The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
High School to become 5 academies
Lorain school CEO announces turnaround plan
Courses of study at Lorain High School would be divided to create five academies, according to the initiatives to boost education in Lorain City Schools.
Meanwhile, pre-K will expand to every school and New Beginnings Academy will change locations and philosophy. Parents could become more involved and the Lorain school community will learn more about teachers doing good work, according to the plan.
Lorain City School Chief Executive Officer David Hardy Jr. spent 90 minutes outlining the latest steps in The Lorain Promise, the academic turnaround plan to get the district out of the state’s academic distress ranking.
At least 90 people came to Lorain City Hall, the site of Hardy’s Town Hall Meeting, to discuss five initiatives that will guide education in the 2018-19 school year. There was occasional applause and murmurs of assent from the crowd, which included city residents, district employees and members of the Community Business Schools Partnership group.
Five academies
Hardy presented his initiatives in numerical order, but admitted the fifth one “is the one I personally get the most excited about.”
The fifth initiative is to prepare scholars for the world of tomorrow. To do that, Lorain schools must expand access to diverse pathways of learning across subject areas.
Lorain High School scholars care so much about their future and they will tell you how much they care, Hardy said.
“For that reason, I feel like we just need to invest differently in our high school and invest more deeply in the opportunities that they have to reach their full potential,” Hardy said.
To do that, Lorain High School will have five academies to give students a chance to explore what they love, starting in ninth grade, Hardy said.
Academies will be dedicated to Early College; Advanced Placement; Career and STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math; Performing Arts; and New Beginnings, which specializes in nontraditional or at-risk students.
Early College will return either at Lorain High School or Lorain County Community College. The Advanced Placement Academy will introduce advanced placement courses at the high school.
There is some apprehension about New Beginnings Academy, although it is not final yet that it will be at the high school, Hardy said. With about 140 students, about 80 show up every day, so Hardy suggested a path of study with academics and work experiences that will entice others to come.
New Beginnings Academy “should not be a death sentence,” Hardy said. “It should be a new beginning.”
The academies will not be in place for every student immediately. Those tracks will grow over the next five years, but Hardy noted the current high school curriculum with “general studies” will decline to less than 5 percent of students by the 2022-23 school year.
Other initiatives
For the other four initiatives, Hardy proposed a new Parent University to support the whole child beginning at birth. It will be a way to engage parents and offer help for them to raise children in the 21st century, starting with child development in infancy.
To invest in early scholars, pre-K will expand to all elementary buildings, with bilingual pre-K in some schools.
Lorain also needs a “Millionaires Club,” with incentives for young scholars who read a million or more words a year.
To promote equity in the district, Hardy proposed creating a positive school culture. Scholars in every school, every year, will get to encounter college, careers and cultural events.
Hardy conceded the district financial team will work out ways to pay for it, although some universities have stated they can support student visits if Lorain schools can provide transportation, Hardy said.
The equity segment includes examining “culturally relevant pedagogy and understanding bias.” This will be probably the hardest topic “because it is talking about ourselves,” with conversation about biases, race, diversity and achievement in Lorain, Hardy said.
To create schools where adults and scholars thrive, Lorain schools will examine great teaching in every classroom and use standards based grading, Hardy said.
Lorain needs to improve professional development for teachers. It also is the only district Hardy has encountered that does not celebrate innovation and great teaching, he said, so that needs to happen.
Rumor mill
Hardy began his presentation with discussion of the rumors swirling in the district.
He reviewed local news headlines dating back to 2012, when Lorain schools laid off 182 teachers, through last year when Lorain schools began dealing with requirements of House Bill 70, which governs academic distress and the turnaround plan. The Morning Journal also reported on the school district advertising for new chief positions to oversee aspects of the district.
Speaking to the group, Hardy apologized if he played any part in “the rumor mill.”
“Because that’s unfair to you as people, that’s unfair to us as a system that’s trying to move forward, and most importantly, I get it, I now see the challenge,” Hardy said. “So my hope is that there is a way that you can trust me.”
Hardy acknowledged five administrators, including Superintendent Jeff Graham, have separated from Lorain Schools. But Hardy debunked the rumor he fired 25 people.