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Superintendent: Time to talk about elementary school facilities




HEBRON – Results of a Lakewood Schools community survey show the district’s communication practices are effective, but could be better. Although the results have yet to be officially compiled, Lakewood Superintendent Mary Kay Andrews said the survey shows Lakewood could use more different forms of media to keep the community informed.

“A lot of our community uses Twitter,” Andrews said. Newspapers and local media were close behind as an important sources for district communication. “We know we need to do better,” she said.

Andrews said she would like the district’s website to be more interactive with users and she would like it to be the main source of the district’s communication with the community. Andrews would also like the district to create more newsletters. “Many in our community don’t have kids in school,” she said. “We have to find a way to tell them what’s going on. The bottom line is we need to look at consistency (in communication) and hitting all audiences.”

Previously, Andrews said complaints about communication did not inspire the survey. “Actually, quite the contrary,” she said. “Our community has appreciated the efforts through Facebook, Twitter and various email groups; however, I know we can do better.”

Andrews said the district has worked to meet several communications needs the past couple of years. “The survey was to help us improve our information resources and make sure we can meet the various needs of our community,” she said. “There is a lot of wonderful news at Lakewood and we want our community to know!”

The survey is now closed.

In other district news:

• Jackson Intermediate School won the state’s Momentum Award for receiving “As” in every Value- Added measure on the 2016 Ohio State Report Card. Andrews said the award shows “students learned and grew regardless of background.”

The Momentum Award is presented by the Ohio State Board of Education and recognizes schools for exceeding expectations in student growth for the year. Schools must earn straight “As” on all Value-Added measures on the report card. The school or district must have at least two Value- Added subgroups of students, which includes gifted, lowest 20 percent in achievement, and students with disabilities.

• Andrews said it’s time to have community dialogue about the district’s elementary school facilities. “It’s no secret our elementary facilities are aging,” she said, adding the elementary facilities’ shortcomings were noted in a district-wide facilities assessment that was presented to the Lakewood School Board during its December 2015 meeting. Andrews was clear there are currently no set plans to build a new elementary school, nor is there a plan to seek additional funding, but the time is right to begin thinking about what the district should do to improve conditions for its elementary students. She would like the community to begin “exploring concept planning for a new building or what parents would like to see in elementary facilities,” Andrews said.



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