UPDATE: The 2008-2009 Kalamazoo Public Schools calendar is now available. Copies will be mailed home as soon as possible. You may download a copy of the calendar here.

Opening day for all Kalamazoo Public Schools students will be September 2, 2008. September 2, 2008, will be a half day. September 3 - 5 will be full days. The second week of school, September 8 - 12 will all be full days. New students may register for school at the school they will attend. For more information, please call 337-0100.

Prairie Ridge Elementary opens this fall. It will be the first new KPS school in 36 years.

An open house will be held from 6:30-8:30 PM on Monday, September 15, 2008. The school is located at 2294 S. Ninth St. in Kalamazoo. Click here for a map.

A dual language (Spanish/English) school for grades K-4 opens this fall at the Vine Street School.

For more information or to register, call Student Services at 337-0161 or the Bilingual Program at 337-1579 or click here.

Pay for school meals with your debit or credit card!

The KPS Food Service department announces that starting this year, parents are able to purchase meals for their children, using a debit or credit card, by going to the MealPayPlus Web site. Parents will also be able to see reports on their child's dining activity.

Click here to access this new service.

Starting this fall, full-day kindergarten classes will be available in 14 of our 17 elementary schools. We will see an increase of more than 700 students in full-day kindergarten, or an increase of 400% in one year, and an additional 370,000 instructional hours for kindergarten students. This expansion was done by reallocating federal Title I funds, so there is no additional cost to taxpayers.

More information on our elementary schools can be found here.

The 2008 - 2009 school year will see a new alternative program for middle school students at KPS. The program will assist students who are disruptive in the mainstream environment and who need more intensive interventions than we can provide in our current middle schools.

Starting this fall, new grade incentives will be used at KPS high schools. The incentives include weighted grades and the addition of a "+" or a "-" to letter grades.

As always, parents of high school and middle school students can access their child's grades and attendance via the Parent Internet Viewer.

High and clear expectations drive student achievement. Two hundred and fifty staff and community members came together to create expectations for KPS students, parents, educators, support staff and the community. The outcome of their work is the KPS Strategic Plan, which outlines these expectations in detail.

More information on the strategic plan can be found here.

Phi Delta Kappa International has completed a Curriculum Management Audit of the Kalamazoo Public Schools. The audit was recommended by Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice and approved by the Board of Education.

A curriculum audit is designed to reveal the extent to which a school district has developed a sound system of curriculum management. When such a system is fully operational, it ensures that student achievement is maximized.
Click on the attached file below to view the report.

KPS is undertaking a number of capital improvement projects in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Here is a listing of the buildings being served by those projects:

2008
Kalamazoo Central High School; Loy Norrix High School; Hillside Middle School; Milwood Magnet School for Math, Science, and Technology; Milwood Elementary; Winchell Elementary; Woods Lake Elementary: A Magnet Center for the Arts

2009
Loy Norrix High School; Milwood Magnet School for Math, Science, and Technology; Edison Environmental Science Academy; Greenwood Elementary; Indian Prairie Elementary; Northeastern Elementary; Parkwood-Upjohn Elementary; Woodward School for Technology and Research

2010
Arcadia Elementary; Lincoln International Studies School; Maple Street Magnet School for the Arts; Martin Luther King - Westwood, Milwood Elementary; Northglade Montessori Magnet School; Washington Writers' Academy

These additional projects were completed in 2007
CEC; Hillside Middle School; Spring Valley Center for Exploration; Milwood Magnet School for Math, Science, and Technology