Message from the Principal

Dear Eastern High School Families,

We are so excited to kick off the 2026-2027 school year! Summer is always a wonderful time to refresh and recharge, but we are so excited to have all of our Hawks back at school! Our staff has been hard at work getting everything ready for the first day of school on August 26th. Below, you will find important information regarding the start of the year, a handful of celebrations and spotlights, new staff introductions, and upcoming events.

New Principal Introduction

Although I have been part of the Eastern community since 2013, I am new to the principal role and wanted to take a moment to introduce (or reintroduce) myself. I started my time at Eastern HS as a student teacher before being hired into a part-time social studies teacher role the next fall (over the course of a couple of years, I worked my way up to full-time). I absolutely loved teaching and the daily classroom interactions and relationship-building with students. In 2021, I transitioned into an assistant principal role and learned how much I appreciate supporting students, staff, and families as a school administrator. I have loved every minute of working with our team and feel that Eastern HS is the absolute best place to work. At the conclusion of the 2025-2026 school year, I planned to transition back into a classroom teacher role, but I felt increasingly called to serve as the building principal. I am so lucky to be part of this community and am honored to serve in this new role. If we have not met, please feel free to stop me and introduce yourself!

Once the school year starts, you can expect a weekly update from me each Friday afternoon. We will also send out an email with EHS news and events every Monday. From time to time, we will send out an email midweek with specific information about an event or issue (conferences, testing, etc.). In the next couple of weeks, I will share information about additional modes and methods that our school team uses to communicate with students and families.

New Staff Introductions

We have several new faces joining us at Eastern High School this fall. Some are completely new to the district, while others are FHPS veterans who are joining our Eastern team. Please be sure to give these new team members a warm FHE welcome!

• Josh White is our new assistant principal. He most recently served as the principal at Orchard Park Academy in Denver, Colorado, and this summer made the move back to his native Michigan. Mr. White will be teaming up with Mr. Yelding to form a dynamic assistant principal duo!

• Lilly Newmann is coming from Grant High School and will be joining our Social Studies department.

• Heather Kelley comes to us from Muskegon and is joining our Categorical ASD teaching team. Prior to her time in Muskegon, she was an integral part of the CORE program at the Kent ISD.

• Dr. James Alexander is transitioning from teaching roles at Muskegon MS/HS and Muskegon Community College. He will be serving as Orchestra Director.

• Jade Slabbekoorn joins our front-office administrative assistant team after a successful stint as the head secretary at Orchard View Elementary. She is replacing Savannah Maleski, who has transitioned into our counseling office administrative assistant role.

• Katie Budzynski has worked across the district as a Speech and Language Pathologist and will be supporting students in our ASD Categorical program.

• Sharon Saladin will be working as our new ELL/MLL teacher and will support students at both Eastern MS and HS.

• Trip Gallery recently accepted our Online Mentor Teacher position. Mr. Gallery is coming from Northview, but has coached various sports across FHPS over the past several years.

• Kaleena Hampton is joining our ASD team as a paraprofessional. She is a familiar face as she has frequently subbed in both the high school and middle school.

News and Notes

Our scheduled daily start time is 7:45 AM and our end time is 2:40 PM. These start times are slightly different than a year ago, so please schedule accordingly. Please note: our building will not open until 7:20 AM and all students must be picked up by 3:15 PM. Students will not be able to be in the building before or after these scheduled times. Students who are enrolled in zero hour will be able to enter the building at 6:35 AM through the Athletic entrance.

Online enrollment forms: Our district is utilizing the online enrollment system for our back-to-school forms. You can access your forms by logging into your PowerSchool account. Please complete these forms by the first day of school. Access PowerSchool Enrollment Forms.

Drop off/Pick up: Please remember that parents/guardians must remain in their vehicle for drop-off and pick-up. The Pettis entrance is designated for drop off/pick up. The Knapp entrance is for bus traffic only. Please note: We anticipate the drop off/pick up traffic to be heavy as we begin the new year. Please be patient. We do have a five-minute window between high school and middle school start and end times to allow high school student drivers a few minutes to get in before school and out after school.

Cell phone policy: The FHPS cell phone policy remains in effect for the 2026-27 school year. State law requires that school districts adopt a cell phone policy to reduce the detrimental impact of cell phone activity on student learning and classroom engagement. The FHPS cell phone policy states that cell phones are not permitted during the school day and will be confiscated if the device is being used. In the event your child needs to make a call, the front office has phones for student use. More and more research continues to come out about the impact of cell phone activity on brain development. Not only is this policy state law, but it is good for our students. We want their time in school to be focused on learning and interacting with their teachers and peers.

If you need to get a message to your student during the school day, please call our main office at 616-493-8830, and our team will relay the message to the student.

Lunches: We have two lunches at EHS, with lunch assignments determined by the 4th hour teacher. For more information, please click here. FHPS will once again be providing free breakfast and lunch for all FHPS students as part of the Michigan School Meals program.

Upcoming Events

Orientation: Just a reminder that Orientation is scheduled for Monday, August 24th! At Orientation, students will receive a copy of their schedule with locker assignments and get their school ID picture taken. Students will also have a chance to find their locker and classes. We will have a brief presentation in the auditorium at the beginning of each Orientation session.

9th grade: 8 AM-9 AM

10th grade: 9 AM-10 AM

11th grade: 10 AM-11 AM

12th grade 11 AM-12 PM

**New students will meet in the Media Center during the last 15 minutes of their scheduled orientation session.

EHS Open House: Our Open House is scheduled for Monday, August 24th from 6:00 PM-7:40 PM for parents and guardians. This is a great opportunity to walk your student’s schedule, learn more about their teachers and classes, and begin developing the important home/school partnership! Additional information will be shared in the days to come.

Day 1 of School: The 2026-2027 school year will kickoff on Wednesday, August 26th. As I mentioned earlier, our start time is five minutes later than this past year, with first hour starting at 7:45 AM.

A couple of other dates to have on your radar:

• The Hawk Rally will be held on Thursday, August 27th. Stay tuned for more details.

• Our annual Homecoming Game will take place on October 2nd with the dance scheduled for October 3rd.

• The PSAT/NMSQT (Juniors only) is scheduled for October 15, 2026.

Celebrations and Gratitude

Over 70 students participated in our annual five-day band camp last week. Thank you to Mr. Kevin Langejans, Ms. Marina Budinsky, Mr. Joe Herdegen, and the parent volunteers/band boosters who helped make the week a success. The band’s “Made in Michigan” halftime show should be a ton of fun to watch and listen to!

Thank you to our Senior Squad members, Mrs. Emily Liley, and Mr. Andy Evans for distributing the Class of 2027 yard signs! Please email eliley@fhps.net or aevans@fhps.net if your senior did not receive the sign and they will make sure someone gets it to you. We love celebrating our seniors and seeing our Hawk Pride throughout the community!

As I write this, we are in the midst of our 3rd annual Senior Parking Spot painting event! The spots that seniors paint will be their designated spot (during school hours) for the year. The lot will be blocked off for painting through the end of the weekend.

I couldn't be more excited for all the incredible moments, memories, and growth that is ahead of us as we kick off another school year. A strong school community is built on trust, partnership, and communication; please do not hesitate to reach out with questions, ideas, or just to say hello. Thank you for welcoming me into this new role with such warmth and enthusiasm. I can’t wait to see our halls filled with students on August 26th!

Have a wonderful weekend and Go Hawks!

Dan McElheny