Superintendent's Weekly Newsletters & Reports
February 17, 2012
As a way of ensuring we are honoring our commitment to local taxpayers the Board of Education will be moving forward with the refinancing of 2004 bonds for the High School project. In the same manner that people are refinancing home mortgages to take advantage of lower interest rates the Board has decided to do the same with the 2004 bonds for the high school. Current projections estimate a cumulative savings of $900,000 for taxpayers over the life of the bonds. If you have any questions about this process please don’t hesitate to contact me.
The Keystone wrestlers had a great tournament this past weekend! Congratulations are in order for William and Brian Spangler for becoming four time conference champs and also to Jeremy King for earning a championship for the Cats. The girls Basketball team will be starting tournament action next Monday at Elyria vs. Vermillion at 7:00.
Congratulations are also in order for the middle and high school choir students for their outstanding efforts at The Lorain County Solo & Ensemble Contest held at Amherst Steele High School on Saturday, February 11th. Over 50 Keystone Middle and High School choir students competed at the event, earning ratings of Superior and Excellent. Great job to the Music Department, and to all of the students who competed in the event.
In addition, instrumentalists in grades 8-12 did a great job at the competition as well. Instrumental groups received a total of 13 Superior Ratings and 2 Excellent Ratings. Lastly, KLSD would like to offer congratulations to the 24 instrumentalists from Keystone Middle School who earned ratings of Superior, Excellent, and Good.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate KES teacher Jill Hetsler on being chosen as one of 22 teachers nationwide who will make up the 2012 Scholastic Book Clubs Teacher Advisory Board. As a member of this advisory board, she will work with teachers from across the country to help influence every aspect of Scholastic Book Clubs. Congratulations Jill on this outstanding accomplishment!
Have a great weekend!
February 10, 2012
I would like to congratulate the following Keystone High School music students who gave excellent performances at the OMEA Solo & Ensemble Contest. Janell Roeper, Shawn Vislosky, and Brianna Keith all performed at the competition and received either excellent or superior ratings. If you see these students, please congratulate them on their success.
In addition to these students, we also had 19 KMS students who were selected to represent our middle school as members of the 2012 Lorain County Honors Choir. And lastly, we have a great number of both middle and high school students participating in this weekend’s Lorain County Solo & Ensemble Contest. I would like to wish all students competing good luck and recognize Choir Director Mrs. Trakas and Band Director Ms. Townsend on their hard work and dedication to the Keystone Music Department.
In athletic news, I would like to commend all members of our winter athletic teams on their successful seasons. As you may know, the wrestlers have a conference tournament coming up this Saturday. In addition, I would like to recognize that both William and Brian Spangler and Dylan Stiner are ranked in the state. Congratulations again to all of our athletes and their coaches on their successful seasons.
Also, we are excited to announce that the regional food service coordinator from the ODE paid a visit and Jody White, KLSD Food Service Supervisor, passed with flying colors. We are only the second school system to pass without any errors. Way to go Jody White and crew!
Lastly, I would like to thank parents and community members for their continued support of our fundraising endeavors. Coming up, we have the annual KEEP Valentine’s Day Dance, soccer team spaghetti dinner, After-Prom Dine to Donate event, and the ongoing PTA collection of Box Tops & Labels for Education. Thank you in advance for your support of these fundraisers.
Have a great weekend and go Wildcats!
February 3, 2012
As a way of ensuring we are doing our best to honor our commitment to local taxpayers, we are exploring the possibility of refinancing the 2004 bonds for the High School project. Current projections estimate a savings of $900,000 over the life of the bonds. We have been meeting with representatives from different institutions over the past few months and plan on moving forward if we can achieve savings for the taxpayers. I will make sure to keep you informed on the progress of this important undertaking.
Teachers are also staying busy in the classroom as we are approaching the first standardized state assessments at the High School. Other assessments will be later in the spring, and we have been busy collecting data to make sure we are able to implement plans that will help every student achieve at a high level. As you may remember, one of our academic goals this year was to employ the use of learning targets in the classroom to aid in students’ academic success. I am pleased to report that our staff have successfully implemented the target program and are continuing to find ways to increase student achievement.
Athletic success continues at both the middle and high school. The KMS girls’ basketball team is undefeated, and the KMS boys’ basketball team recently won the Conference title. Congratulations are also in order for our KHS varsity girls' basketball team for winning their 6th consecutive conference title, and the wrestlers are having an outstanding season as well.If you haven’t had a chance to cheer on our athletes, it’s not too late! All of the teams have games and tournaments throughout the upcoming week. Please use the athletics calendar on the website to view their upcoming schedules or refer to the weekly bulletins.
Lastly, I would like to encourage you to help our students earn funds for their community service program. Emily Cornish, a KHS sophomore, created a community service program
called Proxy Grandparent that gave students the opportunity to "adopt" a
grandparent from the local retirement home, Keystone
Pointe. Students bond with the Keystone Pointe residents by talking,
playing games, doing arts and crafts, and more. Since October, about 30
students became
involved in the program.
Emily posted information about this community service
project on a website to receive a grant. Help the students involved in this program by navigating to http://www.truehero.org and vote for the "Proxy Grandparent" program.
Thanks for your support and as always, we are here to assist you in any way that we can. Please have a safe and enjoyable Super Bowl weekend!