MENTOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS QUALITY PROFILE 2013-14

A successful school district places a high degree of importance on ensuring that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential inside and outside of the classroom. This profile helps characterize the overall educational value of your school district in areas that matter most in our community.

Mentor Public Schools • 6451 Center Street • Mentor, 44060 2 MENTOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS QUALITY PROFILE

ACADEMICS

Our district’s academic program provides opportunities for all students to reach their full potential.

. 96% of respondents to the Quality Profile Survey believe Mentor Schools provides a high quality education for its students. . 2013 SAT: Math 560; Reading 530; 510 Writing . 2013 ACT: Composite 23.3; English 22.2; Reading 23.5; Math 23.7; Science 23.3 . ACT Perfect Score – One Mentor High School student earned the perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT. (Less than one-tenth of one percent of students who take the ACT achieve the top composite score.) . Advanced Placement – Mentor High School offers 18 College Board Advanced Placement courses for students including: American Government; Biology; Calculus AB; Calculus BC; Chemistry; Computer Science; English; European History; Fine Arts; French; German; Macro Economics; Micro Economics; Physics; Psychology; Spanish; Statistics; and U.S. History. . 476 high school students took 590 AP exams during the 2013-2014 school year, and 394 of those AP exams resulted in a score of 3 or higher. . 112 members of the Class of 2014 graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors, meaning they maintained a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.8 or higher. . 41 members of the Class of 2014 graduated with a 4.0 or higher cumulative GPA. . 125 Mentor High School graduates earned an Honors Diploma in 2014. . Program of Studies – Mentor High School offers more than 200 courses for students; each of the three middle schools has more than 50 courses available for students. . 116 Mentor High School students are members of the National Honor Society. . More than 150 middle school students are members of the National Junior Honor Society. . National Merit Scholarship Program – Two Mentor High Schools students were named National Merit Finalists; one Mentor High School student was named a Commended Student. . Dual Credit – Two dual credit English courses are offered to Mentor High students in conjunction with Lakeland Community College. . PSEO – Students can take Post-Secondary Education Option courses to earn up to 35 college credits a year, while simultaneously earning high school credit. These students must maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA. . Career Tech - High school students can apply to take one of 24 Career Technical programs offered through the Lake Shore Compact. . Blended Learning – The district implemented a 1:1 blended learning program at Ridge Middle School for all seventh grade students in 2013-2014. This program is expanding to Shore and Memorial to include all eighth grade students in the district for 2014-2015. . Speech & Debate State Champion – A Mentor High School student earned a State Champion title in Oratorical Interpretation in the 2014 OHSSL State Tournament. . Mentor High School operates a planetarium and is able to offer astronomy classes to students.

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. CARES (Cardinal Autism Research and Education School)– Mentor Schools offers a state- of-the-art specialized school for students with autism. CARES is also able to provide services for out-of-district students. . League of Innovative Schools - Mentor Schools was accepted in the prestigious, nationwide League of Innovative Schools in March 2014. . Ohio Blended Learning Network (OBLN)- Mentor Public Schools is the lead district of the OBLN. . Mentor Schools’ superintendent serves as the chairperson of the Ohio Blended Learning Network. . #BestEdTech Awards – Mentor Schools received four #BestEdTech awards from the Ohio Educational Technology Conference, including: Best Use of Blended Learning; Ohio Trendsetter (for the Catalyst project); Ed Leader Innovator; and Teacher Innovator awards. . A Mentor Schools instructional technology coach completed Google Teacher Academy in 2014 and is now a Google Certified Teacher. . Two Mentor Schools staff members have been named to the National School Board Associations 20 to Watch Education Technology Leaders list. . The district’s Information Technology (IT) department manages several thousand devices for student and staff to use, including: 287 MacBooks; 1,992 iPads; 1,980 Chromebooks; and 2,500 desktop computers. . Shore Middle School was chosen as the one school in Ohio to receive a $10,000 grant from Code.org as part of the organization’s nationwide program. Students logged more than 54,000 minutes of computer science learning in one week during the program. . All four of Mentor Schools’ Science Olympiad teams qualified for the State Competition in 2013-2014. Mentor High School placed 3rd in the state among high school teams. Memorial Middle School placed 4th, Shore Middle School placed 9th, and Ridge Middle School placed 14th among middle school teams.

