February 14, 200817 yr $500K to transform Taft Elementary BY CLIFF PEALE | [email protected] Cincinnati Public Schools and the Strive education partnership will get about $500,000 in state money to help transform William H. Taft Elementary School in Mount Auburn into a school specializing in math and science. The Ohio Partnership for Continued Learning on Wednesday sent back a similar proposal for the Hughes Center for more work. The tweaked applications are due later this spring and a decision should come in May. High-school proposals for Cleveland and Dayton were funded. I believe the state is being cautious, said Larry Johnson, dean of the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services at the University of Cincinnati, a supporter of the application. I believe they should be, because this is substantial money that the state would be putting out.
February 18, 200817 yr Vacant schools worrisome CPS' lack of plan raises risk of blight BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] Interactive Map of Vacant Schools The last thing the industrial Mill Creek Valley community of Carthage can afford is a large, empty building or vacant lot in the heart of the neighborhood, resident Diane Jones said. But as Cincinnati Public Schools enters the second half of its 10-year, citywide rebuilding project, that's what Carthage residents are facing within two years. After losing a multiyear battle to save Carthage Paideia Academy from closing, they're organizing to prevent losing the 41-year-old structure altogether after it serves as a temporary home of the Hartwell school until 2010. "Another vacant building in Carthage would be devastating to us," said Jones, who hopes to rally support for an alternative use for the school.
February 18, 200817 yr Officials are also preparing a strategy for retaining buildings and land How do you go to the voters asking for a levy when you are sitting on non producing assests? I do not know why they own anything, do a sale leasback on all facilities and use the capital raised to offer a better education to these students. You will attract more families and businesses to the area, you will decrease the tax burden on the residents plus it allows for the board of education focus on what it should focus on, education. This gets a huge amount of capital upfront to the school board, creates an opportunity for the public to invest in the property, the yield does not have to be much as you are dealing with a high credit tenant but it is a feel good, safe investment. The schools could apply that money towards debt and increasing educational opportunities for Cincinnati children. I guarantee you will get a charter school sale exemption in this case as the use is uninterrupted. It makes all the sense in the world, which is exactly why this will never happen. (please do not confuse my above argument with what to do with vacated buildings)
March 5, 200817 yr I can't believed this passed, but it's great to hear for CPS. Great work. CPS enjoys stunning victory 'It's just wonderful,' Blackwell says of passage after issue trailed early BY BEN FISCHER | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER March 5, 2008 CINCINNATI - Supporters of the Cincinnati Public Schools passed a levy Tuesday by less than 2 percentage points. Shortly after midnight, campaign coordinator Jan Leslie posted the final, unofficial results showing the narrow victory - 50.8 percent in favor to 49.2 percent against, with all precincts counted. The crowd at the campaign headquarters in Spring Grove Village had dwindled to about 30 people when the victory was announced, but they were euphoric.
March 10, 200817 yr what I'm proposing for them to do is to establish a system where every eligible child in cps is given a value to spend on school. suddenly kids are eligible to attend any school in the cps system. All the high schools are currently district-wide schools of choice. Any child anywhere in the district can apply to any CPS HS. There are at least a dozen elementary school magnet programs also. To try to get this back on topic, I agree that CPS should sell all surplus property. Could Strickland get the law changed that requires them to sell to charter schools? A change in this law may loosen up CPS property.
March 11, 200817 yr And as Jskinner mentioned, all CPS high schools are take students from the entire district, and the magnet school programs do the same effective things for elementary schools. This is not my understanding. I have always thought that specific schools draw from specific areas. ex. if I live in Pleasant Ridge then I would not go to Western Hills High. Magnet schools do draw from the entire dist. but have testing requirements making the vast majority ineligible to attend. These certainly are not limited to elementary schools and do include SCPA and Walnut Hills. CPS covers the entire dist, however individual schools do not. Am I wrong? If not, then this does mean that if you do not qualify for a magnet then you would have to go to the school designated for your area, for me I believe that would have been Woodward as I grew up in Amberly. So if Woodward was and under performing school, and it was at least at the time, then I would have been out of luck had I not been able to get into Walnut Hills. This makes the system, as I understand it, a competitive one. Not in giving one choice of where to go to public school, but a competitiveness between urban vs suburban systems as seen with many families opting to move out of the dist so there child can go to Sycamore schools etc. This puts the City at a major disadvantage as it makes it difficult to draw in families inside the boundaries and that lends to a diminished tax base. A voucher type system negates that advantage to some extent.
March 12, 200817 yr All high schools in CPS have specialized programs. They may still retain their traditional high schools as well, or these may have eventually been phased out, or they have simply been renamed the "university program" at the various schools. So Withrow has the international and language program, Hughes has a Paideia program as well as other more technical programs, Clark has a Montessori program, West High has a design technology program, etc. Do these tech programs encourage students to go on to college (looking good on a college app) or do they encourage students to immediately enter the workforce after obtaining tech skills in high school? If it's the latter, I think it puts these students at a comparative disadvantage. I know Hughes does a great job at preparing students for college. Almost everyone I know that went to Hughes benefited from their academics and specialization when they went on to UC.
