First Day of School...Or Not? 5 AAPS Schools Closed

The damage from Thursday night’s storm continues to have an impact. AAPS sent out an update as the status of schools for opening day on Monday, August 28. As of 5p, only 27 of the AAPS buildings have power. Those 27 schools are on track to start the 2023-2024 school year on Monday, August 28. The remaining schools are not confirmed to start.

Schools Confirmed to Start Monday, August 28

27 of the district’s buildings currently have power. These schools are confirmed* to start on Monday, August 28 as planned.

The following schools are confirmed to have school:

Abbot
Allen
Angell
Ann Arbor Open
Ann Arbor STEAM
Bach
Bryant
Burns Park
Carpenter

Events from our Sponsors

Just Between Friends Consignment Sale

September 25-29

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Saturday, October 5

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October 23-26, 2024

Clague
Community
Dicken
Eberwhite
Haisley
King
Lawton
Logan
Mitchell

Pattengill
Pathways
Pioneer
Pittsfield
Scarlett
Skyline
Slauson
Tappan
Westerman Preschool

*Please note that the last line in the email says that repair work may result in additional power outages and may require closing additional schools.

Schools Currently without Power & Closed Monday

The schools currently without power are:

Forsythe
Huron
Lakewood
Thurston
Wines

The email from AAPS does not specifically say these schools are closed. However, the district’s Facebook page has posted that these schools are closed!

The Facebook note indicates that the damage surrounding Wines and Forsythe is especially severe and may take a few more days.

Full text of Dr Swift’s email

Below is the email that I received. (My child attends a school that is confirmed to be open)

Hello AAPS Community,
We are excited to welcome students back-to-school tomorrow, Monday, August 28th!
At this time, Sunday, August 27 at 5:00 PM, we are confirming the following 27 schools have power restored, systems reset, and will be open for school tomorrow, Monday, August 28th:
Abbot, Allen, Angell, Ann Arbor Open, Ann Arbor STEAM, Bach, Bryant, Burns Park, Carpenter, Clague, Community, Dicken, Eberwhite, Haisley, King, Lawton, Logan, Mitchell, Pattengill, Pathways, Pioneer, Pittsfield, Scarlett, Skyline, Slauson, Tappan, and Westerman Preschool.
The systemwide impact of the extended electrical outages following the storm on Thursday night – to our schools, campuses, infrastructure and operations across the school district – has been significant.
We deeply appreciate the efforts of the Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers and school teams, ITD, facilities, food and nutrition, and many other team members, including DTE teams, who have continued working diligently through this weekend, making every effort to reopen our schools as safely and as quickly as possible.
Following the restoration of power at each location, our teams must work diligently to reset building systems, including fire suppression, secure and replace food for meal service, confirm campuses have been cleared of downed lines and trees, and address any adjacent issues, including the closure of roads around the schools and ability for cars and buses to travel to and from school locations.
We are all focused on the priority of welcoming our students and staff safely back to school across our Ann Arbor Public Schools for the start of the 2023-24 school year.
As is often the case, when crews are working to restore power after a significant storm, buildings that currently have power may lose power again for repair work. We will be monitoring overnight and if it becomes necessary to close any additional schools due to power related issues, we will notify families as soon as possible.

Facebook Post from Ann Arbor Public Schools

The message on the district’s Facebook page is a bit different and is more focused on the schools that are closed. I wonder if parents of students at a closed school received a different email.

Due to power outages and storm-related issues the following five (5) schools will be closed tomorrow, Monday, August 28th; before- and after-school activities will also be canceled for tomorrow.
Forsythe Middle School,
Huron High School,
Lakewood Elementary,
Thurston Elementary, and
Wines Elementary
We are all focused on the priority of welcoming all our students and staff safely back to school for a strong start of the 2023-24 school year across our Ann Arbor Public Schools.
The systemwide impact of the extended electrical outages following the storm on Thursday night – to our schools, campuses, infrastructure and operations across the school district – has been significant.
Following the restoration of power at each location, our teams must work diligently to reset building systems, including fire suppression, secure and replace food for meal service, confirm campuses have been cleared of all downed lines and trees, and address any adjacent issues, including the closure of roads and sidewalks around the schools and ability for cars and buses to travel to and from school locations. In addition, our school teams must have adequate time to prepare and restore classrooms for the arrival of students.
We deeply appreciate the efforts of the Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers and school teams, ITD, facilities, food and nutrition and many other team members who have continued working diligently through this weekend, making every effort to reopen our schools as safely and as quickly as possible.
I want to note that the storm damage in the area around Forsythe and Wines is more significant than at other school locations, and safely reopening those schools presents a greater challenge. We commit to continuing to work diligently to bring these two schools back online as quickly as possible, and will share an update on their status later in the day on Monday.
We look forward to joyfully welcoming all our beautiful students and staff back to our AAPS schools very soon.
Thank you, AAPS community, for your partnership and support of our students, schools, and community during this very challenging time.
Sincerely,
Jeanice Kerr Swift
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools
AAPS Facebook Post