Lake Leelanau St. Mary is ready for yet another school in 2024 as the school continues to approach its 140th anniversary in 2028.
“It’s an exciting year. We were able to do a lot of projects this summer to improve the campus and upgrade the facilities. It’s going to be really refreshing and exciting when the students come back for them to see the changes,” St. Mary principal Megan Glynn said.
Improvements over summer went from infrastructure to cosmetic.
St. Mary improved its playground with a new sandbox, spring rider musical instruments, and picnic tables for youth families to enjoy. On the inside, st. Mary was able to improve community spaces, along with improvements to the cafeteria. New furniture in community spaces allows for flexible seating. The library has been upgraded with new furnishings and students will have new lockers.
Some behind the scenes upgrades include the schools server system and improved WiFi capabilities.
“We have new technology coming in for our staff members and K-12 faculty and some resources for students,” Glynn said.
St. Mary also replaced a boiler along with its septic system to handle the flow of roughly 155 students.
Some other infrastructure improvements include automated- touchless toilets and faucets.
St. Mary is still looking for a bus driver at this time along with a technology-business teacher for the 2024-25 school year.
St. Mary staff Julie Gorizia and Deb Gully will be taking over the fourth grade classroom for the 2024-25 school year.
St. Mary will have 155 students in 2024-25 and roughly 13 students in the preschool classroom. Enrollment numbers are down from over 200 before COVID pandemic.
“The commitment of the families, the strength of the community I think is still very strong,” Glynn said. “We have a really exciting year ahead of us. We have a unique school on the peninsula. We’re the only Catholic school or Christian based school. It’s faith focused with a broad curriculum and I think that we have opportunities to offer families.”
