Page 1 THE STANDARD IS EXCELLENCE HOME HE UMMER OF T The S S ROVER Rootstown 2018 Communicator Rootstown Local Schools • 4140 State Route 44 • Rootstown, Ohio 44272 • (330) 325-9911 News From Around the District Lowe’s Toolbox for Education By Emily Nyszczy Rootstown High School has received a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to start a robotics course and club. Students will start the course with an introduction to the engineering design process and robotics through inquiry based activities, engaging students from the start as they learn that most things around them have been made through the engineering design process. As they work through and apply this new set of vocabulary, students will be challenged to think creatively to solve application problems of their new found knowledge. Then, they will progress into learning 3D CAD software, a demanding yet rewarding process challenging their visual-spatial skills. This is followed by the instruction of mechanics needed so that they can develop and construct their robots. The final project consists of students designing and constructing a robot to accomplish a task set forth by the nationally recognized VEX robotics program. These robots will compete at a Parent Technology Night, where all students will be able to show off their hard work over the semester. We are so thankful for our opportunity to grow our technology program and help our students become 21st century learners. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @rovers_tech for updates over the course of the year! Superintendent’s Message As I reflect upon the 2017-18 school year, I am extremely proud of the progress that our students have made. The students have made some impressive accomplishments inside and outside of the classroom. I want to con- gratulate our students for their hard work, and I would like to thank the faculty and staff for their dedication to improving each student’s academic growth and for making a difference in their lives. Andrew Hawkins Also, I would like to thank the parents and community for your continued support of the Rootstown Local Superintendent School District. The Rootstown Board of Education has decided to place an issue on the November ballot to address our school facilities. As a result, Hasenstab Architects and Rockmill Financial have been selected to assist the Board and the community in determining the design and funding mechanics of this ballot issue. Please visit our district website at www.rootstown.sparcc.org to view the infor- mation presented at the previous community meetings as well as upcoming community meeting dates. Finally, I also would like to congratulate the Class of 2018 and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors, and wel- come our incoming Kindergarteners, the Class of 2031! If you have any questions regarding our school district, feel free to contact me. Have a great summer! ANDREW HAWKINS SUPERINTENDENT Page 2 News From the Treasurer’s Office Do you remember the electrical blackout in August 2003? On Sunday, August 17, a series of failures across the Midwest left 50 million people in eight states and Canada without electricity. In New York City, it knocked out power to cell phones, subways, and even Wall Street. While many problems caused a domino effect across the Northeast, one issue with a pow- er transmission line from the Hanna Substation is suspected as being part of the chain of events that led to the blackout. In response, there has been an effort to rebuild the aging electrical infrastructure in Ohio that contributed to the problem. Rootstown Public Utility Property Values Tax Year Public Utility Values Over the last five years, Rootstown has seen extraordinary growth in Public 2005 $ 10,219,960.00 Utility property valuation. In the last two years, valuation has increased by 2006 $ 9,873,850.00 95%. This is due to the American Transmission Systems Hanna-Shalersville Connie Baldwin 2007 $ 8,511,840.00 Transmission Line Replacement Project. You may have watched some of the Treasurer 2008 $ 8,560,640.00 upgrades to the high-tension power lines going in across town. In 2015, the 2009 $ 8,635,130.00 project added $5,353,190 in new construction, a 39.4% increase. In 2016, the project grew by 2010 $ 8,682,630.00 $7,548,450, another 40% increase. By 2017, total public utility valuation had more than doubled to $29,819,850. Public Utility Property is taxed at the full voted millage rate of 65.4 mills. (Unlike 2011 $ 8,938,330.00 Residential which is taxed only at the effective millage rate of 21.42 mills and Commercial, which 2012 $ 9,592,400.00 is taxed at the effective rate of 27.05 mills). Not only has the growth provided more electrical 2013 $ 10,593,010.00 dependability, the increased revenue to the school district has provided relief to the taxpayers from 2014 $ 13,589,280.00 asking for new operating funds. 2015 $ 18,947,670.00 2016 $ 26,496,120.00 2017 $ 29,819,850.00 CONNIE BALDWIN TREASURER Assistant Superintendent’s Message Terri Hrina-Treharn - Assistant Superintendent, (330)325-2014 Personalized Learning Cohort Throughout this school year I have been meeting with a group of teachers across the district to study personalized learning and see how we can start to make changes that would impact student learning. This is an approach to learning and instruction that is designed around individual readiness, strengths, needs and interests. Characteristics include such things as student voice and choice, student conferencing, and flexible learning spaces. Teachers have engaged in a variety of activities such as participating in professional development, doing walkthroughs in each other’s classrooms, trying new instructional strategies, giving feedback on lessons, self-re- flecting and incorporating technolo- Terri Hrina-Treharn gy and flexible seating just to name Assistant a few. The response from teachers Superintendent and students alike has been very positive. One teacher shared, “I never realized how much of an impact flexible seating could have on my classroom management and student collaboration. Daily, I have students ask if we would be able to use the flexible seats. I get students that I had previously come to my room and ask, ‘Why didn’t you do this when we were in here?’ or ‘I wish I was in your class this year.’” R-Stars!!! Hopefully you have seen our postings on social media or have been a parent lucky enough to get a phone call to hear your child has been chosen! This is a new incentive we did this school year. Once a month I stopped in a classroom in each building and asked the teacher if they had any “R-Stars.” The teacher let me know which student was chosen as the R-Star as well as why that student was chosen. Students then got their picture taken with the R-Star, received an R-Star t-shirt, chose a prize, and I called their parent/guardian right then and there to share the good news. Please check out our R-Stars for the second half of the year! Page 3 From the Office of Special Education Marcy Spence - Director of Special Education, (330)325-4144 Child Find It is hard to believe that the end of another school year is rapidly approaching! The special education department has had a busy and productive year identifying, intervening, guiding and supporting our families and students with disabilities. As we continue the process of planning for the fall, it is an important time of the year to remind our families and the Rootstown community at large of the district’s responsibility to identify, locate and evaluate all children who may have, or be suspected of having, a disability. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that assures children and youth with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). There are six guiding principles of IDEA, one of which, Zero Reject, addresses the Child Find issue. This tenant stipulates that a student must be determined to have a disability that is covered under the IDEA and, because of that disability, the child is in need of specially designed Marcy Spence instruction (special education) and related services. Child Find is the name given to the process required by the Ohio Depart- Director of Special ment of Education, Office for Exceptional Children, through which Ohio schools engage in this process – that is, we identify, Education locate and evaluate all children from three years of age through twenty-one with disabilities. Additionally, through the Child Find process, our schools work hand-in-hand with the state’s early intervention program, Bright Beginnings (formerly, Help Me Grow) to identify, locate and evaluate all children birth through their second birthday, who have or are suspected of having, a disability. The district’s responsibility extends to all children, including those who are in school, advancing from grade to grade, homeless, migrant, wards of the state or enrolled in a private school. Once the district has located and identified a child with a suspected disability, the district commences an extensive multi-factored evaluation process. In the state of Ohio, a child may be found disabled and eligible for special education and related services under one of fourteen catego- ries. These include: Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Emotional Disturbance, Multiple Disabilities, Deafness, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disabil- ity, Orthopedically Impaired, Other Health Impaired, Specific Learning Disability, Speech-Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visual Impairment (including Blindness) and one preschool disability category, Developmental Delay. Rootstown Local Schools takes its Child Find responsibility very seriously.