Schools

Grants awarded this fall by the Bay Village Education Foundation totaled $17,990.71 and focused on some common themes that are central to the learning environment for children.

“Rather than seeing many grant requests for particular activities, we saw teachers applying scientific evidence this year on how to improve the learning environment for students on a daily basis,” said Ellie Bricmont, chair of the BVEF grants committee. “From sound amplification, to seating alternatives, to the reduction of emotional stress, our teachers recognize that learning can be affected positively by addressing physical and emotional needs.”

Ten Westlake High School AP Art History and International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge students will participate in the Cleveland Museum of Art "Museum Ambassadors" program that provides a behind-the-scenes experience at the world-class institution.

This year’s ambassadors are juniors Gwynnie Ball, Abby Falcone, Jade Hawk, Dena Hussain, Rachel Kaiser, Reilly Larcey, Carolyn McBride, Emily Nebraska, Adalee Ratycz and Jonathon Shear. Students were chosen for the program by WHS social studies teacher Beth Noren.

The Westlake High School senior team of Sneha Ramachandran, Mark Sargent, Jackson Liang and David Eppele finished in third place at the annual Hyland High School Innovation Showdown. They are students in the Technical Drawing/Design Level 4 Honors class.

Winning the competition was the team from Rocky River High School, and second was the team from Berea Midpark High School. Olmsted Falls High School finished fourth and Stow-Munroe Falls High School finished fifth.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Bay High School the Energy Star Building label, recognizing the school as one of the most energy efficient K-12 school facilities in the United States.

Bay High earned a score of 96 on the 100-point scale, far exceeding the required score of 75 in the rigorous examination of energy efficiency.

“You are not just saving energy and money with your investments in efficiency,” said Ted Bedell of Gardiner, the district’s partner in identifying and implementing energy conservation strategies. “You are reducing your carbon footprint to the benefit of our environment.”

Westlake High School senior Jeremy McCabe was selected to perform in the All-State Jazz Band at the Ohio Music Educators Conference in Cleveland the week of Feb. 1-4, 2017. Jeremy submitted his audition this spring and was selected as the only drummer in the band. Students from all over Ohio submitted audition recordings for this prestigious honor.

Bay High's traditional homecoming bonfire took on a new meaning Thursday, Oct. 6, as students dedicated the evening to hosting their own Light the Night walk to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They ultimately donated $11,100 dollars to fight the blood cancers and to support Bay Village Schools students suffering from them.

More the 1,200 luminaria lined the Bay High stadium track and walkway to the school. A brief ceremony at the stadium was led by Principal Jason Martin and Bay High students. They honored Jane and Daniel from Bay High School, Luke from Normandy, and Molly from Westerly as heroes. The football game-sized crowd rose to their feet with both tears and cheers. The crowd then made their way down the softly-lighted walkway to the homecoming bonfire.

The highly successful fundraiser showed Bay High students' love for their classmates and others fighting cancer, and it reinforced the evening's theme of "You Never Fight Alone."

Bay High senior Will Huntington has been named a National Merit Semi-finalist. Huntington has earned the prestigious academic distinction with his score on the 2015 Preliminary SAT (PSAT). The nationwide pool of semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of the 1.6 million students from 22,000 U.S. high school who take the PSAT in their junior year. The number of semi-finalists is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

In addition, three Bay High seniors qualified as Commended Students scoring in the top five percent of test takers nationwide: Phillip Lally, Shawn Simko and Carter White.

Bay High students will host a “Light the Night” fundraiser at Bay High Memorial Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7:45 p.m. This event is being planned to show support and raise funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and for families in the Bay Village community fighting childhood cancer.

“We learned about the 'Light the Night' event happening at Wade Oval and realized that we needed to do something to support this cause and let the students know that they are not alone,” said Jason Martin, principal of Bay High School. “We were already holding our annual homecoming bonfire the Thursday night prior to the Society’s walk, so we are having our own walk at Bay High Memorial Stadium. Our goal is to raise at least $10,000 for Light the Night. Our theme is ‘No One Fights Alone.’”

The Century Cycles Bike To School Challenge was presented the Next Generation Advocacy Award on Sept. 22 at the Interbike Awards Gala ceremony in Las Vegas.

Interbike is the annual trade show for the North American bicycle industry and the awards honor athletes, bicycle brands, distributors, retailers, public officials and other organizations and individuals for product innovation, competitive performance and their efforts to advance the bicycle industry.

