Schools

Burlington Stores, through its partnership with DonorsChoose.org, donated $10,000 to Noble Elementary School in celebration of its new store in South Euclid.

Burlington store manager, Debbie Furlong, presented the check to Rachael Coleman, Noble Elementary School principal, during a schoolwide ceremony on April 25.

Coleman worked with Burlington and DonorsChoose to secure the grant for her school, which services approximately 400 students from pre-K through fifth grade. Coleman plans to use the grant to invest in hands-on technology for her students, including the purchase of Chromebooks.

Now in its eighth season, the Communion of Saints drama program presents “Aladdin”—a story based on the folk tale Aladdin, which Disney adapted for the screen in 1992. The musical tale, set in Agrabah, centers around Princess Jasmine and her quest for a spouse. Not happy with her father's choices, she takes to the streets where a chance encounter with a bread thief begins the adventure.

Scoundrels, buffoonery and mayhem, peppered with some trickery, provide a magic carpet ride to a whole new world of singing, dancing and fun.

The production features students from kindergarten through eighth grade, and beautiful costumes and scenery, all under the guidance of Lydia Chanenka, the show's director.

This year’s annual ROXARTS community fundraiser, which raises funds for arts enrichment in CH-UH schools, will be held on Saturday evening, May 13, at the B-Side Barcade and Lounge in Cleveland Heights. Park your machine outside, do up your nest, and come have a blast at ROX Rocks Around the Clock, a 1950s’ music-themed auction and benefit.

The evening will begin with a VIP party for cool cats, 6–7 p.m., featuring a signature cocktail, hors d’oeuvres, and an early chance to view auction items. The benefit and live auction will follow, 7–10 p.m. Guests can expect food from local vendors, unlimited fine wine and craft beers, and—to cap off the night—the opportunity to bid on auction items that include rare-opportunity packages.

Emma Rubadue, a senior at Beaumont School and a University Heights resident, will attend Ohio University this fall as a Cutler Scholarship recipient.

Rubadue was one of 15 applicants, from a field of 350, selected for the highly competitive scholarship, which is renewable for all four years of her collegiate studies.

“The selection committee members were impressed by Emma’s intellectual curiosity and community engagement,” said Beaumont Director of College Counseling Mary Grimaldi. “They also said they saw her as a leader for change and an advocate for social justice.”

APRIL 4, 2017

• Awards to Board President Register
• Public comments
• Proposed science curriculum
• Personnel
• Approvals of field trip, change orders, and financial reports
• Board comments on meetings and new committees
  
  

Board members Ron Register, Kal Zucker, Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present, as were Superintendent Talisa Dixon and Treasurer Scott Gainer. The meeting was held from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

MARCH 21, 2017

Board members Ron Register, Kal Zucker, Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present, as were Superintendent Talisa Dixon and Treasurer Scott Gainer. The meeting opened at 7:30 p.m., preceded by an executive session, and ended at 9:30 p.m.

Workshop analyzing district educational data

Allison Byrd, director of data research and assessment, along with the educational services team, led a professional development workshop for the board on educational data and how it is collected, analyzed and used in the CH-UH schools. They began by defining the types of data collected, categorizing the types, and naming the categories.

Monticello Middle School celebrated Women’s History Month for the first time this past March, thanks to the efforts of Tiffany Underhile.“In 12 years of teaching, I’d never worked in a building that celebrated Women’s History Month,” said the school's math and science specialist. “I wanted to change that.”

Underhile began with feminist icon Rosie the Riveter when she had all staff members, male and female, don Rosie’s signature red bandana and denim shirt on a recent teacher professional day. Photos of the teachers were displayed in the front office and outside classroom doors.

Manana Robinson (eighth-grade language arts teacher), Future Educators of America (an afterschool club) and Underhile created displays throughout the school, including inspirational quotes by women, female scientists and mathematicians, and women in literature.

John Carroll University’s (JCU) April 3 Celebration of Scholarship presenters included 17 Heights High Early College sophomores, along with nearly 100 JCU undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.

Last November, Heights High’s Early College students selected research topics and spent more than four months working with a mentor to refine research questions, conduct research at the JCU library, and independently prepare a poster and short verbal presentation. The project assignment was in addition to their regular class load of accelerated courses in four content areas.

