It’s nearly here: a new start for county students and teachers as Glen Lake, Leland, Suttons Bay, Northport, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, and Leelanau School open their doors and crank up the air conditioning for the 2024-25 school year, which begins on Tuesday.
In the third section of this edition, Enterprise reporters cover hot topics in various local schools from cell phone bans to construction to new funding for preschools, to name a few.
With new classes, new friends, and new adventures, the school year promises to be a journey full of discovery.
All schools are going to have a keen focus on cell phone use during school hours as teachers continue to grapple with the distraction and mental health decline that has posed a threat to area youth.
Suttons Bay has been tracking enrollment for in-seat, virtual, and Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) (preschool) enrollment that tallies a combined 551 students.
The unofficial number has 360 in-seat enrollment and 175 virtual enrollment with 19 in the GSRP program.
Leelanau’s most northern school, Northport, is heading into the school year with roughly 130 students.
Northport has 75 in grades 5-12 and 55 in elementary.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary will be heading into 2024 with 155 students.
Leland will be sitting right around 430 students as the school year begins.
The biggest school in the county, Glen Lake, will be welcoming upwards of 790 students come Tuesday. These numbers are up from 746 from last year.
Glen Lake also announced funding for a new GSRP classroom that will add 16 more seats for a total of 32 with nearly zero families paying tuition thanks to a grant from Northwest Education.
Nearly all local schools will be welcoming freshed faced teachers, along with veterans moving into new positions.
St. Mary will be welcoming Julie Gawysiak and Deb Gullet as the fourth grade teaching team. In the third section, a story about St. Mary includes a spelling error of Gawysiak’s name.
Gawrysiak is married to Mitch Gawrysiak and she is the mother of Amelia Gawrysiak (3rd grade) and Mitchell Gawrysiak (2nd Grade). She earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University and is in the second year of a two-year teacher certification program through Grand Valley State University. Most recently, she has been St. Mary’s library coordinator.
Gulley is married to Jesse Gulley and is the mother of Jacob Gulley (Senior), Charlie Gulley (Freshman), and Michael Gulley (5th grade). Deb is a long time elementary teacher in various grades at St. Mary School. She is a graduate of Aquinas College.
Gawrysiak and Gulley look forward to welcoming their students on the first day of school.
Suttons Bay will welcome a new principal. Christopher Reeve and former Suttons Bay principal Shealagh Fehrenbach will lead Leland. Elizabeth Wadsworth was appointed assistant principal at Suttons Bay as well.
The Lakers added four paraprofessionals to the team over the past week with Rachel Verschaeve, Melissa Benovic, Avalon Davidson, and Cortney McRannolds.
Glen Lake also added Mavis Jennings as the fall theater director and Natalie Blalock Jennings as the fall assistant play director.
Northport will be welcoming Emily Alt as a secondary English-Language Arts teacher and Jessica Ball moves to a kindergarten teacher position.
The air is buzzing with anticipation as students step into a new chapter of their educational journey.
