Schools of Choice

      Many families in the Jackson County area have opted to send their children to school in the Western School District.  Five hundred fifty-eight out-of-district students were enrolled during 2005-2006 at every grade level and in every building in the district through the Schools of Choice program.

The Western School District will continue to accept students from other districts until such time as space becomes necessary to accommodate resident growth.  Western continues to be the school of choice in Jackson County.
 

Student Support Services

  
      Western’s K-12 counseling program is built around the developmental needs of students.  The four guidance counselors and two social workers provide services to all students, exhibiting a strong commitment to assisting students to be the best they can be.

The Western transportation department maintains a fleet of twenty-nine buses which annually receives “Excellent” ratings by the State Police.  The buses are driven by thirty-one fully certified and professionally trained drivers who travel over 400,000 miles per year;   this including over five hundred field trips.  Western’s pride in its buildings and facilities is mainly due to the hard work and efforts of its twenty trained maintenance and custodial staff. 

The Western food service program serves more than 1250 meals each day.  These nutritious meals are prepared by a staff of twenty-two in our six school buildings.  Breakfasts, hot lunches, salad bars, and a la carte items are available to students on a daily basis.  The program also provides catering services which generated over $40,000 in additional revenues during the 2005-2006 school year.
 

Partnership Points of Pride
 

·       Nineteen school and community representatives served on the Panther Pride Business Team for the Western School District.

·    Business and industry in Jackson County donated thousands of hours of human resources to the students and staff of the district. 

• Two hundred ninety one students in grades K-12 received community service recognition awards for contributing at least five hours of service (elementary), fifteen hours (middle school), or thirty hours of service (high school) during the school year.  Throughout the district, students contributed over 12,000 community service hours.

• The student Panther Pride Team consists of students from grades 9-12.  Their mission is to help develop ideas for career prep programs in order to better prepare students for the world of work and the world itself.
   

Western Educational Foundation
 

The 2005-2006 school year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Western Education Foundation!  The sole purpose of the WEF is to accumulate resources for funding educationally enriching projects which cannot be funded from other sources available to the district.  The foundation meets quarterly in August, November, February, and May.  The foundation board is made up of community members along with the superintendent, a representative from student council, and a representative from the school board.

Many of our school employees and community members have donated to the foundation over and over and we appreciate their continued commitment.  We will be placing a plaque in the school lobby this fall acknowledging our generous donors.  The foundation did not receive a lot of requests this year.  It did award grant funds to support the After Prom Party, the fourth grade Mackinaw Trip, an elementary Reading Video and Backpack Program, and a middle school Bullying Program.

There are a handful of special interest funds that are set up through the foundation.  The Marc DeForest Scholarship Fund awards grants to graduates of Western High School.  The Ken Beardslee Fund will be creating a special section in the high school library for a collection of books about creationism and related subjects.  The Jenny Evans Fund and the Chapel Family Fund both made awards to graduating seniors for the first time this year.

Contributions to the foundation can be made “in honor of” or “in memory of” loved ones.  Contributions can be made in honor of a teacher who made a difference.  If you like what you see in the foundation activity, say so by making a contribution of your own.  Checks may be made out to the Western Education Foundation and mailed to 1400 S. Dearing Road, Parma, Michigan, 49269.  Together we will continue “Enhancing Quality Public Education” in our community!