Superintendent’s Weekly Wrap-up: Apr. 10-17, 2015
Hamilton Local Repeats As Top Workplace In 2015! - Hamilton Local School District is pleased to announce that it is a back-to-back selection as one of The Columbus CEO Magazine and 10TV Top Workplaces. Jumping up three spots to the #3 Top Midsize Workplace in the Columbus metro area, Hamilton Local is the only public school district appearing in the Top Workplaces for 2015.
After independent employee survey responses were compiled and reviewed, results found that many employees feel Hamilton Local has very strong leadership, is on the right path for future success, and they have a direct impact in the district’s positive momentum. Results also show that Hamilton Local employees feel that district administrators listen to faculty and staff concerns, district finances are well taken care of, and internal communication efforts are strong.
“Hamilton Local School District has the best workforce in all of central Ohio,” explained district Superintendent, Christopher T. Lester. “I, along with our Board of Education and cabinet members, have worked diligently to recruit and hire the best and brightest educators, support staff, and administrators because that is what our students and community deserve. Hamilton Local employees work together everyday to make our district a Top Workplace.”
Over the past decade, Hamilton Local has become one of Ohio’s most improved public school districts, and that growth is directly related to the unrelenting commitment of district employees to provide the best work environment for everyone in the building, including the students attending.
The Top Workplaces are determined based solely on employee feedback. WorkplaceDynamics, LLP, a leading research firm on organizational health and employee engagement conducted the employee survey.
Columbus CEO Magazine published the complete list of Top Workplaces on April 10, 2015. For more information about the Top Workplaces lists, please visit www.topworkplaces.com.
Transition to New Assessments: Impact on Report Cards and Educator Evaluation Part 5 - As Ohio transitions to new assessments, many have asked how the next generation of state tests will be integrated into District/School Report Cards and educator evaluation systems. In general, these tests will be integrated into Report Cards with very little change to the overall structure. The number of indicators will increase and the tests feeding into the measures will change, but the calculations used to generate the measures and Report Cards will still be very similar. This segment outlines two of the many changes that can be expected during this transition.
What is Safe Harbor and how does it affect the various sanctions or penalties that are levied when report card letter grades are low? - Recent legislative changes provided Safe Harbor provisions, which consider potential decreases in achievement scores during the transition year and how that relates to specific sanctions in the accountability system. State law includes a number of provisions that levy sanctions against poor performing schools or districts. The Safe Harbor law includes a provision that says the 2014-15 Report Card letter grades will not be used in determining whether districts and schools are subject to the following sanctions or penalties:
- Restructuring, except as required through the federal No Child Left Behind law
- Columbus Parent Trigger
- Academic Distress Commissions
- New buildings eligible for Educational Choice or Cleveland scholarships
- Challenged School Districts
- Community School Closure
This Safe Harbor provision only applies to the 2014-15 Report Card.
How does Safe Harbor affect Report Cards? - The Safe Harbor legislation provides districts and schools with time to adjust to the new assessments by changing the timeline for Overall and Component grades. Originally, schools and districts were scheduled to receive an overall letter grade for the 2014-15 Report Card. This will now first be reported on the 2015-16 Report Card. Another provision gave the State Board of Education the discretion to delay the six Component grades and the Board exercised this option. Component grades also now will first be issued on the 2015-16 Report Card. Note that 2015 letter grades will still be earned for up to 10 individual measures such as the graduation rate, PI score, the indicators and the AMOs, but the measure grades will not be combined into Component and Overall grades.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
Ohio House and Senate Legislative Update
HB7 ASSESSMENT SCORE DETERMINATIONS (Rep. Jim Buchy) To prohibit individual student scores from certain elementary and secondary achievement assessments administered for the 2014-2015 school year from being used to determine promotion or retention or to grant course credit
STATUS: Signed by Governor – Effective immediately
HB25 FOOD-DRINK SCHOOL SALES (Rep. Stephanie Kunze) To require the State Board of Education to adopt rules regarding the sale of beverages and food during the regular school day in connection with a school-sponsored fundraiser
STATUS: House Education Committee
HB55 THIRD-GRADE READING GUARANTEE (Rep. Robert Sprague) To specify deadlines for the administration of reading skills assessments for purposes of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee
STATUS: House Education Committee
HB114 SCHOOL DOOR-BARRICADE (Rep. Kristina Roegner, Rep. Heather Bishoff) To require the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules for the use of a barricade device on a school door in an emergency situation and to prohibit the State Fire Code from prohibiting the use of the device in such a situation
STATUS: House State Government Committee
HB138 STATE TESTING WAIVER (Rep. Paul Zeltwanger, Rep. Kyle Koehler) To revise the requirements regarding the administration of the state achievement assessments, to require the Department of Education to request a waiver from federal testing requirements, and to declare an emergency
STATUS: Introduced
HB146 CURSIVE HANDWRITING (Rep. Cheryl Grossman, Rep. Andrew Brenner) To require instruction in cursive handwriting
STATUS: Introduced
SB34 SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICY-DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR (Sen. Charleta Tavares) With respect to school district policies for violent, disruptive, or inappropriate behavior
STATUS: Senate Education Committee
SB39 PEDESTRIAN RIGHT OF WAY-SCHOOL ZONE (Sen. Bill Beagle) To increase the penalties for failing to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian who is crossing a roadway within a crosswalk when the crosswalk is located within a school zone
STATUS: Senate Criminal Justice Committee
SB125 SCHOOL EMERGENCY-BARRICADE DEVICE (Sen. Frank LaRose, Sen. Jay Hottinger) To require the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules for the use of a barricade device on a school door
STATUS: Senate Transportation, Commerce & Labor Committee
House Education Revises Testing Bill - The House Education Committee adopted more than a dozen changes to its testing overhaul in HB74 Tuesday, including a more focused prohibition on future dealings with the multi-state consortium behind Ohio's new assessments. Rep. Bill Hayes (R-Granville), chairman of the committee, said he'll "probably" call a vote on the bill next week.