The Gateway or Capstone project is one of the qualifying requirements for sophomore students to complete, to be eligible to enroll in JCU for their junior year of high school. The other requirements are demonstrating mastery in four core subject areas and receiving a faculty recommendation.

All Geared Up is an award-winning event that encourages families to explore cycling together, while learning about safety and fitness. Now in its third year, the event received recognition from the Greater Cleveland Ohio Trails and Greenways Conference last summer, where it was awarded a Gold Medal for promoting community, student involvement and cycling culture.

This rain-or-shine event will be held on Saturday, May 6, 9 a.m. to noon, at Canterbury Elementary School, 2530 Canterbury Road in Cleveland Heights. It will feature a family fun ride, bike rodeo, demonstration by bike police offices, bike registrations, a used bike sale, raffles and more.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged. For complete information and to register, visit www.allgearedup.info. Participants are strongly encouraged to bike to the event, but on-street parking will be available.

The Heights High Swimming and Diving team embodies the term student-athlete. The team received The All-American Scholar Team Award from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) while maintaining a grueling practice schedule of 14–17 hours a week.

The 12-member girls’ team earned a collective GPA of 3.82 (unweighted); when taking into account the weighted grades from AP courses, the collective GPA was 4.3. The girls’ team received Gold-level recognition, placing it at the very top nationally.

In 2016, fewer than 60 of 16,000 teams received the Gold award.

The 12-member boys’ team received the Bronze-level award for team members’ academic accomplishments, placing it among the best-performing teams in the country.

Coach Dan Budin is extremely proud of the team. “Being on the swim team and diving team requires a major commitment of time and energy,” said Budin.

As the renovation of Cleveland Heights High School nears completion, the district will enter the final part of its Phase I comprehensive school facilities renovation project and begin renovation of its two middle schools. The high school is on schedule to reopen to students in August. When school begins this fall, all district middle schoolers will attend the temporary campus at Wiley, 2181 Miramar Blvd., while construction begins at the Roxboro and Monticello buildings.

Construction on the two middle schools will take an estimated two years, with students returning to the renovated buildings at the start of the 2019–20 school year. At its Jan. 3 meeting, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education (BOE) approved the design schematic for the middle schools, created by architects Moody Nolan.

In November 2013, the Heights community passed Issue 81 to finance a bond to fund $134.8 million of the $157 million project. The Ohio Schools Facility Commission [OSFC] was to provide an 11 percent reimbursement of eligible costs, which would then assist the district in financing the renovation of its elementary school buildings, for which the community would also have to pass an additional bond issue.

Heights High’s Instrumental Music Department (IMD) presents its Spring Concert Series on the Wiley Campus.

Part I, on Wednesday, April 26, 7:30 p.m., will feature the Concert Band, Symphonic Band and the Concert Orchestra. Part II, on Friday, April 28, 7:30 p.m., will feature the Symphonic Winds and the Heights High Symphony, with senior soloists Andrew Bell on percussion and William van den Bogert on piano. Both concerts are preceded by Chamber Ensembles at 6:30 p.m.

Andrew Bell began his musical endeavors as a third-grader at Fairfax Elementary School, and has since studied with Chris Vandall and Thomas Haywood at the Fairmount School of Music, and with Fairfax school music teacher Bob Adamson. Since entering high school, Bell has been the principal percussionist in the Symphonic Winds, and head percussionist for the school’s marching band drumline since sophomore year.

Calling all alumni, staff, families and supporters of Heights Schools—and fans of pancakes! The 21st annual Community Pancake Breakfast will take place on April 9, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Heights High’s Wiley campus.

The Heights Schools Foundation (formerly the alumni foundation) invites attendees to enjoy an all-you-can-eat breakfast to benefit opportunity grants for every school in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.

Guests will enjoy the grill stylings of master flipper Chris Cakes, and the morning will also feature raffles of Heights Gear spirit wear baskets. A short program at 11 a.m. will include the presentation of grants for needs across the district. A large selection of spirit wear will also be available for purchase.

Saint Paul's Cooperative Preschool is planning two open house sessions on Monday, April 17, at 9:30–10:30 a.m. and 6:30–7:30 p.m.

