By 1808Delaware, Ohio Department of Education
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 297 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022, including 13 schools in Ohio. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. With its 39th cohort of awardees, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed more than 10,000 awards to over 9,000 schools, with some schools winning multiple awards. Schools are eligible for nomination after five years.
The Ohio schools named as National Blue Ribbon Schools were:
Featured, National Blue Ribbon Schools, Olentangy High School
By 1808Delaware, Ohio Department of Education
On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Education released the 2022 Ohio School Report Cards. Spreadsheets with performance information for districts, schools, community schools, Career Technical Planning Districts and schools that receive the dropout recovery and prevention report card will be available on the Report Card Resources webpage.
Districts and schools will not receive overall ratings this year. The report cards will include five rated components and various report-only data. The five components will receive ratings from one to five stars. The 2022 Guide to Ohio School Report Cards provides an overview and explanation of these key components.
“The more we understand the needs of students through the Ohio School Report Card results and other data, the better we can personalize education, focus instruction and tailor enrichment programs to accelerate and enhance learning,” Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Stephanie Siddens said. “Ohio’s education community, together with families, is working to improve achievement for students. Our charge is clear, and the work ahead remains more urgent than ever as we continue an emphasis on literacy and mathematics acceleration while providing supports and interventions to help students overcome obstacles to learning.” More…
Delaware County Schools, Featured, Ohio Department of Education
Special to 1808Delaware
Olentangy Schools are celebrating Start with Hello Week from September 12 to 16. Here’s a bit about it.
What is Start with Hello Week?
Start With Hello is a student-focused initiative to create a culture of inclusion that values each individual in our schools. This program teaches students to make a difference with their peers in a simple, fun, and impactful way. Students take small but powerful actions to promote connectedness and inclusion, and to identify and help lonely students who are showing signs of social isolation.
Why celebrate Start with Hello Week?
Young people who feel lonely may pull away from society, struggle with learning and social development, or choose to hurt themselves and others. Start With Hello is an important program to reintroduce students and adults to the power of connecting and helping one another.
What are the Goals of Start with Hello Week?
Increase a sense of belonging for all students and build inclusive school environments. Reduce social isolation to support students’ mental health and well-being.
Then, on September 21 at 6 to 8 PM, the Olentangy Schools’ English Learner (EL) Department presents Multilingual Family Night at Orange Middle School.
Families will learn how to login and access PowerSchool (Olentangy’s student information system) and Schoology (Olentangy’s learning platform), complete Back to School Forms, set language preferences and explore District and community resources and supports.
Attendees are encouraged to sign up in advance and bring an internet accessible device. Translation and childcare services will be available.
Special to 1808Delaware
Westerville City Schools continues its efforts to create a more inclusive environment for all students. This past summer, the district offered professional development for staff that was intended to deepen their understanding of LGBTQIA+ youth perspectives, as well as how they can be supportive of them as they grow and develop.
“If we are going to create an inclusive environment for all of our students, we have to recognize where all of our students are coming from,” said Anitra Simmons, the district’s Educational Equity coordinator.
“The main reason we wanted to (offer these sessions) is to be able to inform and educate our staff because we are seeing students that are starting to identify in this way in our buildings,” she said.
The district hosted multiple staff professional development sessions with Kaleidoscope Youth Center, starting with school equity facilitators in June and administrators in July. Kaleidoscope held sessions during Westerville Educator Day, where teachers and staff could sign up to participate. The same professional development opportunity will be made available to school board members. More…
By 1808Delaware; ODNR
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has announced that 50 students have been selected as members of the Conservation Teen Advisory Council (ConTAC) for this upcoming school year. ConTAC provides high school students from across Ohio with a unique opportunity to collaborate and contribute ideas to enhance ODNR’s youth outreach program efforts.
Several of those students are from Delaware County schools.
“It’s inspiring for us to see a new group of intelligent young people that are passionate about nature join our ConTAC program,” ODNR Director Mary Mertz said. “We love their perspectives and look forward to their work this year with our ODNR experts.” More…
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) waivers that have allowed Olentangy Schools to offer students free breakfast and lunch during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years have not been extended for the 2022-2023 school year.
Therefore, Olentangy school meals will transition back to eligibility-based pricing (free, reduced, or paid). Breakfast and lunch will no longer be available at no cost to students. Below is Olentangy’s current meal pricing structure:
Free and reduced-price meal applications are available for families that believe they may qualify. Reduced-price meals are $.30 for breakfast and $.40 for lunch.
In preparation for the school year, below are a few reminders: More…
By 1808Delaware; OWU Release
Ohio Wesleyan University has selected nine students as 2022-2023 Education Fellows.
Three of those nine are residents of Delaware County.
The four-year fellowships are awarded each fall by Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Education to first-year students with a high potential for success at the university and a stated interest in teaching at the pre-school, elementary, middle, or high school level.
OWU’s newest Education Fellows are: More…
By 1808Delaware; Governor DeWine Press Release
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that more than 1,000 K-12 schools across Ohio will receive state assistance to pay for security upgrades that enhance the safety of students and staff.
While speaking recently at the Ohio School Safety Summit in Columbus, Governor DeWine announced that 1,183 schools in 81 counties will receive nearly $47 million in grant funding as part of his Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant Program. Grants equal the amount requested by each school up to $50,000. Funds will be used to cover expenses associated with physical security enhancements such as security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems, and exterior lighting.
Several of those schools are located in Delaware County; a full list is included below. More…
Life in Delaware County, Schools
Special to 1808Delaware
There was some exciting news academic news this past week from just over the Delaware County line in downtown Westerville that we thought we would share with our readers.
Otterbein University and Antioch University have unveiled a unique partnership that has the potential to revolutionize higher education through creation of a new, national private university system – the first of its kind.
Otterbein University and Antioch University are joining forces to create a system of affiliated, independent, not-for-profit higher education institutions with the goal of expanding access to high-quality programs for students and adult learners coast-to-coast, investing in new program development and system-wide collaborations, and working with employers across the country to offering tailored workplace education and organization credentials. Antioch University has locations in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Keene, NH, and Yellow Springs, OH, giving this new system national reach. While there are public university systems which are often statewide, this new national, private university system is the first of its kind. And the impact it stands to make is unique in that it is rooted in the mission of democratizing higher education — making an affordable education accessible to a broader population of students. More…
By 1808Delaware
College football has its Heisman Trophy. For college baseball, recognition is given each year to the top collegiate catcher. The Johnny Bench Award, named after the famed Reds ballplayer, was started in 2000 and expanded by Johnny himself in 2019.
That expansion now includes awards for top college softball player, as well as awards in “Red’s County” for high school baseball and softball catchers in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia, including:
Online submissions are made, and all-state and state athletic association recommendations are considered. Bench chooses the final winners, who are then recognized in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame & Museum in Cincinnati. More…
Awards and Honors, Delaware Hayes High School, Featured, Softball