Vast changes greet students as they head back to school

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

From pay-to-play and transportation cuts to building reconfigurations and revamped curriculum, changes abound as Mahoning Valley students head back to the classroom this fall.

Some of the biggest changes are at the city schools where Chaney High School opens as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and visual- and performing- arts school for sixth- through 12th-graders this year. East High School, for 10th- through 12th-graders, will focus on business, education and law, while both schools adhere to core academic courses.

“I expect better student achievement and more of an environment that’s conducive to learning,” said Superintendent Connie Hathorn.

Chaney will have separate wings for middle school and high school students. VPA classes will be on the building’s first floor with STEM on the second and third.

Workers last week laid a dance floor in what used to be the school’s weight room. Mirrors now line the walls, and dance barres are to be installed. A multipurpose room eventually will double as a dance room/shadow box theater, and art students will demonstrate their talents creating murals on school walls.

The district’s three middle schools are being restructured, too. P. Ross Berry becomes an eighth- and ninth-grade academy, and Wilson and Volney Rogers will house sixth- and seventh-graders.

Moving ninth-graders out of the high schools will allow those students more time to prepare for high school, Hathorn said.

Most discipline issues at the high schools involved ninth-graders, records show.

“The high schools will be focused more on academic achievement and less on discipline,” Hathorn said.

Chaney’s changes also involve a longer school day for VPA and STEM projects.

That focused time will be from 3 to 5 p.m. but not for all students, all year, said Douglas Hiscox, deputy superintendent for academic affairs.

“It will depend on the projects that they’re working on,” he said.

That extra time also will be used for students who experience difficulty in core classes, but those students won’t be identified until after the start of the school year.

The city district’s plan is projected to save $2 million annually and aims to stem the tide of students leaving the district via open enrollment, charter schools and vouchers.

Because of budget problems, Canfield schools have instituted a pay-to-play policy. For club activities, the fee is $25 per activity at the middle school and $50 per activity at the high school. That jumps to $100 per sport for middle schoolers and $200 per sport for high school students.

School lunch prices also increased.

The district has eliminated busing for high school students with clustered stops for other students.

“When the levy did not pass, there was a shortfall in funds,” said Superintendent Dante Zambrini. “We looked at every department in the district and reviewed operations and made the decision not to eliminate but to trim.”

State law doesn’t require school districts to bus either high school students or students who live within two miles of schools.

Rather than eliminate busing for students within the radius, the district opted to cut busing for high school students and, rather than have buses stop at virtually every middle and elementary school student’s home, designate bus stops for groups of students.

“It is a significant savings in transportation,” Zambrini said.

He said the school board and administration didn’t want to make the reductions and first asked voters to pass levies while recognizing the challenging economic climate.

“We’ve received no new money from taxpayers in seven years,” Zambrini said. “For the last several years, we’ve been negatively impacted with no increase in funding from the state and then we get a 19 percent cut this year from the state.”

He said the district already was running a lean operation.

“The state does not want to increase taxes, so they cut the amount of money [to schools], and in essence they’re saying to the school board, ‘You pass taxes,’” Zambrini said.

Poland, similarly, has cut bus transportation for high school students because of financial woes. Voters in that district rejected a levy last fall.

As construction on two new Austintown elementary schools is under way, Falcon Drive is shut down, restricting access to Fitch High School to entrances from either Raccoon Road or Burkey Road.

Boardman students will see larger classes as that district grapples with state budget cuts.

“We’ll have 26 fewer teachers and two fewer administrators, and we’ve managed to balance our budget for three years with a new three-year agreement with our teachers,” said Superintendent Frank Lazzeri. No teachers lost their jobs. The reductions occurred through attrition.

Campbell schools has undergone a reconfiguration that will send eighth-graders to the high school building on Sixth Street this year.

Eighth-graders were previously at the middle school off Struthers-Liberty Road. The reconfiguration reduced staff by one administrator, 51/2 teaching positions, a bus driver and a head custodian. It means a $500,000 savings in fiscal year 2012, schools Superintendent Thomas Robey has said.

In Trumbull County, Warren, Girard, Niles, LaBrae and Mathews each start the school year with new superintendents.

Liberty begins the school year under the supervision of a financial planning and fiscal oversight commission after the state declared the district in fiscal emergency because of a deficit and the lack of a plan to eliminate it.

Contributors: Staff writers Jeanne Starmack and Christine Keeling.

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The 2011-12 school year is about to begin in the Mahoning Valley and western Pennsylvania. Here are some of the new administrative appointments, significant curriculum changes and major renovations students will see as they return to the classrooms. Districts and schools not included either had no changes to report or didn’t respond to The Vindicator’s request for information.

