Welcome to Defer Elementary School! I believe that you will find our school to be a very caring, child-centered school. We have an outstanding, dedicated teaching and support staff and enjoy excellent parent and community support. Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is extremely active and helpful in a variety of ways including such things as fund-raising, the playground project, staffing our publishing center and the clinic, and providing student assemblies just to name a few.

Defer enjoys a very diverse student and family population with a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, racial, language, and socio-economic backgrounds. These differences serve to strengthen our academic programs, broaden our students’ experiences and perspectives, and enhance each learner’s appreciation for the uniqueness and strengths of each individual. Our students learn to cooperate with others through a variety of classroom settings and activities.

Our commitment to providing students successful experiences is reflected in our school mission statement (see Defer homepage) as well as our commitment to "differentiated instruction". The goal of differentiation is to provide instruction based on each student’s abilities, learning styles, interests, and needs. The students at Defer have continued to demonstrate high levels of achievement as measured by teacher and district assessments as well as through the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). Please refer to the district web page for complete MEAP results.

As previously mentioned, the parents of Defer students are highly involved in their child(ren)’s education. Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences are well attended. Parents participate on a number of school and district committees and volunteer in the classroom and as active members of the PTO.

As the principal at Defer Elementary School, I am extremely excited to be a part of such an active, stimulating learning environment. I am committed to doing my part in keeping our school moving forward and in providing the experiences that our students need to help them to be successful both in and out of school.

I welcome your input and comments.

Sincerely,