Dear Parents, Students, and Community Members:  Thank you for taking time to visit the Vassar Public Schools website, home of the “Vulcans”.  Whether your visit has been prompted by exploration of the programs within a “new” place to school your children, a desire to learn more about the district in which you reside, or a sense of curiosity, I think you will find the School District offers excellent learning opportunities for students in a rural setting.  I have heard it said by many educational leaders that the roots of a great community lie in the strength of the educational system that molds today’s children into tomorrow’s leaders.  I believe this is true for our community and school district.  The Public School district is built on a strong foundation of dedicated professionals.  These individuals are committed to ensuring that our children are properly equipped to have a meaningful role in our society. It is only through the efforts of these hard-working educators, combined with the involvement of concerned parents and a supportive community that allows us to reach our goals.  I believe it is important to strengthen these partnerships so we may continue to build on our successes.   As your new Superintendent, I will be a visible leader, open to and excited about sharing ideas for improving our school system.  You can count on me to be actively involved in the daily educational process, helping to ensure the highest return in terms of student achievement.  At Vassar Public Schools, kids come first!  GO VULCANS! Sincerely,   Thomas Palmer Superintendent

Member	Position	Term Expires	Email Address
Matthew Koch	President	2010	mjkoch@vassar.k12.mi.us
Mike Kennard	Vice President	2014	mjkennard@vassar.k12.mi.us
Russell Hubbard	Secretary	2012	rhubbard@vassar.k12.mi.us
Kirk Vanwormer	Treasurer	2010
Ben Guile	Trustee	2012	bguile@vassar.k12.mi.us
Roger Bacon	Trustee	2014	rbacon@vassar.k12.mi.us
Nicole Licavoli	Trustee	2012	nlicavoli@vassar.k12.mi.us

Board Meeting every 2nd Monday of the Month at 7:00p.m.

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The Vassar Public School District is located approximately fifteen miles east of Saginaw and seven miles northeast of Frankenmuth in Tuscola County, an area commonly referred to as the “Thumb” of Michigan.  The area making up the school district was first settled in 1849 by Mr. Townsend North who was awarded 3,000 acres of Tuscola timberland for building a bridge across the Cass River in 1835. He and James M. Edmunds named the area after James’s uncle, Matthew Vassar, who later founded Vassar College in New York.  The area that makes up the school district was primarily used for lumber production until 1881 when forest fires ravaged the area; ironically, this benefited the county by clearing the land for agriculture which is still active today.

 While farming is still an active part of the community, it accounts for a small portion of the earned income of this community. Much of the farming in the community, which is west of the City of Vassar, is made up of large, single family farms.

The current community of Vassar is more a bedroom community serving the needs of Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, with the population’s income greatly influenced by the auto industry or smaller industries with ties to auto production.

While over the last ten years the area has experienced a slight increase in the overall population (10.3%), the district’s school population has stayed fairly fixed with a student population around 1650 to 1700 students.  The ethnic population of 88.4% Caucasian, 8.3% African American, and 3.3% other has also been stable over the last ten years both within the community and within the school district.

The children of this community are educated on three campuses within the City of Vassar. Townsend North Elementary School built in 1952 houses our Pre- kindergarten through 2^nd grade programs, Central Elementary School our newest building built in 1995 handles the educational programs for students in the 3^rd through 6^th grade, Vassar Junior High built as an addition to the high school in 1969 handles grades 7^th and 8^th and finally the high school which was built in 1960 address the needs of our students in grades 9 through 12.

Just east of the City of Vassar the district also handles the educational needs of Pioneer Work and Learn which is the State’s largest private juvenile detention center. Run by Wolverine Human Services the facility has approximately 300 adjudicated youths “campers” housed for periods of six months to a year. During their stay the district through it’s on site staff provide educational programs leading to a high school diploma.

In closing I would like to welcome you to our school district and our community by way of this website.  Please take some time to view the information provided on this site. We hope this will give you a little better understanding of our school district and our community as we work together to assure the success of our children.