Superintendent

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May 8, 2026

GLPS Families,

As we wrap up a difficult week, and look ahead to continue to navigate the return to the classrooms at Willow Ridge next week, I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your flexibility, caring, and support for the entire Grand Ledge Public Schools family. 

Being a part of a community, especially a strong one, means that we celebrate all of the good times and good things, and we pull together and support one another when we have to navigate difficult situations. This week represented both. We started the week celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week, honoring our amazing staff throughout the district with gifts, meals, and thank you’s, and we are ending it mourning the loss of an incredibly impactful educator and colleague with stories, prayers, thoughts, and kind words. Through it all, the GLPS family has shown why we are such an amazing educational community, with love, grace, caring, and support. I am very proud to have the opportunity to work with and for this community, and I am so thankful to lead and learn here. Communities are made up of people, and the way people interact with one another around shared values determines a community’s strength. The GLPS community continues to show why it is such an amazing place, and I am honored to be a part of it.

Heading into the weekend, I want to take this opportunity to wish a happy Mother’s Day to all of our moms out there. My wife is a teacher and a wonderful mom to our two kids, and so I get to see firsthand the impact that teachers and moms have on kids, both here in the district and in my own home, and I am incredibly grateful to Comet Country’s moms and educators. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to work with you and your children every day, and we are grateful that you have entrusted us, as our mission states, to Grow Learners and Prepare Students every single day. As always, I am #proudtobeacomet.

Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools