Our district has come together
Even though our sense of “normalcy” has been challenged these last several weeks, I wanted to provide a brief update on the Centerville City Schools’ attempt to support all of our students during this health crisis. During this extended period of closure, we are working hard to provide education through alternative means using remote learning platforms such as Google Classroom and Zoom for live meetings. We have provided devices like Chromebooks to families who needed them, and we are arranging Internet connectivity by supplying WiFi hotspots to any family who requires them.
Supporting the needs of the whole child is a necessity, so we will maintain meal services to qualifying students throughout the week. Our staff also will continue to reach out to students remotely just to “touch base” in nonacademic ways to show support while also maintaining social distancing.
It was just a few short months ago in January, I had an opportunity to share district news at our annual State of the District address. This meeting provided an opportunity for me to thank the Centerville-Washington Township community for its support of the levy on the November ballot. The levy that passed in November will be used to keep and attract great teachers, continue college and career readiness courses, update classroom technology and ensure that our schools are safe and in good condition.
Even though we are currently navigating through unprecedented times, we will continue to keep our levy promises to our community. The safety of our students and staff is a priority for us and we know it is important to our community as well.
We partner with the Centerville Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff ’s Office to have four school resource officers throughout the district, which gives us opportunities to build relationships with students and staff so we can continue to provide a safe learning environment.
Recently, we completed an LED lighting retrofit project – both indoors and outdoors at Stingley Elementary. In addition to creating an enhanced learning environment, the lighting also improves security, especially outside the building. We are working on expanding these types of projects to other buildings in the district.
In January, three of our school buildings were evaluated as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to help school districts develop comprehensive targeted violence preventions plans. We are also in the process of replacing surveillance equipment and adding security cameras as part of ongoing safety and security enhancements.
In addition, we have an all-volunteer group of parents representing every school in our district. Through an earnest grassroots approach, they developed a committee for sharing their common ideas around improving the overall safety of our children and staff.
We are fortunate to have a community where everyone is willing to “pitch in” and go the extra mile, whether that is helping us improve safety or supporting our students and staff during a health crisis.