This year marks a watershed moment in the history of Lapeer Community Schools. For the first time in nearly four decades, our district will be unified behind one secondary program. Even more importantly, however, the structure of the entire district (pre K-12) has been streamlined to simplify transitions for students.

Over the course of the next two weeks, you will certainly encounter new and exciting changes that will, ultimately, be very positive for you and your student(s). Please understand that the changes coming in 2014-15 affect all of us: students, parents, staff and the entire community. There will be kinks to work out; but rest assured, this transition will ultimately offer a better, broader and more fulfilling experience for all students. In the interim, we ask that you exercise patience as we navigate through the first couple weeks of school. The start of every school year is always full of surprises but, as the dust settles, students and staff always find their rhythm.

A few important points for 2014-15:

• The ongoing M-24 construction project will, without doubt, cause some of our buses to run late. This is a variable that is outside of our control, but I assure you our transportation department has been working diligently to ensure our buses run as efficiently as possible for the duration of this project.
• We are opening four new (reconfigured) school buildings this year: Rolland-Warner Campus (6-7 Building), Zemmer Campus (8-9 Building), Lapeer High School (10-12) and the Center for Innovation – West Campus. Because of these new configurations, we have directed our administrative and instructional staff to identify class size disparities right away in order to best accommodate our students.
• Many of your students will notice some long-overdue improvements to facilities in the District. Over the spring and summer, many projects have been completed including: Phase 1 of the athletic complex renovation at the West Campus, expansion of band and choir rooms at Lapeer High School (LHS), renovated gymnasium and cafeteria at LHS and security upgrades at our elementary buildings.
• Finally, thank you for your patience throughout the registration process for students. As you are aware, at no point in our history have we offered as many new and innovative choices for students. We are thrilled to see so many students taking advantage of these new opportunities. It would have been easier to do nothing, but that’s not what’s best for our students. They deserve better.

Thank you for your support of Lapeer Community Schools. This is going to be a great year!

Matthew T. Wandrie – Superintendent