School board meetings typically are a place where polite arguments and differing opinions are welcomed. But in Ottawa County, and across the state, animosity has been swelling in recent meetings, leaving school board members wondering if it’s all worthwhile.

St. John’s Lutheran School students and staff kicked off the 2021-22 school year Tuesday.

The following Muskegon Community College students have earned academic recognition for their grade-point averages during the summer 2021 session.

FRUITPORT — Interim Superintendent Ron Veldman says he can’t help but notice a positive buzz in the Fruitport Community Schools as the 2020-21 school year begins.

Due to the forecast for excessive afternoon heat and humidity on Friday, Grand Haven Area Public Schools will for a second straight day have a half-day for K-8 buildings and Central High School.

SPRING LAKE TWP. — Grand Haven Area Public Schools had their first day of the new school year Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga dressed up in his uniform – a gray suit and a red tie – for his visit to Ferry Elementary School on Wednesday to celebrate the opening day of school.

SPRING LAKE TWP. — It doesn’t matter if you’re a first-year teacher or a veteran of several decades – the first day of school always brings about the same nervous excitement.

Familiar sounds of playground giggles and freshly sharpened pencil scribbles flooded Grand Haven Christian School on Monday, officially commencing its 2021 school year.

With classes right around the corner, it’s time to get kids ready for a return to school.

MUSKEGON — Muskegon Community College President Dale K. Nesbary announced Thursday that he will retire in June 2022, concluding 44 years in higher education, research and leadership.

After a contentious meeting in the cafeteria at White Pines Intermediate School, the Grand Haven school board voted Tuesday to require masks for all of the district’s staff and students to start the coming school year.

The Spring Lake school district has changed its stance on face masks for the upcoming school year.

Susan Bays has been named the executive director of the Grand Haven Schools Foundation (GHSF).

After an extensive search, Fruitport Community Schools has selected Jason Kennedy as its next superintendent.

HOLLAND — Hope College has announced initial COVID-19 mitigation plans for the fall and will not be requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students to start the semester. However, non-vaccinated students will be subject to additional protocols on campus.

Back-to-school 2021 was supposed to herald relief — even celebration – for a mostly normal school year ahead. But a surge in the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has reignited parents’ anxiety – and, for many, the safety and quality of schooling once again feel uncertain an…

The Grand Haven and Spring Lake school districts will not require masks when students return to the classroom this fall.

LANSING (AP) — The University of Michigan and Michigan State University will require all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the start of the fall semester.

When Rachel Poel was a student teacher at Mary A. White Elementary School and sitting next to her coordinating teacher, she opened her planner and wrote one simple statement: “Someday I will work at Mary A. White.”

The futurePREP’d IChallengeU teams met at Odd Side Ales in downtown Grand Haven on Tuesday morning to prepare for their upcoming presentations.

Students typically will read less during the summer months compared to when school is in session.

MUSKEGON — Muskegon Community College’s licensed practical nurse (LPN) program has been ranked the best in Michigan in 2021 by Best Value Schools.

LANSING — Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a $17.1 billion K-12 budget, one that will eliminate a longstanding base per-student funding gap among districts and boost overall funding by a substantial 10 percent.

After 18 months of angst, the Grand Haven and Spring Lake school districts are easing toward a future without the requirement of masks.

MUSKEGON — With declining COVID-19 positivity rates in the region, Muskegon Community College announced its transition on Monday to Phase 5 of its six-phase Campus Plan to Reunite.

Holland resident Robyn Afrik and incumbent Carol Slagh, a Zeeland resident, were elected Monday to fill two seats on the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District Board of Education.

A partnership between the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) and the Ottawa Area Center (OAC) brought the natural world into classrooms to reinforce student learning.

Abby Teasley says she was “shell-shocked” when she and her family moved from Mexico to Grand Haven in 1999. She was 9.

As the final bell rang at White Pines Intermediate School on Wednesday afternoon, shouting and laughter could be heard throughout the school’s hallways.

GRAND HAVEN TWP. — Peach Plains Elementary School students had a hand in creating a new ice cream flavor that will help celebrate the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation’s 50th anniversary.

KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan University has received a $550 million donation, the largest single gift ever given to any public university in the nation, the school will announce at a 1 p.m. Tuesday news conference.

A program through the local Chamber of Commerce is helping local students solve real-world problems for area businesses.

MUSKEGON — It is graduation season, and one 2021 Lakeshore graduate is carrying on quite a unique family tradition. The Muskegon Catholic Central High School scholar is her family’s third-generation class valedictorian.

FRUITPORT — Jenna Springstead, the senior speaker for Friday night’s commencement, challenged her classmates at Fruitport High School to continue to choose kindness every day, no matter the circumstances.

Student journalists at Grand Haven High School’s The Bucs’ Blade took home 38 individual awards, including 14 first-place awards, in the 2021 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association awards.