My lovely blank newsletter

Spring is here, bringing longer days, renewed energy, and a sense of excitement for what lies ahead. Our high school seniors are preparing for their final months at HPS, soaking in every moment before graduation, while our youngest students eagerly trade their snow pants for sneakers, ready to embrace the warmer weather. This time of year is always a reminder of growth, transition, and new opportunities—not only for our students but for our entire district.

As the seasons change, so does our focus. Planning for the 2025-2026 school year is already well underway. In the coming months, students will be placed in classrooms with outstanding teachers and dedicated support staff, ensuring they continue to receive the high-quality education that defines Hudsonville Public Schools. Our administrative team is working diligently to finalize staffing needs and prepare for the arrival of new families, who continue to choose HPS for its commitment to excellence in education. These preparations ensure a smooth transition into another school year, even as we continue to navigate the evolving needs of our students, families, and staff.

While we look ahead to the future, there are also important decisions on the horizon that will directly impact our schools and students. On May 6, Hudsonville parents and community members will have the opportunity to vote on a county-wide special education ballot proposal that plays a critical role in funding special education services in our district. Unlike previous years, there will be no non-homestead renewal on the ballot for Hudsonville Public Schools, making this the only school-related funding proposal before voters.

Our community has a long history of supporting special education through Ottawa Area ISD millages, with the most recent one passed in 2007. Originally approved at 1.3152 mills, it was later reduced to 1.2425 mills due to the Headlee Rollback. This funding has been instrumental in supporting special education programs, but it is set to expire next school year. Even with this funding, about 13% of special education costs remain unfunded, creating a significant gap in resources for services we are legally required to provide. While this proposal directly supports students receiving special education services, it also affects the entire district. When special education funding falls short, the district must absorb these costs within the general fund, which impacts all programs and students. Ensuring stable funding for special education allows us to continue providing the comprehensive educational experience that Hudsonville families expect and deserve. I encourage you to take the time to learn more about this proposal and to cast your vote on May 6.

Beyond financial planning, we are also reaching an important milestone in our district’s facilities. Construction projects funded by the November 2019 Bond are nearing completion. This summer, work will wrap up at Park Elementary and the Early Childhood Center, providing enhanced learning environments for our youngest students. Various technology upgrades and final improvements to some athletic facilities will also be completed, ensuring that our students have access to the best possible resources as they pursue academic and extracurricular excellence. As these projects come to a close, we are beginning conversations about future bond initiatives to determine what’s next for our district. Maintaining and improving our facilities remains a priority. Our community’s feedback will be critical in shaping these plans, and we want to hear from you. Please look for communication in early April about opportunities to provide input and be part of this important discussion.

Spring is also a season of celebration, and we are excited for the many upcoming events that highlight our students' talents and achievements. One of the most anticipated events is our Annual Art Showcase the week of April 28, which will be held at the High School Fieldhouse for the first time. This event provides a wonderful opportunity to see the incredible creativity and dedication of our students, and we hope you will join us in recognizing their hard work. Check your building calendars and stop by to support our young artists—we promise it will be worth it!

As the days grow longer and the school year begins its final stretch, I encourage you to embrace the season—take in the fresh air, enjoy time with family, and find time to participate in the many events happening in our schools. Your engagement and support are what make Hudsonville Public Schools such a strong and vibrant community.

Thank you for your continued partnership, and please remember to vote on May 6, 2025. Click the link below for more information.

Dr. VanderJagt

Superintendent

Riley Middle School and Baldwin Middle School Robotics had three teams qualify for the State Robotics Championship this Spring. A special thanks to our Program Director of Hudsonville Robotics, Pete Niemann! The teams all performed well and made it to the elimination finals!

The teams were Dr. Claw, Donut Destroyer, and Brisk Squad. Congratulations to these teams for their outstanding efforts and excellence in Robotics. If you want to join this fantastic program, Hudsonville will offer an Intro to Robotics class in April and May through Community Education. Additional Summer Labs will be available in June for those looking to build their skills for next season.

Stephanie Thomas, the Ottawa County Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom Specialist, came to South Elementary to teach second graders all about agriculture. They tried new veggies, studied plant parts, and made living necklaces to watch a soybean grow. Students learned about the functions of the major parts of plants: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. The kids enjoyed learning new vocabulary and had some thought-provoking questions.

Hudsonville Public Schools offers a play-based kindergarten readiness preschool that teaches positive self-concepts, social, physical, intellectual, emotional development, and language skills through large and small group learning. Students engage daily in centers, circle time, reading and writing, math, and arts/crafts. The state-approved Creative Curriculum allows Hudsonville Early Childhood Programs to meet the Michigan Early Childhood Standards of Quality. Your child must be four years old on or before December 1, 2025

Hunger does not take a break in the summer! Summer EBT is now called SUN Bucks, and is again available to children who have an APPROVED Education Benefits form (formerly called the Free-Reduced Meal Benefit Application). A household can receive $40 per month per child in June, July, and August 2025 (for a total of $120 per child). Benefits will come in the form of preloaded cards that families can use to purchase groceries.

Summer EBT benefits will be issued to students who have a completed and approved Application for Meal Benefits. Apply by April 15, 2025, to be eligible for the first issuance of benefits in May. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until August 31, 2025.

If you already have an approved application, automatically receive Free or Reduced Meal Benefits, or already receive EBT Benefits, you do NOT need to re-apply.

Completion of the form does not automatically qualify your student for the summer benefits. These benefits will be based on annual incomes and household size as noted by you on the form.

If your address has changed this year, be sure to update it with your school to ensure your benefit card is sent to the right address.

This WILL NOT impact your student receiving free breakfast and lunch at school.

Click HERE for Income Guidelines to see if you might qualify.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR BENEFITS!

Hudsonville High School is excited about the recent expansion of its esports program, which offers students a unique opportunity to engage in competitive gaming, develop skills, and connect with their peers. Spearheaded by high school English teacher and coach Brady VanMalsen, the program has already attracted over 30 students, and more are continuing to join.

Esports, or electronic sports, involves competitive video gaming. While it may seem like just playing games, the world of esports is a rapidly growing industry that demands teamwork, strategic thinking, communication, and quick reflexes. These skills translate well beyond the gaming world and can benefit students in their future endeavors. Students need to maintain eligibility, like other sports, and they can even qualify for college scholarships. Coach VanMalsen recognizes the potential of esports to engage students and provide them with a positive and supportive community.

He said, "Everyone plays games in some shape or form. It's core to our humanity. So why not connect our students around their shared interests and help guide them to game healthily? Every college has an esports program, so we're getting our kids noticed and set on potential career paths, as well."

The program currently features a variety of games, including Valorant, a tactical first-person thriller; Super Smash Bros., a popular fighting game; and Fortnite, a battle royale game. These games offer a variety of gameplay experiences, appealing to a wide range of student interests. Participants practice regularly, and they compete against other schools in the state through an organized league. See this PlayVS website for more details.

A key component of the program's success is the newly designed esports lab, which includes high-performance PC gaming stations, ensuring a smooth and immersive gaming experience. Thanks to a partnership with local company Brynic Solutions, the lab also features professional lighting and aesthetics. This dedicated space provides everything needed for competition and fosters a sense of pride and belonging.

VanMalsen added: "Brynic Solutions reached out to us years ago when the program was in a play-from-home model. They're local and enthusiastic; it's a great match. They've made our space incredibly attractive to students. It feels like a professional, collegiate-level esports lab."

Students are enjoying the space and the opportunity to participate. One student commented, "I love the opportunity to be involved in something I actually enjoy doing. I also like that I'm able to grow and learn outside of class and have a lot of fun doing it."

The program is open to ninth through twelfth-grade students of all skill levels, and VanMalsen encourages anyone interested to come and check it out.

The battle is on at Park Elementary! As a whole school, Park Elementary is reading and voting on picture books as part of a March is Reading Month book battle. Each class has been given a bracket that outlines which books will compete and advance to the next round.

The third-grade team has invited Mystery Guest Readers into their classrooms throughout the month to help read these exciting books to the students! In each book face-off, the books share a similar theme. Some of these themes include diversity, a growth mindset, and empathy.

At the end of the month, each classroom will be able to vote to see which books advance to the elite eight, the final four, and eventually the ultimate winner! As a school, we will also determine a whole-school winner!