ARTS

Participation in performing and visual arts inspires students’ creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking skills. . Fighting Cardinal Marching Band – More the 200 students participate in the FCMB and regularly earn Superior, or “I”, ratings in competition. Bands are judged in the areas of Music, Marching, Visual Performance, Auxiliary, General Effect, and Percussion. . Elementary Art Show – Hundreds of people attend the annual Elementary Art Show hosted by the nine elementary schools showcasing work of elementary school students. . Mentor Theatre – Talented Mentor High School students perform a fall play and spring musical each year. The 2013-2014 shows were Amadeus and Crazy for You. . Students received five awards from the Mentor Rotary for their work in Amadeus and Crazy for You, including Best Musical. . Each of our middle schools runs a theatre or drama club program for students to participate in as well.

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. Both middle school and high school students have the opportunity to participate in one of Mentor Schools’ show choirs, such as Shoreline Signers or MHS Top 25. . The Mentor High School Concert Women’s Choir received a Superior “I” rating at the OMEA State Level Adjudicated 2014 Event. . The Mentor High School Concert Mixed Choir received a Superior “I” rating at the OMEA State Level Adjudicated 2014 Event. . Holiday Concerts – Mentor Schools offers more than a dozen holiday concerts free to the public in December each year the Mentor Fine Arts Center. . Mentor students earned first, second and fourth place honors from the 2014 Congressional Art Competition. The winning artwork is now displayed in Washington, D.C. . All elementary school students are enrolled in art and music classes. . All middle school students have the opportunity to take art and music classes through the Program of Studies. . 600 Mentor High School students took at least one art class during the 2013-2014 school year. . Mentor Schools was proud to host the Ohio Music Educators Association District VII Middle School/Junior High Honors Band Festival for the 2013-2014 school year.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AND ACTIVITIES

A well-rounded education includes a wide variety of opportunities. . Having a large number of students enrolled in the district (7,780) provides an opportunity to offer many extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs, for students of all ages. . Mentor High School’s athletic department runs 23 Varsity sports teams, 20 Junior Varsity teams, and eight freshman teams. . Each of the three middle schools has approximately 15 sports teams available for students. . At the high school level, students have 40 different clubs and activities available in which to participate. . At the middle school level, students have approximately 15 clubs and activities available in which to participate. . The high school has five specialized clubs and activities aimed at raising awareness surrounding mental health awareness and bullying issues. They are: CARDS (Caring And Respect Determine Success), PRIDE, GAHTAH (Give A Hand, Take A Hand), Friends of Rachel and Success is Cards.

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. PRIDE Club is the high school’s diversity club, where a message of acceptance and tolerance of others is shared. . GAHTAH Club aims to raise awareness of mental health issues. . Each of the middle schools also has a Friends of Rachel’s club for students to spread a message of kindness and compassion throughout the school and community. . Mentor High School students lead the Sparkle Cheerleaders program, also known as the Sparkles. Sparkles is an inclusion squad where students with special needs work with their typically-developing peers to root for the Cardinals at various events throughout the school year. . Students at all levels (elementary, middle and high school) have the opportunity to participate in student government through student council and other activities where officers are elected. . Student Ambassadors are chosen at the elementary and middle school level to set a positive example and work with peers to accomplish school goals. . 14 members of the 2014 graduating class chose to join the military after high school, including one going to the Air Force Academy and one going to West Point.

