Students and staff at Roguewood Elementary School and Rockford High School recently got an encouraging visit from the top education official in Michigan, State Superintendent Michael Rice.
Rice visited several classrooms at Roguewood and the school’s Spanish immersion program, along with a math class at the new Creative Teaching and Learning Center at Rockford High School. The Sept. 12 visit was part of Rice’s regular stops at state school districts “to observe best practices and celebrate the terrific things happening in schools around Michigan,” a press release stated.
Roguewood Principal Teya Cotter said Rice was impressed by the school’s “connection to students” and its use of teaching technology.
“It was refreshing to have a state superintendent who was really invested in what was happening in the classroom, and he was very knowledgeable,” Cotter said. “He was also passionate about refugee students and students with special needs” getting the funding they need. “He knows we’re not getting enough … but we’re making it happen.”
Rice was the superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools for 12 years before being hired by the State Board of Education this spring and taking office July 1. He succeeded former state schools chief Brian Whiston, who died last year of cancer.
