Dear Bronco Parents/Guardians, –10/10/26
Happy Sunday! We hope that you are enjoying your weekend with your family. Thank you for reading this week’s Parent Communication Edition. This week, we organized it by the following topics:
Topic: Count Day, Follow-up:
In this week’s edition, we are celebrating the success of our Count Day! Yes, we had 96.2% of our students attend school last Wednesday. Then on Thursday, many of the students who were home sick returned and they were counted. That increased our percentage of success to 99%, according to our accounting secretary. On behalf of Principal Farhat and myself, we would like to thank you for your support.
Principal Farhat did something really cool for count day. She held a Surprise Attendance Day event for students that attended school. On the P.A. system, she announced a random #, which is a student’s number in class and asked them to walk to the café for a sweet treat. In this example and video, whoever had the number 12– was selected to come to the café. What a fun surprise! 😊
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As stated in last week’s Weekly Parent Communication edition:
Thank you to all of our families for helping us improve student attendance during the first month of school.
Moving forward, our Attendance Task Force will continue contacting families when students are absent.
Attendance reports are reviewed each Tuesday, and our team then begins making parent phone calls.
Our school-wide goal for the 2026–2027 school year is to reduce overall absenteeism at Henry Ford Elementary by approximately 35–37%. (Note: Observation: We are on the right track with this, especially since we had a 96.2% on Count Day)
Again, by working together as a school and family partnership, we are confident that we can continue improving attendance and supporting the success of every student at Henry Ford Elementary School.
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Topic: Communication and Early Dismissal Policy:
Parents, Staff and Teachers work together in a positive way by communicating.
Let’s review some observations:
- The use of Parent Square to communicate “private” direct messages with your child’s teacher(s) is a great way to communicate. We have seen more parents communicating with staff since the start of the school year. Please continue following this process.
- The use of Parent Square is the district’s communication platform for the 2026-2027 school year. If you need assistance with this, please reach out to the main office and ask to speak to Fatme and/or Maggie. They both will be happy to help set up your account or answer your questions. In addition, you can always call the district’s dedicated parent technology, department hotline at:
313-827-3075. Here, you will reach a real person that will help with any of your computer technology support questions.
- Phone calls: This is the most effective way of communicating for/with teachers, staff and parents. Parents can call the main office and then be transferred to a teacher’s voicemail to leave a message. Also, if teachers and/or staff call parents, please return their call if it goes to their voice message(s). Note: We have seen and have heard that some parent phones have been blocked due to their child taking their parent’s cell phone and blocking the school number. Please check your cell phone to make sure that the school’s number is not blocked, only if you are not receiving phone calls back. Thank you.
- Early Dismissal Policy: We have seen an increase of parents utilizing this updated process. Thank you. Much appreciated.
- In-Person Conferences: Teachers and staff are available to meet with parents, if needed. You would have to schedule an appointment with a staff member or teacher in advance. Thank you for your understanding.
- Note: Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for all students in November. Classroom teachers will share your child’s or children’s conference dates and times when it comes closer to November.
Topic: PBIS like activities @ HF: Spreading Positivity @ Henry Ford Elementary:
- Monthly Student Spotlight: Student of the Month.
- Weekly Bronco Bravo Awards / Annex Café. Drawings on Fridays.
- Teacher PBIS Reward Parties / events.
- The Energy Bus for Kids School- Wide Activity.
- Showcasing student work in hallways.
- Social Media Posts – Positive things happening @ HF.
- Daily and Weekly Parent Square Posts.
- Sports’ Zones for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students at Lunch Recess
- Other(s).
Topic: Behavior Follow-Up / and Review:
2026-2027 Behavior Goal: To reduce the Overall number of School-wide, Out of School Suspensions. (Note: So far, so good. Our #s are minimal.)
- Some parents are asking about our behavior protocol and procedures. I have included some links to our previous Weekly Parent Communication issues in the event that some parents may have missed reading that section and/or those sections.
Below are the links. (One would have to scroll down and find the section related to that topic of: behavior) I hope that this is helpful for some who have asked.
https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/89131398
This includes a description of: HF school wide interventions– in lieu of Out of School Suspension, Classroom teacher’s procedures, etc.
