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The Board of Education and the administration of Oakwood City Schools are pleased to announce that Oakwood High School has been designated a 2007 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. The school was officially notified of this award on October 1.
Oakwood High School was invited to apply for this award by the Ohio Department of Education in November 2006. Oakwood High School was required to provide its state assessment results (the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test and the Ohio Graduation Test) for the last five years with subset data for special education students. In addition, the percentage of students scoring above the state’s “pass” rate (e.g., accelerated and advanced) had to be provided. The application also required attendance, graduation, and dropout data, plus statistics on the post-graduation plans of the Oakwood High School Class of 2006. All of this information was presented in addition to such mandatory “Indicators of Academic Success” as SAT, ACT, and OGT subset results. Specific statements regarding how Oakwood High School uses data to drive instructional decisions and how Oakwood High School shares its success through professional development presentations at the local, regional, and national level were also required. Lastly, Oakwood High School was mandated to present its core curriculum and to highlight various accomplishments.
Oakwood High School principal Joe Boyle and science department chair Heidi Steinbrink, will represent the school at the 2007 Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony during the No Child Left Behind program in Washington, D.C., on November 12 and 13. The entire Oakwood High School faculty and staff deserves recognition for their unselfish dedication to making sure that the motto, “What’s Best for Kids”, drives their every professional action. In addition, special recognition goes to Oakwood Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Mrs. Kimberly Kappler, who provided so much of the data and textual information for the NCLB Blue Ribbon School application.
Of course, the students of Oakwood High School and their families deserve special recognition. OHS students consistently take on the challenge of OHS’s rigorous program of studies. They put out the effort necessary to be successful. Their parents value education, as does the entire Oakwood community. Oakwood residents are willing to provide Oakwood City Schools with the assets necessary to provide a Blue Ribbon School education to their children. Thus the entire Oakwood community is truly responsible for Oakwood High School being selected as a U.S. Department of Education No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.
Joe Boyle
Principal, Oakwood High School
At the Aug. 14, 2007 Board of Education Meeting, the Oakwood Board approved a resolution to place a 6.5 mill Operating Levy on the Nov. 6, 2007 ballot. This tax levy would provide $2.001 million per year for the Oakwood Schools and would cost the owner of a home valued at $200,000 - as appraised by the county - $33.18 per month or $398.16 per year. This proposed increase would first appear on the tax bills of Oakwood residents in January 2008.
The Oakwood Board of Education, administrators, faculty and staff understand the importance of engaging our community in frank, open discussions about the specifics of the Operating Levy we are placing before voters this November. We have scheduled a number of community meetings to meet with citizens and present our case. Additionally, the Citizens Levy Advisory Committee will be providing print information during the month of October that addresses citizen questions.
A series of Levy presentations have been scheduled for October to provide Oakwood citizens with an opportunity to hear the facts of the district, have their questions answered, and learn about the need for this levy. These presentations are open to all citizens:
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. at the Smith School Library
Friday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. at the Harman School Library
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. at the Harman School Library
Additional presentations will be made at the following organization meetings:
Friday, Oct. 19, 7 a.m. at the Oakwood Rotary Meeting
Residents who are unable to attend the scheduled meetings are invited and encouraged to contact Mr. Kevin Philo, Treasurer, or myself with your questions. We can be reached by phone at 297-5332 or via email: scalzo.maryjo@oakwood.k12.oh.us or philo.kevin@oakwood.k12.oh.us
By Jim Uphoff, Ed. D.
In the first two columns of this series of reflections on some of the significant events/actions of the Oakwood Schools during my 18 years on the Board of Education, I have highlighted a number of key items. This week’s focus is mostly on curriculum and instruction changes I especially remember with pride for having been a part of the process.
Fine and Performing Arts have been given significant attention. Our Orchestra did not have a full-time teacher back in 1989 and now has grown so much that our director is FULL time and dozens of student are benefiting. The visual arts program has continued to send graduates to the finest colleges in the field. The band has this year a large enrollment and it is growing still. ALL of this has happened here where these programs in too many schools have been reduced in size or even eliminated.
Gifted/talented programs have been expanded to serve more youth.
In 1989 we had one teacher who served both Smith and Harman. Now each building has a teacher as does the junior-senior high school.
Advanced Placement classes have been added, but the emphasis has been to encourage many more students to “step up” to this greater academic challenge regardless of whether or not they have been officially identified as gifted/talented. One major study of high schools uses AP enrollment as a key criteria and our OHS has been ranked among the best 200 high schools in the nation!
Academic Decathlon competition was added for our high school a few years ago. Student team members must come from three performance levels (top, above average, and average). Competitions in Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Studies, and Speech are the main part of this activity. OHS has been Ohio Small-School Champion EACH year from 2004 through 2007. They were national runner-up in 2006 and third in 2007. These team members represent a real cross-section of our enrollment!
New Technology and Software has become more and more an integral part of our curriculum. It has also enabled our school system to have much expanded communication with parents of our students. They can now use the internet to check up on their child’s class progress even down to the quiz grade given the day before. We have just employed a full-time Technology Coordinator to help us make even more gains in these areas of instructional and communication improvements.
Testing successes have become almost SOP (standard operating procedure) for our students. For example, the Class of ’07 finished first in the State in passing the Ohio Graduation Test. The next class came in second, and this year’s juniors (OHS ’09) jumped right back into the driver’s seat. The success of OHS students has put the school as the Best in Ohio and our total district scoring has us ranked sixth in the entire state. These are also in line with increasing scores on such national tests at the ACT, SAT, and the AP exams.
I have heard from several people and some of their points are included in this very column. BUT I would like to hear from more of you with your own ideas of what should be included in this look back over the 18 years history of our district. Email me at jkuphoff@aol.com to be included in the next two columns of this series.
Lange School’s Scholastic Book Fair, Book Fair Blizzard, will be held Wednesday, Oct. 17, 9:30 – 6 p.m., and Thursday, Oct. 18, 9:30 – 6 p.m. This is Lange School’s ONLY fundraiser for the year and the entire Oakwood community is welcome to stop in and shop!
Mark your calendars for the Book Fair’s Family Night, which will be Wednesday evening, Oct. 17, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. Kids will be able to participate in some fun winter-themed arts and crafts activities. The bake sale also will be held during the evening’s festivities, so you will want to arrive hungry! All of Oakwood is encouraged to attend Family Night!
Each year, a raffle is held during the Book Fair’s Family Night. All proceeds from the raffle are used to benefit Lange School, its teachers and students. This year, proceeds will allow our students to experience the Boonshoft Museum’s Exhibits to Go programs; they will also provide hospitality for the countless volunteers who make Lange such a great place for our kids; and they will be used to purchase a network color copier for Lange teachers and staff.
We hope to see our friends and neighbors at the Lange Book Fair. Thank you for supporting Lange School and encouraging our students to read!
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