The Experience: June 2019

The Experience Official Newsmagazine of Mariemont City Schools

June 2019

DISTRICT AWARDS Page 3

Work Smart.

MHS FACILITY PROJECT UPDATE Pages 4-5 Create Experience.

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES! Page 7 Embrace Growth.

Wrapping Up 2018-19 As I reflect on the 2018-19 school year, I can’t help but be filled with pride at what our students and staff were able to accomplish in the span of 10 months.

This year we had students in every building excel in art and music competitions. We had published authors, state-winning athletes and National Merit scholars. We had students participating in hands-on, ungraded learning that extended beyond the traditional walls of the classroom.

Mariemont is known and recognized at the highest levels and all of these accomplishments are what define the Mariemont City School District.

This school year our community passed a levy which is now providing some much-needed updates to Mariemont High School and continuing important funds for our day-to-day operations. We are humbled and grateful to the community for their support of our schools.

Construction is now underway on the Mariemont High School campus, which you can read more about in this newsletter. I encourage you to stay up to date on all the latest MHS facility project information by following along with the Hard Hat Updates on the Building on Excellence page of the district website.

With so much excitement, it’s hard to say goodbye to the 2018-19 school year. But I know that our district still has great things on the horizon and I am looking forward to even more accomplishments next year.

treasurer’s update

superintendent’s update

You’ve probably heard about some of our major achievements – the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence, national District of Distinction recognition, an overall ‘A’ grade on the state report card and the Momentum Award from the Ohio State Board of Education. These are tremendous accolades and yet our district is still about so much more.

What a great year we had at Mariemont City Schools! It is energizing to see all of the new and innovative ways our students are learning and growing in the classroom. And it is even more rewarding to see them take that learning and apply it to everyday situations outside of the classroom as well. The district is truly providing an excellent education for our students and setting them up for success for many years to come.

Twice each school year, all districts in Ohio are required to report to the state an update on their financial standing. This report is called a Five-Year Financial Forecast and looks at historical, current and future projections of the district’s finances. The goal is to identify possible financial challenges so the district’s leadership can address those challenges in a timely manner.

For us, however, the financial forecast tool is much more. It is how we direct and streamline our spending to our top priority: the classroom. This ensures efficiency and it encourages the use of best practices and alignment within our organization.

You can view Mariemont City Schools’ current Five-Year Financial Forecast on the district website. The report shows strong fiscal responsibility and management. It also shows that the district’s daily operating fund is stable for the next four years. We are very appreciative to voters for their support.

As we look forward to the 2019-20 school year, know that I will continue to advocate on behalf of our community and provide strong fiscal management for our schools.

Tom Golinar Treasurer/CFO

I wish you all a safe and happy summer!

Steven Estepp Superintendent

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www.mariemontschools.org

Ericka Simmons Named 2019 Award of Excellence Recipient The Mariemont City School District Award of Excellence is awarded annually to an individual who exemplifies dedication to and support of Mariemont City Schools.

Mariemont Elementary School principal Ericka Simmons is the recipient of the 2019 Award of Excellence.

Mrs. Simmons has taken Mariemont Elementary to new heights in 2018-19. In October the school was honored as a National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education and received the status of “Exemplary High Performing School.”

Additionally, under Simmons’ leadership this school year, Mariemont Elementary received the Momentum Award from the State Board of Education of Ohio. This award recognizes schools that exceed expectations in student growth by receiving all A’s on the Value-Added measures on the state report card. Only six percent of schools in Ohio were recognized with the Momentum Award and Mariemont Elementary was one of only 84 schools in the entire state to receive the Momentum Award for a third year, placing the school among the top three percent in the state for consistently demonstrating academic growth.

Simmons is passionate about making Mariemont Elementary a place where everyone feels they belong and is never too busy for a student or staff member in need. Her door is always open to listen, to teach, to comfort, to feed, to guide, to coach, to love and to appreciate each person for who they are. She is a constant source of support for her staff members, both professionally and personally, and will stop at nothing to make sure her students know they are cared for and loved at Mariemont Elementary.

Jack Smith Honored with 2019 Friend of the Schools Award In 2015, the Mariemont City School District launched the Marie Huenefeld Friend of the School award to recognize individuals in the community who make significant contributions to the school district with their time, service and/or expertise to create a better experience for students.

At the May Board of Education meeting, Jack Smith was officially recognized as the 2019 recipient of the Friend of the School award.

