Students from the seven elementary schools jumped their hearts out on Saturday in an effort to help the fight against heart disease and stroke. Fourth and fifth graders from Emerson, Grant, Harrison, Hayes, Horace Mann, Lincoln and Roosevelt participated in the 12^th annual Jump Rope for Heart on Feb. 6 at Lakewood High.

Thanks to their work with the nonprofit Facing History & Ourselves, a group of 11 Lakewood High students and their teachers will be among a select audience of high school students from across the country who will participate in a workshop on Feb. 10 at the White House on the impact of music from the civil rights movement. See the video of one of the students, Canada Tate-Griffin, and teacher Joe Lobozzo speak about the trip to Channel 3 on the next page.

The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on which elementary school to close as part of Phase III of the district's long-term construction program at its Feb. 16 meeting. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the East Cafeteria of Lakewood High.

Both Harding and Garfield Middle Schools performed exceptionally at the District Power of the Pen Writing Competition held on January 23 at St. Joseph Academy. Out of 23 schools that participated, the Garfield 7^th grade writers placed 2nd in team standings, while Harding’s writers took 1^st place in both the 7^th and 8^th grade team standings! There were outstanding individual performances including a first place overall by Harding 8th grader Sarah Neff.
 

With city officials and community leaders in its corner, the Lakewood Board of Education at its Feb. 1 meeting unanimously voted to send a request to the county to place a 6.9 mill operating levy on the May 4 ballot. It will be the first new operating levy on the Lakewood ballot since 2002. Heading up the campaign effort will be co-chairs Mayor Ed FitzGerald and City Councilman and former school Board member Michael Summers.

Lakewood High's National Honor Society welcomed 55 new members into the prestigious academic group at an induction ceremony held at the Civic Auditorium on Jan. 28. Gaining entry into NHS is the highest honor a school can bestow upon a student. Besides academic excellence – candidates must have a cumulative 3.5 GPA – a student is evaluated on his or her character, leadership skills and dedication to service and their involvement in school activities.

With family members and school and city officials looking on, 183 student artists had their creative works honored as the best from their school in the annual PTA Reflections art contest celebration on Jan. 27. Students from preschool through high school from the eight schools with PTAs received certificates honoring their work as the best from their respective schools. From those entries of visual art, music, literature, photography, dance choreography and video/film production pieces, 24 were chosen to compete statewide.

The Ranger Café @ West Shore opened its doors to the public on Tuesday, Jan. 26, with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked a new chapter in the culinary arts program's history. Superintendent Madak and members of the Board of Education were on hand to celebrate the occasion along with invited guests from the community. Patty Ryan of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce presented a plaque to welcome the restaurant into the business community.

Lakewood City Schools will be conducting standardized testing beginning March 1, 2010 for multiple purposes, one of which is meeting state requirements for gifted identification. Referrals for gifted identification testing are being taken for grades 3, 5 and 6. If you would like to refer your child for testing please contact either your child’s building principal or teacher. Lakewood City Schools will test all students at the following grade levels: grade 1; grade 2; grade 4; and grade 7 therefore referrals at these grade levels are not needed.

A team of Harding eighth graders put on an impressive display of knowledge as the team ran away with first place at the regional Classroom of Champions academic team competition held at St. Edward High School on Jan. 20. The team, comprised of Hugh Campbell, Max Mulready and Eli Zettler, scored 745 points, the second team in only 21 years of competition to score more than 700 points.

The Lakewood Complete Count Committee, which includes the Lakewood City Schools, is partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau to raise awareness of the 2010 Census and help achieve a complete and accurate count of the growing and changing U.S. population.

The H1N1 virus is now prevalent throughout Northeast Ohio, including in the Lakewood Schools. The district wants to assure its families that it is closely monitoring the situation and keeping abreast of the latest news and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our response to the virus and its outbreak within our school population includes the following:

 

The hard work put in during the 2008-2009 school year by our district’s staff, students and administrators has resulted in the district’s first-ever “Excellent” designation on the Ohio Department of Education’s Report Card. Meeting 26 of the 30 state indicators elevated the district from “Effective” to “Excellent.” Four of Lakewood’s schools – Garfield and Harding middle schools and Grant and Lincoln elementary schools – also earned an “Excellent” rating.