AAPS Superintendent Jeanice Swift Update for June 10
Update From Jeanice K. Swift, Superintendent of Schools
Hello AAPS Community,
We appreciate all the hard work of our students and staff, parents and families during this school year, and much gratitude to all for such a strong finish to this 2021-2022 school year!
You may enjoy this video, Two Minutes at Forsythe, as one in a series offering a quick glimpse into Ann Arbor Public Schools, where our vision is Every Child. Every Day.
To remain current on happenings in the AAPS, you may see the latest in AAPS News stories from the week here.
Congratulations, Class of 2022
We offer our congratulations to approximately 1,500 members of the AAPS Class of 2022. These impressive graduates join a long tradition of distinguished Ann Arbor Public Schools alumni. You may view more about our 2022 AAPS commencements here.
We also celebrate and honor the teachers, support staff and leaders, parents, families, friends and the entire Ann Arbor community – all who have offered support, encouragement and so much more during the years as students progressed from preschool through 12th grade.
Congratulations and Best Wishes, Class of 2022!
AAPISA/A Poetry Project
In honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American (APISA/A) Parent Group of Ann Arbor Public Schools organized several district-wide events throughout the month of May.
The first of these events was a virtual poetry workshop with award-winning local poet and AAPS alumna Carlina Duan. After the workshop, Carlina invited AAPS students to submit poetry on the themes of home, community and identity. From the submissions, Carlina crafted a collaborative, crowd-sourced poem entitled, Where We’re From. This video features several AAPS students and Carlina reading the poem. We hope you enjoy it and check more of the events and efforts of the APISA/A Parent Group at: https://apisaa.org/. Special thanks for the work on this project go to AAPS Teacher Joslyn Hunscher-Young, Poet Carlina Duan and APISA/A Board Member Xianli Tang.
Food Gatherers’ Summer Food Program
School is out, but free meals for kids and teens are available to any family in need of food. The Food Gatherers’ Summer Food Service Program kicks off June 20th and runs through August 19th. Find a location near you, and please visit their website at FoodGatherers.org/SummerFood.
AAPS School Climate Surveys
The AAPS School Climate survey is still open for your responses from families, staff and students. Check for an email from east@k12insight.com to share your opinions on how AAPS did this year. Families can use this link as well.
Weekly COVID Update
We have updated the AAPS COVID-19 Case Dashboard today, reporting 119 cases this week. We reported a total of 3,080 cases in the AAPS during this 2021-2022 school year. The cases reported represent those individuals who were on a school campus during their infectious period.
AAPS Summer Program Masking Guideline – June 13 – August 26
The summer offers advantages for decreasing the risk of COVID transmission — smaller groups, shorter amounts of time together, more outdoor activities and the ability to open windows. For these reasons, the AAPS masking policy will be adapted for the summer months:
· When Washtenaw County is at the CDC’s ‘High/Red’ level of transmission, we will continue universal indoor masking as recommended by public health authorities.
· When Washtenaw County is at the CDC’s ‘Medium/Yellow’ or ‘Low/Green’ levels, masking indoors will be optional.
· Our classrooms and schools will always be mask-friendly environments for everyone.
You may check the current Washtenaw County transmission level here.
We are looking forward to successful summer academic and enrichment programs across our AAPS schools. We will continue with improved ventilation and other COVID mitigation measures throughout the summer.
We honor and celebrate each and every student as they wrap up this 2021-2022 school year today. I recently had the wonderful opportunity to share in a conversation with members of the class of 2022; you will be truly inspired by their powerful voices and stories in this 4-minute Class of 2022 Video.
We are so very grateful for your partnership in support of our students, staff, schools and our beloved Ann Arbor community.
Wishing you a safe, healthy and peaceful summer,
Jeanice K. Swift
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools
