Plan for district takes shape

5 initiatives coming for 2018-2019 school year

Lorain City Schools are getting closer to launching the programs that will improve student education, parental involvement and skills of teachers in the classroom, the district leader said.

About 75 people came to Southview Middle School on May 10 for the monthly Town Hall Meeting with Lorain school Chief Executive

Officer David Hardy Jr.

It was his latest update on the steps to take The Lorain Promise, the academic turnaround plan to get the district out of the state’s academic distress ranking, and apply it to the classroom.

In February, Hardy unveiled five initiatives that will guide education in the 2018-2019 school year.

Now Lorain school leaders are moving closer to starting the programs that will come together this year to provide programs, events, meetings and attitudes for scholars, teachers and parents in the next school year.

In his presentation, Hardy cited Apple computer leader Steve Jobs and physicist Albert Einstein. He told the group it is time for Lorain educators to think differently about how they work with scholars in the schools.

As an example, Hardy shared data from an analysis of the school district’s Title 1 teachers who work with small groups of students.

Lorain schools have an average of 425 students per building. The Title 1 teachers work with an average of about 27 students, but among the scholars, more than 74 percent are not reading at the appropriate grade level.

That is not an indictment of Lorain teachers, Hardy said, but it indicates Lorain educators need to think differently.

“Not an indictment of our people, but it is time for us to think differently if we want this to change,” Hardy said.

Using other metaphors, Hardy said Lorain teachers can be like cowboys, with just one teacher who can do it all. Instead, the educators must be like a racing team

pit crew “that we can serve all of our kids.”

“So to do so, we realize that these five initiatives are going to try to address those challenges, and, or, those needs,” Hardy said.

In the meeting, Hardy asked those attending to select two initiatives to learn more about.

The attendees divided into small groups led by school administrators explaining the initiatives. After the presentations, people could ask questions and offer feedback about the plans.

Each initiative starts with a vision of excellence and has multiple “pillars,” or the topics or issues that the school district is dealing with. Written in spreadsheet form, the pillars all had goals, progress, timelines and what students, parents or teachers should see or expect.

For example, the Birth to Bachelors Initiative will create Parent University, “a community collaborative aimed at creating a partnership between parents and schools that fosters a welcoming environment where all scholars and families will experience success.”

Pillar 1 is “cornerstone” seminars, or quarterly seminars in the next school year for parents to support their children’s success at all grade levels.

grade.