2014 State of the Akron Public Schools Speech
Good afternoon. I woke up this morning and actually thought about calling
another snow day. But the folks at the Press Club told me it didn’t apply to
this event today and I’d still have to deliver this speech. Oh well…I think
we’re nearly fresh out of calamity days anyway…
Thank you for attending my 2014 State of the Akron Public Schools
address. I want to thank the Akron Press Club for sponsoring this event
along with the University of Akron for hosting us here at Quaker Station.
I would like to acknowledge our school board members:
Mrs. Lisa Mansfield, President
Mr. Bruce Alexander, Vice-President
Mr. Patrick Bravo,
Mr. Dave Lombardi
Mr. Tim Miller
Mrs. Veronica Sims
Rev. Dr. Curtis T. Walker, Sr.
If there are any former school board members with us today, please stand.
Welcome.
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I would like our elected officials present with us today to please stand and
be recognized. Thank you.
And, to our other honored guests, welcome.
I don’t know about you, but to have a job where you just went through
training to learn a whole new set of rules, only to come back to work
looking at yet another new set of rules can be difficult, if not frustrating. But
this is the reality in education today. We opened this school year seeing
considerable consternation among our teachers and principals.
For us, the State of Ohio implemented new evaluation systems for
teachers and principals. This on top of the new State report card rating
system for schools, a third grade reading guarantee, and a laundry list of
other changes, including revised assessments and a new state
budget…our challenges far exceed what we do in the classroom.
As I enter my 6th year as your superintendent, the challenges our
students have to face today continue to weigh heavily on me. After all,
student success is important to me, and to APS; as our students’ future
goes, so does the future of our community.
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We must continue our strong commitment to student success. Over
the last five years, I have discussed the new realities facing our schools:
including more rigorous educational content standards, holding
professional educators accountable and most important -- graduating
students who are college and career ready. I also spoke about some of the
challenges our families face, including poverty, crime, health, and a culture
that can place barriers in the way of students’ aspirations for success.
Today we still need to help our students and their families overcome these
barriers.
A year ago, I spoke to many of you here about how our entire
community must be concerned about supporting our children from the
cradle to career. Our primary goal should be focused on preparing and
supporting our students so they move on to the careers they choose.
Working in partnership with Project GRAD Akron, Summit Education
Initiative, the TRIO Programs at the University of Akron, and many more,
we are making progress.
We continue on the path to:
1. Ensuring high quality teaching and learning.
2. Recruiting, developing, and retaining high performing staff.
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3. Building relationships with students, staff, family and community.
4. Seeking adequate resources while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
5. Providing safe, orderly, and affirming community learning centers.
The three areas that we will now focus most on include: core
academics in the classroom, college and career readiness supports, and
creating and nurturing the valuable partnerships we enjoy with people and
organizations that support student success.
We serve our students best by making them college and career
ready…. and ready to face the world.
The key to all this is getting into the heads of our students,
understanding what drives them, and knowing their interests and passions.
So, we have to form personal and authentic caring relationships with each
one if we are to be successful as a community in preparing them for life.
You may have heard that the state has a new way of evaluating
schools. They’re giving US a report card.
It’s more rigorous, and hands out grades, A through F.
And Akron Public Schools continues to rank one of the highest
among the 8 urban districts across the state.
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The new evaluations compare our performance to similar districts
across the state by poverty, size, percentage of residents with college
degrees and percentage of minority students.
We are matched with 13 districts including Columbus, Cincinnati,
Elyria and Lorain. It’s good to compare apples to apples in this regard
because urban school systems have to deal with issues suburban districts
don’t always face, especially higher poverty rates.
So, on the report card, our performance Index score was rated a C
and our percentage of indicators met on the report card was rated an F.
These two measures will be used to calculate our overall
achievement score in 2015.
Our four- year graduation rate rose slightly from 75.3% to 75.9%.
Our goal is to have 90% of our students graduate by 2015.
Our four- year graduation rate is higher than the average for our 13
similar districts, but it still earns us an F on the report card.
And not everyone graduates in four years, for a variety of reasons.
Our FIVE-year graduation rate is ---82% ---right at the state average.
We don’t quit on our students. Through innovative programs at our
Akron Alternative Academy and our other 9 high schools, we continue to
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work with students who don’t graduate on time to make sure they are
successful.