Families are invited to explore the preschool and learn about its programs, ranging from a separation class for children who will be 2½ by Dec. 31 to a pre-K class for those nearly ready for kindergarten. St. Paul’s offers both morning and afternoon options.

St. Paul's Cooperative Preschool offers children the chance to get outside and experience nature in its children's playground space. In addition to full-size playground equipment, playhouses and toys, the area features trees and open green space to entice little explorers. The school makes unstructured outdoor play a part of every day, except when it’s raining or extremely cold.

Christy Salata has joined Beaumont School’s advancement department as associate director of alumnae relations.

“We are excited to have Christy join our staff in this very important position for the Beaumont advancement effort. Keeping our alumnae connected and engaged is critical for us. We tell our alumnae that they are part of Beaumont for four years, but they are part of the Beaumont family forever,” said Gerard P. Grim, Beaumont’s director of advancement.

Salata holds an undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Notre Dame, and earned a master’s in community counseling from John Carroll University (JCU). She most recently worked at JCU.

MARCH 7, 2017

• Early childhood staff
• Public comments
• Superintendent’s advisory task force
• Board classroom visits
• Policy changes
• Field trips
• Facilities renovation change orders
• Facility use fees
• Board president’s comments
• FAC discussion
• Funds diverted to charter schools
• Reaching Heights Spelling Bee
  
  

Board members Ron Register, Kal Zucker, Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present, as were Talisa Dixon, superintendent, and Scott Gainer, treasurer.

The meeting opened at 7:08 p.m., preceded by an executive session, and ended at 8:58 p.m.

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

• Board of Education
• Cleveland Heights City Council
  
  

School board members Ron Register, president; Kal Zucker, vice president; Jim Posch; Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present. Superintendent Talisa Dixon was also present.

City council members Cheryl Stephens, mayor; Jason Stein, vice mayor; Mary Dunbar; Carol Roe; Kahlil Seren; Michael Unger and Melissa Yasinow were present. City Manager Tanisha Briley was also present.

The meeting was held from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

FEBRUARY 21, 2017

• Update on middle schools facilities project
• Board members’ questions on the project
  
  

All board members were present: Ron Register, president; Kal Zucker, vice president; Jim Posch; Eric Silverman; and Beverly Wright. Also present were Talisa Dixon, superintendent; and Scott Gainer, treasurer.

The meeting opened at 7:05 p.m., preceded by an executive session, and ended at 7:55 p.m., followed by an executive session for union negotiations.

On March 2, Fairfax Elementary School’s fourth-graders arrived at school more than an hour before the first bell to board a charter bus bound for Columbus.

By late morning, 40 students from three classrooms, plus eight chaperones, arrived at the Ohio State House. The group went on a 90-minute tour of the capitol building, marveling at the height of the ceiling in the famed rotunda and admiring the 1857 painting “The Battle of Lake Erie.”

Students were officially recognized when they visited the senate chambers, an event entered into the state ledger, forever immortalizing their visit.

They had the opportunity to meet with Janine Boyd, their local representative, who claimed the meeting was the “highlight of her day.” She encouraged the children to work hard in school, ask questions, and pay attention to current events so that one day they, too, might serve in the Ohio legislature.

The Heights High Theater Department will present performances of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” March 23–25, 7 p.m., in the school’s Wiley auditorium.

“This is a funny show with witty comedy and intense drama,” said David Jurns, the show’s director and theater department teacher. “It's about love, betrayal, and the awkwardness of finding out you wanted something that you would have sworn you never would.”

In this production, the show is set in the late 1960s/early ’70s, during the hippie movement and the Vietnam War. Vocalist and guitarist Grant Heineman will provide live period music, and costume designer Beth Jurns has created hippie-style costumes for the cast.

Cleveland Heights High School (CHHS) and John Carroll University are hosting a Community Day at Heights High's Wiley campus on Saturday, March 18, from noon to 2 p.m. The event will include an unveiling of a Cleveland skyline mural, food, games for children, short performances, speakers and ice-breaker activities. The event is free.

Community Day has been planned by the Social Justice Cadre that comprises 14 CHHS students and eight JCU students from the university's Arrupe Scholars Program that focuses on developing leaders for social action.

Beaumont School will host its 2017 Beaumont Gala on Saturday, April 1, at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven, 6111 Landerhaven Drive, Mayfield Heights.

