Beaver Island Community School
School district in Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beaver Island Community School is a public school district in Charlevoix County, Michigan. It serves Peaine Township and St. James Township, which are located on Beaver Island.[5]
| Beaver Island Community Schools | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
37895 Kings Highway[1]
, Charlevoix, Michigan, 49782United States | |
| District information | |
| Motto | Customized learning in a unique island community.[2] |
| Grades | Pre-Kindergarten-12 |
| Superintendent | Wil Cwikiel[3] |
| Schools | 1[4] |
| Budget | $2,328,000 2021-2022 expenditures[4] |
| NCES District ID | 2604350[4] |
| Students and staff | |
| Students | 50 (2024-2025)[4] |
| Teachers | 8.66 (on an FTE basis) (2024-2025)[4] |
| Staff | 19.18 FTE (2024-2025)[4] |
| Student–teacher ratio | 5.77 (2024-2025)[4] |
| Other information | |
| Website | www |
The district consists of a single school serving all grades. Wil Cwikiel, the superintendent, also serves as the school's principal.[1] The school has 50 students[4] as of the 2024-2025 school year, down from 96 students during the 1999-2000 school year[6] due to declining birth rates. A unique challenge for the school is that due to its small size, small fluctuations in enrollment have a large impact on funding.[7] The school board has seven members elected to four-year terms.[6]
History
The district was founded in 1898.[8] At one time, there were two one-room schoolhouses in the district, but the schools consolidated in town around the mid-20th Century. Because few teachers would live on such a remote island, Catholic nuns were employed by the school, although instruction was secular. In 1974, the school hired the first full-time teacher who was not a nun. By that time, the school board planned to ultimately replace the nuns with lay teachers.[9]
As of 1985, honor-roll students with perfect attendance were treated to McDonald's hamburgers four times a year, but the meals had to be flown in from Charlevoix.[10]
In 2007, voters approved a nearly $4 million bond issue to build an addition and improve the school building.[11]