Thanks to a generous donation from our Park Parents Club, the books that have been read this month will be raffled off to Park students and classrooms. Thanks, Park Parents Club, and all of our Mystery Readers, who have made this such a fun way to celebrate March is Reading Month!

Georgetown's second graders recently had fun learning about arrays and two-dimensional shapes. First, students cut pieces of construction paper to create quilt blocks, calculating how many pieces were needed for each color. During their work, they discovered how to partition squares into fractional parts, creating new shapes such as rectangles and triangles.

Classes also explored different ways to arrange their quilt blocks into one array to create a class quilt. As the blocks were pieced together, students noticed patterns, parallel lines, symmetry, and more! The end result: unique quilts and more brilliant second graders who put their mathematical skills to work!

The 5/6 Building @ Georgetown kicked off March, Disability Awareness Month, by hosting their first Unified Basketball Game against Grandville's 5/6 building. Unified Basketball is a program under Special Olympics Unified Sports designed to bring together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to play on the same team. The players and their LINKS were all smiles on the court as the student body, staff, family, past teachers, and friends cheered them on. It was a special day showcasing inclusion, teamwork, and social connections through a friendly game of Basketball.

Throughout the season, it was neat to see how the LINKS grew in their role as peer-to-peer basketball buddies. Whether teaching the players how to dribble, shoot on the lower hoop, take a break, or just joke around, they did amazing and were so kind. They treated them like true friends with a caring heart.

It was truly a memorable event that highlighted the power of sports in bringing people together. As we look ahead, we are excited to witness even more friendships, growth, and moments of joy through Unified Sports at 56G.

The 5th graders at Forest Grove demonstrated their reading, writing, research, and presentation skills by exploring a future career that piqued their interest. After several days of gathering information, they planned, wrote essays, and created computer presentations, which were then shared in small groups. The students did an excellent job showcasing their newfound knowledge and potential career path(s) to their peers. What an engaging and meaningful activity focused on the very mission of HPS -- to educate, challenge, and inspire all learners to become contributing, responsible members of a global society!

Several years ago, the State of Michigan created a state-matching grant pilot program

called “10 Cents a Meal for Michigan's Kids and Farms”. Each year a grantee district

applies for state-matching grant funds of up to 10 cents a meal to purchase local foods.

This supports Michigan’s economy by incentivizing grantees to spend more money on

food from Michigan farms and food businesses, and promotes relationship building

across the local food supply chain.

In the last two years, Assistant Director Tracy Nelson and Production Manager Linda

Willemstein took on the challenge of using these grant funds. They created a program

to increase local food purchases, introduce a broader variety of fruits and vegetables to

our students, and promote nutrition education. Two years ago, “Pop-Up Produce” was

born.

Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Willemstein have developed a partnership with Farm Link, a

Grand Rapids based food hub. Each week, they look over the list of available local

foods from farmers to see what is available. Then they review the quantity available to

purchase, and decide which school or schools will have that item “pop up” for those

students to try.

Of course, when it comes to apples, we are very lucky! We can supply all of our

schools almost all school year with Michigan apples.

Gavin Farms, Ottawa County: Apples (Fuji, Gala, McIntosh, Goldens)

Crisp County Acres, Ottawa County: Blueberries

VanSolkema Farms, Ottawa: Jalapeños

River Ridge , Kent County: Apples (Red Delicious, Gala, pre-sliced apples)

Limon Farms, Antrim County: Cherries (sweet and tart)

Wells Orchard, Kent County: Pears, “Pristine” Green Apples, Plums

Mud Lake Farms, Hudsonville: Kiwi Berries

Cosgrove Orchards, Ottawa County: Bartlett Pears, D'Anjou Pears and Red Bartlett

Pears

Heidi’s Farm Stand, Kent County: Blue Hubbard Squash, Futsu Squash

Shalinli Farms, Kent County: Tri Color String Beans

Kessler Family Farms, Kent County: Green and Purple Tomatillos

Cherry Central Inc, Grand Traverse County: Dried Cherries

What’s next for Pop Up Produce? Watch for asparagus in May! Follow us on Facebook!