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16 schools in Valley get state accolades
Area Schools of Promise
Mahoning County
Robinwood Lane Elementary, Boardman, 47 percent, reading, one year.
Knox Elementary, West Branch, 41 percent, reading, one year.
Youngstown Early College, Youngstown, 87 percent, reading and math, four years.
Trumbull County
Bloomfield High, Bloomfield-Mespo, 51 percent, reading, three years.
Mesopotamia Elementary, Bloomfield-Mespo, 67 percent, reading, four years.
Brookfield High, Brookfield, 45 percent, reading and math, one year.
Prospect Elementary,
Girard, 63 percent, reading and math, five years.
LaBrae High, LaBrae, 44 percent, reading, one year.
LaBrae Middle, LaBrae,
56 percent, reading, three years.
Liberty High, Liberty, 46 percent, reading, one year.
Maplewood Elementary, Maplewood, 44 percent, reading and math, one year.
Seaborn Elementary, Weathersfield, 44 percent, math, one year.
Columbiana County
Joshua Dixon Elementary, Columbiana, 43 percent, reading, one year.
Leetonia High, Leetonia,
43 percent, math, two years.
United Elementary, United, 44 percent, reading, one year.
Garfield Elementary,
Wellsville, 60 percent, reading and math, three years.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
By Denise Dick
By DENISE DICK
COLUMBUS
Ohio’s superintendent of public instruction recognized 16 Mahoning Valley schools for scoring well on the latest state report cards despite high poverty levels.
The 16 schools in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties are among 161 in the state designated by Deborah Delisle as Schools of Promise.
In Mahoning County, Youngstown Early College, Boardman’s Robinwood Lane Elementary and West Branch’s Knox Elementary are Schools of Promise.
Frank Lazzeri, Boardman superintendent, said other schools in the district have earned the Schools of Promise designation in previous years.
“For a building with about 46 percent of students on free or reduced lunches, the staff does a phenomenal job,” Lazzeri said.
A lot of that high percentage is attributable to the economy, he said.
In Trumbull, nine schools — Bloomfield High, Mesopotamia Elementary, Brookfield Elementary, Prospect Elementary in Girard, LaBrae High and Middle, Liberty High, Maplewood Elementary and Seaborn Elementary in Weathersfield — earned the designation.
Stanley Watson, Liberty superintendent, believes performance at the schools is driven by building principals.
“John Young is the principal at the high school, and he’s been the principal for a long time, and he’s done a remarkable job there,” Watson said.
Young understands that there are different methods of instruction, he said. “He makes sure teachers are aware that there are different kinds of learners and different students,” Watson said.
Not everyone learns the same way, he said.
“In addition, there’s the diligent hard work of the counselors and teachers working with kids and analyzing the data,” the superintendent said.
In Columbiana County, Joshua Dixon Elementary, Leetonia High, United Elementary and Garfield Elementary in Wellsville earned the designation.
“Being recognized as a School of Promise is quite an accomplishment,” Leetonia High School Principal Troy D. Radinsky said in a news release.
“This recognition certainly wouldn’t be possible without the efforts, time and energy that our staff dedicated to our students.”
The leadership, caring teachers and a positive school environment have contributed to the school’s success and higher student achievement, Radinsky said.
In a news release, Delisle said that as a former district superintendent, principal and teacher, she recognizes the many challenges associated when working with students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
“These schools demonstrate that having high expectations and providing learning supports enable students to achieve at high levels, in spite of the challenges they might face,” she said. “The students, teachers and leaders of these schools deserve to be celebrated for their efforts and steadfast commitment to education.”
The Schools of Promise program, administered by the Ohio Department of Education, recognizes schools across the state that are demonstrating high achievement in reading and mathematics for all groups of students, despite the fact that 40 percent or more of these students come from low-income backgrounds.
Students in these schools met or exceeded the state standard of 75 percent passage in reading and/or mathematics for the 2009-10 school year.