenda