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Are you ready for some football?

By Megan Gildow | Friday, August 22, 2008, 11:42 PM

Although Tecumseh kicked off the pigskin season last night, other schools had their first game tonight.

A couple of the games were pretty big deals, even though we aren’t in district play yet. Northeastern and Kenton Ridge played one another tonight (forgive me if I’m missing something here and they are always be the first game for one another). And we have the first game in decades for the Springfield High School Wildcats.

My colleague Brian Plasters wrote an interesting opinion piece today on the high school merger here in Springfield. He proposed that the real success tonight wouldn’t be counted by points but by people — how many showed up to support the new combined team.

Did anyone go? What was the crowd like tonight? The game was in Hamilton (Springfield lost) which is a pretty good drive and with gas so expensive and it being so far, it wouldn’t suprise me if only a few made the trek.

So, can anythng tell us: Just how many of our rowdy friends showed up tonight?

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November ballot light on education issues, candidates

By Megan Gildow | Friday, August 22, 2008, 11:44 AM

Not much in the way of education issues on the November ballot but the state board races are heating up.

Northeastern will seek approval on a one-mill permanent improvement levy for a fifth time, my colleagues Bridgette Outten and Matt Sanctis. There’s also a renewal levy from Cedar Cliff schools, the Greene County district in Cedarville that apparently crosses into Clark County.

Here’s a list of Clark County issues and Champaign County issues.

But we do actually have a race — with more than one candidate and everything — in the state board of education elections this November. There are three people running for the District 10 seat that covers Clark County and two for the District I seat that covers Champaign County.

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New schools and safety

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 01:56 PM

One of the unquestionable benefits of new schools is that they are designed with our new standards for safety and security in mind.

When a lot of schools were built, safety and security wasn’t even close to what it is today. Doors used to be left unlocked during the day, school resource officers were just the D.A.R.E. officer who stopped by once a week and lockdown drills were non-existent.

Most districts have done what they can with old buildings to make them more secure: locking all doors except the main entrance, installing a buzz-in system and adding security cameras.

I’ve been in some buildings where there really is no good way to secure the building because of the way the school is designed.

Most new schools have the main office right by the entrance. Some even have the double lock vestibule that forces visitors to go through the main office to enter.

I’ve seen older buildings that have the office in a place where they can’t see who comes in the entrance, making security a big concern.

I saw what looked like a buzzer/intercom system at the main doors, which lead to the hall right by the main office. Spokeswoman Kim Fish told me that there are security cameras throughout the building. There will be two school resource officers.

There are also two bay entrance to the school that would allow emergency personnel to pull an ambulance up to those doors and be closer to certain areas of the large school then they would be at just the front entrance.

Another nice thing about new schools is that rooms for students with multiple disabilities are put in a particular location — usually close to the entrance and exit and on the ground floor.

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Bright lights, big school

By Megan Gildow | Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 04:30 PM

Education is almost constantly evolving.

I’m 24 and graduated from high school in 2002 and a lot has changed just in the six years that I have been out of school. Comparing kindergarten when I was in it in 1989-90 to kindergarten today isn’t even comparing apples to oranges. It’s more like apples to… astronaut ice cream.

A lot of the thinking and philosophies from when I was in school have completely shifted today. If you look at the history of education and the way things were when you were in school you will see a lot of that: ideas that have done a complete 180 over the years. Some have even done a 360: starting at one point, going to the complete opposite and then back to the original idea again.

One of the first ones I think of is inclusion for special education students.

Another one? Big vs. small schools.

Clark County has two districts that seem to be on opposite ends of the school size spectrum.

Springfield has just combined its two high schools to become one although the small schools concept is designed to give the school a more intimate feel.

And Northeastern has two high schools: Kenton Ridge has about 700 kids and Northeastern High School has about 500. Even if the district did combine schools it wouldn’t be terribly big. About 200 high schools in Ohio are larger than 1,200 students.

(NOTE: I know there are some rumors out there that Northeastern intends to go to one high school. The plan is to build two K-12 campuses, each with three school buildings. Northeastern is one of the largest school districts in terms of the land it covers in the state. One campus would make some things much more difficult, particularly transportation.)

So what’s better: Big or small schools? And why?

Let’s take a look at what the experts say and what some of the benefits of each are.

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Students get look at new high school tomorrow

By Megan Gildow | Monday, August 18, 2008, 08:43 PM

Students will get a look at some of the new Springfield High School tomorrow.

SHS will host a schedule pick-up tomorrow and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents and siblings can go too but you won’t be able to see all of the school. Just the main entrance and academic wings.

At the dedication Sept. 7 everyone will be able to see all of the school — finished and clean — for the first time. This event is for the entire community and I know the district would be pleased to see a large turnout.

I went over today with the district’s communications consultant Kim Fish and News-Sun photographer Bill Lackey. We saw a lot of the building and will have a gallery of the photos up in the very near future. I’ll post a blog when we do and I’ll be doing posts every day over the next couple weeks about some of the more interesting or unique aspects of the building that I saw.

Here’s some of my first impressions from today after the jump.

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Former superintendent’s right-hand woman resigns

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 12:49 PM

Mattie White, director of student services and retired superintendent Jean Harper’s right-hand woman, has resigned from her position with Springfield City Schools.

White is actually an employee of the Clark County Educational Services Center and works for Springfield through a contract between the city schools and the ESC. The ESC board voted of her resignation last night, said Springfield board President Donna Picklesimer.

Her resignation is effective Friday.

It’s unclear where White is going at this point. I had heard Dayton but it looks like that may be incorrect.

I’ll update when I know more. What do you think of this development?

UPDATE: White is going to Jefferson Twp. Local Schools, near Dayton. An employee there said White will be the principal at the 7th-12th grade Jefferson High School.

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Columbine: A Survivor’s Story

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 12:42 PM

Children are safest when they are at school.

A few of you are probably thinking right now “My child is safest with me.”

But it’s true — statistically speaking, kids really are safest at school. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Education, 14 school age children were murdered at school in the 2005-06 school year (the most recent data available).

In 2004-05, the most recent year available, more than 1,500 school age children were the victims of homicide. Less than one percent of those children were killed at school.

When tragedy strikes, communities, particularly parents, want to assure themselves that the schools their children attend are prepared. And since school shootings like the infamous 1999 one at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. schools are more prepared.

That’s one of the good things that has come out of the deaths of 12 Columbine students, one teacher and the two teenage gunmen on April 20, 1999, a Columbine survivor told Clark County residents yesterday.

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