All proceeds from the event will directly benefit Beaumont students at Beaumont, enabling the school to provide a scholarship to each student, provide tuition assistance to those in need, and provide operating expenses for the school.

The event will begin at 5:30 p.m., with Celebrant Reverend Donald Oleksiak leading a liturgy in the Landerhaven rotunda. At 6:30 p.m. a cocktail reception and silent auction will begin in the atrium. Dinner, a live auction and a mission drive will commence at 8:15 p.m., in the ballroom. The evening’s events will also include a wine pull, gift card grab, heads or tails game, and two raffle opportunities.

Beaumont School presents the second installment of its 2016–17 Saint Angela Merici Speaker Series, which examines critical topics and provides a forum for alumnae, parents and community members to join together for discussion.

Sister Ann Winters will lead “Becoming the Light of Christ: An Experiential Hour of Releasing and Forgiveness to Love Ourselves as God Loves Us,” on Wednesday, March 8, 7–8 p.m., in the school’s Angela Merici Chapel.

A group of Cleveland Heights High School and John Carroll University (JCU) students have teamed up to create positive change in the Heights community.

Sixteen Heights High students, members of the 2016–17 Superintendent’s Social Justice Cadre, met on Nov. 30, at the CH-UH Board of Education building, with eight JCU students from the Arrupe Scholars Program and their director, Associate Professor Malia McAndrew, as well as CH-UH Superintendent Talisa Dixon.

The Arrupe Scholars Program provides JCU students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become advocates for positive social change. The combined cadre was formed when McAndrew and Dixon met and began discussing ways to collaborate.

“The JCU students would work on a project with communities in the city of Cleveland, but we thought, why not do their projects within John Carroll’s community here with our students?” Dixon explained.

JANUARY 27, 2017

• Overview of  FAC functions
• FAC report on the high school renovation
• Comments and questions from the board concerning the FAC report
• Reimbursement of travel expenses
  
  

Board members Ron Register (president), Kal Zucker (vice president), Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present. Superintendent Talisa Dixon and Treasurer Scott Gainer were also present.

The public meeting was a joint meeting between the school board and the Facilities Accountability Committee (FAC). After an executive session regarding negotiations, the public meeting began at 6:30 p.m. with a reception honoring an FAC member, and ended at 8:20 p.m.

JANUARY 17, 2017

• Career and technical education
• Gifted education
  
  

All board members were present: Ron Register (president), Kal Zucker (vice president), Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright. Also present were Talisa Dixon, superintendent, and Scott Gainer, treasurer.

The meeting began at 7:17 p.m. and adjourned at 10:19 p.m.

The Cleveland Heights High School Swim Cadets, a 20-member synchronized swim team and the school’s oldest extracurricular club, established in 1939, will hold its annual performances on March 9, 10 and 11, at 7 p.m.

The year’s theme, Swim Cadets Break Your Heart, is set to break-up songs, and is the culmination of five months of practice.

The shows will be held at the Warrensville Heights High School pool, 4270 Northfield Road in Warrensville Heights. Tickets are $8 and are available from team members and at the door.

On display at Gesu School’s STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art and Math) Showcase and Open House on Jan. 29 was a nearly 15-foot-tall tetrahedron, made up of more than 4,000 individual 2-inch tetrahedrons.

The project began in October, when two sixth-grade reading classes taught by Josie Jones, read All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall. The novel is based on a true story about a seventh-grade math class on Cleveland’s East Side that set out to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the largest multi-stage tetrahedron.

The Gesu sixth-graders asked if they, too, could try to build a multi-stage tetrahedron. The director of Gesu’s STREAM program joined forces with Jones, to help the students undertake and complete the project.

After much calculation and deliberation, it was determined that it would take several thousand small tetrahedrons to build the largest multi-stage tetrahedron that would fit in the school.

Two Beaumont School students will showcase their work as part of the school’s Robotics Team during the upcoming SolidWorks World Conference in Los Angeles, Feb. 5–8. Beaumont senior Margaret Schiffer and sophomore Rosie Sirk will present their robot, Stobor, during the conference. They are the only Cleveland-area students to take part in the event.