The committee accepted sponsoring Rep. Andrew Brenner's (R-Powell) omnibus amendment encompassing 16 changes while batting down a handful of further revisions from Reps. Debbie Phillips (D-Athens) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson).
The omnibus revises the bill's previous bar on multi-state consortia's ability to bid on state assessment contracts to specifically bar those consortia that received funds from the Obama administration's federal stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Brenner confirmed for Phillips that the new language specifically targets the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), of which Ohio is a member, as well as a similar consortium, Smarter Balanced Assessments.
The omnibus also would confine testing to one end-of-year summative assessment versus the current practice of breaking assessments into two parts, an earlier performance-based assessment and an end-of-year assessment.
The omnibus would also change the state report card by supplementing letter grades with percentage calculations to allow measurement of progress even when the letter grade is unchanged.
The new version also orders the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to complete a study by the end of 2016 comparing nationally-normed assessments that districts use for diagnostics, growth measurement and gifted identification; elementary assessments used in the 2013-2014 academic year; and current elementary assessments.
According to an amendment summary and an explanation by the Legislative Service Commission, among other changes are the following:
- Requires ODE to offer a literacy assessment as an alternative to the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
- Requires ODE to periodically revise the job skills assessment used in the career pathway to graduation, in consultation with people who have a background in career-technical education.
- Requires that the State Board of Education make a recommendation by Nov. 1 on whether to extend safe-harbor protections for an additional year.
The committee tabled amendments presented by Phillips and Patterson.
Phillips sought to extend the window for administration of the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment to Nov. 1 and to allow teachers to submit data from the assessment either electronically or on paper. She also proposed an amendment to allow alternative elementary assessments.
Patterson offered several amendments, including one to extend safe-harbor protections for three years; one to require that charter school teachers be evaluated the same as traditional district teachers; one to reduce the degree to which student growth factors into teacher evaluations; and one to raise the standard of proficiency on Advanced Placement exams from a score of two to a score of three.
Hayes told Patterson his proposed changes to teacher evaluations are outside the intended scope of the bill and should be taken up in separate legislation.
Source: Hannah News Service, Inc.
Items on Kindergarten Readiness Assessment reduced - In his January 2015 report on state tests, Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Richard A. Ross pledged to make changes to the new Kindergarten Readiness Assessment to reduce disruption to classroom instruction. Upon feedback and recommendations from Ohio teachers, the department is reducing the number of items on the assessment by 21 percent. The revision ensures that the results are reliable and helpful in guiding instruction.
The revision reduces:
- The overall number of items from 63 to 50;
- The number of items in which the teacher observes student activities from 29 to 21;
- Items that require a direct response from students from 34 to 29; and
- The number of items that require a teacher to administer one-on-one with a student from 20 to 10.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
HTHS Seniors Important Info/Dates Posted – During Monday’s Senior Assembly, the following important items were addressed with all students of the graduating class of 2015
CAP & GOWN
At this point in the school year, caps and gowns will be available for purchase at the senior breakfast for approximately $50. You must have a cap and gown in order to participate in the graduation ceremony.
CREDIT RECOVERY
Seniors completing credit recovery should have their exams completed and turned in by Monday, April 20th! Students still needing to turn in their credit recovery work can turn it in to the guidance office.