The Next Generation Advocacy Award honors the efforts of organizations, schools, corporations and individuals that have gone above and beyond to get more kids on bikes. The bicycle industry’s future will be shaped by the work being done now to create more and innovative ways to get our kids riding bikes more often. All nominees and winners were selected by the staff of People for Bikes, the bicycle industry's non-profit advocacy organization.

On Sept. 15, the Ohio Department of Education released the 2015-2016 Ohio School Report Cards that for the first time gave school districts an overall A-F grade for six components – Achievement, Gap Closing, K-3 Literacy, Progress, Graduation Rate and Prepared for Success.

While the Westlake City Schools support high educational standards, quality measures and accountability to our local community, the state’s measurement system is not reflective of our expectations as a district.

Many high achieving school districts, including Westlake, are seeing much lower grades on this year’s report card than in years past. It’s important to know that the report card is just one snapshot into a school district and does not accurately represent the quality learning and teaching going on in our schools.

Clint Keener, superintendent of the Bay Village City School District, said that while school officials were warned by the Ohio Department of Education that test results this year would show lower achievement scores, he is pleased overall with the performance of Bay Village Schools students.

The 2016 report card test results represent the third year in a row of different state tests and varying standards. A comparison of the Performance Index percentages in the Achievement category, which factors in every test taken by every student, shows Bay Village achieving at the 6th highest level out of 31 Cuyahoga County school districts. The district scored 8th out of 20 top-scoring Northeast Ohio districts, and 18th out of 20 top-scoring districts in the state.

If you have been interested in learning what Westlake Schools' combined bond issue is about, Superintendent Scott Goggins, Treasurer Todd Hopkins and Jennifer Frey from Citizens for Westlake Schools are heading out on a speaking tour around Westlake. Here are some of the upcoming places where they will be speaking:

• Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. Westlake Democrats Meeting. Western Cuyahoga Lodge Hall, 26145 Center Ridge Road.
• Monday, Oct. 3, 7 p.m. Public Forum and Q&A presented by the League of Women Voters. Westlake Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Road.

Westlake City Schools held an open house at the high school on Aug. 8 to introduce the new superintendent, Scott Goggin, and treasurer, Todd Hopkins.

Goggin, who previously worked in the Midview school district and lived in Avon, said he and his family are becoming familiar with their new city and exploring all of its benefits. “We moved right next to Crocker Park, so we’ve been able to enjoy that this summer. When our son and daughter have friends over it gives them some sense of independence, they can walk and see a movie or get a haircut. We absolutely love it. We are now embedded in the community. The people have been so welcoming and so friendly to me and my family, it’s been overwhelming.” he said.

This year, the Bay High Athletic Hall of Fame will add five players, two coaches and two teams to its hallowed list of honorees.

Bay High legendary teachers and coaches Tom Kaiser and Joe Knap, the 2003 State Championship Girls’ Soccer Team and the 1980 State Runner-Up Baseball Team, and top Bay High athletes Luke Altieri (1981), Brad Cartwright (1992), Darrell Dewitt (1992), Kelley Moore (2005) and Lee Rohlke (1978) will join the Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

The new members will be introduced at the football game on Friday, Aug. 26, and feted at a social at Bay Lodge after the game. The induction ceremony and dinner will be held Saturday, Aug. 27, at The Fountain Bleau Event Center in Avon Lake. Tickets are $60 and available from Keri Altieri (440-617-7404) or Jim Cahoon (330-620-3161). Reservations must be made by Aug. 17.

Bay High School senior scholarship recipients and their families joined Bay Kiwanis at Bay Lodge for the annual scholarship dinner on Tuesday, July 19. There was a very nice turnout and members were able to socialize with the graduating seniors and their families. Kiwanis was very proud to be able to award over $16,000 to these special BHS graduates!

Beginning with the upcoming fall semester, the Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will offer physical education and dance classes for college credit. Courses will be offered in yoga; yoga and pilates; and dance fundamentals. Classes will be held at two Tri-C sites in Westlake – Corporate College West and the Health Careers & Sciences building at Westshore Campus.

1.3 mill bond issue and 1 mill PI levy won't increase residents' taxes

At a special meeting on July 25, the Westlake Board of Education passed a resolution placing a “no new millage” bond issue and permanent improvement (PI) levy on the Nov. 8 ballot. This issue will replace the district’s four elementary schools with one new school and sets aside funds to maintain district facilities – and it will not raise taxes.

