Kings Treasurer Mike Morrow updated the Kings Board of Education on the Five-Year Financial Forecast at the May 9 Board Work Session. The Five-Year Forecast outlines expected revenues and expenses for this school year and the following four years.

District finances have greatly improved since the community supported the operating levy in November 2022. However, the district still faces financial challenges due to inadequate state funding and rising costs. A few highlights from the forecast presentation include:

• District spending per student is lower than the state average while performance rankings show Kings is in the top 7% of schools in Ohio.
• The district cash balance remains low. 93% of school districts in Ohio have more cash when compared to spending.
• Little revenue growth and rising costs include personnel-based costs, contracted services such as transportation, and inflationary pressure.

Treasurer Mike Morrow and Superintendent Greg Sears are committed to being fiscally responsible and advocating for additional state funding. They have held community forums and are working collaboratively on long-range financial planning and state funding advocacy.

The entire presentation can be found here.

Six-hundred students at J.F. Burns Elementary School have been participating in a project to help deepen their understanding of refugees living around the globe through art. JFB Art teacher, Laura Acierno brought the Student Rebuild 2023 Welcoming Refugees Project to the students so they could join other students from around the world on an adventure of learning, empathy, and art.

The students were challenged to create postcards that will be sent to young refugees around the world. The project, sponsored by the Bezos Family Foundation is donating $5 to refugee-aid organizations for every postcard created. Acierno said she challenged the students to recognize how valuable they are by creating as many postcards to try to raise a lot of money for the organizations. She said, "One drawing, one person can make a difference."

She said this creativity service project has really taken off with the students. This lesson has also been one on unity. As a group, they initially made almost 300 postcards in five days. A group of six third graders from Miss Bersani's class have taken a great interest in the project. Kensley Cione, Eve Malavich, Abby Salerno, AJ Caudell, Evan Sander, and Finn Kirby have taken over a leadership role in encouraging other students to participate and raise more money.

Currently, there are 2,630 teams participating across the globe. As part of the project, each school that participates gets its own webpage to follow its fundraising progress. Each day, the students are eager for Mrs. Acierno to pull up ART@JFB to see how much money they have raised. Their initial goal was to raise $2,500. To date, the students have created 802 postcards raising $6,535 and making them the top fundraiser in the entire state of Ohio! Through the month of May, each postcard is worth $10, so the students have been working hard to get the extra bonus.

The challenge is open through June 20, 2023. We can wait to see their final tally!

Pictured below are Finn Kirby, Abby Salerno, AJ Caudell, Kensley Cione, Eve Malavich, Evan Sander, and JFB Art teacher, Laura Acierno.

Nine student-athletes from the Kings Athletics programs made their official commitments to universities at the Kings Athletic Department’s Spring Signing Day on Wednesday, May 10 at Kings High School. 

Families, coaches, teachers, administrators, and teammates attended the signing event to witness these student-athletes sign their letters of intent. Not only were these students great in their respective sports but they excelled in the classroom as well. Below is the list of athletes, sports, and schools they are attending.

The following athletes join the twelve other King athletes who previously signed earlier in the year. The following nine athletes represent seven sports and include all collegiate divisions.

Madi Barnett - Wittenberg - Basketball 

Amandine Binet - Ashland University - CC & Track 

Brayden Cheeseman - Heidelberg - Baseball

Rylee Eads - EKU - Cheerleading

Will Kocher - Univ of Cincinnati - Football 

Lukas McIntyre-Quinn - Transylvania University - Swim

Michael Mussari - Univ of Cincinnati - Football  

Jack Nurre - Wilmington - Basketball      

Jack Smith - Marshall - Baseball 

Previously signed athletes:

Michael Braxton - Cedarville University - Track  

Jake Cameron - Wagner University - Football   

Ainsley Herron - Georgetown College - Softball 

Nick Hoying - Bucknell University - Football 

Jake Murphy - University of Louisville - Baseball 

Cody Powell - Tiffin University - Football

Evan Reppeto - Ohio Dominican University - Soccer

Abby Rawlings – Otterbein University - Basketball 

Melanie Schweikert – Ohio University - Swimming

Avery Tumler – Gannon University - Acrobatics & Tumbling

Joseph Tungate - Tiffin University - Football

Riley Wells – Houston Christian University - Basketball

Congratulations and best wishes for a successful athletic career!

