ThisWeek CW 12/27/2014

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/12/26/groveport-schools-hoover-new-year-will-be-built-on-2014-foundations.html

Future success in 2015 will be based on foundations laid last year, according to Groveport Madison school officials.

Superintendent Bruce Hoover said those foundations include a $1.8-million Straight A Fund grant, additional access to Chromebooks for students and improved IT infrastructure and web-based learning, and, of course, the passage of a levy and bond issue that will result in a new high school facility.

Hoover noted that scores on the state report card for 2014 showed the district’s academic failures, but this, too, will be a foundation for change.

“As a district, we must all own this,” he said of the scores. “However, we made huge strides in positioning ourselves to help students grow academically in future years.

“Clearly, seeing our community come together to pass the levy in May was huge,” he said. “This proved what we are capable of when we work together as a team. Now we can begin to focus on the construction of a new high school facility and work on providing new programs and opportunities for our students.”

Likewise, Hoover said, the Straight A grant was important to the district “because our goal is to keep teachers prepared by providing the right tools and training that best serves our students … and we took a huge step forward toward reaching our goal of providing one-to-one computing options for our students by upgrading our IT infrastructure and adding more Chromebooks to provide web-hosted curriculum.”

One major goal for 2015, according to Hoover, is to expand the number of elective course offerings for high school and middle school students with the introduction of a new career pathways program.

“The program will provide students a wider selection of course offerings that will enable them to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to better prepare them for a career or college upon graduation,” Hoover said.

This is being complemented with further course offering evaluations and the adoption of a new social studies curriculum, he added.

And in preparation for those pathways, the district will introduce a new kindergarten readiness program for pre-school age children.

“The goal is to provide each child with opportunities for learning in the areas of academics, social and emotional needs,” Hoover said.

A plan to provide each child with a learning tablet, programmed with digital curriculum for home use, was introduced at the Dec. 10 school board meeting.

“Participation in the program will require both the child and parent to attend school-sponsored sessions,” Hoover said. “Parents will participate in group discussions about development and skill readiness while their child will spend time interacting with other children to build social skills necessary for school success.”

The district is preparing to start contract talks midyear with the Groveport Madison Local Education Association. The union, representing district teachers, took a “no confidence” vote regarding Hoover in November that was supported by nearly all of its members.

GMLEA Vice President Zac Casperson said at the time the vote had “nothing to do with negotiations,” a statement Hoover disputed.

He said in December the district’s goal is “to increase opportunities for thoughtful discussions to occur.”

Hoover said district leaders look forward to “building on our partnerships with our community and local leaders.

“We have laid a foundation for success,” he said. “However, in order to achieve this, we must join forces to provide the building blocks for student success.”