Over the past few years, a planning committee made up of parents, civic and business leaders, teachers and residents reviewed the school district’s facilities and considered different options to replace or renovate Westlake’s four aging and deteriorating elementary schools. The studies found inefficient HVAC and plumbing systems, inadequate electrical capacity for today’s instructional technology, failing windows and roofs, classrooms that are too small for modern teaching, and too many facilities for Westlake's population.

Over 1,000 students each year enroll in orchestra, jazz, band, choral and Rockette programs from the fourth to 12th grades. Bay Village Schools’ music program has been named one of the "Best 100 Music Communities in America" since 2003!

Bay Music Boosters is a volunteer, nonprofit organization established to support and promote Bay Village Public Schools’ fine music education program. This year, Bay Music Boosters is having their Door-to-Door Membership Drive on Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 5-8 p.m.

Bay High School students who are in chorus, marching band, orchestra and Rockettes will be going door to door on Wednesday asking Bay Village residents to support them through purchasing a membership or by making any monetary donation. All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible.

The Bay Village Chapter of the League of Women Voters Greater Cleveland has named two 2016 Bay High School graduates as outstanding “Good Citizens” of the school and community. Irini Kazanas and Jacob Melaragno were each awarded a $1,000 college scholarship at the Kiwanis Awards Night in May. Irini and Jacob were chosen for their superior qualities of character, scholarship and leadership.

Irini will attend Ashland University and major in early childhood education. While at Bay High Irini was involved in Key Club, National Honor Society, Treble Choir and the golf team. She was also active in the Greek Orthodox Youth Association, working with children in the community.

What exactly should a parent look for in a pre-kindergarten program? It was the question Kourtney Sladek, Westside Christian Academy’s new pre-kindergarten teacher, knew parents would be asking and it guided her in designing the program. The answer also was meaningful because she too is the parent of a preschooler.

“Was it more important to me that they be able to recite letter sounds? To name an octagon? To make cute crafts for holidays?” Sladek asked. “But what if my goal for my child was not to compete with the world but to lay a strong, meaningful foundation for education? What if I desired to have my children learn truths about God and themselves?”

At a special meeting of the Westlake Board of Education on July 19, the Board voted to adopt the newly negotiated contract with the Westlake Teachers Association (WTA).  After more than a year of negotiations, both parties have reached a three-year agreement for the 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 school years. On Monday, July 18, WTA members voted to accept the agreement reached by the negotiating committee.

The Bay Village Board of Education has voted unanimously to put a 5.9 mill operating levy on the Nov. 8 election ballot. The request reflects careful fiscal management that stretched a 2010 levy two years beyond its original four-year projection.

Homeowners would see a tax increase of approximately $17.21 per month (about $207 annually) for each $100,000 of home valuation if the levy passes. It would generate an estimated $3.1 million in additional revenue annually for the school district.

The 5.9 mill levy is to cover increasing costs for utilities, supplies, salaries, transportation, etc. The millage level also reflects the addition of increased instructional technology support and foreign language instruction starting at the elementary school level.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Westside Christian Academy in Westlake is on its way to providing an education to students from pre-kindergarten through high school graduation. They launched the Upper School in fall 2015, combining the existing grades 7 and 8 with a new grade 9. Grade 10 and a pre-kindergarten class will start this fall. Plans are to add grades 11 and 12 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

To lead the Upper School, WCA announced the hiring of Dr. Bernard J. Mauser, an assistant professor at San Diego Christian College. Dr. Mauser will be teaching and developing the curriculum in his role as principal.

At a special board meeting on June 22, the Westlake City Schools Board of Education unanimously selected Todd Hopkins as the district treasurer and Alexander Fleming as principal of Dover Intermediate School.

Mr. Hopkins is currently the treasurer at Brooklyn City Schools and previously served as the assistant treasurer and computer network manager. He also worked in the banking industry. His contract begins Aug. 1 and he will begin working with the district on an interim basis during the month of July while he finalizes work with the Brooklyn City Schools. Mark Pepera, the district’s outgoing treasurer will remain on contract through July 16.

The Bay Village Safe Boating class ended on June 27 with the final class of the summer being held at Whiskey Island Marina on Lake Erie. Thirty–six middle school students completed the class and were awarded certificates for their success in completing the Ohio Boating Education Course in May and three Mondays on the water during June.

