SEVEN HILLS
December 1, 2011
The Buzz
A Brief Word from Chris Garten
Seven Hills named one of Ohio’s top five Academic Champions!
During our recent Admissions Open House, a number of visiting families asked me, in one form or another, how our student guides had become so poised. They were stunned to see students as young as sixth graders speak so articulately about the virtues of their school.
For the fourth year in a row, Gerber Analytics, LLC. has named The Seven Hills School one of Ohio’s top five Academic Champions. Seven Hills achieved the highest performance rating among ranked Cincinnati-area schools. The school is also the only co-ed program in the state to earn the Academic Champion honor four years in a row. The annual Gerber Analytics study identifies the best schools in Ohio based on each school’s performance on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT).
I can’t claim to know the whole answer, but over the last few days, a few classroom observations have brought a glimmer of understanding. In just the past days, I’ve seen fourth graders debating the nuances of immigration policy, fifth graders simulating the decision making of American colonists about what resources to bring to the New World, eighth graders defending the party platform as part of a mock election in post-war Germany—not to mention the hours of rehearsal that went into The Hobbit! Upper School students have defended their Challenge projects, argued diverse political positions in Model U.N. competition, and honed their closing arguments for Mock Trial. In classrooms and in a host of extracurricular activities, our students get a great deal of practice in public speaking. Over time, it is clear, they get very good at it! Chris Garten Head of School
The OGT evaluates the performance of high school students in the areas of math, reading, social studies,
science and writing. The Ohio Department of Education administers the OGT to tenth grade students in all 1017 schools in the state. Gerber Analytics calculates the percentage of students who score “Proficient” or better at each school and ranks the top-performing schools. This year, just 84 schools, or 8.2 percent of the schools in Ohio, had at least 91 percent of their tenth grade students pass the test. At Seven Hills, 100 percent of the students passed all five subject-area tests, the highest proficiency rate in Cincinnati. Overall, Continued on page 2
Middle’s outstanding production of The Hobbit Congratulations to Director Stephanie Park, actors, stage crew, and everyone who contributed to an amazing production of The Hobbit! The costumes, set, lighting, directed fight sequence, and dragon were truly stunning! More photos are on page 6.
Go, Seven Hills Strikers! Congratulations to the two Seven Hills fifth and sixth grade boys Strikers soccer teams—Team Papakirk and Team Callow—who competed in the Elite Eight or quarterfinals of the Ohio Area State SAY Tournament! The two teams and their coaches are pictured on page 2.
Inside this Buzz Upper School News
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Middle School News
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Lotspeich News
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Doherty News
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