After reviewing the results of the community survey and speaking with several groups of staff members, our administrative bond team has decided to postpone the bond vote from May 2023 to a later date. This brief postponement will provide our team and the Facilities Planning Committee the time needed to explore some additional concepts as well as avenues to enhance security measures in all of our schools.

While this temporary delay is frustrating, it is the right time for us all to take a step back and fully consider all of the potential bond improvements before collectively deciding on the right plan for the future of Ferndale Schools. Bond opportunities are rare and it is imperative that we ensure we are fully exploring all options before deciding as a community what to invest in. Our financial advisors have also assured us that a temporary delay in the bond vote would have a minimal impact on the potential revenue gained.

The community Town Hall meeting that was set to take place next week is also going to be moved to a later date in early 2023.

It’s pizza time!

Ferndale Blessings in a Backpack is hosting their annual Little Caesars Pizza Kit fundraiser! Please help feed our students on the program by purchasing pizza kits for yourself, your family and your friends.

Pizza Purchase Link

OR you can become a seller to raise funds and get entered into the $50 raffle! To get started, click here to create your very own Seller page. You can customize your page, upload a video, create an avatar, and watch how many pizza kits you’ve sold. You’ll get your own special link to send to your friends and family so they can buy delicious pizza kits and support our fundraiser. 

Pizza Kits will be delivered directly to their home by FedEx, so send the link to your out of state family and friends, too. You can even post your Seller link on your social media pages. Don’t forget to buy some for yourself!  

If you have any questions, please email FPS teacher Lindsay Gonska at lindsay.gonska@ferndaleschools.org

Congratulations to our boys varsity football team for winning the OAA Gold League Championship and securing a spot in the top 32 teams earning a berth in the State Championship Playoffs.

Congratulations also goes out to our head coach Eric Royal who was selected OAA Coach of The Year!

The first round playoff game is against Birmingham Seaholm this Friday at 7pm. There is a fan bus going and all students have been sent an email with the sign-up sheet, or they can see Mr. Butler at lunch or after school.

On Thursday, October 11 UHS National Honor Society inducted its seventeenth class of inductees!  Congratulations to these students who exemplify everything we pride ourselves on here at UHS!

• Diamond Boykins
• Jayla Brewer
• Micah Burks
• Tyesha Freeman
• Nyasha Hurt
• Zoe Nahabedian
• JayVion Pinkston
• Charlize Spanish
• Kamara Taylor
• James Worth

 TCEC and UHS participated in the annual Oakland County Manufacturing Day on Friday, October 7th. We visited Hi-Tech Mold and Engineering in Rochester Hills, MI where students learned about careers in engineering, CAD, CNC operations and IT to name a few. Students went on a tour and watched plastic parts for automobiles being made from beginning to end. It was a great day with lots of new information and new career and internship opportunities.

Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN) offers a free program that uses a brief self-report screening tool for children and youth (6-17 years), who may display concerning behaviors.

The Oakland Community Health Network is here to help! Through the Mental Health Access and Juvenile Justice Diversion (MHA/JJD) project, Ferndale Schools is able to offer free services including a brief mental health screening (MAYSI-2/PSC) to children ages 6-17. This screening is for any child who may be exhibiting at-risk behaviors such as truancy, suspensions, appearing withdrawn, self-harming, etc. We then provide customized recommendations to the families which may include counseling, psychiatry, mentoring programs, and many more. Contact natalie.kulikowski@ferndaleschools.org for more information.

The OCHN also offers School Navigators to assist any children enrolled in school to connect to Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Substance Use, Mental Health, and/or Autism Services. The Navigators have also been critical in helping families connect with reimbursement programs that can assist with deductibles and co-pays for counseling. The navigators can be contacted at schoolnavigator@oaklandchn.org.

UHS Student Council visited Forgotten Harvest on Friday and packaged 3,416 lbs of food! They did an amazing job, and helped out a lot of families! Keep on shining, Eagles.

