July 28, 2011
District could add 2-5 ‘head principal’ Domine proposes to change structure of elementary school administration By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Elementary principal Chris Briggs is leaving the New Albany-Plain Local School District, and his departure could be the first of several changes in the structure of the elementary administration. Superintendent April Domine recommended at the school board’s July 25 meeting that Madeline Partlow, the district’s director of teaching and learning, replace Briggs this school year as grades 4-5 principal at the elementary school. Briggs is taking a job as Columbus City Schools’ regional director of schools. He will be in charge of 23 buildings. “Given only a few weeks until school begins, it is not feasible to conduct the extensive search that is necessary in order to find a highly experienced leader to fill this important position,” Domine wrote in a memo to the school board.
She said the district should then advertise Partlow’s position and find interim help until a new director of teaching and learning can be hired. “The first and most important consideration had to be, ‘How do we ensure that we have experienced principal leadership ready to start the school year and continue our programs?’” Domine said. As a long-term solution, Domine has prepared a two-year plan to implement a new administrative structure at the 2-5 elementary building. The building has 1,500 students, 125 staff members and two principals: one who oversees the second and third grades and one for the fourth and fifth grades. On average, elementary schools in Ohio have 350 students and operate with a principal, an assistant principal and 40 staff members.
All-day kindergarten pilot program will begin this year The New Albany-Plain Local school board received news July 25 that the all-day kindergarten pilot program can begin this school year. Superintendent April Domine said she has located grant money to begin the program, which would target academically at-risk students. Communications director Jeff Warner said the money for the program would come from Title I federal funding. “It’s very exciting,” said board member Natalie Matt. “I think it’s something we need to do.” Domine said the district would need to devote
only one classroom to the project and she’s already cleared it with the principal. At-risk students already have been identified through kindergarten screening. Domine said additional assessments would be completed at the beginning of the school year and the program could begin in October. Board vice president Laura Kohler asked for a budget and ways to gauge students’progress throughout the year. She said the district would then have to evaluate the program before the next school year. — Lori Wince
See SCHOOL BOARD, page A4
Business park east
NAHS grad pursuing career as a writer
State tax incentive offered to potential tenant
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on July 25 approved a tax credit for Sonoco Plastics if it chooses to build a new 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in New Albany. Community development director Jennifer Chrysler said the project is pending further review of incentives, which could include tax abatements from the city. She said she has been negotiating with company representatives on the potential incentives. The state approved a 50-percent, 8-year jobcreation tax credit on Sonoco’s proposed $3.12 million annual payroll at the site, which would be in the personal care and beauty campus, Chrysler said. That campus, also known as business park east, is east of Babbitt Road on the north and south sides of state Route 161. The incentive is valued at $297,198. The jobcreation tax credit is refundable, which means Sonoco will pay all of its income taxes and be refunded 50 percent annually for the term of the incentive. To receive the credit, the company must agree to maintain operations on site for 11 years, according to information from the state. See STATE TAX INCENTIVE, page A2
Ellen Waddell knew from a young age she wanted to be a writer. Last week, she read excerpts from her first book at the Thurber House 2011 Summer Literary Picnic series’ “New Voices” event. “(The book has) real stories of people I saw out in public,” Waddell said of her book of essays, titled “She Said, Looking Forward.” Waddell, one of the valedictorians in the New Albany High School class of 2011, said she wrote the book as part of the school’s senior seminar graduation requirement. To graduate from NAHS, all seniors must research and complete a project and file paperwork to show how many hours they spent on it. “I knew I wanted to do something with writing because it’s an 80-hour project,” she said. “I didn’t want to get bored with it and I always wanted to be a writer. But I had never written nonfiction before.” Waddell said her connection with Thurber House honed her fiction skills. In elementary school, she took a fiction and fantasy writing class and later was part of the Thurber House’s Young Writers’ Studio. According to the Thurber House website, the Young Writers’ Studio is for students in ninth to 12th grade. Students work with professional writers to “learn new techniques, explore different genres, receive feedback on their work and have fun in a supportive environment with teens who love to write.” Waddell said she was once shy about sharing her writing, but the feedback she got at the Young Writers’Studio gave her more confidence in her work. “The positive feedback gave me confidence as a person, too,” she said.
Local business refits ‘worn out’ Salvation Army vehicle Traditional barbershop opens in New Albany By Eric George/ThisWeek
Ellen Waddell, a 2011 New Albany High School graduate, reads from her book of essays, titled “She Said, Looking Forward,” during the Thurber House’s Summer Literary Picnic series’ “New Voices” event July 20. Waddell wrote the book for her senior seminar project, which all NAHS seniors are required to complete to graduate.
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A New Albany business and a Pataskala veteran recently offered their support to an organization with a dedicated purpose of helping others. Representatives of the Salvation Army in Central Ohio came to Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) in New Albany on July 21 to pick up their refurbished 1995 canteen vehicle. The canteen is an emergency mobile disaster vehicle that is used on a weekly basis See SALVATION ARMY, page A4
By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Barber Jake Bame takes an old-school approach to cutting hair. “It’s fueled by my love of keeping the old style alive,” Bame said. Bame has opened the Noble Baron Gentleman Barbers at 21 N. High St. The barbershop has a classic feel enhanced by the dark wood floors to the old photos of vintage barbershops on the walls. Appearance isn’t the only retro feature. In addition to traditional haircuts, Bame offers an oldfashioned barber’s shave using warm shaving cream, hot towels and a straight razor.
You have a hole in your house.
He also uses the straight razor on the back of the neck beneath the hairline and performs scalp massages. “There’s less of that today,” Bame said. “We’ve lost numbers.” Bame operated a shop called “Crew Cuts” on the Ohio State University campus for about seven years before deciding to bring some of the history back to his profession. “It’s kind of like a fast-food hair industry now,” he said. “Service stations used to do more than pump gas. They used to check oil and tire pressure.” Bame said the Noble Baron would be more like those old service stations, eventually having an es-
See NAHS GRAD, page A4
thetician to do facials and sun-damage repairs and offering a shoe-shine service, through which men can drop off their shoes and pick them up the next day. Bame even chose his location because of its history. The building at 21 N. High St. once housed a dentist. In the Middle Ages, barbers often doubled as surgeons and dentists. While working on the Ohio State campus, Bame met people from all over the world. But, he said, he wasn’t able to build a local clientele who kept returning because of the transient nature of college students. See TRADITIONAL BARBERSHOP, page A2
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