March 17, 2020
Dear Parents and Community,
Hopefully your students are engaged in the learning activities our staff is providing to them. This is a very confusing time for all of us, especially our children. Our youngest students are having a hard time understanding what is going on and our older students, especially our seniors, are struggling to comprehend and make sense of what this may mean to them. Please be patient with them during these times and understand their emotions may be out of the norm for them. As our principals stated in their emails to school families yesterday, it is important to help your child to establish a routine at home. Find a place that he or she can utilize consistently for school work. We all recognize that this type of learning cannot and will not replace a teacher facilitating learning in his or her classroom, nor collaboration between students, but we will all do our best to support our students during this time. Below you will find a parent tip to help you talk with your child about the COVID-19 virus.
I hope that you find this
monthly
newsletter informative and a good way to keep up to date on the happenings of our
schools
and the Board of Education.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 440-582-9030 or email me at
greg.gurka@northroyaltonsd.org.
Sincerely,
Greg Gurka
Superintendent
North Royalton City Schools
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Graph 1 compares our monthly operating receipts to the prior year actual for the first eight months of our fiscal year (July 2019 through June 2020). It further estimates our collection through our fiscal year end. You will notice two large collection points in our fiscal year. These two months are considerably higher due to real estate collection representing over 70% of our revenues.
Graph 2 compares our monthly operating expenditures to the prior year actual for the first
eight months of our fiscal year (July 2019 through June 2020). It further estimates our expenditures through our fiscal year end. You will notice a consistent expenditure pattern throughout our fiscal year due to salaries and wages evenly distributed throughout our fiscal year.
Graph 3 illustrates the current actual accumulative monthly operating revenues and expenditures for the first
eight months of our fiscal year (July 2019 through June 2020). It further estimates our accumulative revenues and expenditures through our fiscal year end. You will notice a gradual increase in both revenues and expenditures as we approach our fiscal year end where revenues and expenditures eventually meet.
Graph 4 illustrates our fiscal year to date operating expenditures by category for the first
eight months of our fiscal year (July 2019 through June 2020).
Salaries & Wages represent approximately 60%, Fringe Benefits 24%, Purchased Services 11%, Materials, Supplies & Textbooks 3%, Capital Outlay and Operational Fees 5%.
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LINKS to District Financials
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Click here for the North Royalton City Schools' five-year forecast.
Interested in reading more? District financial information such as our annual financial reports, forecasts, tax rates, etc., can be found by
clicking here.
Biagio Sidoti, Treasurer
North Royalton City Schools
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RECOGNITION AT BOARD MEETING
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At the March 9 North Royalton Board of Education regular meeting, Board members and administrators recognized various students and staff for their commitment to excellence, whether it be through academics, arts, athletics, community service or for exhibiting core values.
Lil' Bears Preschool
 The Lil' Bears Preschool utilizes typically-developing peers in its continuum of services for students with special needs. These peers receive an outstanding education in pre-academic preparation based on the state standards of development. They also are valuable assets in providing models in the classrooms of language and literacy development, motor development, physical well-being, cognitive and general knowledge development, approaches toward learning, and social and emotional development. "We are very proud of not only the growth that they receive, but the great job they do for our classrooms every day," said Preschool Director Mike McGinnis. Representing the preschool at the Board meeting were Jasmine Brawner, Callie Seneff and Andrew Singleton.
Royal View Elementary School
 Reggie Thomas, a fourth-grade student in Mariah Kleem's classroom was recognized not only for his outgoing personality, contagious enthusiasm and the constant smile on his face, but also because of his perseverance and the vast improvement he has shown over the years.
"Whenever I think of a happy-go-lucky kid, I immediately think of Reggie Thomas," said Kleem. "I always love 8:45 a.m. because I know Reggie will come running down the hall to give me my daily morning hug. Throughout this school year, he has jumped leaps and bounds to become successful in his school work. He is constantly working his hardest and always has a smile on his face. He truly deserves recognition for all of his efforts and enthusiasm. I'm so blessed to have Reggie in my first year of teaching; he is a true example of perseverance and integrity."
"Every week, we recognize students who live their lives by demonstrating Royal Pride. Royal Pride signifies someone who is respectful, responsible and an active learner," said Principal Kirk Pavelich. "When it comes to Royal Pride, I can't think of a better representative than this young man."
