Listen to this article
Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player...
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
- We start today with not one but two fantastic profiles of Metro Elementary here in Columbus. The first piece is in honor of The International Day of Women and Girls in STEM, observance of which took place last week, and includes interviews with several smart and sassy young ladies whose parents opted them in to the independent STEM school, which opened its elementary grade program for the first time this past fall. (Spectrum News 1, 2/15/26) Since my kids went to Metro High School, all 7 of my dedicated Gadfly Bites subscribers know I am a) loving any spotlight shone on the awesomeness of Ohio’s independent STEM schools, and b) especially appreciating these looks at the now-complete K-12 pipeline at Metro. Our second piece, along with highlighting ongoing junior awesomeness, also points out that Metro Elementary is planning to double up its enrollment next year. It is not mentioned where those hundreds of new students will materialize from, but they don’t really need to sleuth that out for our benefit, do they now? You know…don’t you? (NBC4 News, Columbus, 2/14/26)
- The main reason I’m clipping this story about how some northeast Ohio districts are working to reduce student absenteeism is because Jessica Poiner’s September 2025 blog post is used as a vital data baseline on the topic. But I encourage you to also read and compare the various approaches being tried/fingers being pointed and see if you can guess whether a district is a high-income/high-performing by the type of rhetoric their officials use. It’s a good—and highly educational—game. (Salem News, 2/17/26)
Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.
