November 2018: Around the District

High School Mindful Mornings Program
Mary Bourisseau has combined her passion for well-being and mindfulness with her work as a Shaker Heights High School Counselor into an opportunity that she hopes will reduce stress for high school students and staff. Beginning this month, Mrs. Bourisseau will host Mindful Mornings in the small auditorium at 7:40 a.m. daily so that High School students and staff can participate in a morning meditation. Attending is easy: guests sign in, take a seat and engage. 

High School staff has noticed increased levels of anxiety among high school students in recent years. “Students already use the zen room in the nurse’s office—it’s got mood lighting, putty and music to help kids relax,” Mrs. Bourisseau explains. “We know that at least half of all college students access some form of mental health help, so we want to do what we can now to give our students the tools they need to help them manage their stress and emotional well-being.”

Mrs. Bourisseau plans to expand this mindfulness project into a lunchtime program. “School cafeterias are for extroverts. We plan to create a space that’s a quiet zone, where kids can choose from a menu of calming activities,” she says. In the meantime, Mrs. Bourisseau will involve students in planning for Mindful Mornings, as she wants to build a program that addresses their needs. 

Mrs. Bourisseau is optimistic about the impact the program will have on students. Last year, she introduced her students to meditation apps during her Grade 11 advisory session. She recalled one student, in particular, who rolled his eyes at her mention of the app, but by the end of the year, he felt differently. “He told me that the the app was life-changing and that he uses it every day,” Mrs. Bourisseau says. “The more we can share these tools with students, the more we’re preparing them for life.” 

Hybrid Pianos to Replace District’s Traditional Pianos
The piano in the music room at Lomond looks just like a traditional upright piano, but it's much more than that. It's a hybrid piano-half traditional, half digital. The digital capability enables teachers to connect the pianos with iPads or a USB device to save music and also allows students to play at the piano with headphones. The first hybrid pianos were installed at Lomond and at the High School for use by the pit orchestra. Onaway received its hybrid piano this year. Mercer also will receive its hybrid piano this school year. 

"They're a special investment, so the transition will take time," says Lomond and Onaway PreK music teacher Cynthia Steiner. "This technology is so awesome because these pianos really engage students in music."

Congratulations to David Glasner, PhD
Congratulations to Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction David Glasner, who earned a Ph.D. in Urban Education with a specialization in school administration from Cleveland State University last month. The topic of his dissertation focused on the impact of tracking students in mathematics on middle school achievement. Well done, Dr. Glasner!

High School Staff Presents on Bridges Program at National Conference
Last month, the Shaker Heights High School Bridges team of Sarah Davis, Joe Konopinski, Brian Berger and Jayce Bailey traveled to the College Board Forum 2018 in Dallas, where the group made a presentation on the High School’s Bridges program. Bridges aims to increase the number of diverse students and student success in the High School’s Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Courses. The High School team of speakers shared information on the Bridges program with conference attendees who were interested in starting similar programs at their schools and districts. 

“We’re finding more and more that schools are taking on this type of program,” says Mrs. Davis, who facilitates the Bridges program and teaches AP US History and other world history classes at the High School. She shares responsibility of the Bridges program with Mr. Berger and Mr. Konopinski. “It’s even happening at the post-secondary level. The more we can all share ideas and invest in this kind of change, the better.” The ultimate goal of Bridges is to create a pipeline of increasing numbers of African American, Hispanic, English Language Learner and students identified with specific learning needs into the High School’s highest-level courses. 

The Bridges program began in the summer of 2016 with 16 students—last summer, the program enrolled 61 students. Today, there are 97 Bridges alumnae at the High School, three of whom will be traveling on various spring international trips, thanks to the program’s support from the Shaker Schools Foundation. Since the start of Bridges, Districts around the country, including Chicago’s Oak Park Schools, have reached out to Mrs. Davis to learn how they can replicate our program.

“What our data shows, and what national data supports, is that as AP programs become more inclusive, the scores are staying the same,” Mrs. Davis explains. “We’ve found that a classroom with greater diversity of experiences still leads to success for all students.”

District Announces One-to-One Device Plan for 2019-2020 School Year
The District announced a Chromebook purchase and distribution timeline that aims to create a District-wide, one-device-to-one-student learning environment for grades 5-12 by the 2019-2020 school year. 

“Our District vision is to provide all students with access to technology that supports 21st century learning and skill development,” says John Rizzo, Executive Director of Technology and Media Services. “We all know that technology is constantly changing—this plan enables us to respond proactively to those changes.”

The rollout will begin this year, with an increase in the number of classroom-assigned Chromebooks for Grades K-4. In 2019-2020, the District will assign Chromebooks to all students in Grades 5-12.

The District is still in the process of developing policies and procedures for student Chromebook use and distribution. Stay tuned to shaker.org for more updates.

Heights Career Tech to Offer Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Program
Students in the Heights Career Tech program will soon have another professional pathway to choose from. Beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, the five-district consortium (which includes Shaker Heights High School) will partner with Cuyahoga Community College’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management program.

The two-year program will begin with 18 juniors taking two courses, Hospitality Fundamentals and Fundamentals of Food Production, at Tri-C’s Eastern Campus in 2019-2020. The following year, the program will expand to include 18 juniors and 18 seniors. The senior courses are Restaurant Management and Room Service and Operations. 

Students will receive 10 college credits after completion of the program. Students who are interested in the program can learn more at the annual Career Fair on Nov. 15 during the school day at Cleveland Heights High School. There will be an informational session for parents that evening from 6-8 p.m.

For more information on Tri-C’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management program, visit their website at www.tri-c.edu.

The Heights Career Tech Consortium allows junior and senior students to explore potential career fields with hands-on experiences in the classroom. The courses are offered through a five-district consortium, which includes Cleveland Heights, Bedford, Maple Heights, Shaker Heights and Warrensville Heights high schools. Heights Career Tech students currently have the opportunity to earn professional certifications, industry-recognized credentials, and college credit in 23 unique pathways. For more information, visit Heights Career Tech.

Online Report Cards for Students in Grades 5-12
Families with students in Grades 5-12 will access student report cards online via ProgressBook. Sharing report cards electronically streamlines the process of receiving final grades for families and represents significant savings in postage and service contracts for the District.

At the end of each grading period—every nine weeks at the High School and Middle School (the first quarter ended October 26), and every 12 weeks at Woodbury—families will receive an email and text notification that report cards are available for viewing. Simply log in to your family’s ProgressBook account as you would to view your student’s grades and click on the new “Report Card” tab. High School and Middle School report cards are available online now.

The District will mail report cards home for students in Grades 5-12 by request only. Contact your building office if you would like a printed copy of your student’s report card.

Woodbury Clock Tower Wins Shaker Heights Landmark Commission Historic Preservation Award
Shaker Heights Schools, Van Auken Akins Architects and contractors Envirocom Construction Inc., Thorson Baker & Associates and Professional Service Industries Inc. shared a Historic Preservation Award granted by the City of Shaker Heights for the restoration of the Woodbury School bell tower. The tower was deemed structurally unsafe in 2015, disassembled and comprehensively restored in 2016. Although the tower’s original 2,000-pound bell was removed during the restoration work, it remains at the school, displayed on a pedestal on the Woodbury front lawn. Today, the tower is historically identical to when the school was built 100 years ago.