Part of what makes this work is the exceptional performance of our
Career Education students. We have 33 career education programs from
pre-engineering to dental tech, vet tech, hospitality management, masonry
computer programming…and 27 more!
Our four and five year graduation rates for our career education
students both earned the top state rating of an A. They also received a B
for successfully placing their graduates directly into competitive
employment or onto post-secondary programs.
For the fourth consecutive year, nearly every grade level improved in
reading. In fact, in reading we outperform the average across the 13
similar districts in every grade level.
For example, in the all-important third grade, 71% of our students are
proficient. The average for our 13 similar districts is 66%.
The state average is 81%. At a minimum, we should exceed the
state average. And we will get there.
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For the 34 percent of third graders who are not proficient we offer
intensive interventions including tutoring, Akron After School, and summer
school, to allow students to catch up.
We have reallocated millions of dollars of resources to support our K2 readers including adding a six- week summer school program for any
third grader who does not pass the state test at the end of the year.
Our goal is not just to be among the highest across urban districts
with the challenges most urban districts face. But to be the best.
Our children need to compete with all students in this entire region
including our highest income suburban neighbors. Yes, we have a lot of
work to do, but we’re already seeing some of our buildings compete and
exceed these neighbors, so we have the foundation to build from . . .
And in math, after three years of steady gains, we experienced small
declines this year… although we are still higher than the average for our 13
similar districts.
And here’s some news I never tire of talking about: The Akron Early
College High School has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon
School. Marilyn Bennett and some of her staff were able to travel to the
White House to receive this distinguished award. They are the 2nd highest
ranked school in all of Summit, Medina, and Stark Counties; 2nd only to
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Hudson and they are only 1.5 points away on their performance index
score from passing them up! Again I would like to congratulate the staff
and students at the Akron Early College for their hard work.
I would also like to thank the University of Akron as our partner for
their support (Stan Silverman and Luis Proenza).
Also, the Akron Early College High School received the High
Progress School of Honor designation. This recognition is awarded to
schools in the top 10 percent of schools ranked by gains in reading and
math scores for the past five years. It also ranks in the top 10 percent for
gains in graduation rate during the past five years.
For those of you who do not know, students who attend the Akron
Early College, complete their entire high school career on the University of
Akron campus, and when they complete their studies, the majority not only
receive a high school diploma, but they also receive an Associate’s degree
from U of A.
But wait. There’s more! The Ohio Department of Education also
named several Akron Public Schools as Schools of Promise, including
Akron Early College High School, Firestone High School, and Ritzman
Community Learning Center.
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To receive this, a school has to not only have strong test scores and
graduation rates, but 40 percent or more of its students have to be
considered economically disadvantaged.
This is the second time both Ritzman and Firestone have been
honored by the state for their strong performance, so let’s give them a
special round of applause (Larry Bender and LaVonne Humphrey).
Now…in the category of “I Wish They Had Called First…” In a
recently- published editorial, there was mention of a report entitled
“Misleading Measurements,” by Policy Matters Ohio regarding academic
performance in high performing urban schools. From that editorial I quote,
“If the large urban districts can and do produce highly rated schools, why
can’t they replicate what works in the model school in their other buildings?
If Akron’s Miller-South, say, consistently rates Excellent or better, why
doesn’t Innes or Jennings?” (End quote). That is a good question.
So, I took a look at our data as reported by the Ohio Department of
Education that is freely available. So, in looking at performance index
ratings, our top ranked schools receiving an A or B grade on the new state
report card are as follows:
Ellet
Resnik Community Learning Center
National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School
Firestone
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Ritzman
King
Miller-South Visual Performing Arts
And Akron Early College High School
Consider that entry to Miller-South is by audition, Akron Early College
is by lottery with the caveat that applicants are first generation college
students.
STEM is by lottery equally distributed across all parts of the city.
Both lotteries do not take into account academic achievement. Since some
of us like to rack and stack schools to compare, let’s look at what is called
value added. It is a measuring stick for incremental improvement,
measuring whether schools are moving students at least a year’s growth in
a year’s time.
Keep in mind; it’s easier to get points in this area if a school has more
needed improvement. High achieving schools have trouble ranking well in
value added because they are already high performing
Of the schools ranked at the top and referred to in the Policy Matters
Ohio report, only three scored a grade of A or B in Value Added.
The remaining 15 schools received performance index grades of C or
D. I think these numbers can mislead, because these schools ARE doing
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something to get a year’s worth of growth out of our students. Innes and
Jennings were specifically mentioned in the editorial.
So, here are the facts in comparison to Miller South. For overall
progress for students in grades 4 through 8, Innes and Jennings scored a
grade of A which means their students are learning more than a year’s
worth of material in a year’s time, while Miller-South scored a grade of C
which puts them right at the expected year’s growth in a year’s time. Let’s
congratulate Jen Moff and Rochelle Brown-Hall, at Innes and Jennings,
and all of their dedicated hard working teachers for propelling their
student’s forward. .
There is really no method for finding a rating system that can tell the
entire story of the hard work that our teachers, principals, volunteers,
students and other staff do each and every day. This example gets to the
point I mentioned earlier about our focus on core academics in the
classroom. There is excellent work occurring at Miller-South, Jennings,
and Innes.
We have learned, however, excellence isn’t always reflected in state
rankings.
Before winter break one of our counselors sent me a note about two
sisters who left APS because they moved to a neighboring suburban
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district. According to the counselor these sisters were outstanding
students, and he hated to see them go. So, he called the counselor at the
suburban school to discuss which classes they needed. Here is how that
conversation went.
The 8th grade middle school student was taking French for high
school credit in Akron; the suburban middle school did not offer French.
The Akron student was also taking Honors Language Arts, which is for
High School Credit. The suburban school did not offer any classes like
that. The 7th grade student was in Orchestra. The suburban school did
not offer Orchestra. Both Akron students needed to be in all honors
classes, but the suburban school stated that they might not be able to put
them in all honors classes.
This suburban district has a higher performance index rating than
Akron, but which district offers more opportunity and variety to students.
You be the judge. Oh and just in case you think I have made this up
just to win you over…you can call Jennings CLC counselor, Doug Meredith.
(PAUSE)
Our district offers incredible opportunities to students, including
important scholarships to help pay for college. We are in the second year
of our partnership with the University of Akron and the Innovation
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Generation Scholarship Program. With the transfer of the old CentralHower High School property to the University of Akron, we now have 70
students who are receiving a tuition free education at the University of
Akron. Eligibility is based on having achieved a; 3.0 HS GPA and have a
27 ACT score, or graduated in the top 10 percent of their HS class and
have a 26 ACT score, or earned a 3.5 HS GPA and have a 24 on the ACT.
Just about a year ago, 100 APS students participated in our dual
enrollment partnership with Stark State College taking 300 credits of
college coursework. This year we have 324 students in this program
earning nearly 1,000 credit hours…and we have expanded our partnership
to include Lorain Community College providing even more options for our
students to get a jump-start on their post-secondary education.
So in addition to a student welder getting his or her first industry
certification with post-secondary coursework through Stark State, a general
education student interested in earning college credit while still in high
school has an easier route by taking these courses right at the school.
Better yet, there is no cost to our students. Under the University
System of Ohio, students can transfer non-remedial course credit from the
community college level to our in-state four-year colleges.
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Last year, Mayor Plusquellic, Dr. Para Jones, President of Stark State
College and the Akron Public Schools signed an agreement whereby Stark
State College courses are offered for adults at in our community at Hyre,
Innes and Jennings Community Learning Centers. This year I hope to
expand this opportunity in a partnership with Dr. Roy Church and Lorain
Community College as well.
Needless to say, we have a very special relationship with Dr. Luis
Proenza and the University of Akron. In fact, if it were not for their
Innovation Alliance Program, in partnership with Summit College, Stark
State College and Lorain Community College we would not have
progressed as far as we have in offering more dual enrollment
opportunities to our students. However, I believe the University of Akron
has really taken the lead in bringing more APS students---and in particular
our students of color--- into the fold.
Through the work of Lee Gill and Jim Tressel, we have reached out to
our African American male students by having them attend the Black Male
Summit. This gives them the opportunity to see the campus and get to
know the University. Oh, and I will give a shameless plug, the Black Male
Summit is April 11 and 12th at the University of Akron.
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The University of Akron also hosted every 10th grader in our district
for an extensive college exploration experience that opened the doors of
opportunity to our students.
Another way we improve is by re-organizing. I have promoted Yvonne
Culver to the position of Coordinator, College Career Readiness. She was
a counselor at Akron Early College, but now she will provide her expertise
by working with our counselors and expanding our partnerships with postsecondary institutions so more of our students are prepared to take the
next steps in their education or transition to work. Speaking of careers, we
all know the importance of science, technology, engineering and math, or
STEM.
Last year I reported on the progress made to raise money for our
STEM programs, both the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM middle
and high schools. At that time we had raised $800 thousand dollars to
support our unique approach to STEM education with active involvement
from inductees to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This past year our
students had the opportunity to work with Art Fry, Inventor of Post-it Notes;
Steve Sasson, Inventor of the Digital Camera, and Don Keck, Inventor of
Optical Fibers.
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I am very happy to report that for 2013 we met our goal of raising
$634,000 towards our grant with the GAR Foundation where $1 dollar is
matched for every $2 dollars we raise. The GAR matching funds totaled
$317,000. The GAR Foundation has been our greatest champion and
supporter not just in financial terms, but also as strategic partners. To
Christine Mayer and Kirstin Toth, and the entire GAR Foundation Board, I
would like to say thank you.
And to our STEM fundraising committee, I will give credit where credit
is due. So thanks to Bernett Williams, Vice President for External Affairs,
Akron Children’s Hospital and Jon Bellisimo, Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company. They serve as co-chairs of the fundraising committee and they
look forward to hosting many of the business and community leaders in this
room today at our STEM HS breakfast fundraiser next week on the 19th.
Goodyear and Akron Children’s Hospital have also raised the bar in terms
of corporate giving to our fundraising efforts.
I would also like to recognize the Burton D. Morgan Foundation; not
for awarding grants to our STEM program, for which we thank you, but for
promoting entrepreneurial thinking, and by doing so, you started us to think
of ways to be more entrepreneurial ourselves.
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In addition to our two STEM demonstration schools, we also run one
of the five statewide STEM hubs to support the spread of STEM
instructional strategies across the state. This year our Ohio STEM
Learning Network, Akron HUB has generated nearly $97,000 in income
and received $396,000 in grants to support outreach, professional
development, and training activities. We have provided professional
development to surrounding school districts and have hosted delegations
from around the world that want to see our version of problem-based
learning in action. I would like to thank Alison White, our Akron HUB
Director and our partners, the University of Akron, City of Akron, Greater
Akron Chamber, and NEOMED.
In Akron Public Schools our partnerships with our teaching staff has
enabled teams of teachers to improve their professional practice and to
meet the needs of our students.
Our professional learning communities are moving the needle so to
speak.
Under the leadership of Dr. Ellen McWilliams we have spent a lot of
time over the last several years to improve instruction.
Our teachers are using student data to drive instructional practices.
We continue our work under the model of teacher leadership and
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collaboration, where teachers meet weekly to analyze the results and
identify learning needs of students, and hold each other accountable for
results.
We offer instruction to students in a variety of ways in order to push
advanced students & support struggling students. In all four academic
content areas, English / language arts, math, science and social studies,
our teachers have received advanced common core training to meet the
more rigorous standards. In addition, we have adopted new math
textbooks for all grades with digital content embedded, adding more
options for delivery of instruction. Over the next few years we will be
updating the other three content areas.
In partnership with the Akron Education Association, we have also
implemented a new rigorous peer review process for new teachers with our
Internal Board of Review. And, for teachers new to field of education, there
is a seven-year residency process in the State of Ohio with a strong
teacher mentor ingredient. I would like to thank Pat Shipe, president of the
Akron Education Association for her leadership during this time of change
in education.
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To get us where we need to go, with requirements for better data
management, online testing, and electronic curricular materials, technology
continues to be a prime driver.
This year we have invested more than 3 million dollars on upgrades
to our network, new computers, and additional Internet capacity to meet the
state requirements for online tests next year. Whether it’s the carts of
Chrome books used for online testing and classroom instruction, or the
bandwidth and network infrastructure upgrades, our reliance on technology
is increasing.
With these upgrades, we are making progress on the plan I outlined
last year to offer online courses so our students can enjoy blended
learning.
Speaking of students, from my point of view as superintendent of the
Akron Public Schools I see a variety of students, from those who are highly
successful, who want to learn, to those at the other end of the spectrum,
who may not value their education……….yet; I know that some of us are
very good at playing the blame game and throwing up our hands and
saying it is someone else’s problem.
It’s not. Educating kids is everyone’s job. Without a properly trained
population and workforce, our quality of life is at risk, our economy is at risk
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and our national security is at risk. So, it is in our best interest to ensure
that each and every child in our community has the best chance at getting
an education.
But how do we deal with students who have so many other problems
on their plates that they find it difficult to concentrate on their studies, let
alone their futures?
Many children come to school with much insecurity that makes it
nearly impossible to focus. Food, shelter, and safety are issues that can
affect many of our families multiple times in a given school year. And,
while our schools provide lots of support; free breakfast and lunch,
counseling services, tutoring, afterschool programming; we cannot do
everything on our own.
We need organizations and individuals to mentor our children, to help
them deal with some of the social-emotional issues in their lives, to show
them that success does come through education.
Some of our families think life is like those reality television shows,
programs that highlight much of what can go wrong with the human
condition. Programs that glorify families that are broken, people who are
constantly disagreeable, resorting to violence, dishonesty and a host of
other behaviors that if I exhibited while growing up, would have led to a
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sound spanking by my parents. Yes. Mom and dad still believe in corporal
punishment!
Our children need to learn character, grit, the ethic of hard work, how
to be kind and courteous, and how to get along with others. There was a
time when members of our communities would step in and help raise our
children, a time when these characteristics were expected, when they were
the norm. Well folks, to be honest, I think people are scared.
Don’t be.
Last year I met with groups of students at Buchtel CLC with the help
of Project Ujima. In the Buchtel Cluster they are convening discussion
circles where the community gets together in a collaborative effort to
improve their lives by identifying issues and finding solutions. For more
information, contact Susan Vogelsang and Crystal Jones, yet another
shameless plug.
In a 2013 report by Motivational Educational Entertainment, entitled,
Inner City Truth 3, Understanding the New Majority Minority; survey data
collected from five major urban centers across the US tells us that 88% of
urban youth believe that education is important, and 82% plan to continue
their education after high school. However, 57% believe that cost is a
major barrier to finishing college.
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Students have aspirations. They want people to listen to them, they
want help and guidance. Above all, they know whether we care or not.
And we have to care. It is imperative, which is why we have to support
them, even when they do something wrong.
Some school districts may like to shy away from talking about
discipline. But it is one of the stark realities of what educators deal with
today. And you should know as much as possible about what we face and
how we face it every day.
Last year I reported that student behavior remains a big obstacle for
some of our students. Based on a review of discipline data, 88 percent of
our students received no out of school suspension days last year.
In reality, only a very small number of our students have repeat
suspensions. I am glad that the Ohio Legislature is looking into revising
school discipline laws, and tomorrow I will be in Columbus meeting on this
important issue.
While I do favor serious consequences for bringing firearms on
school property and for very dangerous actions by students, expelling a
child for hugging a friend (innocently of course) or other minor violations of
the student behavior code is outrageous.
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. No teacher or staff member in our schools should have to fear for
their safety in dealing with students who are a danger to themselves and
others. As a community we really need to come up with better solutions to
school discipline. I propose to our School Board that we convene a group
of parents, staff, and community stakeholders to review our Code of
Student Behavior and student discipline data, and make recommendations
to address student behavior, including the disproportionate number of
African American students who are disciplined.
And I want to mention that we brought in someone to lead our school
climate initiatives…I know, I know. Educators have strange terms for
things. This isn’t about the temperature in our buildings. Climate deals with
how we deal with positive support, relationships among kids, and how our
staff responds and promotes more positive behavior.
Andrew Zaccardi is in charge of this new endeavor. He was assistant
principal at Innes where they implemented positive behavior supports. It
worked well…so we are asking him to implement this district-wide.
This year we are collaborating with the YMCA by housing their
Phoenix Program at the old Barrett School. This alternative behaviormodification program serves students in middle and high school who have
returned from the Department of Youth Services, or are involved with the
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juvenile court system, or have serious behavior problems. We are also
piloting a middle school alternative to suspension program at this same
location to give our kids a chance to turn it around.
I would like to thank Doug Kohl and Tony Grimes for their support.
We continue to work with the City of Akron Police Department in the
placement of resource officers in our schools. This year many of these
officers were involved in ALICE training. ALICE stands for Alert Lockdown
Inform Counter Evacuate, and provides the proper tools for our staff and
students to respond appropriately to an active threat situation.
Our resource officers are not in our schools to take the place of the
principals, they are there for support, and to protect our folks from
dangerous situations.
I fully support their work and I would like to thank
Chief James Nice and Mayor Plusquellic for their continued support of this
important partnership making our community learning centers safe.
We also continue our partnership with Judge Linda Teodosio and the
Juvenile Detention Center to find ways of helping our students make the
right choices. For those who don’t, we still provide them access to
educational programming.
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We cannot do our job without the support of a caring community. In
the philanthropic community we talk about time, talent, and treasure. Well
this concept is not just about organizations, it is about individuals as well.
This past summer we celebrated with LeBron James and the LeBron
James Family Foundation at the I Promise Family Reunion where more
than 2,700 aps students, staff and families enjoyed a family picnic for our
Wheels for Education kids. Through this partnership, Samsung donated
700 Galaxy Tablets that were used our summer technology camps, our
pre-fall academic enrichment programs and distributed to our 3rd grade
classrooms to support Akron After School Program. In addition, SEBCO
Books--- a Miami book publisher--- has made available more than 3,600
electronic books that can be accessed online by our elementary students,
both at school and at home. During the year LeBron has made robo-calls,
sent letters, given I Promise wrist bands, and made personal visits to our
Wheels for Education and Akron After School kids, as positive
reinforcement for doing what is right and remaining focused on school.
LeBron also hosted 10 students, who were with him on stage at the NBA
MVP ceremony in Miami this past year, talk about a memorable
experience.
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In the fall we will reach a milestone, when our first group of Wheels
for Education students transitions from elementary to middle school. I look
forward to working with LeBron and the Foundation to help support these
students as they continue their journey to successfully complete high
school in 2021. LeBron is a prime example of someone who cares, and as
a community we need to support his efforts. Another example of caring is
our partnership with Love Akron.
At Findley CLC, principal Sherry Bennington and her staff serve
students who speak six different languages and come from eleven different
countries, for sure this can make the educational process a challenge.
Mark Ford, Executive Director of Love Akron in collaboration with EMERGE
Counseling Services, First Congregational Church of Hudson, along with
Summit Education Initiative, have teamed up to provide support to the staff
and students at Findley. Whether reading to a child, supporting their
clothing or social and emotional needs, their Adopt a School Program is a
prime example of how individuals can donate their time to assist our kids.
Let’s not forget our own Project Rise Program, serving 950 homeless
students in our area, and the numerous partnerships Debra Manteghi has
developed to help these students stay in school while living through very
difficult situations.
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Make no mistake; our work is difficult because at times we all feel like
we are swimming upstream. But so much is at stake, our future, our way of
life. My plea to you today is to not give up; help a child learn to read, help a
student navigate the road to college. Mentor a student who has an interest
in being a plumber, electrician, a nurse, or welder. It is all about helping
our children develop the skills to be independent, to make the right choices,
to better themselves, to be contributors to society. We must help them see
the possibilities.
Before I am done, I want to share a few new things
I am happy to report that we opened the new Hatton Community
Learning Center at the start of the school year with a wonderful community
open house and dedication ceremony. And, on January 12th, we
dedicated the new Seiberling Community Learning Center, our 28th new
facility. I know many of you are aware of problems with the King CLC
project, and I am happy to report that King will be completed in time for the
students and staff in the fall of 2014. Firestone/Litchfield is currently under
construction with site work and our initial bids came in about $9 million over
budget, so we are rebidding the project after a review by the construction
manager and the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
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Harris Community Learning Center will be rebuilt on the site that
formerly housed Jackson School. We hope to begin construction of Harris
by November 2014. We are leaving the old Harris site as a park to be
enjoyed by the community. I am also looking forward to complete the
balance of our program: Ellet, Garfield, North, Kent Middle School, MillerSouth and Kenmore.
In October the Board approved a five-year forecast that projects a
budget in the black. Based on our November 2012 levy passage, a state
budget last year that did not include severe cuts to Akron, and our own
previous budget reductions, we are somewhat optimistic.
I say somewhat, because school finance in Ohio is always fluctuating.
It is a moving target.
The state budget can change, our local property valuations can
change, state and federal requirements change, and enrollment changes.
Any and all of these can have an impact our revenues and expenditures.
However, enrollment is always a challenge.
Our in seat enrollment dropped 2.53 percent from last year. In total
more than 6,000 students choose to enroll elsewhere, and that number
keeps growing. By 2018 we project this number to rise to 7,500. We live in
a competitive environment and our job is to meet the competition head on.
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In response we implemented an advertising campaign to target the
competition, purchased ads on electronic billboards and Akron METRO
buses, and improved the process of registering students. We have used
social media to communicate with our followers.
And, I hope you have noticed something different in the publications
that we send out. We unveiled our new logo late last year. It has received
excellent reviews, by the way…. I want to thank Susan Panning from Lime
Creative and Amy Wong of Dot.Org Solutions for their work on it. Speaking
of Logos, I want to make you aware that the Akron School for the Arts,
previously known as the Visual and Performing Arts Program has a new
logo.
Now for the next step.
As we have moved to extend APS more into the community through a
new communications strategy, an emerging part of that is what I am about
to show you.
I won’t spend a great deal of time demonstrating it; you can do that
yourself when you get back to your offices. But what I would like to do right
now is to flip the switch and go live with the new akronschools.com….
This new site is more user friendly than its predecessor, and when we
enable all of the features, you will be able to have it customized to meet
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your needs, whether you’re a parent, a volunteer, staff member, or just
interested in our schools. ……….
I want to thank Rene Garrett in our communications office, Dan
Young and the team at DXY Solutions and Bree Walker and Amy Wong at
Dot.Org Solutions for their tireless work on this endeavor.
In today’s world, communicating is about having a real conversation.
Our old site was pretty much a one-way street, predominately driven by
district information. The new site allows individual schools to have more
autonomy and creativity so they can have their own conversations with
their own families.
So, as our communications director Mark Williamson began to help
us reframe our thinking about who we are and how we want to be
perceived, it occurred to us that this is a competitive business now and we
need to reach our customers. Both adults and children. And the best and
brightest employees who may want to come to work at APS.
The site has been intentionally designed with mobile capabilities so
that those who receive their information this way will be able to get it.
We asked for input from our teachers, principals, parents and
administrators. And we listened. Took their ideas…and wove them into
this site.
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So what you see here is not something designed and created by any
one person or entity. This is a partnership of the district, our families, and
employees.
We may have spent more time on figuring out a calendar system than
anything else.
Now, if you only want to find out what arts events are happening, you
can actually enter the word arts, and you will be linked to a list of all of the
arts activities going on without having to wade through other information.
And when you find an event you want to attend, our web site will
actually help you get there by automatically showing you a Google Map of
the destination.
So stay tuned as we continue to roll out additional features and
functionality, I think you will be pleased. And you will see, too, how this
new site helps us communicate more of the good things going on at APS.
Because we have thousands of wonderful students and families and
literally thousands of great stories to tell.
And with this new website we will be able to highlight even more of
what is going on in APS. Such as: Career Ed Programs like Masonry at
Buchtel CLC, or the Culinary Program at Garfield under the direction of Mr.
Skelly whose students prepared the meals for our Akron Council of PTA
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Founder’s Day Celebration. The jazz concert at Ellet, the science expo at
North…. so many good things.
And one of our students is a national, gold medal winner…not at the
Olympics…but at something that benefits our military personnel and their
families.
Syndee Rawson, from Hyre CLC, took top, national honors at the
Family, Career and Community Leaders National Leadership Conference,
held in Nashville. Syndee’s project was titled, “Bringing Christmas to You”,
for the multitude of service projects the Hyre chapter did for military
personnel. Our students do amazing things, and this is just one I wanted to
bring to your attention. Congratulations to Syndee.
As a community, we must recognize that education is everybody’s
job. It is easy to expect that certain people are solely responsible for
educating our children. But I challenge you, as you leave here today, to
look at things differently. Recognize that we all play a part in the
development of our children and our community.
Thank you for taking time to be here today.
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