Schiffer and Sirk will represent the National Robotics League (NRL) at the conference. NRL will conduct a mini-competition during the conference, which will take place in front of 5,000 people at the conference general session on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

In addition, Schiffer and Sirk will have the chance to showcase their robot and computer-aided design (CAD) drawings at an exhibit booth during the four-day conference.

As members of Beaumont’s Robotics Team, Schiffer and Sirk work with mentors at Christopher Tool and Manufacturing in Solon, meeting every Saturday morning, 7–11:30 a.m. Their coaches are Beaumont faculty members Stephanie Moran, Yvonne Schiffer and Gretchen Santo.

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

• Awards and recognitions
• Public Address
  
• Betsy DeVos
• Student performance on state mandates
• Black History month
• American Heart Association Month
• Professional development day
• Ron Register receives OSBA award
• Personnel
• Change orders
• Business actions
• Donations received
• Five-year forecast
• School boards meetings
• Board committee reports
• Upcoming meetings
  
  

Board members Ron Register (president), Kal Zucker (vice president), Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present. Superintendent Talisa Dixon and Treasurer Scott Gainer were also present. The meeting took place from 7 to 8:55 p.m.

The 13-member Heights High Boys Barbershoppers earned an Excellent rating and the prestigious Presenter’s Award at the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Youth Chorus Competition in San Antonio, Jan. 19–22.

At the conference, students attended master classes, joined other vocalists in a chorus rehearsal and performance, attended performances by groups of youth and senior citizen singers, and performed for audiences and judges. They also received instruction from renowned musician Francisco J. Núñez, founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, international guest conductor and founder of the Social Change Through the Choral Arts Initiative.

Among the skills they honed in the master classes were using breath support and posture to emphasize specific lyrical content.

In the 2017 Cuyahoga County Scholastic Art Competition, Heights High senior Shannon Berr won a Gold Key award for his eight-piece portfolio, as well as five Silver Key and four Honorable Mention awards.

Six other Heights High student artists also won awards. Linnea Covault won a Gold Key and an Honorable Mention, Jenna Dent won a Silver Key and an Honorable Mention, and David Matia, Tylar McDowell, Lisa Ware and Gilda Weinstock won Honorable Mentions.

“Shannon’s Gold Key award for an entire portfolio is a fantastic accomplishment,” said his art teacher Nancy Eisenberg. “This is a significant award and we are very proud of him!”

Berr enjoys working on large-format multimedia pieces as well as three-dimensional sculptures, using wood and other materials.

Beaumont School has been officially authorized as an International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme World School by the IB organization in Geneva. Beaumont is the only all-girls school, and only the second Catholic school, in Cleveland to earn this international distinction. The program will be offered to students beginning in fall 2017. Beaumont will offer the IB Diploma Programme (DP), which is specifically for students in grades 11 and 12.

IB aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. It encourages students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

For three weeks in January and February, every member of the Roxboro Elementary School community—faculty, staff and students—read the same book.

The initiative started last spring, when first-grade teacher Liz McKinley, who sits on the Nordonia Hills Board of Education, listened to a presentation about One School, One Book (OSOB), a program spearheaded by the national Read to Them organization. She was so impressed, she brought the idea to Michael Jenkins, Roxboro’s principal.

At the same time, Clare Taft, Roxboro’s PTA president, who was searching for ways to build community at the school, read an article about One School, One Book. She brought the idea to Jenkins the next day. Jenkins formed a committee of parents and teachers to lead the effort.

The Heights High Symphony will feature senior soloist Daniel Fields during the Instrumental Music Department’s Winter Concert on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m., at the Wiley Campus. Fields, who plays the violin, was a winner of the department’s 2016 Senior Solo Competition.

In addition to being a member of the Heights High Symphony, Fields, 17, is in his third season with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and is also a member of the orchestra's Advanced Performance Seminar. He also serves as an intern in orchestra operations with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Fields began his violin studies at the age of 4, and has studied with Callista Koh, Eugenia Poustyreva, and Peter Otto, his current instructor. He has also participated in master classes with the artists such as James Ehnes, Sonja Braaten Molloy and Lembi Veskimets.

Communion of Saints School, which offers kindergarten through eighth-grade Catholic education, plans to open a new preschool program next fall, with classrooms for 3-year-olds and 4- to 5-year-olds.

