February 7, 2023

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2021-22 educational progress for Saugatuck Public Schools and our schools. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and some requirements of state laws. Our staff is available to help you understand this information. Please contact Dr. Timothy Travis, Superintendent for help if you need assistance.

The DISTRICT AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following website https://bit.ly/3772tSJ or you may review a copy in the main office at your child’s school. Each school will also be communicating their own AER to parents directly.

These reports contain the following information:

Student Assessment Data

• Includes the following three assessments: M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress), MI-Access (Alternate Assessment), and College Board SAT
• Presents assessment information for English language arts and mathematics for grades 3 to 8 and 11, and MI-Access science for grades 4, 7, and 11, compared to state averages for all students as well as subgroups of students.

School Accountability Data

• Includes information on schools’ performance on various measures such as student proficiency and growth on state assessments, graduation, and attendance rates. Performance is measured on 0-100 index scales
• Reports schools identified under three federally required categories for further support: Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement, and Additional Targeted Support

Educator Qualification Data

• Identifies the number and percentage of inexperienced teachers, principals, and other school leaders
• Reports teachers who are teaching with emergency or provisional credentials
• Includes teachers who are not teaching in the subject or field for which they are certified

NAEP Data (National Assessment of Educational Progress)

• Provides state results of the national assessment in mathematics and reading every other year in grades 4 and 8

Civil Rights Data

• Provides information on school quality, climate, and safety

Review the table below listing our schools. For the 2022-23 school year, schools were identified based on previous years’ performance using definitions and labels as required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that had at least one underperforming student subgroup in 2021-22. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that had a student subgroup performing at the same level as the lowest 5% of all schools in the state in 2021-22. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance was in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or had a graduation rate at or below 67% in 2021-22. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no status label is given.

As the data in our Annual Education Report shows, student learning at Saugatuck Public Schools remains strong emerging from the COVID pandemic.  I am happy to report that Douglas Elementary School, Saugatuck Middle School and Saugatuck High School have all been designated as Reward Schools earning an “A” letter grade from the Michigan Department of Education.

Our building principals, teachers and support staff continue to work diligently to provide an excellent core education for our students in a safe and healthy learning environment.  I would like to thank our entire team for their hard work, caring and commitment to making a difference for our students every day.

Students across our district value learning, enjoy a challenge, and take educational risks to learn new information and develop new skills.  Parents actively support their children’s learning, which makes a tremendous difference in academic achievement. Thank you, parents, for your continued partnership and support.

Actions being taken to improve student achievement as identified in our new 5-Year Strategic Plan include:  Building a robust K-8 Multi-Tiered System of Supports, creating college, career and life readiness opportunities for all students, providing a physically and academically safe, supportive, inclusive and empathetic learning environment where each student feels they belong, and increasing opportunities for students to experience world cultures.

Our district enjoys tremendous community support through the renewal of our operational, community recreation, and sinking fund millages and a bond project that has completely renovated Douglas Elementary School, and will substantially renovate Saugatuck Middle School & High School over the next two and a half years.

Support organizations run by our parents and fueled by our community such as PTO, Athletic Boosters, Band Boosters, Drama Boosters and Friends of SMS provide additional experiences and equipment for our students. Parents wishing to become involved in a support organization or as a volunteer should contact their child’s school office for more information.

Funded by the Saugatuck-Douglas Rotary Club, The Saugatuck-Douglas Boys & Girls Club provides activities in the arts, sports, health, character and leadership to approximately 60 students after school each day. Other partners such as the Saugatuck-Douglas District Library, the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, the Saugatuck Douglas History Center, and Children First Lakeshore continue to provide food, resources and programming that also enrich our students’ lives.

On behalf of the students, faculty and staff of Saugatuck Public Schools, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our special community for always being there for our schools.

Sincerely,

Timothy J. Travis
Superintendent
Saugatuck Public Schools

TT:kjs