Ohio Law requires any person born after Jan. 1, 1982, to complete a boating education course in order to operate a power boat with a motor of more than 10 horsepower. Students spent 35 hours learning how to boat safely and have fun on the water. The course follows the curriculum of the Spirit of America Foundation which is a national youth boating education program.  Students were required to take the Ohio Boating Education Class (OBEC) and pass the exam.

The Westlake High School Academic Challenge team took third place (with a record of 8-1) out of 41 teams from across the country in the recent Question Unlimited’s National Academic Championship in Chicago. The team qualified by performing well in earlier tournaments. Team members, pictured from left: Justin Krantz, Anna Craven, Patrick Lee, Ryan Karpuszka, Nico DiGiulio and Kyle Yu. (Not pictured: Alex Lathem.)

The Bay Village City School District is conducting a survey of its residents to collect opinions on how the schools are managing academic offerings, finances and other district responsibilities.

“We engage with our residents in many ways, whether through formal groups and meetings, or just through consistent responses to phone calls and emails,” said Amy Huntley, president of the Bay Village Board of Education. “This random sample and survey is one way to reach out to people we seldom hear from.”

Bay Village Schools Destination Imagination advisor, Marian Harmount, reported from the Destination Imagination Global Finals, held May 25-28 in Knoxville, Tennessee, that out of 1,464 teams, from 21 countries, totaling more than 8,000 students, there was a first-place team from Bay Village, Ohio.

The Crew, a team of fifth-graders from Bay Middle School, placed first in the world at the elementary level in their challenge, The Meme Event. Members of The Crew are Iain Ray, Finn Meadows, Maeve Ransom, Annie Davenport, James Chilton, James Fowles and Patrick Lehane. The students were required to complete a service project and then make a presentation about it. First, the team raised money to donate to refugee families living in Lakewood. Then, they arrived at the Destination Imagination Global Finals and made their presentation. One reason their presentation was memorable was because the students rhymed the entire script.

A total of four teams from the Bay Village Schools qualified at district and state level competitions to complete at Destination Imagination's Global Finals.

Bay Middle School students particated in the school's annual Drug Prevention Awareness Poster Contest, coordinated by both the science and art teachers in conjunction with the spring drug education unit and our state's drug awareness month. The first, second and third place winners and judges' choice award winners received gift certificates supported once again this year by Bay Kiwanis.

"Kiwanis is proud to support this program," said Kiwanis member, Foster McMasters. Coordinators of the program added: "We are glad the students and teachers take time to discuss and do projects around this important issue."

Approximately 60 students participated in the contest.

Lee Burneson Middle School seventh-grade pre-engineering students brought home three top awards in the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) race at Cleveland State University on May 18.

The team of Makki Al-Saffar and Evan Wrightsman took home the title of Fastest Car from a field of 70 competing cars. Chloe Howlett and Brianna Ware’s car won the Most Innovative award, which was judged by NASA engineers and CSU students. LBMS also brought home the Most Spirit Award.

The JSS is a national event that challenges middle school students to design, test and race model solar cars within specific engineering constraints. This STEM activity was the second annual JSS race in Northeast Ohio and included students from Brecksville, Lake Middle School in Hartville, North Olmsted and Westlake.

The countdown begins, “10, 9, 8 ...” A globe spins behind a launching rocket (a Bay Rocket, of course). The new Bay High School news and announcement video program, “Ground Control,” begins with impeccably dressed student co-anchors delivering school news, even lunch menus, in a way that is entertaining, interesting and fun.

The program is the result of a new video production studio at the school, funded by the Bay Village Education Foundation (BVEF). Creation of the studio also drove the adoption of a new course offering, “Video Production.”

“The days we tape the news are by far my favorite days of school, even if I’m not the anchor that day," said senior Jake Waffen. "I might be the switcher, or the camera operator, or the lighting person. We have boom mikes, we have the lavalier mikes, we have all kinds of different sound lines. Everything we put on is in full HD [high definition]. It’s really a great production.”

A group of Westlake High Spanish students became the newest members of the National Spanish Honor Society last month. Pictured are: (front row, from left) Diana Kalash, Rachel Cuellar, Madeline Dornon, Katherine Pavilonis, Leah Choban, Riya Desai, Christine Hughes; (second row) Catherine Frerman, Bushra Altabba, Nicole Korczak, Maura Ryan; (third row) Jeremy Schwochow, Mark Sargent, Bradley Katcher, Aris Jhaveri, Justin Krantz; (fourth row) Mohammad Alsi, Youseff Al-Shinnawi, Carter Hoon, Hong Liang and Alexander Lathem.