MAHONING COUNTY

AUSTINTOWN

Curriculum: Falcon Pride Online continues to provide additional curriculum options for personalized educational opportunities. It’s a public, tuition-free program that serves all students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Renovations: Construction on the two new elementary buildings began in June. Frank Ohl Middle School and Watson Elementary will be removed to facilitate site preparation, and traffic patterns have changed due to fenced-off construction areas. There is no access to Fitch High School from Idaho Road. Cars must enter from Raccoon Road entrances by Austintown Middle School, the Austintown branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County or off of Burkey Road at Falcon Drive. Updates and photographs of construction progress will be on the district’s website. Go to www.austintown.k12.oh.us and click on the OSFC project.

First day: Wednesday.

BOARDMAN

First day: Sept. 6

CANFIELD

Administration: The district welcomes two new administrators to the community this school year. Travis Lavery will serve as the principal of C.H. Campbell Elementary. He previously taught in the Fairview School District in Fairview, Pa. Joseph Maroni will serve as the new seventh- and eighth-grade principal at Canfield Village Middle School. He has served for the past eight years as the assistant principal at Boardman Center Middle School.

First day: Sept. 6.

CARDINAL MOONEY

Administration: John Young is the new principal. He is a graduate of Mooney and the parent of four children who also graduated from the school. Young previously was the principal at Liberty High School.

Renovations: Replacement of wooden gym bleachers with new vinyl bleachers and painting the gymnasium.

First day: Tuesday. Freshmen orientation is Monday.

HOLY FAMILY

Administration: The new principal is Kathleen Stoops.

First day: Wednesday

JACKSON-MILTON

Curriculum: The district is buying iPads for the kindergarten classes and the music programs at the elementary, middle and high school along with expanding its Kindle E-reader program into the middle school.

Renovations: Replaced all the heating and cooling units and renovated the restrooms at the elementary school as well as painted and shingled the wrestling building.

First day: Sept. 7.

LOWELLVILLE

First day: Aug. 29.

MOLLIE KESSLER SCHOOL

First day: Sept. 7.

POLAND

Administration: Kevin Snyder, who was acting principal of Poland Seminary High School last year, is high school principal. Michael Masucci is Union Elementary principal, and Tracy Kaschak is North Elementary principal.

First day: Sept. 6.

SPRINGFIELD LOCAL

First day: Sept. 7.

STAMBAUGH CHARTER ACADEMY

First day: Thursday.

STRUTHERS

Curriculum: A dual-credit advanced chemistry course will be offered at the high school in conjunction with Youngstown State University. Also an ACT/SAT test prep course and special-needs courses on transition to independent living and transition to employability have been added to the curriculum. Struthers Middle School’s language- arts department is implementing a reading/writing workshop.

First day: Aug. 29.

SUMMIT ACADEMY

Curriculum: Summit Academy Community School has expanded services to house grades kindergarten through seven. The school has enhanced classroom instruction through the purchase of new math and language-arts curriculum, as well as the introduction of new math and reading coaches to the staff. The Summit Academy Secondary School has expanded its services and will house grades eight through 12. The school has developed its curriculum to be more career-focused. Students are offered a variety of options, which include college prep, vocational prep and employability skills.

First day: Sept. 6.

URSULINE HIGH SCHOOL

Curriculum: Forensic science has been added to the curriculum. An additional wireless-laptop cart with 25 laptop computers was purchased as were five interactive “Smart Boards.”

Renovation: Renovations include painting of classrooms and the auditorium and the installation of the “We Are Ursuline” wall in the cafeteria, a gift of the Class of 2011, the Cafaro Family and Bill and Anna Jean Cushwa. It features three-dimensional lettering, a full-color Ursuline coat of arms and four panels with pictures of Ursuline academics, athletics, extracurricular offerings and spiritual life.

First day: Wednesday.

WEST BRANCH

Administration: Tim Fairfield will assume the duties of assistant principal at West Branch High School. Last year, Brian Coffee moved to principal when Joe Knoll took a position as assistant superintendent at the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. Retired administrator Tom Thompson filled in as assistant principal last year.

Curriculum: West Branch will have a number of special- education units in the district this year. Formerly, the district contracted with county ESC for services. The district continues to incorporate technology into the classroom. Due to the efforts of parent support groups as well as two major grants, the district will begin the year with several new technology initiatives. Both Damascus Elementary and West Branch Middle School will partner with local universities to provide in-service and support for bringing wireless technology into the classrooms. Thanks to the efforts of parent support groups, almost all of the elementary classrooms and several of the middle- and high-school classrooms are equipped with Smartboard Technology. West Branch has partnered with Youngstown State University to offer dual credit for selected high-school courses for seniors. Participation among West Branch students in the “Seniors to Sophomores” program through Kent State Salem continues to be strong. The program allows high-school students to earn up to a year’s worth of college credits at no cost to the student or parents. West Branch has also partnered with Stark State to provide dual credit courses for business and vocational courses.

First day: Sept. 7.