Last night the Ferndale Schools Board of Education appointed Mary Fulmer to fill the vacancy on the Board that was created by the resignation of Anna Ibrahim late last month.

Ferndale Schools Board of Education President Sandra Dukhie said, "We had a tremendous pool of candidates for the open Trustee position, and this was a difficult decision for the Board. Mary’s years of volunteerism in the district, her familiarity and dedication to the District’s Strategic Plan as an evolving and working document, and her knowledge and expertise in education and measurable growth data will be instrumental in furthering our District vision and mission. We thank all of the candidates for their commitment to the students of Ferndale Public Schools, and we welcome Mary as our new School Board Trustee!”

"I want to thank the members of the Board of Education for selecting me to serve our community. I also want to thank the other candidates who stepped forward for their commitment and dedication to the FPS.

A capable, competent public school system that provides a high-quality education to all the students in its care is a valued community asset. I have tremendous respect for the work being done by the educators, administrators and support staff of FPS.

Early in my professional career, I worked as a teacher in an adult literacy program in Baltimore, Maryland. Unlike my own positive experiences in K-12 education, my students represented those that the educational system had not served well for any number of reasons, often with far-reaching consequences for those individuals. In the ten years that I have been engaged with the FPS I have been impressed with the district’s commitment to strive for equity and inclusion, efforts that seek to eliminate the reality of some people being left behind by the system like my students in Baltimore were.

This is a challenging time for public education in our country. In these times, and as FPS strives to continue to meet the needs of its students, I am humbled by the opportunity to support our community and serve on the Board of Education," said Mary Fulmer, newly appointed Board of Education Trustee.

Mary Fulmer will serve the remainder of Anna Ibrahim's four year term which will expire in December of 2024.

The Drug Enforcement Agency has released a statement warning parents to be on the lookout for new opioids entering the US in bright colors. "Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults" said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. Ferndale Schools and the Southeast Oakland Coalition reminds all of our families to pay attention to the youth in your life.

Updates and events from the Southeast Oakland Coalition (SEOC) can be found on their Facebook page.

After a long and generous tenure, Lindsay Gonska is retiring from her volunteer position as Lead Coordinator /Chair of the Blessing in a Backpack program after this new school year. The volunteer position is open to all community members.If you are interested or for more information, please email Lindsay at lindsay.gonska@ferndaleschools.org.

One in six kids struggles with food access for the 65 hours they are not at school each week. To ensure the kids in our community have full bellies over the weekend, Blessings in a Backpack sends home weekend meals and extra food on long weekends and breaks. The program is offered nationwide, but we have a local chapter that services students in Ferndale Public Schools. It costs $100 to feed a child for the entire school year during these out-of-school hours. 

To learn more about the program at Blessings in a Backpack.org

Ferndale Schools Board of Education unanimously (7-0) moved to offer Dr. Bobbie Hayes Goodrum a contract to serve as the district’s next Superintendent on Wednesday.

“The Board of Education was very excited to have such an excellent pool of candidates to select from. I want to thank the community for providing input on what they were looking for in our next leader. This feedback was vital in developing the selection criteria which we used as guidance during the entire selection process.

Based upon our selection criteria, Dr. Hayes Goodrum continually rose to the top of our list at each stage in this process. We are so excited to welcome her to our Ferndale Family; she is the right fit to lead our school community forward," said Sandra Dukhie, President, Ferndale Schools Board of Education.

The selection of Dr. Hayes Goodrum marks the conclusion of an extensive search process. You can learn more about the search process by clicking the link. The Board of Education will now work with Ray and Associates to enter into contract negotiations with Dr. Hayes Goodrum. Once negotiations are complete the contract will be voted on by the Board of Education at a future meeting.

To learn more about Dr. Hayes Goodrum, view her Bio & Resume.

Graduation season is in full swing, and we are so excited to share these moments with our Family. Here are just a few of the smiling faces.

FHS Convocation was held on Wednesday, May 25th in the Auditorium.

University High School graduation was held on the Golden Eagles Football Field on Thursday, May 26th. Fly high, Eagle grads!