On Thursday, May 11, the 4th grade combined choirs from J.F. Burns Elementary, Kings Mills Elementary, and South Lebanon Elementary held their Spring concert in the Kings High School Auditorium.

Seventy-five students from the three elementary schools have been preparing for the concert for months. It was a rousing success and the three elementary music teachers, Mr. Jenkins, Mrs. Maegly, and Ms. Sherby want to congratulate them on a job well done!

The Kings Education Association held their annual banquet last week. Two educators were nominated and selected as recipients of the 2023 awards.

Congratulations to Emily Roewer and Morgan Kaufman who were selected as Advocate of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively.

• Emily is the Muli-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Coordinator at J.F. Burns Elementary. Here are some of the things that were said about Emily - Emily advocates for students Every DAY! She studies the data, consults with class teachers, support staff, and intervention teachers to provide the best services to help meet student needs. Considering the social/emotional needs of the students is also a priority. Looking at a problem and working through solutions is a strength of hers and thus the whole picture is always considered. Emily gets to know the students not only by talking with involved teachers but also by interacting with the students so the needed educational/ emotional services can be offered. Students are always treated with respect and they are always encouraged.
• Morgan teaches Spanish at Kings High School. The following is what was said about her - Morgan has immersed herself in our department, our building, our district, and our students from day one! She deserves to be recognized for all of the efforts she puts in above and beyond just her amazing classroom instruction! Outside of her impressive commitment to our Spanish department, she has fully embraced our school and our values. She has filled out an extraordinary number of culture callout forms to recognize her colleagues around the building and lift them up with positivity. She has embraced our culture blueprint entirely. She makes an effort to attend kids' sporting events, including a swimming invitational which lasted for hours!! She isn't afraid to advocate for a student in need, reaching out to counselors, fellow teachers, and parents in order to try and help that student.

The mission of KEA is to advocate for teachers, students, and the education profession. KEA President Sam Mizener said, "We are so lucky to have both Emily and Morgan to propel our district forward with an emphasis on student well-being and student achievement!"

Congratulations to the Singing Class of 2023!

Pictured L-R: KHS Choral Director, Scott Hayward, Cora Dwyer, Joedy Burnside, Luke Royer, Kiersten Etmans, Emily Lynch, Sophia Canino, Sophie Horn, Cooper Lawson, Gavin Turner, Brayden Adams, Reagan Milthaler, KHS Choral Director, Hope Milthaler, Sammy Patterson, Bell Cantrall, Sydney Meacham, and Sherry Patrick.

This year's National School Choral Award/Chuck Mason Scholarship Recipients are Emily Lynch and Sophia Canino.

This year's Fred Waring Director’s Award for Chorus/Jared Adamson Scholarship Recipients are Reagan Milthaler and Sammy Patterson.

All award recipients are selected via blind vote by the Kings Choir Family.

Pictured below L-R: Hope Milthaler, Kings Choral Director and Music Teacher, Emily Lynch, Sophia Canino, Doug Leist, KHS Principal, Reagan Milthaler, Sammy Patterson, and Scott Hayward, KHS Choral Director and Music Teacher.

Kings High School's The Knight Times is a student-generated, online newspaper for the students, faculty, and Kings community.

We like to highlight the hard work of the Knight Times Staff. Several newly published articles feature graduating seniors and much more.

Take a look!

Congratulations to the 334 Kings High School students who are being recognized by the United Nations Association of the USA, ServeOhio, and InnerView in the 6th Annual Community Service Awards.