JUNIOR/SENIOR PROM
The Junior/Senior Prom will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, from 8pm to 11pm at the high school. The theme of this year’s prom is A Evening in The Emerald Palace. Tickets are $35 per person and $60 per couple. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased from Mrs. Murgatroyd. Dance guest forms need to be submitted to Mr. Morbitzer as soon as possible if you are planning to invite a guest from outside of the school district.
COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS
All seniors must have their community service hours documented both online and by paper form to Mr. Morbitzer by Friday, May 8th. In order to enter your community service hours, you must have an account through the high school website. If you do not have an account, go to the high school webpage, click on the C & C Service Project link and you will find the registration at the top of the page. You can enter your hours on the website and then turn in a Service Hours Validation form that is available in both the guidance office and Mr. Morbitzer's office, as well as online, which requires you to fill out where and with whom you completed your community service hours and the tasks performed for community service.
DIPLOMA PRESENTATION REQUESTS
Seniors who are wishing to choose a current district employee or Board of Education member to present them with their diplomas must have their presentation request completed and turned into Mrs. Bailey in the main office on or before Friday, May 8th! There will be no exceptions to this deadline as gowns will need to be ordered for the presenters.
SENIOR HONORS ASSEMBLY
The Senior Honors Assembly will be held Wednesday, May 13th, at 7 pm in the high school auditorium for seniors who are receiving scholarships and awards. This event is invitation only, in which invitations will be sent out in early May.
SENIOR FINAL EXAMS
- Tuesday, May 19th: Periods 7, 8, & 9
- Wednesday, May 20th: Periods 4, 5, & 6
- Thursday, May 21st: Periods 1 & 3
- Friday, May 22nd: Make-up Exams
SENIOR BEHAVIOR
Seniors are expected to conduct themselves according to the same rules of behavior required for other students. The school will take appropriate measures regarding disruptive behavior and pranks, which interfere with the normal school routine. We ask for your cooperation in helping end the year in an orderly and appropriate manner. We hope no students choose to disappoint family and friends by unwise actions, which result in their exclusion from end of the year ceremonies as part of the required disciplinary measures. All graduating seniors are held to the highest behavior expectations. Any inappropriate behavior between now and graduation will be handled according to the conduct policy in the student handbook, including exclusion from the graduation ceremony. A blank diploma will be given to any graduate who exhibits any inappropriate behavior during the graduation ceremony.
SENIOR FEES
ALL fees must be paid in full by Friday, May 22nd, at 2:15 pm. Seniors who do not pay their fees will not participate in the graduation ceremony and will not receive their diploma!
SENIOR BREAKFAST
Senior Breakfast will be Wednesday, May 27th, at 7:30 am in the high school cafeteria. Seniors will pick up their caps and gowns during the senior breakfast and they will have their composite pictures taken in their cap and gown immediately following breakfast.
GRADUATION REHEARSAL
Seniors will report to the World Harvest Church on Thursday, May 28th, at 9am for graduation rehearsal. Graduation rehearsal is mandatory! Seniors who do NOT attend graduation rehearsal will NOT walk at graduation! Please prepare for rehearsal to last until 11 am. World Harvest Church is located at 4595 Gender Road, Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110.
GRADUATION
Graduation will be Thursday, May 28th, at 7:30 pm. Seniors will need to be at World Harvest Church by 6:30 pm with their cap and gown. Ladies should wear light-colored or pastel dress clothing (dress, dress pants, skirt, etc.) as they will wear gold gowns. Gentlemen are expected to wear a dress shirt and long dress pants with dress shoes as they will wear green gowns. NO JEANS, SHORTS, TENNIS SHOES, OR FLIP-FLOPS! Students not in compliance with the dress code will not take part in the graduation ceremony. World Harvest Church is located at 4595 Gender Road, Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110.
HAMILTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Student, Teacher Honored - For the month of March, Mackenzie Castrodad was selected as the Academic All Star nominee from Hamilton Middle School. Mackenzie, and 8th grader, was nominated by Mrs. Rinaldi for her progress and hard work. Special Education Teacher, Stephanie Evans, was the Teacher of the Month nominee from HMS for March. Because of her demeanor, upbeat attitude, and the rapport she develops with her students, Mrs. Evans was nominated by Mrs. Mayhew. Congratulations to these very deserving nominees!
HAMILTON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
March Madness Hits H.I.S. - During the week of March 23rd, the students at the intermediate school “shot” basketballs to see who the winner would be to adopt an animal from the Columbus Zoo. The clear winner of the shootout was Team Zebra with 331 votes. Team Camel came in with 138 votes. Students donated over $200 and then participated in Dollar PJ day on April 2nd to add to that dollar amount to support our Team Zebra adoption. The grand total was over $450!! Congratulations to the 5th graders who will keep the community service banner for their grade level for yet another month! Thank you to all the students that donated and voted.
