All parents in the Cleveland Heights–University Heights City School District are now able to sign up for our student information system, the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
To make it even easier for parents and residents to stay informed, the CH-UH City School District has redesigned its website, www.chuh.org. The new design is more visually appealing, and it will improve communication with parents, students, staff and the community. It will launch Aug. 31, the first day of school.
CH-UH students will benefit
The U.S. Department of Education chose nine states—Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island—and the District of Columbia in the second round of a national grant competition.
AUGUST 3, 2010
We all remember how it felt to start high school. The anxiety about making friends and adjusting to a new environment, classes and teachers resonates for each of us. Parents also have some anxiety and lots of questions, which is why the Cleveland Heights High School Parent Connection Council (PCC) is hosting its New Parent Welcome at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14 at Heights High.
Cleveland Heights High School Tiger Touchdown Football Booster Club is holding a raffle to support the club. Each $20 ticket gives the donor a chance to win a three-year lease on a new Toyota from Motorcars Toyota, 2950 Mayfield Road. A cash option is available, tax and title are included and insurance is extended.
The winning ticket will be pulled at the first Heights High home basketball game on Dec. 3.
For more information, contact Katura Simmons at 216-326-3373.
On June 2, the Cleveland Heights High School Alumni Foundation awarded scholarships to 16 members of the Class of 2010 at Senior Awards in the auditorium at Heights High.
In mid-May, 15 Cleveland Heights-University Heights educators gathered at one of the district's seven elementary schools to observe and analyze one aspect of the practice of teaching in that school.
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District prides itself on being able to attract top talent to the schools here. The district welcomes the following principals to their new positions.
Joseph Nohra, Jr., PRIDE at Cleveland Heights High School
Joseph Nohra became an administrator seven years ago after eight years in the classroom. In his last position, he served as the principal for freshmen at Austintown Fitch High School, where he led a successful effort to improve preparation for students taking the Ohio Graduation Test. Before working at Austintown Fitch, Nohra was the athletic administrator, assistant athletic director, and principal at an alternative school. He has a degree in special education from Youngstown State University, a master’s degree in administration from Westminster, and is currently working on his doctorate at Youngstown State University. Nohra will replace Patrick McNichols.
JULY 6, 2010
Board Member Eric Coble was absent.
SPECIAL MEETING—JUNE 21, 2010
The special meeting’s topic was a continuation of policy review.
All board members were present.
Boulevard reading teacher Laura Preston probably looks forward to summer as much as her students. Most of them don’t realize that Preston and 45 other district teachers become students during the off-season, spending up to four weeks in all-day classes.
The Cleveland Heights Teachers Union has been running professional development courses for teachers since 2003. Local teachers are trained on a national level through the American Federation of Teachers using the Educational Research and Dissemination (ER&D) program. Jen Bennett, a reading teacher and Title I teacher leader for the district, is one of the coordinators of the program. In this role, she instructs teachers from around the country.
Proving their mettle as leaders in career training, two automotive programs at Cleveland Heights High School have received certification by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation and the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.
On May 27, a select group of Heights High student participated in a special assembly in the school auditorium. Their topic was water quality, specifically that in the Dugway Brook Watershed.
The assembly was the culmination of an unusual student-community collaboration. Participating students were from Janett Korb's 9th-grade honors biology class and Steve Warner’s and Samantha Greene's special education classes in science and English. Teaming up with Transition Coordinator Laura Stuart-Lilley, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the City of Cleveland Heights, students collected data about water quality in portions of Dugway Brook.
The brook is part of the Dugway Brook Watershed, a nine-square-mile basin. It flows through Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, East Cleveland, Cleveland and Bratenahl before emptying into Lake Erie. A section of the brook flows behind the Cumberland Pool.
Graduating senior Courtney Lovelace is the 2010 recipient of The Officer Jason D. West Memorial Scholarship. Lovelace received the award on June 2 at the Cleveland Heights High School Senior Recognition Awards program. She will attend the University of Minnesota in the fall.
The Officer Jason D. West Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2008 in memory of Officer West, a dedicated member of the Cleveland Heights Police Department who lost his life in the line of duty on May 26, 2007.
JUNE 1, 2010
All school board members were present.
SPECIAL MEETING—May 18, 2010
All board members were present.
As China’s role in world affairs continues to grow, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District is preparing students to work with, and compete against, their peers in other nations. Among its other initiatives and programs, the district is focusing on helping teachers and administrators gain insight into the Chinese educational system, so that they may better educate and prepare students.
In June a team of district administrators and teachers visited several cities in China to meet with Chinese educators, build relationships and immerse themselves in the Chinese educational system. The group included Roxboro Elementary School Principal Tara Grove, and Roxboro teachers Valerie Arnett, Monica Rogers, Sue Miracle, Amy Miracle, Debbie Hirsch, Jennifer Steiss, Betsy Neylon, Sheri Fried and Melissa Garcar. Also traveling with the group were Dr. Joseph Micheller, director of educational services, and Jeffrey Talbert, assistant superintendent.
Seventy-five Heights High students began their senior prom on June 4 at Judson Park retirement community, talking to senior citizens and sharing prom memories. The residents were waiting in a beautiful lobby area with a jazz keyboard player providing background music. The young adults and the mature adults enjoyed punch and hors d’oeuvres as they talked about this year’s prom and those of many years ago.
Judson volunteer and resident Ida AuWerter helped guide the students to several dining rooms for more conversation. She said, “The young people were beautiful–inside and out!” Judson resident Wilbur Nordstrom agreed with her, and added, “What a party! The kids came and talked with us, bringing back so many wonderful memories.”
The Northeast Region of the Ohio Art Education Association has voted Ida Bergson, art specialist at Canterbury Elementary School, Outstanding Art Teacher 2010.
Bergson received this award in recognition of her innovative use of technology and interdisciplinary programs in elementary art instruction, her work as a mentor to Case Western Reserve University’s art education graduate students, and the consistently high quality of the artwork produced by her students.
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education announced at its June 1 meeting the creation of a new ad hoc facilities committee that will review the district’s school buildings, their condition and usage, and the community’s current and future educational needs.
The Committee will begin its work with a review of a recent report by the Ohio School Facilities Commission. The OSFC report, released in April 2010, contains a comprehensive assessment of all of the district’s facilities, including these findings:
1) In terms of their ability to support our current education program, all of the buildings are considered, at best, borderline.
Cleveland Heights High School senior Lewis J. Pollis is a semifinalist in the Presidential Scholars Program. He is one of 560 semifinalists selected from around 3,000 students who qualified nationally on the basis of academic achievement, leadership, character, community involvement and school activities.
Pollis’s experience as a citizen-activist was just one of the attributes that led to his selection. During the 2008 presidential campaign, he was the editor of the Green Party’s presidential candidates newsletter. Pollis noted that "being that involved in the democratic process was a great experience."
Gray skies meant green for the black and gold, with over 500 people attending the Cleveland Heights High School Alumni Foundation’s 14th Scholarship Pancake Breakfast on April 18. Held in the cafeteria and social room at Heights High, attendees enjoyed all the pancakes they could eat, prepared by flapjack purveyor Chris Cakes, along with fresh fruit, sausages, orange juice, and coffee.
Volunteers from the Cleveland Heights–University Heights Public Library staffed the serving line, while Parent Ambassadors to Heights (PATH) gave guided tours through Heights High. Some alumni had not been back to Heights in 50 years, making the tours all the more special.Angelina Jackson, a 4th grader at Noble Elementary School, is performing a world-premiere composition by Katherine O’Connell, a duet titled “Pattern Pieces.” O’Connell is a member of the Cleveland Composer’s Guild.
Angelina began studying the violin at age five and currently studies with Cara Tweed at The Music Settlement. She has played in the Noble Orchestra since 2nd grade under the direction of Bob Adamson. Her experience with the Noble Orchestra provided a solid musical background, enabling her to also participate in The Cleveland Music School Settlement Junior Orchestra.
On Saturday, May 22, 7 p.m., Channel 5’s "Academic Challenge" program featured a team from Cleveland Heights High School competing against Bedford and Midview of Grafton. Freshmen Trevor Coble and Kyra Schoonover, and sophomore and captain Rayven Moss represented Heights High.
The actual competition and taping for the show occurred on April 18. This was the second year that Heights High had a team in the competition. "The team worked very hard to prepare for the competition, and I am extremely proud of the results," said Jim Miller, the team’s adviser.
The actual competition and taping for the show occurred on April 18. This is the second year that Heights High has had a team in the competition. "The team worked very hard to prepare for the competition, and I am extremely proud of the results," said Jim Miller, the team’s advisor.
On May 6, 10 new members were inducted into the Cleveland Heights High School’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. The 30th class of inductees represented outstanding achievement in the arts and sciences, medicine and law, education, public service and broadcast journalism.
Honored at this year’s induction ceremony were composer, performer, and teacher Daniel Abrams (’48); surgeon and educator Christopher Brandt, MD (’76); broadcast journalist and play-by-play announcer Eric J. Collins (’87); art history and Africana studies professor Lisa G. Collins, PhD (’85); Hubble scientist Rodger E. Doxsey, PhD (’65); board chairman for three financial companies and civic leader David H. Gunning, JD (’60); director of housing and community development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Lizbeth A. Heyer (’82); assistant U.S. attorney Michelle L. Heyer, JD (’80); public school educator and activist Marian Katz Magid (’53) and developer and general counsel David E. Weiss, JD (’79).
Francine Barnett, who established and ran Ruffing Montessori School’s physical and outdoor education department, will retire in June, having taught at the school for 33 years.
With a focus on teaching skills for a lifetime enjoyment of physical activities, Barnett developed a unique and encompassing program for students from 18 months of age through eighth grade.
Reaching Heights honored community volunteer Lita Gonzalez for her work with the PATH (Parent Ambassadors to Heights) program.
Gonzalez started the program in March 2003 to help familiarize new and prospective parents with Cleveland Heights High School. Each year since, PATH’s volunteers, who are parents of current Heights students, give tours of the high school when it is in session and answer prospective parent’s questions.
On Sunday, June 13, students and families of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District are invited to launch into a summer of reading at the Second Annual CH-UH Summer Blast Off.
The event will run from noon to 4 p.m. at Fairfax Elementary School. It is hosted by the CH-UH City School District and cosponsored by the CH-UH Council of PTAs, Heights Parent Center, Reaching Heights and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.
MARCH 16, 2010 – Special meeting on equity and access
All school board members present.
Lacrosse competition
The board approved the Cleveland Heights High School boys’ lacrosse competition and campus visits to College Park, MD on April 1-4, 2010.
MARCH 16, 2010
Special meeting on equity and access
APRIL 6, 2010
Black and Gold receives $3,000
Roxboro Middle School’s science team just keeps getting better. After qualifying as the fifth ranked team at the regional tournament in Akron on March 6, Roxboro’s intrepid team traveled to Columbus on Saturday, April 17, and competed with the 40 teams in the Science Olympiad State Tournament at Ohio State University.
Even though this was only the team's second year in the state competition, its ranking improved from last year’s 27th place overall to a phenomenal 16th place overall this year.
Heights High REAL School 11th grader Carlin Jackson was selected to attend the 34th Ohio Martin W. Essex School for the gifted one-week summer institute at Ohio State University, June 20-26. Fifty-four students from 46 school districts will participate.
The mission of the workshop is to bring together top students from Ohio to challenge them intellectually and broaden their vision of the future. The week-long camp opens with remarks by Ohio Attorney General, and Essex alumnus, Richard Cordray. The activities include career exploration and workshops that explore arts and religion, the judicial system, science, business, engineering, leadership and service.
As Ohio’s first licensed crisis nursery, Providence House in Cleveland offers emergency shelter to children (newborn through five years old) who are actively living in crisis.
Each year, Providence House awards a blue ribbon to organizations that have demonstrated a significant commitment to the agency's mission. This year, Oxford Elementary School is one of the winners of this prestigious award.
The board approved the following new high school courses: Pharmacy Career Tech, a two-year program with college credit; and, Digit Tech, which combines four existing half-credit courses.
When I walk down the hallways in my son's school, I always stop to examine the artwork adorning the walls. I see Japanese printmaking, Chinese jade sculptures, Egyptian watercolor resists, and Warholesque self-portraits. With every art project, the students not only experiment with new methods, they learn about the artist’s life or how a technique evolved.
In February, art teacher, Kelley Wachhaus, initiated a project with students that extends beyond the classroom. They created one-of-a-kind ceramic heart-shaped pins to sell to raise funds for the earthquake relief effort in Haiti. The effort was dubbed Hearts For Haiti. “I felt it was important for our students to know that they are part of a bigger picture," Wachhaus says. "I wanted to teach them that a little imagination and effort could make a big impact on Haitian lives.”
Take 30 strangers, half of them under 18 and the others over 60. Put them in a room and watch what happens. For everyone who participated in a student-led workshop on "Solving Your Cell Phone Problems," it was pure communication.
Fifteen Heights High students from the Mosaic Experience (one of the five small schools at Heights) presented the one-hour workshop to 15 senior citizens from the Cleveland Heights Senior Center. Each student was paired with a older adult, and together they worked out the problems the senior was having with his or her personal cell phone. The problems included how to brighten the display screen, how to take and save pictures, and how to save names and numbers in the memory.
Although Heights High orchestra director Dan Heim has yet to spend a full year in the district, he is already receiving accolades for his outstanding work with students. Heim received the 2009 New Teacher of the Year Award from the Ohio Association of String Teachers, presented in Cincinnati on Jan. 28.
Prior to becoming an educator, Heim performed professionally in Germany and the United States. Superintendent Doug Heuer said, "Mr. Heim has been an outstanding addition to our faculty and he continues the tradition of outstanding music teachers within our district."
Critical thinking, self-discovery and college credits are on the menu for many students at Heights High. The move to a small schools add challenging options for students who want to accept more responsibility.
At Heights, more than 350 students are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which offer college credit; 44 are enrolled in college classes. Here are three of their stories.
The computers distributed to approximately 1,500 students in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District have the same anti-theft capabilities used by the Lower Merion School District (Ardmore, Penn.) to spy on students.
Heights High English teacher Sylvia Stewart-Lumpkin was nominated for the WEWS Terrific Teacher Tribute by a former student. “She’s a tough teacher, but when you walk out of her class, you are so much smarter than you were when you walked in. She makes you earn everything,” the student, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote.
Stewart-Lumpkin was recognized on WEWS Channel 5’s morning show, Good Morning Cleveland, on Feb. 8. Watch the video clip at http://www.newsnet5.com/news/22508031/detail.html.
Jackie Elfvin is the administrative assistant in the Office of Communications and Community Engagement for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.
All board members present.
Superintendent Heuer explained the need for more instructional time in the elementary schools and how the district compared with other school districts. According to the superintendent, his plan to extend the student day until 3:30 p.mm (except for Tuesday) could be done within the contract with the teachers’ union.
This was clear when four of Riley’s students were at the Smartboard, an interactive white board. Students took turns reading paragraphs and then, as a group, chose one of three answers that identified the topic sentence of the paragraph. This required understanding and analysis of the text.
There is controversy in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District over a potential invasion of privacy.
Sparked by a situation in the Lower Merion School District in Ardmore, Pa, where the parents of a 16-year-old sued the district for allegedly using the “TheftTrack” feature in a school-issued computer to spy on students and their families, local families are worried that the same thing could happen to them.