YOUNGSTOWN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Administration: Linda Mansfield is the new dean of students.

Curriculum: Advanced- placement courses will be offered in science, literature and economics.

Renovations: A separate junior- high wing was added in the elementary building.

YOUNGSTOWN CITY

Administration: Douglas Hiscox has been named the deputy superintendent for academic affairs. Richard Gozur is the Chaney High School principal. He previously worked as the long-time principal at Campbell Memorial High School. Bill Baun, previously principal at P. Ross Berry Middle School, will be principal at Paul C. Bunn Elementary School. Artemus Scissum, previously Bunn’s principal, will be the principal at the P. Ross Berry eighth- and ninth-grade academy. Larry Johnson will be principal at University Project Learning Center, and Debbie DiFrancesco, previously UPLC principal, will be the principal at Rayen Early College Middle School.

Curriculum: Chaney changes to a sixth-through-12th-grade school for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and visual and performing arts. East High School will have a focus on business, law and education while both schools continue the core-curriculum courses. P. Ross Berry changes to an eighth- and ninth-grade academy while Volney Rogers and Wilson serve sixth- and seventh-graders.

First day: Aug. 29

TRUMBULL COUNTY

BRISTOL

First day: Wednesday.

CHAMPION

Administration: Mary Walker will be the Champion High School principal, and Michelle Roberts will be the principal of Champion Middle School.

Renovations: Replacement of 30-year-old marquee in the front yard of Central School, asphalt repair at all school buildings.

First day: Tuesday.

HOWLAND

Curriculum: The district has eliminated two vocational programs: manufacturing technology and allied health services. Those discontinuations and a phasing-out of the Latin program were done as cost-cutting measures.

First day: Wednesday; for kindergarten, Thursday.

GIRARD

Administration: David Cappuzzello is the new superintendent, replacing retiring superintendent Joseph Jeswald. Cappuzzello most recently was employed as the high-school principal for the Columbiana Exempted Village School District, where he also served as middle-school principal, district test coordinator and gifted-students coordinator.

LIBERTY

Administration: The new district treasurer is James Wilson. The new high-school principal is Michele Stewart. Judd Rubin is the principal at W.S. Guy Middle School, and Michael Palmer is the principal at E.J. Blott Elementary School.

NILES

Administration: Mark Robinson is the new superintendent, replacing Rocco Adduci, who retired.

First day: Friday.

WARREN

Administration: The district has a new superintendent, Bruce Thomas, and will have new building principals in all four K-8 buildings. Kathryn Hellweg resigned as superintendent in February. Joyce Baldwin is principal of the Jefferson K-8 on Tod Avenue Southwest; Josh Englehart, principal of the McGuffey K-8 on Tod Avenue Northwest; and Sabrina Crawford, principal of the Willard K-8 on Willard Avenue Southeast. Jeff DeJulia has resigned as principal of the Lincoln K-8 on Lincoln Avenue Northeast, but a replacement for him has not been selected.

First day: Aug. 29.

SUMMIT ACADEMY, WARREN ELEMENTARY

First day: Sept. 6.

Curriculum: The school still is accepting students in kindergartern through sixth grade for the upcoming school year.

COLUMBIANA COUNTY

COLUMBIANA

Administration: New high- school principal is Dan Szolek.

Curriculum: New start and dismissal time, 7:40 a.m. and 2:45 p.m., for the high school.

First day: Tuesday.

SALEM

Administration: Cindy Viscounte is the new principal of Reilly Elementary. Viscounte has served as elementary principal coach/ elementary curriculum director, and also as a principal at Gibbs Elementary in the Canton City School District.

First day: Aug. 29 for grades first through 12; Sept. 1 for kindergarten.

UNITED LOCAL

Curriculum: Changes at the elementary include more emphasis on leveled reading and all grade levels using EveryDay Math, a math program that was piloted this year. The junior high and high school are increasing their use of technology by using Google Docs for online lesson plans, assessments, parent news and daily information.

First day: Aug. 31 for first through 12 grades and Sept. 6 for kindergarten.

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

KENNEDY CATHOLIC

Administration: High-school principal is Heidi Patterson, and the Rev. Mark Stockton is president of the Shenango Valley Catholic School System. Peter P. Iacino is the headmaster, and middle-school principal is Vicki Wagner.

Renovations: Kennedy Catholic is now home to the Kennedy Catholic Middle School. The middle school consists of grades six through eight. The renovation came about because of the consolidation of two elementary schools, St. Joe’s in Sharon and Notre Dame in Hermitage. Students in grades K-5 will attend Blessed John Paul II school, which is housed in the old Notre Dame building. Middle-school students at Kennedy have a separate entrance and section of the high school.

WEST MIDDLESEX AREA

Curriculum: Added two new dual-enrollment classes through the University of Pittsburgh, programming and website design and development. Also added a semester-long creative-writing elective for grades 10 to 12.