Perhaps Jack’s most noticeable contribution has been through the Kiwanis Club of Mariemont where he serves as the Youth Services Team Leader and has spearheaded initiatives such as the Community Service Award, Memorial Day Essay Contest, Schools Recognition Month and the annual Scholarship program. Through his efforts, Kiwanis has granted over $200,000 in college scholarships to Mariemont High School graduates based on need, academic achievement, leadership and service.

Aside from Kiwanis, Jack has spent over 15 years working with the Winners Walk Tall program at Terrace Park Elementary School. As a coach, he spends weekly sessions with the school’s third grade students, teaching them the importance of character building traits, manners and leadership skills. He takes the knowledge, skills and professional prowess he amassed in his lifetime and passes them on to the next generation.

He and his family also endowed the Damon Troy Smith Scholarship which sends a student at the high school to the Global Leadership Summit each year.

Jack also finds time to serve on the Superintendent’s Advisory Council and participated in many different committees leading up to last year’s levy and the Mariemont High School facility project.

The award was created in honor and recognition of retired Board of Education member Marie Huenefeld who received the inaugural Friend of the School award. Huenefeld was first elected to the board in November of 1987 and served through 2015.

June 2019

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Mariemont City Schools Officially Breaks Ground on the Update Project to Mariemont High School

The official groundbreaking for the Mariemont High School facility project occurred on May 30, 2019.

The groundbreaking was a communitywide event and celebration of the new updates coming to Mariemont High School.

“We are so appreciative to the community for providing these much-needed updates to the high school,” stated Kelli Neville, Board of Education president.

“In doing so, we are protecting the investment in this building while providing a 21st Century education complete with updated labs and technology that students need to learn and compete in today’s global education and marketplace.”

On hand were representatives from all of the district’s communities including Columbia Township, Fairfax, Mariemont and Terrace Park. The festivities also included a flag raising from Mariemont High School students as well as performances by both the MHS chorus and band.

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“This project was years in the making and we are so thankful to the community,” stated Steven Estepp, superintendent. “It began with extensive community input and discussion about what the building needs are for the existing high school and about how we can ‘finish what we started’ with the original community-driven Master Facilities Plan from a decade ago.

That plan sidelined this project and prioritized other school construction needs throughout the district for which we are also thankful. Thanks to this community, we are honoring the work from a decade ago and finishing it up with this muchneeded high school renovation.”

Following the ceremony, guests were invited inside to view the latest interior and exterior concept renderings of the new building and walk the halls of the high school before renovations begin.

The district will continue to provide updates on the construction project. For more information on the Mariemont High School facility project, visit the Building on Excellence page of the district website.

www.mariemontschools.org

District Announces Summer Construction Plans The Mariemont City School District has announced its plans for the construction at Mariemont High School during the summer months. To maximize the work that can be accomplished while school is not in session, Turner Construction has asked that the high school campus be completely shut down between June 7 and August 14 to all students, staff and community.

During these months, the Mariemont High School administrative staff will be housed at Mariemont Elementary and can be reached by telephone at 272-7400.

All sports camps/practices/workshops/ school events normally held at the high school during the summer will be held off-site. For specific information, visit the Building On Excellence page at www.mariemontschools.org

Mariemont High School Facility Project Update Those in the area may note that work is underway at Mariemont High School. The spring conditions, although rainy, have not impeded work on the project – it remains on budget and on schedule.

During the spring, construction began with preliminary site work. This included the creation of the new upper parking lot, preparation for the secondary access drive and the installation of temporary modular classrooms (which will only remain until construction is complete).

During the summer, the construction crews are working to demolish select areas of the building to begin with the construction of the much-needed new academic wing. This

June 2019

phase of the work will last for the duration of the 2019-2020 school year with students and staff moving into the new academic wing in the fall of 2020.

The Board of Education will receive regular updates from the construction team, Turner Construction, as a way to ensure that the community is getting exactly what they were promised and to ensure that the project remains on time and within budget.

In the meantime, the community can see the latest interior and exterior concept renderings and keep up-to-date on the building construction by visiting the Building on Excellence page of the district’s website, www.mariemontschools.org

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U.S. News & World Report Blunder Perhaps you saw that the U.S. News & World Report article on “Best Schools” was released in late April and you might have wondered where Mariemont High School was - quite frankly, so did we!

After being named as one of the top schools in the nation and state since the article was first created nearly 10 years ago, it just didn’t make sense that Mariemont High School was left off the list.

