YOUNGSTOWN City school wins honor

The board approved the retirements of two high school principals from Rayen and Chaney.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sylvan Education Solutions has named Sheridan Elementary School its center of the year.
Describing the school as a showpiece, Ross Groover, Sylvan's regional director, told the school board that only one elementary school in the United States receives the honor each year. According to Sylvan's Web site, it serves nearly 100,000 pupils in about 800 schools nationwide.
Sheridan Elementary was chosen because its pupils excelled, scoring nine points above the scores the year before.
"A score of zero represents a normal year-to-year gain so that the student would be at the same place in the next grade," Groover explained. "Anything above zero marks a significant improvement as the result of some type of intervention."
About 120 of the 550 pupils at Sheridan participate in the Sylvan program, which provides special instruction to second- and third-graders who scored in the 25th to 40th percentile on standardized tests, said Principal Mary Ann Schulay.
How they scored: Pupils in the Youngstown School District participating in the Sylvan program scored three points higher in vocabulary, five points higher in comprehension and four points higher in total reading on the California Achievement Test after 30 hours of instruction, according to school officials.
Fourth-graders who had gone through the Sylvan program, officials said, gained an average of 11.2 points on the Ohio Proficiency Test compared with an average gain of 5.8 points for their classmates who did not go through the program.
"We're very, very proud of what's going on at Sheridan," said Lock P. Beachum Sr., board president.
The school has used the Sylvan program three years.
Also on agenda: In other business at the board meeting Thursday, Ricciuti, Balog & amp; Partners Architects presented two possible floor plans for the new high school, slated for construction near East High School.
Other plans or revisions will be presented at future meetings, after school administrators have had an opportunity to make recommendations.
Beachum said a plan could be chosen as soon as next month.
In connection with ongoing plans for renovations and additions, the board approved resolutions authorizing an additional $800,000 for the renovation of North Elementary School, and an estimated $315,683 for the renovation of an addition to Volney Rogers Middle School. Additional upgrades at Volney are projected to cost $1.57 million of which the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission will fund 80 percent.
The board previously approved $5.82 million for North Elementary School renovations and $5.03 million for renovations at Volney Rogers Middle School.
Retirements: The board accepted the retirements, effective July 1, of two high school principals: Claude W. Bentley of The Rayen School and Robert G. Spencer of Chaney.
"Being a high school principal is a long and tedious job," Beachum said. To find qualified replacements, the board will look at possibilities inside and outside of the Youngstown school system.
New principals will likely be announced in the summer.
kubik@vindy.com