- Both of these summer academics-and-fun combined camp programs sound great to me. This one in Girard is probably a bit more traditional… (Tribune Chronicle, 6/23/23) …while this one in Akron is at least as innovative as Shark Tank is. Some really creative and entrepreneurial young people up there, it seems. The only problem I see with both of them? They are already over and whatever benefits kids will get from them have already ceased accruing. Doesn’t anyone running schools realize that summer break is really really long? And is a huge opportunity for some buttoned-down learning? Not sure why I’m even asking—clearly no one is around to hear me. (Cleveland.com, 6/23/23)
- Looking ahead to next school year, Dayton City Schools is, for some reason, talking about restarting their “high school kids take public transit” plan that a) is entirely optional for them to even offer, b) has never seemed to work especially well for actually getting kids to school, and c) was the source of a huge and public row between district and RTA board and staff last spring. I feel like RTA was maybe a bit unfair to the kids at the time, but I sure don’t recall the impasse getting settled in the months since then. No idea why the elected school board and their staff think they can bridge the gap between now and August. Not to mention the fact that no portion of the district’s transpo plan for next year seems set in stone at all yet anyway. Perhaps they are waiting to see if the sweeping changes to student transportation proposed in the state budget come to fruition. Yeah. That’s probably it. (Dayton Daily News, 6/24/23)
- Here’s some far better news for next school year: Three more Catholic high schools in Columbus—Bishop Hartley, Bishop Ready, and St. Charles Preparatory School—will begin accepting the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship. How very awesome indeed! This is a lengthy piece and there’s a lot to learn from it, including the numbers of students on IEPs and scholarships throughout the diocese, and some really interesting details about the types of services being provided. There’s even a great interview with a family who has already benefitted from the scholarship and will now be able to continue it into high school. Seems like even more students with IEPs will be served in the future. A fantastic story! (Catholic Times Columbus, 6/26/23)
- We did not note it at the time because it seemed like a normal career move, but Columbus City Schools’ internal auditor announced her resignation back in November. Fast-forward to today and we are learning that there was way more to her decision than simply “moving on to the next adventure”. Seems like some folks in public education land really don’t like surveys. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/26/23)
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