| |
Notes from the District
Our school year is up and running. We are excited about our new staff, students, and initiatives in our district.
Thanks to our community passing the bond issue, we began the process of selecting an architect and owner-agent to begin the planning process needed to move forward with the construction project. In cooperation with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, we have selected Garmann-Miller as our architectural firm and Hill International as our owner-agent. Below you can see the proposal that Garmann-Miller used in their presentation. We have also selected Warner Concepts as an educational planner to assist us in working with the community to gain feedback and perspective for what we want to see in our schools for the foreseeable future. This, coupled with exciting news from regarding the bond rating in the treasurer's section below, indicate that we are indeed moving in a positive direction.
In an effort to gain more community input, you will also see in a section below our desire to gain input on a slogan for the side of the building of our Early Learning Center and a draft calendar for the 2018-2019 school year.
We believe that SWL is moving in a positive direction. The current climate is one of continual change, but maintaining quality educational programming and facilities is always at the forefront of our actions.
Click HERE to see the proposal from Garmann Miller.
|
Report Card
Building for the present and future
Our State Report Card was recently released by the Ohio Department of Education. Click
HERE to see the full report card.
Once again the district received all A's for the Progress component which looks at the growth of students compared to the previous year. This includes an overall letter grade and sub group letter grades in Gifted, Students in the Lowest 20% in Achievement, and Students with Disabilities.
Our K-3 Literacy grade was a B which is an improvement from last year. This component shows the growth of our struggling readers from one year to the next.
Our Gap Closing grade was a D, however; this is a huge improvement from last year by a gain of 24 percentage points.
The Graduation Rating remained a B, Prepared for Success remained a D, and the overall Achievement Grade remained a C.
The district did receive an F in Indicators Met on the report card. However, as you have probably been reading in the paper, this seems to be a commonality among schools in Ohio and should not be viewed as an indicator to our success in this district.
Of the 16 components our overall district was graded on, we were the highest in the county tied with Granville in seven areas. In six areas, we were the second highest in the county falling right behind Granville. That places our district in the top 1 or 2 school districts in Licking County in 13 of the 16 components on the grade card.
Overall, there are lots of items to celebrate and many reasons to be proud of the accomplishments of our students and staff in the district. We should not let this one moment in time define us as we continue to work together to accomplish greatness in everything that we do.
|
Gifted Education
As a district, we are working to encourage students to have a growth mindset. Based on the work of Professor Carol Dweck, growth mindset research shows the beliefs children have about intelligence, effort, and struggle impact the choices they make about learning and how much they will learn. Here is a website to provide you more information about growth mindset and what you can do at home to foster a growth mindset in your child.
Gifted Update
All students in grades 1 - 8 have received or soon will receive their fall MAP scores for reading and math. To be identified as gifted, students need to score 95% or higher in reading and/or math. This data is used to identify and to determine services for our gifted students. The State of Ohio does not allow us to use state testing for identification or placement in gifted services because it measures grade level competencies and not above grade level abilities. Please review your child's progress. Ideally, your child should maintain their percentile each MAP test or raise it. If you have questions or concerns regarding your child's progress on MAP, please reach out to your child's teacher.
Families of Gifted Students Meeting (PACE): We will have our first families of gifted children information night on Wednesday, October 11th from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. in the Watkins Middle School band room. The meeting will discuss the following topics: gifted services placement, MAP tests, WEPs, and other topics. There will be time for individual questions and answers with our gifted staff after the meeting.
If you have any questions about gifted services, please contact Paula Ball, Coordinator of Gifted Services at
[email protected]
or 740-927-3941 Ext. 7011.
|
Treasurer Update
The Southwest Licking Local School District, aided by a recent bond rating upgrade from SPGlobal Ratings ("S&P"), has been able to issue its new school facilities bonds with more than $1 million of long-term savings.
On August 9, 2017, S&P upgraded the District's rating to "AA-" from "A+." An improved bond rating means lower interest rates for the District. As a result, the amount that District residents will be paying in bond millage for the new school facilities and its various renovations is less than originally planned. With the rating upgrade, improvements to the repayment schedule, and overall favorable interest rates on the bonds, the District expects to assess only 4.8 mills instead of 6.7 mills as expected with collection beginning in 2018.
In anticipation of the District's $78.365 million bond sale, school officials obtained ratings from S&P and, for the first time, Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's"). Due to the size of the transaction, the District and its municipal advisor, H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, determined that a second credit rating from Moody's would enhance the District's bonds' marketability and garner additional investor interest. Moody's assigned a rating of "Aa3" to the District, which is on par with S&P's rating.
Both rating agencies credited the District's diversified revenue stream, moderate debt burden, and growing tax base as reasons for the rating upgrade.
Also directly related to this bond upgrade is the fiscal administration of the District, led by Treasurer Richard D. Jones, Superintendent Robert Jennell, and the Board of Education. S&P acknowledged that the District's "budgetary performance has improved" over the last four years, "which has enabled it to build and maintain reserves at a very strong level . . . ."
Treasurer Jones attributes the recent and projected general fund surpluses to many cost savings measures the District has implemented since making material cuts in fiscal 2011, as well as receiving increased state aid amounts.
You can read below to see the actual ratings our district received from the two different agencies.
|
District Events and Announcements
What's happening at SWL?
We are soliciting feedback on our proposed
2018-2019 District Calendar. Please click on the following link: Click
HERE
Additionally, we would like feedback on a slogan or phrase to put on the side of the gym of the Early Learning Center that faces 310. Please submit your ideas by clicking the following link: Click
HERE
Thank you to all who have attended our district "Coffee Talks". Our next talk will be on October 25th at 10 a.m. and again at 6:00 p.m. at the Depot Street Coffeehouse in downtown Pataskala. We hope to see you there!
Important dates to know:
October 18th- Last day of the first grading period
October 19th- Teacher Work Day- NO SCHOOL
7:00 P.M.- SWL Board of Education Meeting
October 20th- COTA Day- NO SCHOOL
October 25th- Coffee Talk- 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
|
|
|
|
