Dear Parents and Community Members, Thank You!

With pride, Whitefish Bay Schools welcomes students and families to the 2011-12 school year!

Opening schools this year with the District’s is truly a significant event in the history of Whitefish Bay School District. 

On November 3, 2009, residents passed a building referendum supporting both educational enhancements and infrastructure needs for the School District. These facilities, opening this fall, provide modern instructional and performance spaces, address needed infrastructure needs and will become a community asset for decades to come.

A few of the resulting improvements include: High School state-of-the-art science classrooms, a Project Lead the Way engineering classroom, a new High School music wing with rehearsal spaces, new multi-purpose rooms at both Cumberland and Richards Elementary schools and secure entrances, upgraded fire alarm systems and electrical system upgrades.

These enhanced facilities are far more than simply a success story about construction of schools, however.  They are really a story about the power of a community working together, continuing a long tradition of excellence in Whitefish Bay Schools.  These facilities demonstrate a community and a staff working together to serve students, supporting quality public education.  We look forward to opening these new facilities this fall with enthusiasm about the future of Whitefish Bay Schools!

The original 2009 referendum was approved by voters for $22.6 million. To date, the District has only borrowed $20 million and is optimistic that the entire construction costs will be $2.6 million under budget.  The entire building project is being completed ahead of schedule and under budget through careful management of the project and a favorable bidding environment. 

As we have prepared for the opening of the 2011-12 school year, the District is also acknowledging other successes and accomplishments:

Student enrollments continue to grow through families choosing to move to Whitefish Bay. Last year’s District enrollment was 3,027 and is projected again to grow this year. 

Recently, Money Magazine in the top 100 communities to live within in the United States and the quality of the educational system was noted in the article. 

Our students continue to enjoy extremely high quality experiences in academics, the arts and athletics. Most recently, Whitefish Bay High School’s ACT composite was .  The most important aspect of the ACT results, however, is that the results were achieved with 88.4 percent of last year’s graduating seniors participating in the ACT College Readiness exam.

These successes, coupled with the opening of our newly enhanced facilities leads us to a very enthusiastic opening of school this fall and for a very bright future for Whitefish Bay schools and students.

To our community we say thank you – thank you for your on-going support, for trust in our School District and for a commitment to youth in this community.

Sincerely,

Mary J. Gavigan, Ph.D.

District Administrator