(734) 401-4085

Mobile Menu

News

  • December 29, 2024

Classrooms were equipped with quiet dividers featuring sound-dampening panels to create supportive environments for students with cortical visual impairment (CVI). These dividers addressed the challenges of noise and visual clutter, which often impede the ability of students with CVI to visually attend to and engage with their education.

The dividers reduced environmental distractions, minimizing the brain’s need to process excessive visual stimuli and noise. This allowed students to focus more effectively on their learning opportunities. For some students, this improvement meant they no longer needed to be removed to quieter, clutter-free spaces but could remain in their classrooms and participate alongside their peers.

This grant ensured that students with CVI had equal access to their education by creating a more accommodating and inclusive learning environment, empowering them to succeed and thrive in their academic settings.

  • December 29, 2024

With our funding, the media centers were equipped with innovative tools to enhance literacy and technology education. The addition of Bee Bots and Mouse robots provided emerging readers with a hands-on, screen-free way to practice coding skills while engaging in story retelling. By programming the robots to navigate through story elements, students developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills while reinforcing literacy concepts.

The grant also funded 3Dux materials, enabling students to build and create story components for activities like stop-motion animation, character creation, and setting depiction. These tools enriched storytelling and literacy practices, complementing classroom instruction and aligning with content standards across all grade levels.

This project transformed the media centers into interactive learning hubs where students could practice literacy and technology skills in an engaging and meaningful way, fostering lifelong readers and thinkers.

  • December 29, 2024

With our funding, two 75” TCL televisions were purchased to enhance the event kit, providing a dynamic and engaging way to showcase videos and displays of grants and the students they benefit. These monitors allow students, families, and visitors to learn about the positive impacts of various initiatives, fostering a greater sense of community and collaboration.

The monitors also enable the school, FSAS, and Community Education department to host events that require high-quality visual displays, strengthening connections with families and even outside districts. By showcasing these stories and initiatives, the grant creates opportunities for relationship-building and community engagement.

The success of this grant can be measured by its usage at school functions, FSAS events, and club-sponsored activities, where the monitors provide an essential resource for communication and collaboration. This investment ensures that the impact of grants and programs is effectively highlighted, building pride and awareness within the community.

  • December 29, 2024

We helped a team of students tackle the critical community challenge of helping individuals aged 65 and older transition between positions—such as standing, sitting, lying down, and recovering from a fall—more independently. Over the course of the project, the team developed seven iterations of their design, working toward a solution that promotes greater mobility, independence, and health benefits for seniors.

The students’ hard work and innovation earned them recognition as one of only eight teams nationwide selected for the Lemelson-MIT Grant Initiative InvenTeam, granting them the opportunity to present their invention at MIT’s EurekaFest. The project provided a unique, hands-on experience in engineering, business, and interdisciplinary problem-solving.

The team was structured into five departments—technical design, finance, sustainability, marketing, and communications—allowing students to gain expertise in areas such as physics, mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, bookkeeping, environmental science, and communication. These roles not only honed their technical skills but also provided leadership opportunities, encouraging them to apply their academic knowledge to real-world challenges and guide the team toward its ambitious goals.

This grant empowered students to innovate and make a meaningful impact in their community, showcasing the power of education to inspire creativity, collaboration, and change.

  • December 29, 2024

Students struggling with acute mental health issues and their families gained access to a licensed Master Clinician Therapist, providing critical support that addressed the gap in mental health resources and communication between providers and schools. This grant helped eliminate common barriers that many students face in securing adequate care, ensuring they received the assistance they needed.

The initiative directly supported students’ ability to embody the District’s Compass Attributes by addressing the impact of trauma and mental health challenges on their academic and personal success. By equipping students with the skills to manage their mental health, the program aimed to improve school attendance, academic achievement, and overall school functioning.

This grant played a vital role in fostering a healthier, more supportive school environment, empowering students to overcome challenges and thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

  • December 29, 2024

With FSAS funding, Saline introduced a groundbreaking new class called “Unified Physical Education,” designed to create a shared learning environment that benefits both general education students and students with special needs. This class emphasizes values such as exercise, teamwork, positive encouragement, courage, healthy competition, and most importantly, the joy of building lasting relationships through physical activity.

