In 1972, leaders from Michigan's seven Roman Catholic Dioceses, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and Christian Schools International came together to form the Michigan Association of Non-public Schools (MANS) for the purpose of protecting the equitable treatment of Christ-centered education. This year MANS celebrates fifty years of partnership with faith-based schools in Michigan, continuing to ensure high-quality educational choice for Michigan's parents through advocacy, accreditation, professional development, and innovative services. What was once a small circle of leaders has been expanded to a growing network of more than 350 partner schools across Michigan.

MANS will celebrate the past fifty years with an Anniversary Edition of the MANS Weekly Update throughout the year. We are excited to highlight impactful people in your communities without whom faith-based education would be much different. We look forward to hearing from former board members about their experiences of advocating for Christ-centered schools. Most importantly, we will look forward to the next 50 years of promoting educational excellence for Michigan's faith-based schools. The MANS staff looks forward to celebrating with our members!

Help us celebrate! – Tell us how MANS has impacted you by completing this brief survey. We will use the survey results to help form our communications over the coming year.

Date: March 22, 2022

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location: St. Mary Cathedral Parish Hall, 219 Seymour Street, Lansing, Michigan

Parking: Click here for a downtown Lansing parking map. Please note that parking is not permitted at the Parish Hall.

The MANS Education Conference and Expo brings together school leaders, teachers and staff from member schools across the state. Enjoy two days of challenging professional development, networking with colleagues, and the unique opportunity for fellowship with the Catholic, Lutheran Schools - Missouri Synod and Christian Schools International communities in Michigan.

This premier event is the only one in Michigan that gathers a broad group of faith-based educators with a commitment to Christian mission and excellence in education. Join us on November 3 and 4, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan for this exceptional event!

This webinar was recorded and can be accessed here.

Join Jean Maertens, Professional Learning Consultant with NWEA for these MESC sponsored events.

March 8 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. - After Winter 2022 Testing School Goal Setting (Administrators) Learn how to apply MAP Growth data in goal setting and data conversations to improve student learning. Experiment with using a variety of data conversation tools and protocols, identifying strengths and areas for growth, and looking for patterns at various levels including student, classroom, grade, school, and district. Review current data and plan conversations, goals, action items to implement with staff for remainder of the 2021-22 school year. Click here to register!

March 9 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Student Goal and Growth Setting (should have previously attended Applying Reports). Build on practices that use growth projection data and learning statements to engage students in setting academic goals. Can my teachers access and interpret growth data and apply it to student instruction? Can my teacher use reports and share resources to support student performance and growth data with students and parents? Click here to register!

Join Caitlin Dillon, Ph.D., IDA-SLCT, OFS for her four-part workshop Word Revelation, which is a set of 36 activities designed to maximize students' reading and spelling skills, useful for anyone who would like to help struggling readers (or non-readers) become skilled readers. All sessions will be online from 9:00 a.m. to noon; participants will receive a Word Revelation kit ahead of time to use during the workshop.

Leading the Pandemic Generation - March 19, 2022

On Saturday, March 19, from 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Dr. Tim Elmore will be sharing his knowledge to impart practical life and leadership skills to young adults that will help them navigate through life and be better equipped to meet the many challenges they face. MANS member educators are invited to this event hosted by Our Savior Lutheran Church, 7910 E St. Joe Hwy. Lansing, MI.

The Teacher Wellness Summit welcomes educators of all experience levels to come and learn together, and is designed especially for early-career teachers and those who mentor them, because beginnings are delicate times and our newest teachers deserve our best support.

MANS members have been asked to assist in a signature collection effort to allow for Michigan Student Opportunity Accounts. This petition drive places the issue of expanded school choice before the legislature, and if passed, would become law. The effort to obtain signatures will be headed by Let Michigan Kids Learn, and a coalition of organizations including the Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) and the Michigan Association of Non-public Schools (MANS).

The FCC has extended the Service Delivery Deadline from June 30, 2022, to June 30, 2023. This will allow applicants to take delivery and invoice USAC for approved equipment, devices, and monthly recurring services that may have faced a cut-off with the previous deadline.

This is the final opportunity to gain access to the remaining funds for EANS I. MDE has established $100/pupil as a reasonable target for budgeting purposes. If you require more funding, please include that in your application and budget. 

Please refer to the MANS EANS spreadsheet here for language for your application.

If you have questions, please email them to the Nonpublic Schools email address at MDE, found at Nonpublicschools@michigan.gov

The Michigan State Police (MSP) Office of School Safety Competitive School Safety Grant Program (CSSGP) is now open. The purpose of this grant is to improve the safety and security of students and staff in public and non-public schools through the purchase and installation of technology and equipment for school buildings or to upgrade hardening measures. 

Completed and signed applications must be received, via email no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT on Thursday, March 24.

Questions about the CSSGP can be directed to MSP-SchoolSafety@michigan.gov.

To set the stage, a seminar is being offered on Monday, February 28, 2022, from 11am-1pm. Click here for more information and a link to register.  

Students reading below grade level? Beyond Basics delivers data-driven literacy solutions—90% of students in the program achieve grade-level movement in an average of six weeks.

Diverse books help children to broaden their understanding of the world by seeing themselves and others in words, images and stories. Celebrate diversity in your school or classroom with this specially curated book assortment from Scholastic Book Fairs.

The Meemic Foundation, in collaboration with Scholastic Book Fairs, will award 29 selected schools with a preselected assortment of over 300 diverse books for the K-6 grade reader, primarily hardcover and library-bound titles with a few paperbacks mixed in!

Friendzy provides low burden turn-key SEL for students K-8th grade. The Friendzy program teaches SEL skills one time a week for 20-40 minutes using low-burden, turn-key social-emotional learning tools and resources including:

It’s not too late to take advantage of your EANS (Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools) funding! Help your students reduce summer and COVID learning loss and prepare them to start the new school year on the right foot with Catapult Learning’s COVID Recovery services. Catapult's established solutions for non-public schools as well as our COVID Recovery Program combine to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of students, families, and school communities. Best of all, our programs can be customized to fit the unique needs of your school.

Click here to learn more about EANS funding and how Catapult Learning can help you invest in your students.

With support from the state of Michigan, the most comprehensive mental health and prevention education program and social emotional learning (SEL) programming is now available to schools and districts at no cost! This highly customizable, scaffolded curriculum contains more than 1,000 lessons that address real issues that K-12 students encounter every day. Administrators can utilize free data reporting to see the real-time effectiveness of the SEL and mental health lessons.