When We Support You, You Can Support Them
There is a line in this week’s Member Spotlight that has stuck with me. As Patrick Donahue describes the intentional progression Allen Park Middle School has created for students, the message changes as students grow: In sixth grade: We’ve got you. Let us show you how. In seventh grade: Now let’s start doing this together. And by eighth grade: You’ve got this. Show us what you can do. It is a model…
Learning Forward: Forest Hills Central High School
When Success Isn't the Finish Line Forest Hills Central didn't need a new program because the traditional indicators were flashing red. Quite the opposite. FHC is a high-performing school with a strong college-going culture. That is part of what makes what Principal Jonathan Haga and his team have built worth examining. They looked beyond the indicators telling them things were working and began paying closer attention to what students were experiencing. What…
Walking the Tightrope of Parent Rights
School personnel encounter parent disputes over their child’s education in many different areas. Whether it is disagreement over enrollment or a subpoena to testify in a custody hearing, school personnel must know the law to avoid becoming a reluctant referee in a parent dispute outside the district’s realm of authority. Enrollment Nonmarried (divorced or never married) parents typically have joint physical and legal custody and share authority to make educational decisions regarding…
Welcome to The Assist: A New Year, A New Way to Connect
Welcome back to a new school year and welcome to The Assist: Where Administrative Assistants Learn, Connect & Lead. If The Assist looks and feels a little different this year, that's intentional. We've been listening to what administrative assistants across Michigan have told us about their work: you're managing constant interruptions while trying to meet important deadlines. You're often the person everyone turns to for an answer. You're navigating everything from student…
Meet Them Where They Are. Prepare Them for Where They’re Going.
At Allen Park Middle School, we believe culture isn't something you hang on a wall. It's something students and staff experience every day. And sometimes, a strong culture means being willing to look at what you've always done and ask a simple question: Is this still what our kids need? That question led us to rethink the entire three-year middle school experience. For years, we watched our 6th graders enter middle school…
When the Bell Rings for Everyone: How Engadine Schools Embedded SEL into the Fabric of Teaching
On a winter morning in Engadine, the hallways hum with a quiet confidence. In a single K–12 building that houses just 246 students—some of whom even stay an extra year to earn community college credit—Heather Luoto slips easily between roles: former science teacher, current instructional coach and 7–12 principal. She jokes that she wears many hats, but the truth is more poetic: She stitches systems together. Three years ago, Luoto noticed a…
You Don’t Need an AI Plan. You Need a Learning Plan.
In a recent conversation with educators, the meeting started where a lot of AI conversations start. What should students be allowed to use? Which tools should teachers try? Do we need a policy? What should count as cheating? How do we keep up? All of those questions matter, but after a while the conversation moved somewhere more important. What should students still be expected to think through for themselves? What kinds of…
Homecoming for the Whole School
Who gets to feel like they are part of Homecoming at your school? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer can tell you quite a bit about school culture. Homecoming is more than a theme week, game, dance or pep assembly. For many schools, it is one of the first major culture moments of the year and an early opportunity to remind students that school is not just a place…
PA 146 Beyond Compliance: Who Is Tending the Fire?
There are some challenges in schools that principals can appropriately assign to someone else. Literacy is the one we need to lead. In 2025, fewer than 40 percent of Michigan sixth and seventh-grade students scored proficient or above in English language arts on the M-STEP. That raises a real question for those of us who lead middle and high schools: How well are students prepared to engage with the increasingly complex learning…
Leaders Change Lives: Recognize an Outstanding School Administrator
Great schools start with great leaders. Every day, principals and assistant principals across Michigan are creating school cultures where students belong, staff feel supported, communities are involved, and opportunities are present for students to succeed. Leaders change lives, and now is the time to recognize someone who has made a difference in yours. MASSP is accepting nominations for the Middle and High School Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year Awards, and…