FISCAL STEWARDSHIP

Financial responsibility ensures that the majority of funding is spent on classroom instruction. . Perfect Audit – Mentor Public Schools earned its fourth consecutive Perfect Audit from the Ohio Auditor of State’s office for Fiscal Year 2013. . Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) – For the ninth consecutive year Mentor Schools earned a Certificate of Achievement from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for excellence in financial reporting based on the 2013 CAFR. . Straight A Fund – Mentor Schools, in conjunction with Kirtland Schools, was awarded a $13.8 Million grant from the State of Ohio to advance innovative instructional practices. . Through aggressive fiscal management by the Mentor Board of Education, the emergency levy passed in 2004 by our community has been extended to fund 12 years of budgets rather than four as originally projected. . The May Update to the Five Year Forecast projects a balanced budget through the 2015-2016 school year. . The Business Operations department operates under a five year Permanent Improvement (PI) plan to maximize the capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of our resources and facilities. . The district owns a total of 17 buildings that are valued at more than $212.7 Million, including both the largest indoor and outdoor facilities available for community use in Lake County. . The Board of Education, Chief Financial Officer and Superintendent aggressively pursue non-tax revenue sources including: private grants, selling business and operations services, cell phone towers, facility rentals, a gas well, the CARES program, professional development services and more.

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PARENT & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Educational experiences are enhanced by partnerships between the school district and community.

 Military Commitment Ceremony – Mentor Schools joined the local VFW and American Legion posts to develop a program to honor Mentor High School seniors who plan to join the military after high school. In 2014, 14 seniors participated, committing to various branches of the military. One was accepted to the Air Force Academy and one was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point.  PTA Presidents- Each of the district’s buildings have extremely active PTA or PTSAs. Additionally, the presidents from each organization meet regularly with the superintendent to learn important information that can be shared with each school community.  Community Movie Night- New in the 2013-2014 school year, the district offered several events inviting the entire community to attend a movie showing on the big screen of our Fine Arts Center. One movie was geared specifically to reach senior citizens.  Feed Lake County- Each school building collects food items to donate to the annual Feed Lake County Food Drive, raising tens of thousands of pounds of food for those in need in our community.  United Way—Our superintendent and Chief Financial Officer serve on the Board for the United Way of Lake County and all of our buildings participate each year in the annual United Way fundraising drive.  All of our buildings participate in various other charitable causes from Relay to Life to Jump Rope for Heart among many others.  Business Advisory Council – The district works closely with volunteer members from the business community to look for ways to share expertise and better prepare our students for life after high school.  Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce- A district representative serves as a liaison to the MACC Board of Directors.  State of the Schools – Our superintendent delivers a State of the Schools presentation annually to the business community through the Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce’s January meeting.  Several of our elementary schools regularly take groups of students to neighboring nursing homes or assisted living facilities to visit with residents and create special projects.  High School students host a Valentine’s Day Dance at Heartland of Mentor each year, complete with crowning a king and queen of the event.  A typical graduating class from Mentor High School has completed more than 300,000 community service hours along their journey through school.

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STUDENT SERVICES

A variety of services provide options to ensure all students receive individualized instruction, enrichment and support.

. Students identified as economically disadvantaged – 29.64%

. Students with special needs – 11.65%

. Students identified as ESL – 1.5%

. Students identified as gifted – 7.1%

. Demographics: Asian 1.52% Black 2.12% Hispanic 1.69% Multiracial 2.87% Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander 0.04% White 91.72% Native American 0.04%

GENERAL INFORMATION

Mentor Public Schools is a suburban school district located in Lake County, Ohio. Our district provides excellent educational opportunities for more than 7,800 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the City of Mentor and the surrounding communities of Concord, Kirtland Hills, and Mentor-on-the-Lake. Mentor Public Schools operates nine elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school, and one state-of-the-art specialized school for students with autism.

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6451 Center Street Mentor, Ohio 44060 (440) 255-4444 www.mentorschools.net www.twitter.com/MentorSchools www.facebook.com/MentorPublicSchools Email: [email protected]

Superintendent: Matthew Miller Treasurer: Daniel L. Wilson

Supported by the Alliance for High Quality Education