Hello, and welcome to this edition of Cruiser Connections. Our goal is to keep our Cruiser community informed of the happenings, celebrations, and news of the school district, our students, staff, and schools. We’re excited to have you join us on this journey, and we look forward to your feedback.

It's hard to believe that slightly less than five weeks remain in the school year. I'm most excited about how we can once again host in-person events. While we all must stay vigilant and take reasonable precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the opportunity for our students, staff, and families to connect at typical end-of-the-school-year celebratory events and activities is such an exciting time.

Our schools are including upcoming events and activities in their newsletters and on their social media pages. When parents and families join in school-related activities, it sends an important message to children that we value them – and we value their education. I sincerely hope you can participate in as many of these activities as possible. There’s nothing better than seeing the expression on a child’s face when they see someone they love in the audience at one of their school events.

Thank you for your continued support of Groveport Madison Schools. You can’t know how much we truly appreciate your partnership and encouragement.

Our goal in using the new grading system is to fully communicate what the students are expected to know as set forth by the State of Ohio Learning Standards. We will still have traditional A, B, C, D, and F grades, and grade-point averages will still be calculated the same way we're doing presently. However, students and parents will no longer see points, percentages, and averages for assignments and grades. Final grades will be determined based on the most recent evidence of student learning. Grades will be assigned based on student demonstration of the success criteria.

The Alpha Grading System allows students to be more aware of their expected learning and progress through the State of Ohio Learning Standards. It will provide parents with a more detailed outline of their student's growth and achievement.

A detailed explanation of the new grading system will be emailed to parents in the coming weeks. While we recognize that with change comes challenges, this new approach to grading will benefit all stakeholders, including students, teachers, and parents/guardians.

Since March of 2020, the nation's schools have provided free meals to all students regardless of family income level and without families having to apply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that oversees the Federal School Lunch Program, covered the cost of breakfast and lunch for all students.

The USDA recently announced that they would discontinue the "universal free meals" program. Families will be required to once again apply for consideration to receive a free or reduced-price lunch for their children.

Groveport Madison Schools will continue to provide free breakfast for all students, but students’ families will need to complete an online application to receive free lunch next school year. The online applications will be available on the District’s website in early July.

SchoolCare is a new tool the District is implementing to improve communication between our school nurses and our students’ parents/guardians. The system communicates directly with parents to ensure they know all about their student’s healthcare at school. Parents will receive immediate alerts when their child visits the school nurse, when their child's medication is running low, or when immunization deadlines are approaching.

Parents will receive an email to register their students into the SchoolCare system in August. This is a one-time registration process and eliminates the need for parents/guardians to provide paper copies of District health forms.

With SchoolCare, student health records remain secure and strictly adhere to privacy protections under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). There is no cost to the District or parents for the service.

As part of Groveport Madison High School’s Construction Trades Pathway, Mr. Gibbs’s class of juniors and seniors has been building a playhouse for Pre-K students attending school at our Lil’ Cruiser Campus. Once finished, the playhouse will be relocated to its new home. We can hardly wait for the Pre-K students to see it!

The District's Code RRED (Race Relations, Equity, and Diversity) Committee will host a Call to Action Event on Thurs., May 5, from 6:30 - 7:30 PM at Groveport Madison H.S. This event is intended to kick off a conversation within the community around the topics of race relations, equity, and diversity, and how we as a school district and community can work together to create a greater appreciation and understanding of our differences, similarities, shared aspirations, and hopes. It will be hosted and moderated by former OSU basketball player and accomplished speaker Lawrence Funderburke.

Come join us and experience world cultures represented in Groveport Madison Schools! In partnership with the Code RRED Committee, the District's English Language Learners staff will host a Celebration of Cultures Night on Thurs., May 12, from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Groveport Madison H.S. Food trucks representing various cultures will be available beginning at 5:30 PM. Presentations from our English Language Learner students will begin at 6:00 PM, and free crafts and games will take place throughout the evening.

Click here for more information or to sign up to get updates on Code RRED events.

Rachel Owens (pictured on left), one of the District’s new technology coaches recently earned her commendation as a Google Certified Coach. To become certified by Google, teachers need to undergo an assessment and demonstration process. Rachel went through the Google Coaching Curriculum, completed a skills assessment, had previously obtained her Google Educator Level 1 and 2 certificates, and submitted a coaching portfolio and application.

The Certified Coach program empowers instructional coaches to work 1:1 with educators and drive impactful technology use in their schools. Coaches get access to research-backed strategies and tools -- so that new and veteran educators alike can transform instruction across every classroom. The resources that Rachel will have access to will directly benefit other teachers in the District.

Nearly 400 Groveport Madison H.S. students are expected to graduate on Fri., May 27, beginning at 6:00 PM. This year’s graduation ceremony will be held in the auditorium of World Harvest Church, 4595 Gender Rd., Canal Winchester. Each graduate will be permitted eight tickets to give out to their family and/or friends. Information on obtaining tickets and other graduation-related news will be available soon at https://www.gocruisers.org/Classof2022.aspx.

Because of the disruptions COVID-19 has caused over the past two years, some students are behind where they need to be right now. That’s why we are once again offering our Cruiser Connect Summer Experience for the summer of 2022.

The elementary and middle school programs will focus on Reading, Mathematics, and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. The high school program will focus on small group intervention and credit recovery.

This isn't the typical summer school of years past, and students won't be working on their computers. They'll be working in small groups, face-to-face with a teacher and their classmates. We've worked hard to make sure that it will be interactive and fun because we know kids need something different from what they've been doing for the past year.

The program will run from June 15 through July 15, from 8:30 to 11:30 AM. Free breakfast and lunch will be provided. The program is open to students who are determined to need extra support. Parents will be contacted directly by their school or the District.

If you have friends or family members who plan to enroll their child in Groveport Madison Schools for the coming school year, please encourage them to register as soon as possible. Many of the District's schools are nearing full capacity, so by enrolling early, families stand the best chance of their child being assigned to their neighborhood school. As schools or specific grade levels become full, it will be necessary to overflow students to other schools where space may exist.

The added benefit to early enrollment is that we'll have parents' contact information to keep them informed of any updates or changes throughout the summer. They'll also have the assurance of knowing that everything is ready for their child's first day of school.

Shortly after schools dismiss for the summer break, roofing contractors will arrive at Dunloe ES, Glendening ES, and Middle School North to completely replace the buildings' roofs. Each roof is several years old and has required multiple patches and repairs. The District will use approximately $1.7 million from federal stimulus funds (ESSER Funds) to cover the roof replacement costs. Assuming there are no supply-chain delays, the work is expected to conclude before the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

A complete list of projects to be paid for with ESSER funds is available at https://www.gocruisers.org/ESSERFederalStimulusFunds.aspx.

More than 1,000 people attended the March 24th State of the Schools Celebration and District Art Show. The event included presentations by Superintendent Garilee Ogden and District Treasurer Felicia Drummey; student performances, displays from our schools, departments, and local community partners; and refreshments prepared and served by the students from Eastland Fairfield Career Center’s culinary arts program. You can check out a video montage of the event on the District’s YouTube Channel.

To coincide with our State of the Schools Celebration, the District’s 2021 Annual Report was mailed to all residents the last week of March. If you didn't get your copy or want to share the information with someone else, the report is available on our GoCruisers website at https://www.gocruisers.org/ODEProfile.aspx. 

We know that great news occurs every day. We invite you to share positive news items with us via our social media outlets as well. News and information can be shared via personal messaging on Facebook (GroveportMadisonSchools). You may also email us at gm.communications@gocruisers.org, or call us at (614) 492-2520.

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