“Shortly after joining Communion of Saints School as the principal this past July, the parents approached me with the idea of opening a preschool,” said Principal Gerry Whiteley. “The more I researched the possibility and learned about our facility, the more I became convinced that we needed to open a preschool. The excitement of the parents was infectious; their mission became my mission—to offer a Catholic-based preschool program to augment our existing . . . offerings.”

When children are able to explain to others what they have learned, they are demonstrating their mastery of the material. This is what happened at Boulevard Elementary School last December, when students presented their Capstone STEM projects for the first trimester.

Students had spent the fall months responding to an essential question as part of their science curriculum. Fourth-graders studied how native Ohio plants and animals survive. Second-graders investigated how animals and the environment interact with one another.

Beaumont School students won an impressive 23 awards in the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing competition, in the Cuyahoga County region, capturing four Gold Key and five Silver Key awards, as well as 14 Honorable Mention awards.

Gold Key recipients are: Alexandra Andrus ‘17, Natalie Noble ‘19, Mathilde Tomter ‘19, and Kerrigan von Carlowitz ‘19.  Andrus’ award was for photography, while the other Gold Key recipients all won for drawing and illustration.

Silver Key recipients are: Christine Aumiller ‘18, drawing and illustration; Claire Carey ‘17, who won for both painting and drawing and illustration; Stephanie Mackay ‘17, photography; and Grace Martin ’18, painting.

JANUARY 3, 2017

• Organizational meeting
• Awards and recognitions
• Reaching Heights event
• Personnel items
• Middle school renovation design
• Quarterly contracts, donations
• 2018 tax budget, staff cost comparison
• Board president’s report
• Combined committee meetings
• Upcoming meetings
  
  

Board members Ron Register (president), Kal Zucker (vice president), Jim Posch, Eric Silverman and Beverly Wright were present, as were Superintendent Talisa Dixon and Treasurer Scott Gainer.

The meeting began at 7 p.m. and ended at 8:05 p.m.

DECEMBER 20, 2016

• Awards and recognitions
• Field trips
• Personnel items
• Lease agreement, donations
• High school renovation change orders
• Middle school renovations
• High school interior renovations
• Finances, losses, voucher impact
• Board president’s report
• Application for share of mitigation funds
  
  

Present were board members Kal Zucker (president), Ron Register (vice president), James Posch and Eric Silverman. Beverly Wright was absent. Also present were Talisa Dixon, superintendent, and Scott Gainer, treasurer.

The public meeting began at 7 p.m., after a prior executive session regarding negotiations, and ended at 9:36 p.m.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District Board of Education (BOE) selected new leaders for 2017 during its annual organizational meeting on Jan. 3, in University Heights.

BOE members unanimously voted longtime board member Ron Register as president, a role he previously held. Register was vice president of the board in 2016.

Also unanimously, board members elected Kal Zucker, the outgoing BOE president, as vice president.

Board member Jim Posch was appointed treasurer pro tem, which means he will serve in place of Scott Gainer, the district's chief financial officer, if Gainer is unable to attend a board meeting. The job of treasurer pro tem includes keeping meeting minutes and recording all votes, and is a position Posch filled last year as well.

Students in Beaumont School’s FAME (Females Achieving Minority Excellence) Club took service to heart this holiday season.

Under the direction of instructor NaNetta Hullum, the students collected more than 100 gently used handbags, then filled them with socks, deodorant, soap, lotion, kleenex, shampoo and other personal hygiene items.

On Dec. 16, before the official start of their Christmas holiday break, the students delivered the purses to two local shelters, the City Mission and the Norma Herr Homeless Shelter.

Earlier in the holiday season, on Dec. 7, Beaumont students hosted the school’s annual Christmas on Campus event, attended by more than 100 kindergarten through third-grade students from the Urban Community School and St. Leo the Great parish in Cleveland.

Each child paired up with a Beaumont student “buddy” for the afternoon, going room-to-room throughout the school to play games, make crafts, decorate cookies, have their pictures taken with Santa, and get their faces painted.

Trying to make sense of the myriad educational reforms taking place in the country today is a daunting task. Sound bites on the news, posts on social media, and competing articles in various newspapers create a virtual smokescreen that chokes out the reality of the classroom and true educational research. Pundits, political donors, and legislators in the limelight seem to draw attention away from what is really happening to our young learners as they and their schools continue to be labeled according to the results of standardized test scores.  

As part of its ongoing mission to inform the community about current issues in education, the Heights Coalition for Public Education will hold its next Speaker’s Forum on Thursday Jan. 19, in the cafeteria at the Wiley Campus of Heights High, 7–9 p.m.

On Dec. 2, sophomores at Heights High explored the 14 Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered to juniors and seniors. The all-day fair featured displays and demonstrations by students currently in the programs. In the spring, sophomores can select one of the two-year CTE programs during the school’s scheduling process.

CTE programs offer “college and career readiness,” providing students with practical experience that many college-bound students lack. Traditional college-bound students can enroll in a CTE program to earn a certification that will qualify them for an above-minimum-wage job in their area of interest while they attend college.

Urban Oak School third-graders celebrated the autumn harvest by honoring the Jewish festival of Sukkot. They created a sukkah to collect food, and Jean Miller, a Cleveland Heights resident and Waldorf home-schooler, shared with the children the story and meaning of Sukkot.

Together they blessed the sukkah, preparing it to receive donations from the Urban Oak community.

Felicia Campbell and her third-grade class delivered 168 pounds of food to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. The class visited Eddy's Fruit Farm to pick apples, and a local beekeeper to learn about bees and honey.

Cleveland Heights–University Heights City School District leadership is working with the Heights Alumni Foundation to transition the existing alumni efforts into the Heights Schools Foundation (HSF) with an expanded mission and new leadership. 

Julianna Johnston Senturia, a 1987 Heights High graduate, is the executive director of HSF.

“Public dollars cover the basics when levies are renewed, but it still leaves some funding gaps for enrichment, innovation, special capital projects, co-curricular activities—that’s where we come in,” explained Senturia.

It's only January, but believe it or not, parents of young children are thinking about preschool in the fall of 2017. St. Paul’s Cooperative Preschool is planning two open house events for parents who are thinking ahead. Both events take place on Monday, Jan. 9, 9:30–10:30 a.m., and 6:30–7:30 p.m.

The school markets at Boulevard and Oxford elementary schools will continue to offer free fruits, vegetables and healthy pantry items to school families and other Heights residents this winter, and throughout the school year. The schools have partnered with School Market, a program of the Cleveland Food Bank, to provide nutritious food to district families and others, outside of the school day.

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Library board interviews and election

All board of education members were present: Kal Zucker, president; Ron Register, vice president; James Posch, Eric Silverman, and Beverly Wright.

The purpose of this meeting was to interview candidates who had applied to fill a single open seat, for a seven-year term, on the Heights Libraries board of trustees.

The candidates were Max Gerboc, Nicholi Evans and Russell Rucky.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District recently launched a new marketing campaign to promote the community’s public school system. The campaign centers on the theme “Public is for all.”

The bulk of the campaign has been privately funded through the generosity of the Dietrich family, longtime supporters of the CH-UH school district.

“I was interested in supporting a marketing campaign because I think a community is stronger when there's broad support for its public school system, and I wanted to encourage that,” said Nancy Dietrich.

Community members will begin to see campaign materials around the city and in the district’s overall public relations efforts. The most noticeable element is a new public art-inspired wind screen outside the construction site at Heights High.

On Nov. 19, a group of Beaumont students spent the morning making fleece blankets and assembling bags containing personal hygiene items and food for Greater Cleveland’s homeless youth.

Beaumont students also raised funds to benefit Bellefaire JCB’s Homeless and Missing Youth programs, led by Beaumont alumna Karen McHenry (’86).

McHenry was instrumental in the “Take A Closer Look” campaign, in which mannequins dressed in hoodies explaining their homeless stories were placed around Cleveland. The mannequins were called “somebodies.”

More than a dozen Heights High boys basketball team members prepared and served breakfast to 250 homeless men on Nov. 19 at the men's shelter at 2100 Lakeside Ave., followed by a brief tour.

"This was a very humbling experience for these young men, but they took to it well with open arms greeting [all] as they came up in line to receive the breakfast the young men created for them," said Andre Scott, assistant varsity boys basketball coach/director of operations.

Katrina Hicks, principal at Gearity Professional Development School, has big plans for her students. “Graduating from high school is an automatic expectation,” she said. “And going to college should be, too. I want that to be ingrained in them from a young age.”

