BCS District Update - September 2025

Letter from the Superintendent

Mr. Mark Rairigh
Superintendent

The changing of the season's is almost here, which means we are in the heart of the school year. Programs, activities, and events are running in full force and our students and staff have the opportunity to shine in all of their settings.

Wayne Gretzky once quoted, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!" With that, we encourage every student during this time of plentiful opportunity to take advantage of the many, many activities, teams, clubs, and events and find a way to participate, to get involved, to try something new, and to make memories.......take a shot! If students seize the opportunity and simply try, it may be the beginning to wonderful experience!

As always, thank you for your support and we look forward to the many opportunities that lie ahead this school year.

#BryanBuilt

State of Ohio District Report Card Rating

The State Report Cards were recently released reflecting data from the 2024-2025 school year and BCS has received a 3.5 star district rating on a 5 star scale.

Overall, the district report card results provide a good snapshot for our district to evaluate, to help guide improvement plans for our student learning needs, and to also CELEBRATE the many outstanding performance measures achieved by our students and staff.

BCS understands that Report Cards are not the only measure of the success and accomplishments in our district. We celebrate a wealth of daily and yearly achievements and we look forward to continuing excellence in all that we do.

We thank our staff for all they do each day to help grow our students academically, socially, emotionally, and through experiences that will last a lifetime.

We have already started, and will continue, to dive into data and find strategies to implement that can help improve any noted areas seeking further growth on our reports.

You may view the entire District Report Card by clicking HERE and searching Bryan City Schools.

#BryanBuilt

2025 Benedict Outstanding Educator

Congratulations to the 2025 Benedict Outstanding Educator Award recipient Coleen Smith!!

The Benedict Outstanding Educator Award is given each year to recognize educators within the Bryan City School system who model both strong competence and character to students.

During the nomination process, Coleen's peers, colleagues, and former students noted the following about her:

“She is one of the most authentic people that one can meet”
“She is genuinely kind and always makes others, both students and adults, feel comfortable and valued”
“She loves to laugh at herself and tries to find the humor in many situations”
“I admire her professionalism…..working with her has made me a better teacher”
From a student: “She models integrity, responsibility, and empathy in all interactions……serving as a role model for both students and colleagues. She will always be one of my favorite teachers.”
“Her character in school and out in the community is exemplary. She inspires confidence and trust with everyone.”

Thank you to the Benedict Family for continuing this prestigious award on an annual basis! Thank you to the Bryan Area Foundation for their continued support of the award process! Thank you to the Academic Booster Club for sponsoring and supporting the award recipient process!

Coleen ~ thank you for representing #BryanBuilt in all you do and CONGRATULATIONS!

Click HERE to watch a very nice tribute to this year's recipient, Mrs. Coleen Smith.

To learn more about the Benedict Outstanding Educator Award, and to view previous recipients, navigate here:

https://www.bryanareafoundation.org/outstanding-educator-award/

Homecoming Game Night - Next Wednesday!

In case of inclement weather, the event will be held in the 6-12 gym.

YOU ARE INVITED!

Our annual Homecoming Game Night will be held next Wednesday, October 1st from 5:30-8:00 pm at Golden Bear Stadium. ALL BCS FAMILIES and the COMMUNITY are invited to join us for this fun event.

5:30 pm - Food and Games

State Bank food truck (free-will offering benefitting the Bear Bag program)
Eric’s Ice Cream truck (additional cost)
Music Boosters concessions (additional cost)

7:30 Bonfire in the shot put pit

A few more notes:

If you purchased game night t-shirts, please wear them.

There will be raffle prizes for students in grades 6-12. BMS students will earn 1 raffle ticket for coming and 1 raffle ticket for wearing Bryan gear. BHS students will earn 1 raffle ticket for coming, and 1 raffle ticket for wearing their class color.

One of the games is an inflatable obstacle course. If students in grades PK-12 wish to participate, they must fill out a waiver. Please see this post in ParentSquare for the waiver.

We hope to see you there!! GO BEARS!!

MS/HS Construction Updates

Progress continues on the MS/HS expansion project that will add a Career Tech wing, a new Junior High Gymnasium, and a new Weight Room. The project is anticipated to be complete in June of 2026, with the new facilities ready for the 2026-2027 school year.

Some notable updates over the next month on the project include:

Roofing install completion on the "west half, or career tech" portion of the new addition.
Concrete pouring of the gymnasium and weight room floors
Steel and roofing to be added to the gymnasium and weight room portion of the facility beginning in early October

Take a look at some of the progress made on the new addition thus far.

Future Plans - Bryan MS/HS Grant Recipient

BCS recently joined Ohio's "Future Plans" collaborative with the intent to help expand career based educational opportunities for our students.

Through this collaborative BCS recently learned that for the next 2 school years we will be the recipient of $30,000 (for a total of $60,000 over 2 years) to help provide career navigation and career coaching services to our students at the MS and HS grade levels!

With our career tech expansion on the horizon, and our growing focus on career training, the Future Plans committee felt we were a good fit to be the recipient of these grant funds.

BCS is 1 of 10 Middle Schools chosen for this grant in Ohio......and 1 of 52 High Schools!

