Everyone in district aims to connect with kids
The Northmont City School District recently celebrated School Bus Safety Week through a weeklong campaign of awareness through communications to parents and students, bus evacuation drills, and by adopting a Ride-Along program.
Members from our leadership team, consisting of central office administrators, principals and supervisors, rode routes throughout the week. We wanted to let our bus drivers know we appreciate their efforts, and they are valued as respected mentors interacting with our students.
Bus drivers are great ambassadors, as they are the first and last face of the district on a daily basis. They might be the first smile or the last word of encouragement for the day. Some of our administrators and supervisors have pledged to continue to ride a route from time to time to better connect with our students and support our drivers.
This connection or engagement of our students, parents and community members is a major focus for the district. Many of our leadership team members who took part in the ride-along witnessed this special connection between our drivers and students.
The same can be said for all of our nonteaching staff. The impact adults have on youths is immeasurable. No matter the role we serve at Northmont, encouraging words and smiling faces make for an inviting place to learn and grow.
On my ride, I witnessed the bus driver having fun with the students, and he acknowledged each student entering or leaving the bus by name. He knew what extracurricular activities they were involved in and could recite past valedictorians who had been his passengers. He was excited and eager to discuss with me the distinction Apple recently announced that Northmont is an Elite One-to-One District, one of only eight in the state of Ohio, for the work we are doing to allow students to be creative in completing assignments on the school-issued iPads.
The point is, what makes Northmont such a great place is that everyone is part of the team.
Walking through the bus garage in the afternoon is an exercise of amazement. Dispatch is busy making adjustments to parent requests, road closures, driver illness and an array of adjustments that need to be solved. The only solution is teamwork. Student safety and parent communication are at the center of what we do.
The bus mechanics have a 31-year streak of perfect bus safety inspections. Again, it takes a team to make sure our students receive the service they deserve and our community expects. I am happy to say we have dedicated people working together to provide for our students. Our motto is “Thunderbolts serving Thunderbolts,” and this includes our students, our employees and our community.