Albion Elementary School
 Albion Elementary School begins their day with classical music as a part of the Cleveland Orchestra's "Mindful Music Moments" program. Students Kelly Cohen, Lyla Cohen, Clay Taylor, Aryes Jovanovic, Eugene Fekete, Julia Pacheco, Katarina Gavric, Brooklynn and Ryland Tucker demonstrated mindful practices such as breathing, meditation and focus to prepare their bodies and minds for the academic day. "These students are great role models for their classmates and true ambassadors of 'The Bear Way,'" said Principal Vince Ketterer. "This program was designed to reduce stress and anxiety among the student population and help both students and faculty to begin their day with a period of calm." A musical selection, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, is played for one week after morning announcements with different mindfulness prompts or activities to complete each day while it plays.
Albion Elementary's PTA purchased the program and music teacher Alyssa Emery helped to get the program started.
Valley Vista Elementary School
 To celebrate "Music in our Schools Month," Valley Vista had a group of third-grade leaders provide a musical presentation on their ukuleles. They included: Mason Brandt, Kamryn Ennis, Emma Garnes, Erica Hakala, Madeline Werner, Gavin Short, Edrian Labadia, Lexi Nosal, Alex Kelley, Lilly Sopata, Zoe Amburn, Zane Spuzzillo, Dominic Cipriani, Clay Fyffe, Paige Blackledge and Evelyn Erdman.
These third-grade students have been playing the ukuleles since November. Students spend the first month learning about chord structure and the beginning chords, They learn proper finger positions and various strumming patterns during this time. In January, these skills are applied to a variety of songs and styles of music. The students play the ukuleles for approximately four months. "Five years ago, Kala Music in California donated 40 ukuleles to Valley Vista, however many students such as the ones here tonight, enjoy the instrument and have purchased their own ukulele," said Principal Jeff Hill. To finish the ukulele unit, students choose a song they have learned in class, or write their own. They create a video performing their selection then peer assess their classmates' work.
"Mrs. Burrows works not only with these wonderful students but our entire third grade on the ukuleles," said Hill. "The students thoroughly enjoy themselves and work hard to get better throughout the year. Their dedication, hard work and taking the initiative to do their best truly follows the Bear Way."
North Royalton Middle School
 The North Royalton Board of Education passed a proclamation recognizing March as the Month of the Young Adolescent (MOYA). The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) states that a key message for recognizing March as the MOYA is the realization that the education young adolescents experience during this formative period of life will, in large measure, determine the future for all citizens.
This We Believe
, the position paper published by AMLE, states that during these transitional years (10-15 years old) students change significantly - physically, intellectually, morally, psychologically and socially-emotionally, which is why education for young adolescents must be developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering and equitable.
North Royalton High School
 Habib Akouri, Alexandra Doehrmann, Colin Rush and Breanna Tamoga were recognized for representing some of the brightest, academically high-performing students at North Royalton High School. All four have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Organization. Doehrmann is a National Merit Commended Student. Tamoga, Rush and Akouri are National Merit Finalists.
Not only do they excel academically, but they all have been members of Key Club and many other clubs, played sports, and two of them were involved in the performing arts.
"These students and their parents have taken advantage of all that North Royalton City Schools have to offer and have been engaged, well-rounded, active learners along the way," said Principal Sean Osborne. "This has allowed them to be academically competitive not only locally, but with the top students in the country."
In addition to National Merit Recognition, two other achievements by two of these students were celebrated. Rush, in addition to having scored a perfect score on the ACT, was named as one of 4,500 candidates who were identified as a potential U.S. Presidential Scholar. In April, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars will select 161 seniors for this honor. If Colin is selected, he will have the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. in June and be awarded the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
Also, last week, the faculty of North Royalton High School selected Doehrmann as North Royalton High School's Class of 2020 representative to Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society. "Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 and each year we are given the opportunity to recognize one of our seniors with this honor," said Osborne. "Alexandra was selected based on her academics as well as her all-around quality as a top student and representative of North Royalton High School."
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Be sure to visit #NRInspireGreat as well as our
District Facebook page
for pictures and stories from all of our buildings.
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to read the District's Quality Profile.
to read the latest edition of the
The Bear Way
Click here
for the NR Board of Education meeting minutes and agendas.
Click here for meeting dates for 2020.
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MONTHLY NEWS from Cuyahoga Valley Career Center
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 Click here to read the latest edition of "News Flash," the monthly
newsletter of the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center featuring stories about stu
dents from North Royalton City Schools.
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