New School Will Be Grindstone Elementary We Need Your Input

November 2009/Volume 13 We Need Your Input! New School will be Grindstone Elementary In March of 2008, the Long-Range Facility Master Plan was presented to the Board of Education and accepted. This plan represented the work of some 30 committee members – staff, parents, and community – under the guidance of professional facility planners from DeJong Inc. The Long- Range Plan was designed to address the issue of declining enrollment in the Berea City School District (7% over the past 10 years), along with concerns about our aging facilities and the educational needs of today’s students. The plan provided the district with a “road map for the future.” Phase One of the plan, which called for the consolidation of elementary schools in the City of Berea, is currently being implemented. Fairwood Elementary School was permanently closed at the end of the school year and has been demolished. The site is now being prepared, and construction of a new, energy-efficient 850-student elementary school will begin by the end of the year. Groundbreaking ceremonies for Grindstone Elementary School took Phase Two of the plan called for a change in grade place on September 21. Participating in the ceremony were (from left) configuration at the secondary level, with one Intermediate Senior Project Manager for GPD Associates architects, Rodwell King; School (grades 5 and 6), one Middle School (grades 7 and 8), Board member Gale Patten; Vice President of Operations for The Albert and the consolidation of Berea and Midpark High Schools. M. Higley Company construction managers, Wes Hansen; Board member Robert Drake; Board Vice President, Dave Thurau; Board President, Dave A new high school is to be constructed on a new site. Pusti; and Board member Fred Szabo. It is now time for our communities to discuss Phase Two and come to a decision on how, when, and where this phase of the Long-Range Plan should be implemented. The Even before the first footer is poured for the foundation, the new Berea City School District will hold two identical Input elementary school in Berea has a name: Grindstone Elementary Sessions for residents to share their thoughts. Please plan School. to attend one of these sessions and help the district develop The name “Grindstone Elementary” will serve to connect a time line for Phase Two of the Long-Range Facility Plan. the new elementary school with the heritage and traditions of Berea, while using the imagery of a grindstone to inspire students to build a foundation for future success. The original Berea grindstones were used to sharpen tools Community Input Sessions for farm, home, and industry. Our schools today must also help students to identify, develop, and sharpen their own “tools” for Where: Polaris Career Center success in the 21st Century. 7285 Old Oak Blvd. Our mission as a school district is to help students achieve Middleburg Heights dreams they never imagined possible. We accomplish this mission by teaching, guiding, and helping students to develop their own When: Monday, November 30 - 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. “toolboxes” of skills, abilities, and knowledge. We also must or inspire them to continue to sharpen, refine, and expand their Monday, December 7 - 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. toolboxes throughout their lives – thus equipping themselves to achieve dreams they never imagined possible. The 38th Annual Midpark Band Spectacular Midpark Students Selected to Perform at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame “The Pride of Berea” Marching Band participated The 38th Annual Midpark Band Spectacular Congratulations to Midpark students Will Brewer in the recent Midpark Band Spectacular, along was held at Finnie Stadium on October 15. This (left) and Eric Moss for winning second place in with bands from Baldwin-Wallace, North annual event, featuring the Midpark Marching Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, Rocky River, Westlake, Band, is a major fundraiser, as well as a much- the Pause to Click Competition. Will and Eric and Willoughby South. anticipated crowd pleaser. were one of five groups selected from hundreds of contestants to perform their song at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in June. Their prize included the chance to record a commercial and their original seat belt song, "Pause to Click It," at a professional recording studio. The commercial has aired many times this summer on 96.5 Kiss FM. The students, who now attend Midpark, were proudly supported by the staff at Ford Middle School, who had encouraged Eric and Will to participate in the competition and also went down to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in person to show their support and pride in their accomplishment. Partnering with Berea City Schools in education and the arts. An Evening with Randy Sabien Midpark 9th-grader, Nathanial Lattimer, Roehm 8th-grader, Charlie improvises with Randy Sabien. Randy Sabien and the combined high school orchestra Dobbs, was a featured soloist. perform at Ford Middle School. On October 21 at Ford Middle School, the Berea-Midpark Orchestras and the Ford-Roehm 7th & 8th Grade Orchestras presented a special program, "An Evening with Randy Sabien, Jazz Violinist." Randy Sabien is the founder of the jazz string program at the Berklee College of Music, a frequent soloist with symphony orchestras across the United States, and co-author of "Jazz Philharmonic," a series of books to teach jazz to school orchestra students. This program was supported through grants from Runzheimer International, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundations, and the 2 Nordson Corporation. The 38th Annual Midpark Band Spectacular was held on October 15 at B-W's Finnie Stadium. Besides the entertaining Midpark Meteor Marching Band, other bands included Baldwin-Wallace College, and high school bands from Berea, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, Rocky River, Westlake, and Willoughby South. Four District Students Recognized as District Students Chosen for National Merit Commended Scholars City Club Youth Forum Rocco Settonni Chelsea Schwarten Bryan Ciccarello Louis Keung Midpark student, Bryan Ciccarello, and Berea High student, Louis Keung, were chosen to participate in the City Club of Cleveland's Youth Forum for 2009-2010. Since 1997, the City Club Youth Forum Series has provided an opportunity for high school students from Northeast Ohio to develop leadership and organizational skills, to be motivated to become advocates for change, to explore the meaning of free speech in a democratic society, and to become better informed about local, national, and international issues that affect their lives. Jacob Patrick Nicholas Williams The City Club Youth Forum members meet monthly at the City Club. Students are encouraged to read the daily newspaper, listen to news analysts on TV and radio, and The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recognized participate in the decision-making process to select topics two Midpark students, Rocco Settonni and Chelsea Schwarten, and well-known speakers in the field of their choice. Once and two Berea High students, Jacob Patrick and Nicholas confirmed, the student secures the speaker's biography and Williams, as Commended Students in the 2010 National photograph and begins to prepare introductory remarks to be Merit Scholarship Program. These four students placed delivered from the podium on the day of the Forum. Youth among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students Forums are unique in that they are planned by high school who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 students for high school students. Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. 2009 Graduates Earn CollegeBoard AP Scholar Awards Congratulations to the twenty-one Berea City School District 2009 graduates who earned CollegeBoard AP (Advanced Placement) Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams. The CollegeBoard’s Advanced Placement program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP exams. Only about 18 percent of the nearly 1.7 million students worldwide who took the AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award. The Berea City School District is honored to be recognized as having had twenty-one such distinguished students among the graduates of the Class of 2009. Midpark High School graduates Kyle Albert, Sara Barscheski, Rebecca Derryberry, Kathyrn Fink, Ryan Geiger, Ross Lancaster, Lynette Neldon, Kristen Novak, Harraman Singh, Valeriy Trubachev, and Joseph Wolf, as well as Berea High School graduates Scott Campbell and Anthony Certo, qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three of more of the AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. Berea High School graduate Chad Flannick, along with Midpark High School graduates Nicole Futoran, Priya Mehta, Kristen Spadin, and Joy Viceroy, earned the AP Scholar with Honor by earning an average of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. Midpark High School graduates Aimee Klingbeil and Tabetha Ratliff, along with Berea High School graduate Michael Schnurr, attained the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. 3 Midpark Athletic Hall of Fame Inductions Midpark Students Display Art at Columbus Conference Anna Richard Abby Richard This fall, Midpark High School inducted seven new members Midpark students Anna and Abby Richard had their art in the Midpark Athletic Hall of Fame. The inductees were work selected to be displayed at the Ohio Association of honored guests at the October 2 football game vs. Avon Lake Gifted Children's annual fall conference in Columbus. Anna's High School.

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