June 23, 2011
Grandview City Schools
O’Reilly anticipates ‘excellent’ rating By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Preliminary results indicate the Grandview Heights City School District will meet all the testing standards on the 2010-11 state report card. The report card standards measure the district’s success on the state’s third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth grade achievement tests and the Ohio Graduation Test.
The data is still preliminary and could change before the final report card is released later this summer, but the district is on target to receive a rating of “excellent,” Ed O’Reilly Superintendent Ed O’Reilly said. The district will exceed the state standard of having at least 75 percent of its
students earn a proficient or higher score on each of the achievement tests, O’Reilly said. A particularly impressive example of the district’s success on the achievement test is the indication that 98 percent of its eighth-graders passed the math test, he said. “To have a 98-percent passage rate in math is overwhelming,” O’Reilly said. “It will almost certainly rank us with the very best rate in the state.”
The achievement test results represents “a snapshot” of students’ performance on a given day, he said. “I always tell parents you can get a better indication of your child’s progress by talking to your child’s principal and teachers,” O’Reilly said. Grandview should also easily meet the graduation rate standard of 90 percent and the attendance rate of 93 percent, he said. Data on whether the district’s value
added rating exceeds expected gains is still pending, O’Reilly said. The value added rating represents the progress the district has made with its students since last year. The district is also waiting to receive data regarding the district’s performance index score and whether it has met its adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals, he said. See RATING, page A2
Cycling Classic event returns to Grandview Sunday
Secretary retiring after 21 years at GHHS
By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Grandview Heights High School will have a new principal next year. It will also have a new principal’s secretary. Emily Klingensmith is retiring June 30 after 32 years working in the district, including the past 21 years in the high school office. Even before being hired by the district, she served as a volunteer at what was then Edison Elementary. “I started out volunteering in my daughter’s classrooms, and I enjoyed it so much I began volunteering in another teacher’s room,” Klingensmith said. “I just really enjoyed being around the students,” she said. That has never changed, Klingensmith said. “It’s the students and the wonderful staff we have here,” she said. “They have made this job so much fun.” Klingensmith first worked as a teacher’s aide in fourth-, fifthand sixth-grade classrooms, then as an office assistant at Edison.
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Grandview Heights High School secretary Emily Klingensmith is retiring on June 30 after 32 See RETIRING, page A2 years with the school district.
The Tour de Grandview Cycling Classic will return for its 19th year Sunday with its mix of speed and strategy. “Cycling at this level is like a chess match at 35 mph,” race promoter Andy Burns said. “You have to constantly evaluate what kind of move you should make and when — all while going at top speed. “I tell people, imagine holding your breath for three minutes and doing your multiplication tables in your head,” he said. “It’s like that.” The Grandview course is particularly challenging for cyclists because of its hills, Burns said. “That’s what makes our course so iconic,” he said. “It’s so much more challenging than your typical flat criterium course.” The turn at Goodale Boulevard and Urlin Avenue is a particularly exciting part of the course, because it comes at the bottom of the steep hill, Burns said. “And these guys don’t slow up, they go full bore around that turn,” he said. The cyclists will make the turn three abreast, Burns said. “There’s no way you can do that without coming in contact with the other riders,” he said. “It’s an
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Cycling at this level is like a chess match at 35 mph. You have to constantly evaluate what kind of move you should make and when — all while going at top speed.
ANDY BURNS — race promoter
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amazing thing. It can be really risky, but they do it.” The city has made some minor improvements to that area of the roadway this week which will help the cyclists, Burns said. “There were some imperfections that made the road pretty sketchy at that turn,” he said. “It wasn’t a big deal for cars, but for bicycles going 35 mph, it was a big deal.” Defending Tour de Grandview Criterium champion Andy Crater will return this year, but he will be racing for a different team, Burns said. This year, Crater is a member of the Aerocat Cycling Team. He will be competing against See CLASSIC, page A2
More than 50 apply for Library offering laptop athletics director job computers for checkout By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Grandview Heights City School District received resumes from more than 50 applicants for the athletics director position. Resumes were due by 4 p.m. June 20, Superintendent Ed O’Reilly said. The district is conducting a search to replace Kathy Kinnard, who is retiring July 31 after 35 years in the district, including the last 17 as athletics director. Approximately half of the applicants who sent in resumes do not meet the qualifications the district posted for the position and so will not move past the initial paper screening, O’Reilly said. The slate of qualified candidates is impressive, he said, and includes persons now working as
A closer look The district is conducting a search to replace Kathy Kinnard, who is retiring July 31 after 35 years in the district, including the last 17 as athletics director.
head coaches at small colleges and as athletics directors at Ohio school districts both large and small. O’Reilly said the paper screening of the applications has taken place and he will be conducting preliminary interviews with those candidates who meet the qualifications the district requires. A committee comprised of school board members, administrators and teachers will conduct interviews with four or five semi-
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finalists next week, he said. A recommendation for hiring will likely be made at a special board meeting on July 6, O’Reilly said. “We want to move through this process as quickly as possible,” he said. Prospective candidates for the position should have an administrative license, successful coaching experience and experience running a grade 7-12 athletic program, O’Reilly said. The quality of the applicants for the athletics director position does not surprise him, he said. “No matter what position we post, we always get a strong group of applicants,” O’Reilly said. “We have a quality district with strong community support and a great group of students.” For the full list of applicants, go to www.thisweeknews.com.
By ALAN FROMAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Add laptop computers to the list of items patrons can now check out from the Grandview Heights Public Library. The library has purchased 10 laptops that are available for patrons to use inside the library. And while they can be checked out, laptops must be used within the library. The computers were purchased using grant money from Connect Ohio, a federally funded program with a mission to provide more people with access to broadband computers, said Rebecca Felkner, the Grandview Library’s assistant director. “When we heard the grant money was available for libraries, we immediately decided to put in an application,” Felkner said. Patrons can check out the computers from the library’s reference desk. The laptops are available on a first-come, firstserved basis and there is currently no time limit
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on usage, although the computers must be turned in 30 minutes before closing time, Felkner said. That policy may change depending on how many people start checking them out, she said. Patrons sign up to use the library’s 31 desktop computers and when a queue starts forming, time limits are placed on those using the devices, Felkner said. “We may find we have to go to a similar policy for the laptops if enough people want to use them,” she said. Patrons must be 18 or older and have a Grandview library card in good standing and a valid state-issued ID to check out a computer, Felkner said. The computers must be used in the library, she said. Leaving the premises with a laptop will be considered theft. “We have wireless throughout the library so you can go anywhere in the library to use them,” Felkner said. “It gives our patrons mobility. See LAPTOPS, page A2
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