We are Lorain Titan Strong

By Lorain City Schools CEO, Greg Ring

The 2019-2020 school year has been extraordinary, to say the least. Over the course of only a few short days, our schools went from looking forward to the arrival of spring and all the promise and celebration that it holds to being put on lock-down in our homes, restricted from the majority of our “normal” activities, wondering what our “new normal” will look like next. If we’ve been lucky, we’ve remained healthy, surrounded by family, and have enough necessities to go around.

If there’s one word to describe the Lorain community, it’s “resilient,” and while times such as this can be crippling in some areas of the country, we’ve seen the opposite. The people of Lorain have a long and proud reputation for pulling together in support of their children and their schools. The challenges surrounding COVID-19 have provided us with no exception.

In the midst of so much change and chaos, we as a society have been given the great gift of time and reflection. This has been a challenging road for everyone involved, but we have much to celebrate as the school year comes to a close:

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Eric Bonzar

PASSAGE OF ISSUE 13 | In November, the Lorain community passed a seven-year, 5.15-mill emergency levy with 3,722 votes in favor of the renewal. This support allows the Lorain City Schools to keep the necessities that allow us to provide a quality education for our children, including teachers, student supports, and instructional supplies.

STRONG PARTNERSHIPS | This year, our district continued to be honored by mutually beneficial relationships among our community, local businesses, and our schools. This evolving group of interested individuals and organizations meets throughout the year to identify needs and connect community resources with our students and classrooms.

ACADEMIC GROWTH | Shared expectations continue to shape our success, with our strategic plan guiding the district’s decision-making process. The district’s overall grade on Ohio’s Local Report Card improved, most notably for our teachers’ abilities to meet the performance expectations for our most vulnerable students in English language arts, math, graduation, and English language proficiency.

UNITY & STRENGTH | This school year, our administrative and governing bodies came together in unity with members of the Board of Education and Academic Distress Commission meeting jointly for the first time. This level of collaboration has helped improve communication and focus as we all work together to serve our diverse population of more than 6,300 students and their families.

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Eric Bonzar

REMOTE LEARNING | When Governor Mike DeWine ordered the closure of Ohio’s schools mid-March, our teachers and building leaders came together quickly to develop a plan to continue learning from home. In just a few short weeks, our schools developed and distributed @Home Learning Paths to more than 4,300 PreK-8 students while delivering online learning to support course completion for students in grades 9- 12. Special thanks to all who worked so closely with our senior class to ensure they have the technology and supports needed to graduate this spring! We anticipate 487 students to be eligible for their diploma this year!

Vehicles line up for meal distribution at Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Jen Navarro

STUDENT MEAL DISTRIBUTION | Throughout our nation and beyond, many students go hungry when school is not in session. When COVID-19 concerns closed our schools, Aramark and our nutrition staff implemented an emergency meal distribution plan, which has since provided more than 57,000 meals to the children of our community. In addition, many of our employees and community members volunteered with Second Harvest Food Bank to distribute fresh produce and kitchen staples to families in our area. At the time of this writing, these efforts served nearly 4,000 people during the crisis.

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Eric Bonzar

WRAPAROUND SERVICES | As Ohio’s stay-at-home order ground our economy to a halt, countless homes were hit with the loss of a paycheck, childcare, and/or health supports. At the same time, many families found themselves working from home and on the hunt for even the most basic home necessities, all while trying to ensure their children completed school assignments, and their homes were constantly sanitized. Our schools responded by calling student homes for wellness checks, and connecting families with community resources through handouts during meal distribution and on the district website and social media channels.

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Eric Bonzar

CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2020

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Jen Navarro

While current circumstances prohibit congregating for ceremonies and activities such as prom, we won’t let COVID-19 interfere with celebrating our seniors as they deserve. Plans are underway to hold a virtual graduation ceremony, which will be shared widely with our community. But so often, it’s also the little things that count. Our staff and community are already lined up to post yard signs at the homes of our seniors. And, slideshows and video compilations with senior photos, quotes, and remembrances are being created to preserve the experiences of our students during this unprecedented point in time. We hope our community will join us in celebrating when the time comes.

They say that the true measure of humanity is best determined not during their moments of great triumph, but in moments of great challenge. And, time and again, Lorain reveals the quality of hearts and minds in all the ways we come together to care for our children.

Thank you to all who ensure the needs of our students, families, staff, and community continue to be met. You are what #TitanStrong is all about.

Lorain City Schools—Lorain, Ohio

photo by Eric Bonzar