Student safety is always our top priority.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Bus expectations: All students who ride the bus need to be respectful, safe and responsible. Students who do not follow the bus expectations will be
written up by the bus driver and will meet with Mr. Lawera and/or the
Behavior Team at Henry Ford Elementary. Poor behavior may result in
students not riding the bus. Note: This has happened to about 7 students during the past 6 weeks.
Other types of interventions may also be implemented as well, if, and when necessary.
Henry Ford Elementary School, Behavior Matrix; HF Behavior Expectations (see link below) Also in weekly parent communication # 3:
https://www.parentsquare.com/studio/templates/276285/edit
Please take a few minutes to review this Behavior Matrix with your child.
The Behavior Matrix explains how students should show respect, act responsible, act safely and resolve conflict in the following areas of the school; the classroom, the restroom, the hallways/stairs, the café, the playground, the bus, during an assembly and upon arrival and dismissal times. Thank you in advance for reviewing this important Behavior Matrix with your child. Link to the behavior matrix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZY8-YuBKssehfGseLbwRxE0tgtAD6Gu/view?usp=sharing
Observations: As a new Assistant Principal to Henry Ford Elementary this school year, and someone who has worked at 11 different schools in Dearborn since 1999, I believe that there are very few major behavior issues here.
The majority of behavior issues are minor and can be resolved with the parent and classroom teacher(s) and/or staff member. i.e., special area teacher(s).
Please Remember:
Each school will always have a handful of difficult cases, as each individual person is unique and different and that person would have different individual needs as well.
Our Behavior Task Force is outstanding! Ms. Tubah, Ms. Amal, Principal Farhat and Assistant Principal Mr. Lawera do a fine job of assisting to resolve issues ASAP. Remember, the first line of defense is the classroom teacher, with his or her expectations and procedures and protocols in place.
If necessary, a discipline referral form is filled out by a teacher and/or staff member (i.e.,specials’ teacher) and then our Behavior Task Force gets to work!
Ms. Tubah and Ms. Amal are a really great team! Under pressure and on difficult days, they get the job done! I have full confidence that they can resolved any issue. I have been working with them for 6 weeks now and I would say that they are the best of the best. My opinion. Thank you.
Other observations for grades 3rd, 4th and 5th :
4th grade Lunch: Loud inside the café, but we are getting better. 4th grade lunch recess is very good. No major issues.
3rd grade lunch: Idea. A model group. Students are doing a fine job –both inside and outside of the café. Congratulations to those students!
5th grade lunch: Work in progress, but no major issues in regards to physical aggression. I would say the following needs to be improved:
- Talking quietly in the café with friends and enjoying lunch instead of being loud when Ms. Tubah is on the mic. (she is very patient and good at what she does)
- Communicating with each other during the “serious 5th grade soccer games.” I am so happy to see 5th grade boys and girls really playing soccer at recess, instead of yelling and arguing with each other.
- Note: The Sports’ Zones did help with the organization and structure of outdoor play time and the overall flow and mindset of outdoor lunch recesses.
Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s weekly parent communication edition.
Note: I feel that when some people do have questions and/or complaints, many of the answers and information can be found in our weekly parent communication editions. If you know someone that does not read our messages, please remind them to check us out on Sundays for our latest editions.
Additionally, each teacher and (maybe even special area teachers at times) post daily and/or weekly parent square messages. Again, if you have questions, please send out a direct message. (this is similar to text messaging on a cell phone) And, if you do not have a parent square account, go back to the beginning of this communication and read about how to get assistance. Thank you.
Additional note: At times, I also email parents the written version of our parent square communication so that it can reach the most people, and families as possible.
Additional note: I have heard that some other people say, “why be redundant with all of this communication?” My answer: So that we can reach all parents with the necessary information needed to be successful. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Together, we will make this the best school year possible. “Communication is Key”
Thank you,
-Mr. Lawera
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Sincerely,
Principal Farhat &
Assistant Principal, Lawera