The grant provided essential equipment to ensure students and staff could engage in meaningful physical education experiences. This equipment laid the foundation for a program that will continue to grow and evolve over the years, offering unique and enriching opportunities for all participants.

More than just aligning with the core curriculum, this project established new curriculum centered on inclusivity and lifelong learning. Unified Physical Education fosters an environment of mutual respect, hard work, and encouragement, creating relationships and life lessons that students will carry with them long after they leave the classroom. This innovative program exemplifies the power of education to create unique and impactful experiences for every student.

  • December 29, 2024

Our funding brought best-selling author and former Stanford University dean, Julie Lythcott-Haims, to Saline for a transformative community event. Drawing from her New York Times best-selling book, How to Raise an Adult, Julie shared invaluable insights on parenting, education, and fostering self-efficacy in children. Her presentation highlighted how over-parenting can hinder kids’ development and offered practical strategies to help parents and educators cultivate resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination in students.

This event directly addressed challenges facing our community, where many students struggle with confidence, resilience, and the ability to face adversity. Teachers, parents, and educators consistently observe students who are overly reliant on adults, hesitant to take risks, or afraid of failure—challenges that can impede academic and personal growth.

Julie’s message empowered our community to reflect on their parenting and teaching practices, equipping them with tools to help students build strong senses of self, perseverance, and a growth mindset. By fostering these qualities, the grant supported the development of students who are better prepared to thrive academically and personally as they grow into resilient, capable adults.

  • December 29, 2024

The district implemented multilingual signage to foster a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for staff, students, and families across all buildings and major events. Permanent “welcome” signs reflecting multiple languages were installed in the vestibules of every building, expanding on the success of the initial installation at Woodland Meadows.

Additionally, portable “welcome sets” were created for each building, including retractable displays featuring key district information in the top 3-5 languages, branded table covers, and a district set of standing flags displaying “welcome” in the top 10 languages. These resources allowed administrative teams, staff, and groups to create welcoming spaces at events, showcasing the district’s pride in its mission and its commitment to embracing diversity.

This initiative sent a clear message of respect and inclusion to families and individuals from various linguistic backgrounds. By providing accessible and inclusive signage, the district ensured that everyone—regardless of language—felt valued and respected, enhancing community engagement and demonstrating the district’s dedication to embracing its growing diversity.

  • December 25, 2024

The Foundation provided the funding needed for Saline Live to provide internet services to families in need, ensuring students had access to essential online resources. To streamline and reduce costs, Saline Live transitioned exclusively to using T-Mobile hotspots for these students.

This shift lowered the annual expenditure to $3,600, enabling a more sustainable approach to supporting connectivity needs. Additionally, Saline Live partnered with Saline Social Services to cover these costs, further reinforcing the community’s commitment to equitable access to technology for all students. This grant facilitated essential internet access, empowering students to succeed in their academic pursuits.

  • February 7, 2024

This grant supplies all Y5-2nd grade teachers with magnetic letters and boards to support
phonics and phonemic awareness instruction. Word building is one of the most powerful
activities that teachers can do in small group instruction to support student learning along with
spelling. In order to do that, students need access to magnetic letters and sound magnets so
they can be actively involved in the learning. This grant would allow Y5-2nd grade teachers to
have magnetic letters (and a magnetic base to hold the letters) to use with up to 6 students at a
time in small group instruction. In addition, it will give 1st and 2nd grade teachers the resources
to have sound magnets to use as well. Sound magnets are important in 1st and 2nd to show
that sometimes one sound is made up from multiple letters. (Ex. digraphs, silent e, dipthongs,
vowel teams, etc.

Y5-2nd grade teachers are currently working on including more phonics and phonological
awareness into their instruction. This has been the focus of our PD all year and is tied to our
building goals in early elementary. In order to differentiate and give students more practice, this
grant would support students in having more hands on practice with these skills.