
3 Licking Heights schools win prestigious Momentum Award
Licking Heights Local Schools announced that three schools in the district — Broad Peak Elementary, Summit Station Intermediate and Licking Heights High School — have won the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's (ODEW) Momentum Award.
The Momentum Award recognizes districts and buildings that have demonstrated outstanding improvements in student achievement while also continuing to show growth. The award is for districts that have improved their performance index by three or more points from the 2022-23 State Report Card to the 2023-24 State Report Card and received a value-added progress rating of four or more stars.
'We are incredibly proud of all of the students, staff members, building leaders and district leaders who made this award possible,' said Kevin S. Miller, Superintendent of Licking Heights. 'Our major gains in student achievement and performance are all thanks to the hard work and dedication of our educators and the focus of our students. The Momentum Award is a testament to both Licking Heights as a district and to the excellence of our staff as educators and leaders.'
ODEW rates both schools and districts each year on a five-star scale for their State Report Card. For 2023-24, the high school earned a 4.5-star rating, Summit Station earned a 4-star rating and Broad Peak earned a 4-star rating. Each school also increased their Performance Index by at least two points — evidence that students are scoring at higher levels on their state assessments.
As a district, Licking Heights earned an overall 4.5-star rating for their 2023-24 State Report Card. This is the highest rating the district has ever received.
'At Licking Heights, our mission every day is to elevate every learner to new heights. This includes students, staff and all members of our district community,' said Tracy Russ, Licking Heights School Board President. 'These three buildings winning the Momentum Award are a perfect example of this. I want to personally thank the staff, building leaders and district leaders who made this possible.'
Information submitted by Licking Heights Local Schools.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: 3 Licking Heights schools win prestigious Momentum Award
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Yahoo
Area districts have varied cell phone policies
An all-day prohibition on cellphone use has helped student performance and grades, Warner School Superintendent David Vinson said. 'It's been a large part of our success for the past decade or so here in Warner,' Vinson said. 'And it's allowed our teachers to not have to compete with messages and things going on with the phones and students.' The Oklahoma Legislature is considering a ban for cellphones during the day for all Oklahoma schools. In February, the Oklahoma House passed a bill prohibiting student cell phone use 'from bell to bell.' In March, the Oklahoma Senate passed a measure prohibiting student cellphone use during the school day for at least one year. Vinson said Warner has had its all-day prohibition for the past 13 years. He said Warner Schools received C's on the State Report Card in 2012, but A's on each State Report Card since 2019. Other area schools have similar prohibitions. Rougher Alternative Academy Principal Lisa Charboneau said cellphones are not allowed past the front door. 'We have a check-in system, and at that time, the student checks their phone in and wears a corresponding lanyard with their phone storage number on it,' Charboneau said. 'At the end of the day, it's the same process in reverse to get their phone.' Hilldale Elementary and Middle Schools policies say cellphones must be turned off and out of sight during the school day. Hilldale High School allows cellphone use during breakfast or lunch, but not during or between classes. Several area schools prohibit cellphone use during classes, but allow use during lunch or between classes. Muskogee High School Principal Kinsey Clark said cellphones 'should be silenced, put away and out of sight unless the teacher gives specific permission for cellphone use for instructional purposes only.' Fort Gibson High School Principal Ben Pemberton said the FGHS started its class-time cellphone ban this year. 'The positive effect has been student engagement during instructional time; it's been greatly improved,' Pemberton said. 'It's the feedback we get from the classroom teachers that made the biggest impact. They feel like they have their classroom again and they're not fighting that constant battle between what they're presenting and what the kids are trying to view on their cellphone device. Without that distraction, it makes the learning environment more productive.' Pemberton said parents can reach their children by calling the school office during instructional time. 'Parents have always had a way to get in contact with their kids,' he said. Muskogee's 8th and 9th Grade Academy allows cellphone use before and after school, between classes and during lunch, Principal Ryan Buell said. They must not have them out during class. 'The policy works well,' Buell said. 'The vast majority of parents do not complain and come quickly to retrieve their students' phone if needed. We are very clear with this policy.' Oktaha Superintendent Laura Holt said prohibiting cellphone use in the classroom limits distraction. 'Maybe the kids' minds will be on what's going on in the classroom, not what's going on with their phone, what they're missing,' she said.

Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Yahoo
3 Licking Heights schools win prestigious Momentum Award
Licking Heights Local Schools announced that three schools in the district — Broad Peak Elementary, Summit Station Intermediate and Licking Heights High School — have won the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's (ODEW) Momentum Award. The Momentum Award recognizes districts and buildings that have demonstrated outstanding improvements in student achievement while also continuing to show growth. The award is for districts that have improved their performance index by three or more points from the 2022-23 State Report Card to the 2023-24 State Report Card and received a value-added progress rating of four or more stars. 'We are incredibly proud of all of the students, staff members, building leaders and district leaders who made this award possible,' said Kevin S. Miller, Superintendent of Licking Heights. 'Our major gains in student achievement and performance are all thanks to the hard work and dedication of our educators and the focus of our students. The Momentum Award is a testament to both Licking Heights as a district and to the excellence of our staff as educators and leaders.' ODEW rates both schools and districts each year on a five-star scale for their State Report Card. For 2023-24, the high school earned a 4.5-star rating, Summit Station earned a 4-star rating and Broad Peak earned a 4-star rating. Each school also increased their Performance Index by at least two points — evidence that students are scoring at higher levels on their state assessments. As a district, Licking Heights earned an overall 4.5-star rating for their 2023-24 State Report Card. This is the highest rating the district has ever received. 'At Licking Heights, our mission every day is to elevate every learner to new heights. This includes students, staff and all members of our district community,' said Tracy Russ, Licking Heights School Board President. 'These three buildings winning the Momentum Award are a perfect example of this. I want to personally thank the staff, building leaders and district leaders who made this possible.' Information submitted by Licking Heights Local Schools. This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: 3 Licking Heights schools win prestigious Momentum Award
Yahoo
21-01-2025
- Yahoo
Ohio students experiencing homelessness is on the rise, but likely an undercount
(Stock photo) The number of Ohio students reported to be experiencing homelessness has steadily increased in recent years and is back to pre-pandemic levels, but those statistics are likely an undercount. More than 25,500 students were reported to have been experiencing homelessness during the 2023-24 school year — 1.5% of Ohio's total student population, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. But a little more than half of Ohio's 611 school districts reported having less than 10 students experiencing homelessness during that same school year, according to ODEW. 'In a district where there's a dedicated person who's able to really invest their time in this work, and has the ability and support to do so, you're likely going to have increased identification, and so that's one of the reasons the numbers can be challenging,' said Amanda Wilson, of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. School districts are legally required to have a homeless liaison through the McKinney-Vento Act, but the liaisons typically have other roles in the districts as well. The McKinney-Vento Act, a 1987 federal law, supports the enrollment and education of homeless students by making sure homeless youth have access to a public education. 'You might have really high identification in one district because the liaison has increased capacity, and lower identification in another district where the liaison doesn't have as much capacity,' Wilson said. 'And that may not necessarily reflect what's happening in the community, but it's reflecting more the capacity of that person to be able to do identification and enrollment.' Laurie Hall has been working for New Philadelphia Schools for 19 years and has been the district's homeless liaison for the past four years. She is also the preschool director, the special education preschool director and the federal coordinator for the district. 'So many kids come with sad stories that can keep you up at night,' she said. 'The one thing that I can do is pray for the families.' These Ohio school districts had the highest percentage of homeless students during the 2023-24 school year, according to ODEW. Morgan Local Schools — 9.3% Mt. Healthy City Schools — 9.1% Fayetteville-Perry Schools — 8% Cincinnati Public Schools — 7.6% New Philadelphia City Schools — 7.5% Identifying students experiencing homelessness can be tough. 'If you say, 'Are you homeless?' They're probably going to say no, but then if you find out more information about what the family is experiencing, they're doubled up, they're moving a lot from friends and family members,' Wilson said. 'There's things that definitely may qualify that student for services and support.' Ohio students experiencing homelessness are chronically absent at a rate of 58.6% — more than double the state rate of 25.6%, said Trisha Barnett, ODEW's homeless education program coordinator. 