She has brought the idea of college to her students, over the past three years, with a mock college graduation ceremony.

Third- through fifth-graders participated in a full-blown commencement at John Carroll University (JCU), complete with speeches, diplomas, and caps and gowns, on Oct. 6.

The third-grade students represented the Ohio University Class of 2030, fourth-graders were the Class of 2029 from John Carroll University, and fifth-graders were the Class of 2028 from The Ohio State University.

Six student leaders in Heights High’s Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) attended the organization’s national conference, Oct. 12–15, in Chapel Hill, N.C. The students brought back with them ideas and renewed energy to address the achievement gap between students of color and their white peers.

“The conference gives us a chance to learn from the successes of other districts, share our successes and get energized about the work,” said Shawn Washington, MSAN adviser. (Nate Williams and O’Dasha Johnson are co-advisers.)

The Heights High MSAN club has 60 members.

The National Merit Scholarship (NMS) Corporation has named Heights High seniors Charles Adams, Dorothy Pharis, Cody Radivoyevitch and William van den Bogert National Merit Scholars.

They were among the more than 1.6 million students who entered the NMS competition by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in the fall of their junior year.

Adams, a merit scholar semifinalist, has the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and qualify for National Merit scholarships. He is among 16,000 semifinalists in the U.S., representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Pharis, Radivoyevitch and van den Bogert were named commended scholars, placing among the top 5 percent of students who took the PSAT. About 34,000 commended students are recognized nationwide for their exceptional academic promise.

Gesu Catholic School broke ground on Oct. 31, beginning the second phase of its STREAM initiative. University Heights Mayor Susan Infeld, Pastor Karl Kiser, Principal Lucy Iemmolo, Pastoral Associate Sr. Kathleen Flannery, Associate Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Cleveland Susan Pohly, architects Steve Taylor and Jim Marshaus from Marshaus & Farkas, project managers Art Lindroas and Nancy Lindroas from Bolton Pratt Company, and students were among those present at demolition to prepare the space. 

Phase two of construction includes renovation of the north side of the school building, originally the convent for the parish, and most recently the Religious Education Center. The three-story space will be designed to enhance classroom learning in science, technology, religion, engineering, art, and mathematics, all dedicated to Gesu’s STREAM initiative.

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

• Opening of meeting
• Awards and recognitions
• Public address
• Booklet for district
• Personnel
• High school renovation and change orders
• Surplus equipment, transportation, donations
• Finance
• Board president’s report
• Legislative issues
• Clock tower, high school musical
• Upcoming meetings

Kal Zucker, board president, was absent.

OCTOBER 18, 2016

• Field trips
• Work session on the middle school facilities renovation

Board action on field trips

The board approved student field trips to Montreal, Que. in Canada from March 25 to 28, 2017, and to Washington, D.C., from March 8 to 10, 2017.

Join Beaumont School for the first installment of the 2016–17 St. Angela Merici Speaker Series, which examines critical topics and provides a forum for parents and community members to discuss them.

On Thursday, Oct. 27, Beaumont School will host Sandy and David Petrovic, co-authors of Expect a Miracle: A Mother/Son Asperger Journey of Determination and Triumph.

The Petrovics reside in the Cleveland area. Their mission is to educate the public about Asperger’s syndrome, and to encourage empathy, compassion and acceptance of self and others.

David Petrovic is a 23-year-old author, actor, singer, and motivational speaker. He graduated cum laude in 2015 with a B.A. in middle childhood education. At the Oct. 27 talk, David will explain the challenges and blessings of his Autism Spectrum Disorder (formerly called Asperger’s) and will share the lessons he learned that changed his life, and could impact yours.

Heights High students in the Digital Electronics (DE) Engineering course are learning about digital logic by creating a random-number generator—think of it as an electronic way to roll dice. To begin the activity, each student received a kit that included a circuit board, sockets, chips, capacitors, resistors, LED lights and a switch. After three days of assembly work, everyone in the class had a working random-number generator. 

The DE course is one of two engineering courses offered this year as part of the district’s partnership with Project Lead the Way, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to using hands-on projects to increase the number of students who graduate with a background in science and technology. The Heights High engineering program is in its second year, following a restructuring that created the Project Lead the Way engineering courses.