grounded by tradition and guided by community values and inspired by innovation,” explains Dr. Nick Angel, Superintendent of Schools. The 2025-26 school year theme of “rooted and rising” captures this dual focus, with three guiding principles: cultivating connections, growing with purpose, and equipping for excellence. The approach recognizes that educational success stems from deep community roots rather than isolated academic achievement. Dr. Angel, who sits on the Grass Lake Chamber of Commerce, sees the relationship between school and community as symbiotic. “The strength of the Grass Lake Community Schools resides in our community connection,” he notes. “The Grass Lake Community schools really serve as the anchor of our school community, which is our village and our township and our surrounding municipalities.” Strong participation rates through PTOs, volunteer associations, and booster programs demonstrate how parents and community members actively engage in student experiences. TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AND DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP Grass Lake Community Schools made history as the first district in Jackson County to adopt one-to-one technology, providing Chromebooks for students grades 2-12 and iPads for kindergarten through first grade.This early adoption positions the district ahead of national trends, where school systems spent up to $19 billion on technology integration in 2018, with over 70% of schools now using technology for classroom learning at moderate to high rates. “Technology is really infused in what we do here, but we strongly believe that technology is a support and certainly not a supplant for quality instruction,” Dr. Angel emphasizes. The district installed interactive displays in all K-5 classrooms and throughout middle and high school buildings. A dedicated technology integration specialist works alongside staff, providing hands-on guidance with one-to-one devices and online learning management systems that all courses utilize. Grass Lake addresses the human element of digital integration through innovative programming. “We have a partnership with the Washtenaw Area Council for Children. We started this previous year at the elementary and middle school to ensure that we are giving our students tools for their toolkits around maintaining a positive and safe technology platform,” Dr. Angel explains. The high school pioneered a digital citizenship course for all ninth-grade students, covering online behavior, social media responsibility, and modern technology ethics. On artificial intelligence, Dr. Angel describes the district’s balanced approach: “We’ve recently begun the work of engaging in professional development 205 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 10 GRASS LAKE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx