Districts share good news items at the end of 2024

ROSEVILLE/EASTPOINTE — As 2024 came to a close, officials in both Eastpointe Community Schools and Roseville Community Schools shared some good news at their board meetings.

 

Roseville
At the Roseville Community Schools Board of Education meeting Dec. 16, educators shared one item in the “Nice Things Happening in Our Schools” portion of the evening when they recognized Roseville High School student Daniel Duhaylonsod.

The senior was chosen by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association to perform with the 2025 All-State High School Jazz Ensemble Jan. 25 at the 20th annual Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids.

Under the guidance of Director Daniel Cheshner, Duhaylonsod completed the blind audition for the ensemble in October. According to school officials, the MSBOA required applicants to record and prepare a short musical composition, sight read an excerpt and play a series of scales from memory. The auditions were held at Cousino High School in Warren.

“Every musician comes in and they all get the same piece that they have to play. It’s kind of like the baseline for the judges to be able to see how well the musicians perform,” Roseville High School Principal Jason Bettin said, adding he also had to do some improvisation. “Daniel is only one of 18 students across the entire state of Michigan that was chosen for the all-state jazz band. He’s the only trumpet player that will have a solo when the band performs.”

A panel of expert adjudicators listened to recorded auditions from all over the state to choose the all-state players. This marked the third straight year Duhaylonsod was selected to perform at the conference. In 2023 and 2024, he performed with the All-State High School Band. The school board presented him with a certificate.   

 

Eastpointe
At the Dec. 9 Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Christina Gibson shared two different honors the district recently received.

Gibson announced that the Michigan Association of School Boards designated the school board as an Honor Board, which is given to boards when all the members have achieved Level 1 certification through the MASB’s Certified Board Member CBM program.

“A huge thank you to Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education for their dedication to learning as school board members. There is a lot to know about being an elected official, and there is a lot of effort that goes into preparing for board meetings as well as learning the role of a board,” Gibson said. “The members you see before you this evening have put in that work. We are proud to acknowledge them.”

Gibson also thanked outgoing Board of Education members Jon Gruenberg, who served from 2004 to 2024, and Mary Hall-Rayford, who served from 2021 to 2024, according to Gibson’s presentation.

There were other reasons to celebrate. During the meeting, Gibson disclosed that the Michigan School Public Relations Association recognized the district in four areas in 2024. The district received an excellence award in special purpose projects for its strategic plan portraits, and three merit awards in the social media, newsletter and marketing materials categories.

“Eastpointe works hard at our public relations and our communications, both on a number of platforms,” Gibson said. “A huge accomplishment for Caitlyn Kienitz, our communication and marketing (coordinator). Congratulations, Caitlyn, and thank you for all the hard work that you put into helping tell our story of good here in Eastpointe Community Schools.”

At the Nov. 25 Eastpointe Board of Education meeting, Gibson provided an update on the school system’s Partnership District status. In 2022, Eastpointe High School and Pleasantview Elementary School were identified by the state as being in the bottom 5% and identified for comprehensive support, which requires a three-year partnership agreement with the Michigan Department of Education.

Educators identified various goals for improvement at both schools. For instance, school officials set a goal to improve the Eastpointe High School graduation rate by 3% during the 18-month process. Gibson said the graduation rate was 69% in 2022, and the district exceeded that in 2024 with a graduation rate of 86.7%. At Pleasantview, one of the goals was to improve attendance by 1%. According to Gibson’s presentation, attendance was at 82.2 percent for the 2021-2022 school year with an increase to 87.7% in the 2023-2024 school year.

During the district’s 18-month partnership review for both schools, the MDE and the Macomb Intermediate School District both confirmed that both schools met all their 18-month benchmarks, and in several cases already exceeded the 36-month benchmarks that are in place.