Superintendent’s Weekly Wrap-up: May 8-15, 2015
Hamilton Local Provided Access to Secure Communication Information Management System for School Safety - With the implementation of the new legislation (3313.536 Ohio Revised Code) concerning school Emergency Management Plans, Ohio Homeland Security, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education, is providing the Hamilton Local School District with access to a secure web portal known as the Communication Information Management System (CIMS).
This access gives the district the ability to view analytical products and bulletins from the Threat Assessment and Prevention (TAP) Unit, as well as a section for frequently asked questions. The CIMS portal is currently being used by Ohio Homeland Security’s Infrastructure Protection Unit to evaluate school plans. CIMS is a password-protected, secure, online information-sharing tool.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
Senate Advisory Committee on Testing Concludes Findings - Making a number of recommendations regarding Ohio's statewide mandated assessments for grades K-12, the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing concluded it findings by noting, "If the current vendors for state tests -- PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) for the math and English language arts assessments and AIR (American Institute for Research) for the science and social studies assessments -- will not make changes to the test for next year to accommodate these issues, the Ohio Department of Education must find a test vendor that will."
StudentsFirst Ohio said it supports the recommendations of the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing "that opt to improve the current testing approach from Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers over replacing it. Wholesale change is never flawless," said Greg Harris, state director for StudentsFirst Ohio. "We understand some districts have concerns with PARCC, but the best way to address these concerns would be to use Ohio's vote and significant influence on the PARCC governing board to make changes to the PARCC assessment."
Source: Hannah News Service
STRS Member Contribution Rate Increases July 1, 2015 - The STRS member contribution rate will increase to 13% for work performed on or after July 1, 2015. Hamilton’s treasurer’s office will accommodate the additional 1% in member contributions and withhold contributions at two different rates depending on the fiscal year in which the compensation is earned.
Source: STRS Ohio
House Passes Testing Overhaul - The House on Wednesday unanimously passed all three items on its agenda, which included a bill revising the state's K-12 testing procedures and a resolution declaring Ohio's infant mortality rate a "public health crisis."
Rep. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell), sponsor of HB74, noted the bill will eliminate Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests, reduce the number of exams taken, and decrease the amount of time students spend on tests.
He said many provisions in the bill are similar to recommendations recently made by the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing. He said this is "very funny because we wrote this bill before they made the recommendations, yet, it seems to line up." He said these include changes to the testing window; the continuation of online testing as long as a paper and pencil option is still available; and that the Ohio Department of Education should find a new test vendor instead of PARCC.
"We fixed that problem by eliminating the PARCC exams, and we prevent any multi-state consortium from being able to apply ... so it's going to be somebody other than Smarter Balanced [Assessments] or the PARCC consortium that will be able to bid on this," Brenner said.
Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) said she is hopeful that a resolution can be achieved on the testing issue, noting her support for the bill.
"We need to back off," Fedor said. "I think we can become over-burdened with our own need to have data that we really don't need. Teachers know when students are learning. At some point we need to trust the teacher, principal, school district -- and relieve the school districts of the millions of dollars they have spent about every four years because we keep changing it."
Source:Hannah News Service
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
HTHS Earns National Ranking - Hamilton Township High School Earns Repeat Recognition From U.S. News & World Report On May 12, 2015, Hamilton Township High School learned that it received a national bronze medal award as one of the nation’s top ranking high schools. There were more than 21,150 public high schools included in the review, while approximately 1/3 of those included received a gold, silver or bronze medal award based on overall student College Readiness Scores. Information that is included in the award calculation includes: school-specific data on enrollment, student ethnicity, location, school type and results of state assessments, as well as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test results.
Music In The Parks - On Saturday, May 9th, members of the Women's and Symphonic Choirs participated in the Music In The Parks contest, an event hosting orchestras, bands, and choirs from Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Both our choirs received the highest rating of "Superior" and our Symphonic choir won the overall first place choir trophy. Also, senior Danielle Shaw won the best soloist award for the day. The second place overall choir was our Women's choir. Students left HTHS at 6:00 a.m., traveled 2.5 hours to Clyde, Ohio and sang three songs each for the two judges, who were both music educators in the state. The rest of the day was spent at Cedar Point. The awards ceremony was held in the park at 4:30pm in the amphitheater. Students represented Hamilton with pride, both on and off the concert stage.
HAMILTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Honoring The Military - For the past four days, 120, 8th grade students and 12 chaperones, have been visiting and touring Washington, D.C. for the annual field trip. Part of the experience of the trip is a visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This year, four students were selected, based on an essay, to lay a wreath at the tomb in a very moving and solemn ceremony. Representing Hamilton Middle School were Tyler Rice, D’Ayra Hurley, Logan Shiflet, and Melia Worboy.
HAMILTON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
Buddies And Beauties Attend The Butterfly Ball - On the evening of Friday, May 8th, many of the females students and their escorts came to the H.I.S. to show off their dance moves at the annual Butterfly Ball. Thank you to the PTO for organizing and making the event a special and memorable night for our students. Click here to see pictures from the Butterfly Ball!
Students Rewarded For Their Hard Work - Students at H.I.S. finally got to show what they have been working on all year when they took the Reading (4th-6th), Math (4th-6th), Social Studies (4th & 6th) and Science (5th) EOY assessments. Students received prize tickets for their attendance and hard work on their assessments. The tickets were combined and names were drawn for prizes on Thursday afternoon during a prize assembly. Prizes ranged from bubbles to balls and even new bikes for the lucky winners! Click here to see pictures from the prize assembly!
HAMILTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BOGO Book Fair – The Buy One Get One Free book fair sponsored by the PTO was a huge success. Most book fairs are fundraisers that pay for the activities that the PTO sponsors throughout the year, but this book fair raises no money. All proceeds go to cover the cost of the free books that students receive. In addition to students having the ability to buy one and get one free, the PTO also gives one free book to every student in the building with no purchase required. The obvious reason for this event is to put engaging reading materials in the hands of elementary students as they head off into summer. The entire HES staff would like to thank the PTO for the time and effort to provide this opportunity for our students.
Mothers Day Plants - In Kindergarten, many of the classrooms are exploring and discovering plants. Students are learning about the properties of seeds, what plants need to survive, how roots help plants, and about the different types of plants you can eat. Many of the classrooms also had students create an informational piece where they wrote and supplied information about what they've learned about plants. To wrap up the unit, the students planted flowers specifically for Mother's Day. The Kindergarten team would first like to extend a big thank you to our wonderful PTO for donating money for the pots, soil, and plants. Secondly, we would like to extend our appreciation to Home Depot and our parent volunteers for their generosity in helping our Kindergarten students each year. Together, you helped our students have a hands-on experience with plants and allowed our students to take home a beautiful flower for Mother's Day.
HAMILTON PRESCHOOL
Family Day at the ZOO - The seventh annual preschool family day at the zoo was held on Wednesday, May 12, 2015. With the perfect weather we set a record with 268 family members attending. This was a fun day to spend with your teachers, friends, and family.
Dates to Remember:
Friday, May 22, 2015 - Last Day of School for half-day students.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - Graduation for students who will be attending Kindergarten in the fall of 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015 - Super Hero Field Day - Flyers have been sent home explaining this day of fun events for the students.
Thursday, May 28, 2015 - Last Day for All Day Students two-hour early release day! Students will be dismissed at 1:20 p.m.
DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS
Rangers Baseball and Softball Players Earn MSL Honors - On Sunday, May 8, the Mid-State League announced All-League honors and our baseball and softball programs combined for seven award recipients. Congratulations to the following All-MSL honorees:
1st Team:
Brandon Marable - Baseball - Senior
Garrison Smith - Baseball - Senior
2nd Team:
Kylor Coogan - Baseball - Senior
Chase Gray-Still - Softball - Junior
Bailey Moore - Softball - Senior
Honorable Mention:
Billie Kirk - Softball - Senior
Karly Wade - Softball - Senior
Boys Tennis Defeats Franklin Heights - The Boys’ Tennis team improved to 15-5 on the season with a 4-1 victory over Franklin Heights on Tuesday evening. Winning matches for the Rangers were the following players:
Austin Mylar (1st Singles)
Alex Lowe (2nd Singles)
Chris Underwood/Michael Hicks (1st Doubles)
Shamael Chaudhary/Erick Juarez (2nd Doubles)
UPCOMING EVENTS
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