'Under the McKinney-Vento Act, there is a provision that states that any absence that is due to the student's homelessness would be considered excused,' she said. The number of Ohio students experiencing homelessness dropped when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools during the 2020-21 school year, but that doesn't necessarily mean the number of students experiencing homelessness declined during that time. Since school buildings closed in March 2020 for the remainder of the school year, it likely means students experiencing homelessness weren't being counted and might not have been logging on for school. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'It was harder for educators and liaisons and folks that are in their students day-to-day lives to be able to be in that same level of contact with families, to really be keeping track of what their situations were,' Barnett said. The number of students experiencing homelessness has steadily increased since the 2021-22 school year. 'We're increasing that identification and enrollment again, which is really positive, but also that means families are struggling more,' Wilson said. Some of the American Rescue Plan funding Ohio received went toward students experiencing homelessness, which helped identify those students, Barnett said. The number of Ohio students experiencing homelessness, according to ODEW: 2023-24 school year: 25,550 2022-23 school year: 24,046 2021-22 school year: 21,586 2020-21 school year: 21,118 2019-20school year: 24,193 About 9% of the 1,500 students attending Morgan Local Schools experienced homelessness last school year, according to ODEW. 'It breaks my heart when you see kids having to deal with this,' said Anita Eldridge-Metz, the district's homeless liaison. 'It's really difficult to fathom what it's like to worry about where you're going to sleep at night on a regular basis.' A fifth of students experiencing homelessness in the district were chronically absent last school year — meaning a student missed at least 10% of school days, Eldridge-Metz said. 'I expected it to be a lot higher than that,' she said. This is Eldridge-Metz's fortieth year with Morgan Schools. She has been the district's homeless liaison since 2020 and also serves as the secondary director of instruction & curriculum. 'We're a small district, lots of people carry additional responsibilities on their plate, and mine just happens to be the homeless liaison,' she said. The district's enrollment officer has the biggest impact on identifying students experiencing homelessness, Eldridge-Metz said. 'There are some trigger questions that help that person identify where the student is living,' she said. 'The question will be 'Where are you living?' or 'Are you living with somebody else?' Most of their students who are identified as homeless are living in doubled-up arrangements, Eldridge-Metz said. 'That means that you have multiple families sharing one dwelling,' she said. 'We also have a lot of students who live in what I would call substandard housing. So that means they might be living in a travel trailer or some kind of a storage shed or a converted garage.' There are no homeless shelters in Morgan County. If a student is in temporary housing outside of Morgan County, the school district doesn't have the means to transport them, Eldridge-Metz said. Every building in the district has a closet and a place with extra hygiene supplies that health aides and school secretaries give to students as needed. 'This is primarily for our students who have been identified as homeless, but, certainly, if we have any other child who needs any of these items we want them to be able to provide that to any student who needs it,' Eldridge-Metz said. 'When you live in a rural, relatively poor community, a lot of times it's not just the homeless kids that need resources or need supplies.' Cincinnati is the state's second largest school district with about 35,000 students and 7.6% of their students experienced homelessness last school year, according to ODEW. 'If you are constantly just trying to figure out where you're going to sleep at night, what you're going to eat, where you're going to go, you're always in a fight-or-flight response state, and so it does become really hard to reach that space where you're able to learn and really focus and prioritize education,' said Rebeka Beach, who manages Project Connect, the district's program that serves children and families experiencing homelessness. Project Connect — which serves about 4,000 students a year — helps arrange transportation, gives out school supplies, provides emergency hotel stays, offers tutoring programs, and has social emotional groups, among other things. The attendance rate last year for students in the district experiencing homelessness was between 75-80%, Beach said. The district also has a school counselor who works specifically with seniors experiencing homelessness and the graduation rate for those students was 79% last year, Beach said. 'We work really closely with our transportation department to re-route our students quickly, but sometimes they're so transient that that's not possible, especially for our families who are staying in hotels or who are night to night, going to different areas of the city in their cars to sleep,' she said. Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE