The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Building leaders bring wish lists
More resources would boost student performance
Lorain City Schools have a plan in place to improve education for the city’s children and young people.
However, school building leaders say they still have needs and could use community help to get better in the 2018-19 school year.
The Lorain Community Business Schools Partnership group met Oct. 17.
Lorain Schools CEO David Hardy Jr. explained The Big Board.
It is a new weekly spreadsheet that communicates the good and bad happening with academics, effort and behavior in the elementary schools, middle schools and high school.
The group focused on student attendance and how to get students and parents more excited about showing up on time.
Carol Winter, turnaround principal at Palm Elementary
“It makes a world of difference when (students) know somebody’s there.”
— Admiral King Elementary School Turnaround Principal Lori Witt
School, 2319 E. 34th St., said the school has a goal of 95 percent attendance.
To achieve that, the school dean of scholar and family engagement reaches out to families to offer help on getting students to school, Winter said.
“But the other piece are the fun incentives,” she said.
Classrooms with 100 percent attendance get daily shout-outs and students who have perfect attendance for two weeks get dress-down days, Winter said.
Participants agreed on the importance of peer influence for students showing up to school.
There also may be a difference in attendance incentives for high school students, many of whom can get to school on their own, and elementary students, who largely want to come to school but rely on their parents and guardians to get going in the morning.
The group spent much of the session discussing building level wish lists of items and ideas that could bolster student academics and family involvement with the schools.
The building leaders rotated among tables, spending five to 10 minutes explaining the needs to participating community and business leaders.
They brainstormed ideas about how to connect the schools with available resources going forward.
Winter brought a wish list with items ranging from uniforms to fire-code-compliant rugs for classrooms and activities for the lunch room at Palm Elementary.
At Hawthorne Elementary School, 610 W. 20th St., leaders are aiming to improve attendance and help students deal with trauma, said Paul Williams, dean of scholar and family engagement.
“What we mean by trauma is, we have some young scholars that are dealing with some very heavy issues,” with families and upbringing, Williams said.
“They may have seen or been exposed to some things that they really shouldn’t be exposed to at that tender age.”
The school has reached out to mental health agencies to help the students and families, but resources are limited while the needs are great, he said.
Admiral King Elementary School, 720 Washington Ave., students would benefit from time and mentoring with adults, said Turnaround Principal Lori Witt.
In her experience, Witt said academics, attendance and building culture grew when students had opportunities to meet with adults one-on-one or in small groups.
The meetings can be as little as 15 minutes, she said.
“It makes a world of difference when (students) know somebody’s there,” Witt said. “That’s what we need, just to get people to get in and love and hug.”
Garfield Elementary School, 200 W. 31st St., is struggling with attendance, said Turnaround Principal Megan Young.
It takes time to build relationships with the families of students, Young said.
But it appears some families with multiple children will keep all of them home, when just one child is sick or needs to stay home, she said.
“The kids want to be in school,” Young said. “They come into school every morning excited, even the ones that I notice with an attendance issue.
“When they are there, they want to be there. So, it’s more of a, trying to figure out a way to educate the families.”
Alexandra Ramsey, a paraprofessional at Stevan Dohanos Elementary School, 1625 E. 32nd St., had a four-page list of needs.
Some are simple, such as extra winter clothes for students who walk to school or participate in the school safety patrol, Ramsey said.
Students who don’t feel well can get transportation to the schools’ Mercy Health clinic, but regular presence of a nurse would help at Stevan Dohanos Elementary, she said.
English classes at the school also would help parents who primarily speak Spanish, Ramsey said.
“To have them come learn English could not only benefit their engagement with administration and with the teachers, right? It benefits the student,” Ramsey said.
But it also could benefit the parents “because now they could engage in something meaningful outside of the home and help Lorain,” she said.
The school officials also distributed a four-page list of survey results about needs at the other buildings.
The Community Business School Partnership meetings are open to the public.
They take place on the third Wednesday of the month in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center at Lorain High School, 2600 Ashland Ave.