Students at all four district elementary schools were provided a special opportunity to walk to school and spend time with their fathers and father-figures as part of the Fathers Walk 2016 program on Thursday, September 22nd. The annual event is designed to encourage fathers and father-figures to play an active role in the life of their child and be a positive role model. In addition to refreshments, each building’s program included remarks by school administrators and a variety of guest speakers. The program closed with all participants standing and reciting the Fathers Walk Pledge together, expressing their commitment to supporting their child’s learning and communicating the importance of doing their best in school. Each father and father-figure in attendance then walked with their child to the main entrance of the school building.  

Yesterday, the Ohio Department of Education released the results for the State Report Card for the 2015-2016 school year. The purpose of the State Report card is to help identify strengths and weaknesses in each child’s educational programming. The SEL Schools encourages the community to view the results of the State Report Card in their proper context, in that, the current inconsistencies of the testing environment in Ohio have made preparing for them a significant challenge. Simply put, three separate and individual tests have been administered from the State in three separate years. The entire SEL leadership team, including teachers and staff welcome accountability, and are proud of the grades it received during the 2014-2015 school year as well as the State’s first ever Momentum Award for receiving A’s on every value added indicator. Yet only six months later, this past year’s results fell short of the prior year’s marks. This report card does not accurately measure how the SEL Schools are actually performing. Please read more by clicking here.