The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Official discusses state of the schools
Wickliffe Schools Superintendent Joseph Spiccia said that while the district continues to strive for better, it is pleased with the progress.
Over the last couple of years, Wickliffe students have improved in seven out of 10 areas on the Ohio State Report Card with rankings in the top half of the county in all areas. While this data only tells part of the story, it gives you an idea of how the students are doing, Spiccia said.
“We are happy that we are seeing an incremental improvement on the report card,” he said during the State of Schools address on May 9.”We always talk about this notion and idea of continuous improvement and all of our professional development we do with our teachers is designed with the idea, how do we become better teachers, how do we become better principals and how do we become better superintendents.”
Data also shows a threeyear trend improvement in the number of students who are taking the ACT and the overall scores.
In relation to college admission testing, Spiccia also discussed the National Clearinghouse enrollment data collected that gives a snapshot of Wickliffe High School graduates’ higher education choices, enrollment and persistence rates.
The district’s goal is to ensure that students are “future ready,” he said while sharing a few highlights from the entrepreneurial, STEM, project-based learning, career and college educational programs.
According to the results from a community survey, there was a 66 percent positive rating for the quality of education.
On the other hand, opinions differed regarding facilities.
The survey stated that 56 percent of residents opposed renovating the facilities to create one campus compared to 32 percent who are in support; 63 percent oppose building new facilities versus 31 percent in support and 56 percent of residents are in support of a permanent improvement levy for repairs and improvements to existing buildings compared to 43 percent in opposition.
The results from these surveys are generally pretty “spot on,” he said.
However many attendees expressed displeasure in the survey process, saying they were not included in the results.
Spiccia said he will continue to seek community input, expand educational programs that address the skills needed for the future and help the community through the new Family Resource Center project.
“We are happy that we are seeing an incremental improvement on the report card.” — Wickliffe Schools Superintendent Joseph Spiccia