Interestingly, Maderia High School, another consistently highly ranked school, was also not mentioned nor ranked anywhere on this recent report.

We immediately reached out to U.S. News & World Report to find out what happened and were told that there was a clerical/data error in how they got the data from the State of Ohio and our data was not included. When we pressed them more about the integrity of the article given both the Mariemont High School and Madeira High School data omissions, we were told that the article would stand “as is” and that they were not intending to issue a retraction or correction.

A Loo

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Clearly, a simple review of the data used to compile this report shows that Mariemont High School should, indeed, be ranked. In fact, we should be ranked pretty high. By way of comparison, other area high schools that were ranked and mentioned in the article had lower data points than our scores that were not included. Please know that there was nothing on our end nor anything we didn’t do for U.S. News & World Report to leave our data out or to not have us ranked or even mentioned. So, certainly frustrating , but unfortunately out of our control.

Regardless of this obvious error by U.S. News & World Report, we remain proud of our Mariemont High School students and staff and all of their accomplishments in and out of the classroom.

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www.mariemontschools.org

Where can you find

the class of 2019?

Congratulations to the class of 2019!

The Mariemont High School class of 2019 said its final goodbyes with the annual Baccalaureate celebration and graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 2, 2019. In total, the class included 123 graduates and will leave Mariemont with the following distinctions:

• 86% will continue their education at a two or four-year college/university while the other 14% will enlist in the military, join the work force or take a gap year • The senior class submitted 500 applications and were accepted at 106 different universities • A total of $6 million in earned scholarships was collected by the graduates • 64 seniors earned the honors diploma • 62 seniors earned the President’s Award for Education Excellence • Five seniors were National Merit scholars and two were National Merit finalists • Eight seniors signed letters of intent to play collegiate athletics

June 2019

Arizona State University Auburn University Belmont University Cincinnati Christian University Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Denison University DePaul University DePauw University Dickinson College Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Furman University Georgia Southern University Indiana University Johns Hopkins University Lee University Miami University Mount Saint Joseph University North Central College Ohio University Pratt University Purdue University Rhodes College Stark State College of Technology The Ohio State University The Ohio State University Newark Thomas More University University of Cincinnati University of Cincinnati Blue Ash University of Cincinnati Clermont University of Dayton University of Exeter University of Kentucky University of Louisville University of Maryland University of Michigan University of Pittsburgh University of Tennessee University of Virginia University of Wyoming U.S. Air Force Academy Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Wake Forest University Warren Wilson College

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MJHS Open House – 7 p.m.

College Planning Program for Parents of Seniors – 6:30 p.m.

ME Parent Information Night (grades 1-4) – 6:30 & 7:30 p.m.

27 ME Walk-A-Thon – 9 a.m. & 1:15 p.m.

25 ME Picture Day

24 TPE Picture Day

20 MJHS Night Out – 6:30 p.m.

18 MHS Facility Project Community Open House – 7 p.m.

16 MHS Open House – 7 p.m.

11 MHS Financial Aid Program – 6:30 p.m.

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Labor Day, No School

SEPTEMBER

30 MHS Athletics Hall of Fame Induction – 6:30 p.m.

29 TPE Camp Kern Parent Meeting – 8 p.m.

29 ME Camp Kern Parent Meeting – 7:30 p.m.

29 TPE Parent Information Night – 6:30 & 7:30 p.m.

29 ME Parent Information Night (grades 5-6) – 6:30 p.m.

28 First Day of School for Students

27 ME Kindergarten Meet the Teachers – 1 p.m.

26 Elementary Kindergarten Information Night – 6:30 p.m.

22 TPE Kindergarten Popsicle Night – 6:30 p.m.

20 Elementary New Family Welcome Night – 6:30 p.m.

19 MHS Freshman Parent Night – 7 p.m.

19 MHS Freshman and New Student Orientation – 9:30 a.m.

19 MJHS Orientation – 9 a.m. & 12 p.m.

19 MHS Schedule Pickup and Pictures – 8 a.m.

16 College Application Workshop for Juniors – 8:45 a.m.

AUGUST

30 MJHS and MHS Athletics Physicals – 6:30 p.m.

17 Board of Education Meeting – 8.m.

JULY

2 Warrior Way | Cincinnati, Ohio 45227 www.mariemontschools.org

www.mariemontschools.org

UPCOMING DATES

www.mariemontschools.org

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