These students are recognized for community service as National & State Award earners and as inspirations for other students to get involved in their community. These service awards connect student service activity and impact to the UN Global Goals. This year there was additional recognition from ServeOhio and students working toward a world of Zero Hunger and Zero Waste.

Students from Kings High School delivered the most impact for SDG 3-Good Health & Well-Being. With a collective impact of 20,853 community service hours this school year, Kings High School earned the Ruby Award. Overall, 645 unique awards were earned.

• 262 UNA-USA National Community Service Awards
• 27 Zero Hunger Awards
• 21 Zero Hunger Awards
• 334 ServeOhio Community Impact Award

 "What a fabulous group to lift up; these purposeful students are taking action to create a better tomorrow for their communities and the world,” says Kristine Sturgeon, CEO of InnerView Technologies. “High school students have a strong perspective on the most challenging issues and needs facing our communities. They have given us hope as we see a measured increase in breadth and depth of volunteerism by these local leaders and global citizens.”  

The three-tier award program recognizes a range of student achievement; Merit for 25 hours, Honor for 40 hours, and ambassador for 100 hours of service this school year. Special recognition was given for a focus on Zero Hunger and Zero Waste. ServeOhio is recognizing students with at least 20 hours invested in community service. This year, three KHS students received the Ambassador Award. Congratulations to Sydney Coyan, Alyssa Kim, and Mail Robinson.

Click here for a list of all of the winners from KHS.

The most convenient option is to visit our new Kings Online Spiritwear Store provided by our partner ROKKITWEAR. They are a local company that offers Kings Organizations profits for the spiritwear sold. They offer quality garments and accessories.

To place an order, visit the online store and click the school/organization that you would like to support. Once you select the item you prefer you will have the option to choose from a menu of customized Kings designs. If you have kids in multiple buildings and would like to spread out your purchase to allow for profit, you have the option to give credit to more than one within the same order. Meaning, you can check out once knowing your proceeds will still return to the building/organization of your choice. All items will be printed and sent out within 5 business days! You can also personalize any item in the store!

Please be sure to pick up your student's medications from our school clinics by the last day of school!

Last day of school for students is

Thursday, May 25!

The Kings Art and Kindness Club along with the KHS National Art Honor Society are hosting the Kings Summer Art Camp. This year's Art Camp entitled, "Beyond the Page" is inspired by some favorite childhood stories.

The camp welcomes children in grades 1-8. It will take place June 5-8 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Kings High School Cafeteria. Cost is $80 and the proceeds will be used to support next year's FREE Community Art events. There are a limited number of scholarships available.

Click here for more information and registration.

If you are interested in registering your 3-5-year-old child in preschool, Kings Early Childhood Center is now registering for the 2023-2024 school year. Classes are taught by certified general education and early childhood intervention specialist teachers. Click here for more information.

For additional information contact Sherri Cain at 513-398-8050, ext. 10042.

Board Members

Kings Board of Education (L-R): John Skerl, Board Member; Janelle Groff, Board Member; Peggy Phillips, Vice-President; Deb Cowan, Board Member; and Stacie Belfrom, President.

The Kings Board of Education will meet on Tuesday, May 16, at 6:00 p.m. for their Regular Monthly Meeting in Conference Room 2 of the Kings Education Center. 

The Board of Education meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month for a Work Session at 5:30 p.m. and the 3rd Tuesday of every month for a Regular Meeting at 6:00 p.m.

Visit the Board of Education page on our website for meeting dates, meeting recordings, and agendas.

All meetings are live-streamed on the Kings Youtube channel.

In an effort to be "green," the District does not send paper flyers home. We use a platform called Peachjar that houses flyers of community programs and resources. 

Parents receive approved flyers via email, and they are posted on our digital flyerboard for easy retrieval. Any organization can distribute information to our community by creating an account!

It's that time of year again to start thinking about your child's summer activities! Kings Athletics has many options for athletic camps for students.Check out this year's Summer Camp Schedule.

Online registration opens on April 15

If you have any questions, contact Kings Assistant Athletic Director, Jen List at jlist@kingslocal.net.