My third-graders at Westerly School in Bay Village learn about immigrants during the period that Ellis Island was open. Students get a chance to compare life today with life in the past. Throughout this integrated unit, the students learn about immigrants from fiction and nonfiction texts as well as going on a virtual tour of Ellis Island. They learn to write letters and poems related to immigration.

As a culminating activity, the students participate in "trunk day." Each student is assigned a country and they learn about real immigrant families that settled in the Cleveland area. Each group has a chance to explore trunks or suitcases with artifacts, journals, logs and more. Here are two summary paragraphs written by two of my students.

The Bay Village Board of Education approved new, three-year contracts with the district’s teachers and support staff members at its Monday, May 9, regular board meeting.

Both the Bay Teachers Association and the district’s OAPSE employees (including custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance staff and school secretaries) agreed to salary increases of 2 percent for the first year of their new contracts, with increases of 1.75 percent for each of the following two years.

"Thanks to the collaborative relationships between our administration, our teachers and our support staff, we can continue to offer a high-quality education to our students while maintaining sound fiscal management for our community," said Amy Huntley, president of the school board. "This stability is so important. It lets our board plan ahead to offer the best programs in the most cost-efficient ways. I know I speak for our board in saying how proud we all are of our staff members and their dedication to our children and to our community."

Bay Middle School fifth-grader Annabella Mayer was recognized as an Ohio Level 1 Honorable Finalist in the Library of Congress' Letters About Literature 2016 Contest.

Students entering the contest write letters to the author of a book that has made a difference in their lives. Annabella wrote her letter to author Jerry Spinelli about his book, "Stargirl."

Annabella explained that Mr. Spinelli's book helped her realize that she didn't need to fit in with the crowd. "I, like everyone, am not perfect. I don’t always fit in," she wrote.

Westlake High School senior Bradley Katcher was named a Jefferson Scholar for the University of Virginia.

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation award is intended to cover the entire cost of attendance for four years at the University of Virginia, plus coverage of the supplemental enrichment experiences. Those opportunities include Team Challenge Program, Institute for Leadership and Citizenship, foreign travel studies, Alumni Connections Program, career counseling, public service fellows, and enrichment dinners and receptions.

Bay High senior Alana Bernys has been named a National Merit Finalist. She is among less than one percent of U.S. graduating seniors who qualified for the distinction based on scores of the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) college entrance exam taken during their junior year.

Alana has previously been recognized for earning a top score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam. She was also named a Presidential Scholar candidate earlier this year. She plans to pursue a double major in biochemistry and art history when she enters Darmouth College this fall to prepare for a career as a medical researcher in the field of genetics.

The Westlake Board of Education adopted the outline presented by Westlake City Schools’ Strategic Planning Committee at its April 25 meeting. The committee is a cross-representational group of over 50 residents including business, nonprofit, civic, mental health, higher education, clergy, parent and neighborhood leaders.

“We want to thank the Strategic Planning Committee members for being forward thinking and sharing their input and ideas to help ensure our school district’s priorities are aligned with the needs of the community and the skills required to compete in today’s society,” said Board President Carol Winter. “Their commitment to this process demonstrates the importance of strong schools and a strong community.”

Bay and Westlake high schools have been designated Silver Medal Schools in U.S. News & World Report's 2016 ranking of America's Best High Schools. Bay High ranked No. 24 in Ohio (out of 890 high schools), and No. 583 nationally (out of 19,908 public high schools). Westlake High ranked No. 41 in the state, No. 968 in the country. Bay narrowly missed the Gold Medal designation, which is awarded to the nation's top 500 rated schools.

U.S. News and World Report considers a number of factors in its ranking. First, they determined whether each school's students were performing much better than statistically expected for the average student in the state, factoring in the percentage of the school's economically disadvantaged students, on math and reading proficiency tests.

The Westlake Board of Education has begun the search process for a new chief financial officer/treasurer after Mark C. Pepera announced that he accepted a similar position with the Brunswick City School District. Pepera has been with Westlake City Schools since 1998 and received numerous national and state accommodations and accolades for excellence in financial reporting, a focus on transparency and superior audit results.

Pepera and his staff recently earned the district its 23rd consecutive national Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting award, the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.