We look forward to increasing our career planning services with our students!

Arts and Education Facility Clean Out

All plans are still in place and moving forward as expected to begin the demolition phase of the "South Half" (gymnasium and classrooms) of the Central Building (Arts and Education building) beginning in January of 2026.

As a REMINDER, beginning January 1, 2026 the Arts and Education Building will be CLOSED to allow for the demolition of the gymnasium and classrooms to begin.

With that, the remaining months of 2025 will bring it's final shows and events until the construction and renovation phases are complete with the Auditorium. Lots of details are forthcoming in the near future regarding the enhancements and renovations to the Auditorium and the Art Connects Us campaign will be in full force in just a few short months.

In the meantime, BCS has to begin preparing the facility for the demolition phase. Meaning, all items will need to be removed from the facility to allow for the demolition and construction renovation phases of the project to be completed.

To prepare for this process, ALL groups with items being stored inside the A+E facility must have their items cleaned out by December 30, 2025.

Following the clean out phase, an Auction will be scheduled and held to sell off any remaining items inside the facility prior to the demolition phase.

THANK YOU in advance, and exciting times lie ahead with the future of the Arts!!

Important Info - State Policies

Cell Phones - State Law

Beginning January 1, 2026, per State Law, all cell phones will not be allowed to be used the ENTIRE school day, including lunches/cafe, hallway passing time, and any other time of the school day. The only change students will see at BCS once the calendar reaches January 1 is that cell phones will also not be able to be used during lunches or hallway passing time. BCS students currently are not allowed to use cell phones during instructional/class time.

As a reminder, students may still bring cell phones to school, but they must be on silent mode, or powered off, and stored out of sight during instructional time, and after January 1, throughout the entire school day. Cell phones may be kept on the person as long as they are out of sight.

Student cell phones also may NOT be used during AM or PM school transportation on school buses at the request of the driver.

Refresher on the law:

During the summer months, House Bill 96 was enacted by the Ohio General Assembly and requires all public schools in Ohio to adopt policies that prohibit students from using cell phones during the school day. This new legislation is intended to help reduce distractions, enhance academic engagement, and support student well-being.

Per State lawmakers, at times, cell phones may be used for instructional activity at the request of the teacher or to monitor or address a health concern if the student has a written statement from their physician.

With this State Law, if a parent/guardian needs to reach their student during the school day, we ask for parents/guardians to reach out to the school building's main office.

Workforce Development Awareness

In the recent days, Advanced Rehabilitation Technology (ART) and S and S Directional Boring hosted all of the Four County Area School Superintendents for a tour and overview of their organization. The main focus of the visit: job skills for students. Area educators, including Bryan Schools, learned about the many job opportunities in the trades that are right in our backyard. Accompanied with that, students who are willing to learn some technical skills with an open mind to training and good work ethic, can make a fantastic career out of a skilled trades job opportunity. We thank Bryan's very own Dustin Schlachter for hosting!

ParentSquare

Bryan City Schools has officially transitioned to ParentSquare as our primary platform for all school-to-home communication. ParentSquare will replace all communication tools currently being used, and will be the single place for all school communication this school year. This includes school delays and cancellations, classroom communication, athletic updates, special events, classroom sign ups and more.

ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent, using their information that is currently in PowerSchool. We encourage parents to download the mobile app and update their preferences on when and how they are notified.

Here’s what you can do with ParentSquare:

Receive messages from the school via email, text or app notification
Choose to receive information as it comes or all at once with a daily digest at 6pm
Communicate in your preferred language
Direct message teachers, staff and other parents
Sign forms & permission slips, receive report cards, sign up to volunteer and more.

All current parent/guardian contacts have received a ParentSquare invitation via email. Please review the information to set up your account.

Note that Bryan City Schools has eliminated Facebook Messenger as a district communication tool as of June 30, 2025. Please use the messaging feature of ParentSquare as a replacement.

ParentSquare
for iOS

ParentSquare
for Android

Getting Started Guide

Need help? Have questions?

Check out our extensive ParentSquare section on our school website.

District Calendars

THIS School Year (click link or see below):

2025-26 School Calendar

For planning purposes, the next school year calendar is also available.

2026-27 School Calendar

BCS 2025-2026 Calendar.pdf

BCS is in HIGH need of substitute teachers. Anyone with a high school diploma (or equivalent) is eligible to sub. BCS pays teacher substitutes $125 per day.

To learn more, or to apply to become a substitute teacher, please click the Jobs at BCS icon on our website, bryanschools.net

Bryan City Schools is still in immediate need of school bus drivers!

A Class B CDL with S and P endorsements is required.

The employer agrees to pay the total cost relating to obtaining a bus driver license, renewal, fees for testing (one time only) and the cost of obtaining abstracts.

BCI/FBI/Fingerprinting will be reimbursed with receipt.

A one time sign on bonus of $ 750.00 after 1 year of continuing service.

Starting pay $ 22.99 per hr. or higher based on years of experience, 3.5 hrs guaranteed per contract language .

To learn more, or to apply to become a bus driver, please click the Jobs at BCS icon on our website, bryanschools.net