In Like A Lion...But With A Smile - H.I.S. students put on their springtime best and gave a great smile for their Spring Picture Day. Students did their best pose and grinned for the cameras. It went very smooth and everyone looked great!
HAMILTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The Columbus Zoo Visits HES - Hamilton Elementary played host to the Columbus Zoo just before spring break. During the in-house field trip, the Columbus Zoo presented their "Habitat Heroes" show, where students learned about the fascinating characteristics and behaviors that help animals survive in their natural habitats. Animals on display included a baby alligator, a massive red-tailed boa, a penguin, and a cheetah to name a few. The assembly allowed students to gain exposure to a variety of life science standards, such as investigating observable features of animals that help them live in different kinds of places and explaining why organisms can survive only in environments that meet their needs.
Elementary Students Recognized at Success Assemblies - Every nine weeks, Hamilton Elementary students are recognized by their teachers during grade-level success assemblies. To wrap up the 3rd nine weeks of this school year, each grade level team held an assembly where students received certificates of recognition for Principal's Honor Roll, Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, Most Improved Student, and Most Respectful Ranger. The assemblies were well attended by parents, and the students were very excited to receive their certificates.
HAMILTON PRESCHOOL
Welcome to Our Staff - Hamilton Preschool recently added two new staff members to our group and we are thrilled to have them. They have both been assigned to the All Day Classroom and will be working very closely with Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Moore. We would like to welcome Mrs. Amanda Kondrath and Mrs. Stephanie Wylandt, as both ladies have previously worked as subs in the Preschool.
Parent/Teacher Conference Night - Our most recent parent/teacher conferences were held on Thursday, April 16, 2015 for parents to discuss their child’s readiness for Kindergarten. We had over sixty families attend this conference night. Parents and students also had the opportunity to shop at our book fair. It was a great night to see so many families and support our Preschool Library.
DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY
It’s Springtime: Is it time to change your “password”? - If your password is on “SplashData’s” annual list of worst passwords, it might be time to make a change. For security reasons you should change your passwords often and make them as strong as possible. It is recommended that passwords be at least 8 characters and a mix of letters, numbers and characters. It is also strongly recommended that you not to use the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Password manager software can be helpful in keeping track and managing all your logins.
DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS
Varsity Baseball Defeats Whetstone, Improves to 5-4 - The Varsity team defeated Whetstone Tuesday night by a score of 9-2 to improve to 5-4(3-0) on the season. They compiled a season high 15 hits in the game and got a complete game on the mound by John Moore who received his first win this season. They are currently undefeated in MSL.
Boys’ Tennis Opens Season Undefeated - The Boys’ Tennis team improved their season record to 5-0 with a 4-1 win on Monday night over Bishop Hartley. Winning for the Rangers were: Joelou Watson, who improved his season record to 3-2, with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win at 2nd singles. Cross Nichols, improved to 2-1 on the season, with a 6-1, 6-1 win at 3rd singles.
The team of Erick Juarez (3-0) & Chris Underwood (3-1) won at 2nd doubles, 6-0, 6-2. The doubles team of Shamael Chaudhary/Zach Harmon improved to 5-0 on the season with a 6-1, 6-1 win at 1st doubles.
Varsity Softball Defeats Centennial - The Hamilton Township Rangers and Centennial High School exchanged the lead four times on Thursday, but the Hamilton Rangers ended up on top with a 4-3 win in seven innings over Centennial High School.
The Hamilton Rangers took the lead in the sixth inning and held on for the victory. The Rangers went up for good on a two-run triple by Chase Gray-Still, plating Kylee Sobony and Abby Blosser.
Blosser got a hit in each of her three at bats. She singled in the third, fourth, and sixth innings.
Karly Wade was a workhorse in the circle for the Rangers. Wade pitched seven innings and allowed three earned runs, six hits and no walks while striking out three.
The Rangers were sparked by Gray-Still and Blosser, who teamed up for five hits and three RBIs. Chase was also excellent defensively.
In the bottom of the third, the Hamilton Rangers grabbed the early lead, 2-0. A single by Blosser, scoring Sobony started the inning off. The Hamilton Rangers then tacked on more runs when Blosser scored on an RBI single by Autumn Blosser.
Billie Kirk also went 1-3 and caught a great game for the Rangers.
Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Track and Field Win Quad Meet - The Rangers hosted Amanda-Clearcreek, Bishop Ready and Bloom Carroll on Tuesday evening and both Rangers teams came away with quad meet victories. To view the evening’s complete results, please click here. The Rangers will travel to Dublin Coffman this weekend for the Dublin Classic.
UPCOMING EVENTS
See what’s happening in our district this week!
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