Ken See and family.

By Judy Reed

Beach Elementary Principal Ken See is leaving Cedar Springs Public Schools to be principal at Grandville Middle School.

That position will take him back to what he was originally doing when he first came to Cedar Springs almost 12 years ago.

See was hired in November 2004 as the Middle School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director. “I started at the old Middle School (what is now known as Red Hawk) the day they came back from Thanksgiving Break,” he recalled.

In 2007, he became the Middle School principal, and in 2010 he moved to the high school as associate principal. Three years later, in 2013, he became principal at Beach Elementary.

“I have so many great memories,” remarked See. “Meeting the students coming from the buses every morning; middle school students and staff performing at the spring talent shows; high school and New Beginnings graduation ceremonies; all staff tailgate parties at homecoming football games; and powerful conversations with other principals around teaching and learning.”

See said he will miss the people the most. “I have made so many friendships with teachers, administrators, support staff, students and parents throughout the district. Teaching is all about relationships and I am blessed to have worked with such wonderful and dedicated people,” he remarked.

It was not an easy decision for See to make. “Leaving Cedar Springs was a difficult decision,” he explained. “I have been blessed with so many wonderful friendships, experiences and growth opportunities throughout the years. They have shaped me to be the person and professional I am today. Having a distinguished district like Grandville contact me to go through the interview process was affirming. Knowing I would be joining a team that valued my skill set and knowledge felt good. I have jokingly compared it to the feeling of being picked first for the recess kickball game. Now I am just excited to have this opportunity to start the next chapter in my professional life.”

“I feel sadness in leaving,” added See. “It’s a natural part of any change like this, but I trust that God was looking out for me with this new opportunity. I leave with best wishes and hopes for my friends and colleagues in the Cedar Springs Schools and community.”

Superintendent Dr. Laura VanDuyn had praise for See in an email she wrote to staff about his resignation. “Ken has served students, staff and families at CSPS with heart and enthusiasm. To that point, a tribute to Ken came from a graduate from 2015, Tamara Tiethoff, as she gave her graduation speech. She remarked that she always remembered Mr. See sharing each day on the morning announcements, ‘Be your best today!’ Ken’s work with students, staff and families over the years is much appreciated and won’t be forgotten,” she said. “Ken, we thank you for all you did at CSPS and we wish you the very best in your new endeavor!”

VanDuyn said plans are underway to find new leadership for Beach Elementary.

See is the second elementary principal to leave this year. Cedar View principal Andy Secor also left a vacancy at the end of the school year when he took a job at Hudsonville Public Schools.

Ken See, Principal

On Thursday, February 5, the Beach staff in conjunction with the PTO sponsored a Parent Math Curriculum night.  Parents were invited to bring their Beach student to come and hear about how Every Day Math is taught here at school.  Parents had the chance to play math games with their child and to learn about some online resources they could use at home to support their child in math.  The night ended with a pizza dinner served by the Beach PTO.  We had 515 of our parents and students in attendance.  Thank you to everyone!

by LoraLee Nauta

The American Legion, Sons of The American Legion and the Auxiliary teamed together to purchase dictionaries for every third grade student. We all felt it was important to give back to our community and our students. They are the future of our country, and we wanted to help anyway we can as an American Legion Family. We delivered approximately 262 books to the Beach Elementary on Wednesday, March 13, 2014.

Mr. Ken See, the principle, was very happy to have this donation. Along with Mr. See, we had 10 students: Eli Malon, Leah Ramsey, Aricia Tompkins, Brady Mason (who is also a Squadron 287 member), Darrien Kolk, Molly Bentley, MacKayla Cazier, Haley Castle (Auxiliary 287 junior), Taylee Self, and Bryce Skelonce. We also had members of our Glen Hill Post Family with us: MaryAnne Yuncker, Past Department President & Unit Education Chairmen; Post Commander Bill Gregones; Keith Tyler, Squadron 287 member and Department Children & Youth Committeeman; and LoraLee Nauta, Auxiliary President.

This book is not only a dictionary, it has the Periodic Table, details about the American Flag, the United States Constitution, a section on all the United States Presidents, the fifty states, plus several more items. We were honored to present these books to the students.

It’s important to the Glen Hill Family to give back to our community and our schools. The Glen Hill Post family is very involved with the veterans, but also many other programs. Education is one of our programs we feel strongly about. These students are the future, and these books should help the students with their studies and give them information that will help guide them.

On the first day of school, Alanna Miller was excited to be in kindergarten at Cedar Trails Elementary.

By Judy Reed

School started back up in Cedar Springs this week, and according to Cedar Springs Assistant Superintendent David Cairy, they are off to a great start.

“Talking to parents, staff and students, everyone is excited to be back and looking forward to a great year,” he said.

He noted that with 3,400 kids, there are bound to be a few glitches the first day or two, but that the community and staff work together to make it work.

Some changes this year that parents may notice include new principals at three of the buildings:

Alternative education – Stacy Jeanette, Director of Student Services, took on being principal for New Beginnings. Former principal Dave Schlump retired.

Beach – Ken See, formerly an assistant principal at the high school, is now principal at Beach Elementary. Former principal Jane Hendricksen retired.

Red Hawk Elementary – April Stevens, formerly at the high school, is now principal at Red Hawk Elementary. Anne Kostus has moved to the high school, as director of academic services.

“Anne will help us increase our focus on student achievement at the high school level,” explained Cairy.

Another change parents will notice is that the high school revamped their parking lot over the summer. The loop that is the drop off and pick up has eliminated parking spots, and buses are now picking up and dropping off kids in the bus area only to the west of the school. The parking lot on the other side of the dropoff has also been expanded, and a new access drive installed to relieve traffic congestion. Cairy said that it is working really well.

He said that next summer they will renovate the Cedar Trails parking lot as well. “We’ve grown dramatically in the early childhood center,” noted Cairy. “We have our biggest class ever in kindergarten—350. We have 280 in first grade, and about 260 in second,” he explained. “We are glad that a lot of families are choosing us for education, but this parking lot was not built for that amount of traffic.”

They will be working on plans for the lot throughout the school year.