Last year, Constance Parker was student teaching at Scarlet Middle School when her then professor, Laurie Hochrein, was asked to step in at CHS during a time of transitions. She couldn’t take on the job full-time, but she suggested Parker for the part-time spot.

Now, Parker is full-time at Community as an Algebra II, Pre-calc and Math-support teacher as well as a forum leader.

As an experienced dance teacher, the familiarity of going by her first name was natural and welcoming. She believes fitting in can feel hard at times, especially because she is younger than most teachers. However, Parker highlights that she would much rather be herself than have to hide to fit in.

“I try to bring all of myself to what I do,” Parker said. “I try very hard not to dim parts of myself to fit in other places. I think that Community is a great place, with a lot of people who are very willing to accept and not just tolerate people who are different. I found that fitting in is a little bit easier [at CHS] because there isn’t as much of a mold to fit into here.”

In August, Parker found out that she would be a forum leader.

“I was very nervous about it going in, because it’s such an important part of Community,” Parker said. “But, I wanted to really get it right.”

As the year started, Parker realized that being a forum leader came naturally to her, and it even became a nice break in the midst of her math classes.

The 2025-26 school year is full of changes for CHS students and staff as Sarah Roldán-Dodson completes a full circle and returns as the new history teacher. She expresses her excitement over this new chapter and looks forward to what this year will bring.

She originally worked at CHS in 2010 as a World History teacher before she found herself at Huron and Pioneer over the last 15 years. Now, she’s back at Community in Room 213 teaching World History, US History and Philosophy.

Roldán-Dodson liked the freedom that CHS gave, the ability to get up and move, to go across the street, and the ability and trust given to students and staff that isn’t given at other schools.

She also noticed the overall unity as a community at CHS, especially during the Opening Ceremony, a tradition to introduce students and staff back to school.

“Everyone was rooting for the teachers and speakers, and it was a familiar sense that people were a family andm  supporting each other,” Roldán-Dodson said.

Though she expressed her contentment with being at Community, she said that she didn’t feel just at home yet.

“It’s been 14 years, so I think if it had been a year or two, I might feel that way,” Roldán-Dodson said. “I’m still just getting the lay of the land, so to speak. I’ve been at all three schools, so they all have familiarity to me in different ways. [I’m still] trying to figure things out.”

Taking over Sharon Harrison’s old position, Angela Keene switched from being a common AAPS substitute teacher to an office administrator at CHS.

She had originally been substitute teaching at many of the Ann Arbor high schools, including Huron, Pioneer, Pathways and Skyline. But that wasn’t all. Keene has been a part of CHS for the past five years, as she was also subbing at Community High.

In her new role at CHS, she now opens the doors, makes sure attendance is updated, answers phone calls, helps students check out curriculum books in the Book Depository and occasionally helps Jeri Schneider, the school librarian, when Schneider needs it.

Since the beginning of the school year, the CHS staff has made an effort to help Keene fit into CHS. This includes Schneider, but also Beth Portincasa. Keene met Portincasa while working with her at Pathways. For Keene, knowing Portincasa has been a great help in fitting into CHS.

However, Keene’s list of supporting friendly faces is ongoing.

“Dean Rebecca also has such a calm energy about her,” Keene said.

That support has made it so that Keene is able to get into a steady daily routine.

“I’m here at the school because I love this school,” Keene said. “I love the teachers, the staff and the students. It really is named appropriately — ‘Community’. It feels like a family.”