Leap of learning
North Olmsted jumps from continuous improvement to excelent category
By Jeff Gallatin
NOTH OLMSTED
Published August 23, 2006

School district officials are beaming over students’ scores on the state report card soaring into rare company in one year.

North Olmsted was one of three school districts in the entire state to jump from the continuous improvement designation to excellent. The district met 23 out of 25 state indicators on its 2005-06 scores, which were released last week. The other districts were Medina and Tipp City in Southwestern Ohio.

Superintendent Kurt Stanic said it’s a testament to the hard work of many people in the district.

“It shows all the work that the teachers, staff and students did to get to that score,” Stanic said. “It’s a great achievement, and people should be proud of it. But I’ll say we’re not done yet; we want to continue to move upward and I know that we will.”

Associate Superintendent Cheryl Dubsky, who leads work on curriculum and instruction, said the staff had worked very hard and that the district had kept its commitment to the community to improve academic achievement.

“Some of the things that made this possible included a focused effort to align our teaching and learning with the state content standards,” Dubsky said. “We also made an investment in teacher training across the district so that students would be provided with common instructional strategies and routines across classrooms and grade levels. This means that a student will know what to expect in the classroom when he moves from elementary to middle school or from middle school to high school.”

Dubsky said the schools are working on ways to maintain the excellent standard on a long-term basis.

“Our investment in new K-12 programs and materials has provided a curriculum that will ensure students will learn what they need to be successful,” she said. “We will continue to work with our students, parents, staff and community to promote a culture of excellence, based on our belief that all students should learn at high levels.”

School spokeswoman Vera Brewer cited the district’s score of 100.3 in the district’s performance index on a scale of 0 to 120, which reflects the achievement of every tested student in the district, during the last few years. North Olmsted has gone from 92.5 in 2003-04, 97.2 in 2004-05 to 100.3 in 2005-06.

“We’re following through,” Brewer said. “Dr. Stanic helped put in place a long-term plan when he got here and we will continue to follow through on items.”

Stanic said the district will also continue to work on raising the adequate yearly progress goals, including the troubled area of students with limited English proficiency and students with disabilities, where the scores are below state standards.

“We have programs going this summer on that, and Dr. Dubsky and the staff are continuing to put programs in place which will deal with that problem,” Stanic said.

In the actual scores, which require scoring at least 75 percent to meet state standards, North Olmsted hit 81 percent or higher in 22, while hitting 76.7 in sixth grade mathematics. The two scores below 75 percent were fifth grade math achievement with 69.8 percent and seventh grade math achievement with 70.7 percent.

Brewer said she didn’t want people to lose sight of one of the big reasons for the excellent designation from the state — North Olmsted High School.

“Our high school achieved the excellent designation again,” Brewer said. “It’s been consistently excellent and people should take note of that.”

She said the district would continue to work to better itself in all areas.

Don Frazier, the senior member of the school board, said he believes it’s the first time the district made that kind of jump.

“It’s an outstanding achievement,” Frazier said. “It shows the kind of staff and students we have in the district.”

Board Vice President John Lasko said it shows that attention to detail helps.

“There has been a tremendous amount of work done on programs and instruction, and it’s paying off,” Lasko said.

Other officials took note as well.

Ward 3 City Councilwoman Nicole Dailey Jones, who worked for the Cleveland City School District several years ago, said it’s hard work for a district to raise scores.

“They’re to be congratulated because it takes a lot of work by everybody involved to make that kind of jump,” she said.

Mayor Thomas O’Grady, a former North Olmsted teacher, said it aids the city.

“Having excellent schools is a strong selling point for a community,” he said.