Superintendent

To celebrate Dr. Timmis's retirement, we are compiling an 8.5 x 11 keepsake binder filled with notes and photos from students, staff, and the community. If you would like to be included in this special commemorative keepsake, please submit your notes/photos by Friday, February 20th to communications@dexterschools.org, or send via interoffice mail to Bates, attn. Communications, or drop off at Bates in person.

This keepsake will be presented to Dr. Timmis at his Retirement Party on Wednesday, February 25th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the Creekside Cafeteria. All Dexter community members are invited to attend and wish him well in his retirement. Light refreshments will be served.

Important updates from Assistant Superintendent Ryan Bruder, including topics such as snow days, KG and Y5 Info Night and Open House, Schools of Choice applications, the 2026-2027 school calendar, Academic Programming Videos, WISD Family Engagement Survey, and the football head coach transition. 

Dexter Community Schools will be closed on Thursday, January 15th due to inclement weather. Jenkins childcare will be open.  A decision regarding afternoon and evening events will be shared by noon.  Thank you and Go Dreads!P.S. We expect email videos and photos of sledding!

DCS School Resource Officer, Corporal Gerrod Visel, has retired. While we will miss his daily presence in our buildings, we are grateful for the lasting impact he has made on our school community. We are pleased to introduce Brian Ward as our new School Resource Officer. Deputy Ward has twelve years of experience with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department, where he has served as a Police Training Officer and as the Assistant Team Leader for the Crisis Negotiation Team.

UPDATED WITH EVENING EVENT INFORMATION

Due to current and projected inclement weather that is making driving on secondary roads dangerous for buses, Dexter Community Schools will be closed today, Wednesday, December 10, 2025. Jenkins ECLC will remain open with a two-hour delay.

• Half-day preschool programs at Bates are canceled. 
• Community Education afterschool classes (those that start before 6pm) will be canceled. 

We will make a determination about evening extracurricular and athletic activities, evening community education programs (those starting at 6 or later) and facility rentals by mid-day and notify families via email. 

Dreadnaught Fans! 

We are conducting a messaging system ahead of the snowy season to ensure we have accurate contact information for families and staff so you can receive all notifications. The test message will go out sometime after 6pm on Thursday, Nov. 20th.

If you do NOT receive an email, text, or robocall please send an email to your student's school with the info within the next few days. If you have students at several buildings, you can cc: a single message to all applicable building offices at the same time. Over the next two weeks we will be updating info that needs correction in the system, hopefully ahead of inclement weather.

No School Today for DEEC and Mill Creek Middle School – Friday, November 14, 2025

Due to unexpected building issues, Dexter Early Elementary Complex (DEEC) and Mill Creek Middle School will be closed today, Friday, November 14, 2025. Students and staff assigned to these two buildings should not report.

All other Dexter Community Schools buildings and programs are operating on a normal schedule.

We will provide an update later today as more information becomes available. Thank you for your flexibility and understanding.

On Friday, November 4th, our technology team will implement upgrades to our phone menu system. This means that the system will be down between 1pm and 4pm. During this time, people will not be able to call in to any line with a choice menu (lines that require you to push a button or dial an extension to proceed). 

We picked this time because it will impact the fewest number of people due to the half day. Community Education will still have no-school students. They will have someone monitoring their email communityed@dexterschools.org so they can respond to urgent messages. 

If you have an urgent message for someone else in the district, please call 734-424-4102,  send a message to that person’s direct email address, or send one to info@dexterschools.org. Keep in mind that our call volume will likely increase so you may not get through immediately. If you can handle your query via email, please go ahead and do so. Otherwise we will respond to or relay your message as soon as possible. 

An important update from the Board of Education regarding pending updates to the DCS sex ed curriculum, including background, process, next steps, and parental involvement. Also includes links to detailed information about SEAB and Michigan law on this subject. 

With the planned pause of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits in November — and the chance the pause could last longer — many of our Michigan neighbors may have a harder time keeping food on the table this winter. Nearly 1.4 million people could be affected in our state.

Local food banks and community organizations will need extra support from all of us to meet the growing demand. Together, we can make sure no one in our school community goes without food this winter. Below are resources for families who could use extra food support, as well as routes to help others in need. Please contact the organizations directly for more information or to get involved.

National School Bus Safety Week is October 20-24th. This public awareness campaign is an opportunity for school staff, families, and community members to join forces and address the importance of school bus safety. 

Attached to this message is the Fall 2025 Transportation News and Transportation News

We want to let you know that the phone number we use to send school text messages has changed.

Starting today, you’ll receive SMS text messages from our new number: 97178.

Please note that messages will no longer come from our previous number, 54968.

This change was made to improve the reliability and speed of our text message delivery. We encourage you to save the new number (97178) to your contacts so you recognize our messages right away.

On October 22nd, 2025 there are two more opportunities to review the proposed updated sex education curriculum. Both are at Bates Boardroom: 2704 Baker Rd., Dexter MI 48130

• 9am-11am
• 12pm-2pm

There will be two public hearings regarding the proposed updates:

• November 3, 2025 7pm as part of the regular Board of Education Meeting
• November 10th, 2025 7pm at a Special Board of Education Meeting

Click Read More below for additional information about providing feedback. 

Important Updates including: Dexter v. Chelsea EFD Fundraising Rivalry; Sex Education Curriculum Review Feedback Sessions; Soliciting Student artwork for the Al Ritt Scoreboard; WISD CTE Millage proposal. 

The State of Michigan School Aid budget has funded free lunches for all students for several consecutive years. The state’s budget year runs from October 1st through September 30th.  As of today, the legislature has failed to pass a school budget.  Starting October 1st, only students who qualify for free or reduced lunch according to federal guidelines will continue to receive either free or reduced breakfast/lunch prices. All other students will have to pay for meals. This is a significant change for our families and we need you to be prepared starting October 1st.  

School districts all over Michigan need Lansing to take immediate action to pass a responsible School Aid Budget that preserves public education funding and provides staff with the resources needed to support students. Dexter is in a fortunate position to keep things running smoothly for a month or so, thanks to a healthy fund balance. However, this isn't the case for most districts across the state. Legislators need to acknowledge that a State government shutdown could delay critical State Aid payments to school districts, immediately jeopardizing districts’ ability to meet financial obligations.

The Board of Education has sent letters to House and Senate leadership, in addition to the Appropriations Chairs for both Chambers, highlighting our concerns and the urgency of this matter. Dexter Community School’s local elected state officials have been attentive to our concerns, and we thank them for their continued support. We will continue to speak up on behalf of Dexter’s students, and we encourage all parents and community members to do the same.

With Dr. Timmis's upcoming retirement and the transition of Ryan Bruder to take over as superintendent, the district is working through a series of staffing changes over the next several months. 

The school year is off to a great start!  Seeing the kids back on our campus with smiles and laughter enjoying childhood is the reason we all went into education.  Thank you for everything you do to make DCS such a wonderful place for kids and Dexter an incredible community.  This message includes Important info about this year's DreadStrong signs, a search for a host family, and Bond Sales.