The summer break has offered the team at West Geauga Schools an opportunity to look at new ways to promote secure access to the school buildings.
West G Redesigns School Entrances
The summer break has offered the team at West Geauga Schools an opportunity to look at new ways to promote secure access to the school buildings.
To that end, both the middle school and high school entrances for students and visitors will be renovated to enhance security.
“Renovating these two entrances will provide our students with a more secure opportunity to enter and exit our school buildings. We will be better able to monitor and facilitate those who are visiting,” said Sean Whelan, director of technology and operations for the district.
Construction at the high school is projected to be complete prior to the return of students in August. Renovations will be ongoing during the fall at the middle school.
New Student-Centered Math Curriculum
During the 2018-19 academic year, the West Geauga Schools will be rolling out a new math program from grade six through Algebra 2. It is the second phase in upgrading the math curriculum, which was updated for the elementary schools last year through the adoption of a new elementary math program.
Kathleen Cooey, math coach and chair of the Text Evaluation Committee that chose the curriculum, said, “Both of these programs are student centered curriculums that focus on deep understanding of mathematical topics (as opposed to rote memorization of a process that students do not understand). The curriculums make use of activities and discovery to make new topics more attainable for students of all skill levels.”
The process to select this curriculum was a team approach. The new elementary curriculum, which will be going into its second year, was selected by Cooey, Assistant Superintendent Nancy Benincasa, and teachers Joelle Ehrbar, Debbie Lachman, April Lillash, Beth Phillips, Jen Schultz and Frank Vosicky. The secondary curriculum was chosen by Cooey, Benincasa, Assistant High School Principal Ron Dahlhofer, Assistant Middle School Principal Shawn Krippel and teachers Kelsey Fladda and Ethan Teare.
Said Cooey, “The committees were selected from teachers who volunteered to be a part of the process, as well as administrators who work with the math teachers in each building. Each committee was intentionally selected to recruit members from each building involved, as well as a representative from the special education department.”
During the process, the team started with a list of about ten programs, completed research, listened to sales pitches and vetted each program for content and curriculum. The committees also visited area schools to see both math programs in action before making a recommendation to the board to adopt each. In each case, the committee unanimously voted to recommend Bridges (elementary) and College Preparatory Mathematics (secondary) to be used at West Geauga.
One of the biggest outcomes that Cooey and the team hope to see is the ability for students to develop their analytical skills.
She said, “We hope to build students into true problem solvers, who can approach a challenge with confidence, and the ability to try multiple approaches to reach a solution. These traits are ones we know are not only useful in math class, but also as a potential employee out in the community.”
