Good Afternoon Rocket Families!
As always, It is exciting times here in Streetsboro Schools! With the first quarter of the school year in the books, many of our buildings were celebrating the fall season and great behavior of our students with PBIS award assemblies and celebrations.
PBIS (positive behavior intervention & supports) is a districtwide initiative designed to increase positive, on task, academic behaviors and reduce disruptions so high levels of learning can occur in our classrooms. I am so proud of our students who make learning a priority each and every day.
I am also proud of our staff for finding creative ways to celebrate this commitment. To all the parents who participated in these events, I want to thank you as well. Seeing so many smiling and happy students doing the right thing really makes all the difference.
Even though many of our fall sports have concluded, several teams and athletes have moved on to the post-season tournaments. Many from this high school will be traveling to Canal Fulton – Northwest this evening for the first round football playoff game.
It will be another fantastic fall night to celebrate all the athletes, cheerleaders and band members for their effort this entire season. Good Luck ROCKETS!
Unfortunately, our bus drivers are seeing an increase of students eating and drinking on the buses. The student handbook has a list of “dos and don’ts” on the bus. Please remind your students to follow the bus rules, to remain seated and quiet at all times, to save snack time for after they are dropped off at home and (most importantly) to LISTEN to the drivers!
I know many of our families rely on safe transportation to and from school. We do not want children to lose their bus privileges, so please do all you can to remind your child to follow our bus expectations. Our Student Handbook is located in Final Forms (https://streetsboro-oh.finalforms.com/). There you can see a complete list of bus expectations.
Earlier this month, I highlighted a few components of our recently published District Report Card. We are extremely proud of our 5-Star Progress rating which measured the growth our students made from the 2020-21 school year to last spring (2021-22).
Our 3-Star ratings in Achievement and Graduation coming off the struggles of the pandemic is nothing short of amazing. This week, I would like to highlight yet another component of our new report card; Gap Closing. Receiving 4 out of 5 Stars, this is a measure of the “reduction in educational gaps for specific student subgroups.” This component provides targets in both progress and achievement of students from nine specific subgroups.
The SCS subgroups included in this measure include: Asian-Pacific Islanders, Black Non-hispanic, White Non-hispanic, Multiracial, Hispanic, English Language Learners, Economically Disadvantaged, and Students With Disabilities. I am happy to report that all but one subgroup met the goal in English Language Arts. Only two did not hit the target in mathematics. Many of these subgroups surpassed the goal target by double digits!
The Gap Closing Component also takes into account the progress of our gifted students and chronic absenteeism. Last year’s absenteeism rate was calculated and included in our report card, but was not part of our rating. Last year, due to the lingering effects of the pandemic and local health department regulations, our student absenteeism rate was 28.4%; the goal was less than 22%.
This year, we are tracking attendance closely. Good attendance has a direct impact on academic success, decreased failures and drop-out rates. While it’s imperative to keep your children home if they are sick and contagious, we need to see this number go down this school year.
For some of our students with a high degree of absences, it could just take a little extra adult support to get them out the door and on their way to a great day of learning. Please do all you can to help with this. If you need some support, we have a great group of school counselors who can help. Our district social worker is also available if necessary.
Receiving a Four Star Rating in Gap Closing is reason for our entire community to celebrate. Exceeding the state standards in this area shows that here in Streetsboro, we take the education of ALL students very seriously. To view our entire report card, visit the Ohio Department of Education website: https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/home
In closing, October is National School Principal Appreciation Month. We have a great team of principals leading our school buildings and they are really making a difference! A huge shout out goes to:
Streetsboro Elementary – Mrs. Gwen Abraham and Mrs. Jen Wolf
Henry Defer Intermediate – Mrs. Michelle Kravetz
Streetsboro Middle – Ms. Julie Taylor and Mr. Lee Weppler
Streetsboro High – Mr. Brett McCann and Mrs. Lindsay Zenker
They are an incredible team of leaders and educators; each with a unique skill set. All of them have a huge desire to make a big difference in the lives of our children. We are very fortunate to have them here in Streetsboro.
I wish you all the best of health and happiness as we get ready to turn the page to November!
Have a great weekend and GO ROCKETS!
Sincerely,
R. Michael Daulbaugh
Superintendent