March 12, 200817 yr I personally don't think everyone is meant for college...and if you are not I think it is better that you come out of HS with a trade or some sort of skill that can immediately put you into the workforce. Additionally, there are simply no where near enough white collar jobs to support all of the individuals going to college nowadays. This is the reality that should be presented by guidance counselors...but they instead work as hard as they can on college placements.
March 12, 200817 yr I agree with the fact that not everyone is meant for college, and often, the best and brightest entrepreneurs shouldn't go to college. I think college is for the people (like myself) who need the type of structure college brings to life. It makes people feel like they're on the right path, etc. However, some people who truly have innovative ideas and have 'what it takes' jump right into the work force and get it done. Look at the show 'The Apprentice' when they did the street smarts vs. college educated. The street smarts people were WAY better and their total net worth was something like twice as high as the college educated. Now obviously those who go to college, on average, have higher incomes than those who don't. But certainly, the brightest don't need college because they already have what it takes.
March 12, 200817 yr Do these tech programs encourage students to go on to college I think CPS is looking at encouraging students to go to high school.
March 12, 200817 yr I agree with the fact that not everyone is meant for college, and often, the best and brightest entrepreneurs shouldn't go to college. I think college is for the people (like myself) who need the type of structure college brings to life. It makes people feel like they're on the right path, etc. However, some people who truly have innovative ideas and have 'what it takes' jump right into the work force and get it done. Look at the show 'The Apprentice' when they did the street smarts vs. college educated. The street smarts people were WAY better and their total net worth was something like twice as high as the college educated. Now obviously those who go to college, on average, have higher incomes than those who don't. But certainly, the brightest don't need college because they already have what it takes. Seriously? Smarts doesn't get you everything...explain to me how someone without a college degree would ever become a doctor, urban planner, architect, lawyer, dentist, physical/occupational/speech therapist, psychologist, engineer, etc. Those that go to college for business might not need to learn much in college if they are exceptionally bright (debateable), but half of what college is about is networking, building a resume, interning, and making connections; all things that college enables you to do.
April 1, 200817 yr Decision close on Northside school BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] For months, Northside community leaders have tried convincing Cincinnati Public Schools to abandon plans to rebuild Chase School on its current location, a move they said would be a massive error in neighborhood planning. Theyll soon know whether they succeed. Demolition has begun at the old building, and school district officials say they wont put off further planning any longer than early June, after agreeing to a delay at the request of Mayor Mark Mallory. Id probably give it a one-third chance of making it, said Tim Jeckering, president of the Northside Community Council. That is a higher number than I would have given in the past. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/NEWS01/303310058
April 8, 200817 yr CPS avoids financial oversight BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] April 8, 2008 Along with new tax dollars, Cincinnati Public Schools won a temporary reprieve from state financial oversight in the March primary elections, and could avoid it altogether. We have basically taken a wait-and-see attitude, said Roger Hardin, a state education department official who oversees finances. Heading into the levy vote, experts said state oversight was virtually guaranteed if the levy didnt pass. Now, any decision will be delayed for two more months to better assess the impact of the new money, Hardin said. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080408/NEWS01/304080069
April 26, 200817 yr Performing arts school making history in OTR SCPA first in nation for kindergarten to 12th grade BY TANYA BRICKING LEACH | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER April 25, 2008 OVER-THE-RHINE - Think of it as the 1980s television show "Fame" meets "Extreme Makeover: School Edition." When Cincinnati's new School for Creative and Performing Arts is complete for the 2009-10 school year, students will go from practicing in the cubbyholes of an outdated Over-the-Rhine building to enjoying everything a $62 million state-of-the-art school for the arts has to offer. Another $10 million was spent to acquire the property on which it sits. We're talking custom-made practice rooms, professional-grade dance studios, sound stages and three major performance areas, said Jan Leslie, communications chairwoman on the board of directors for the Greater Cincinnati Arts & Education Center, a nonprofit organization created in 1996 to raise private money for the public-school project. For more info click the link above...
May 6, 200817 yr CPS enrollment throws wrench in building plan BY BEN FISCHER | May 6, 2008 Here's the good news for Cincinnati Public Schools: More students are enrolled today than any expert predicted a few years ago. But that means bad news, too: overcrowding. Halfway through a decade-long construction project based on those expert projections, nine completed buildings are already over capacity. Another 16 buildings have too many students to fit into their eventual new homes. CPS administrators laid out the enrollment dilemma during a meeting Monday regarding the future of the district's facilities project, which is based on a projection of 32,315 students at its completion. While it's too soon to say whether that final student estimate is off, the actual decline in CPS enrollment has been much more gradual than predicted. A prediction by state-hired demographers just last year pegged the schools' total enrollment by August 2008 at about 32,200 students. CPS now expects about 33,900 to come to school next fall. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS0102/805060354/1058/NEWS01
May 16, 200817 yr Sounds like a great idea. Hughes Center to transform BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] Hughes Center in University Heights will be transformed into a specialized science and math high school by 2013, jointly operated by Cincinnati Public Schools, the University of Cincinnati and three other organizations The proposed new school cleared its final hurdle on Thursday, when a state committee approved nearly $600,000 in taxpayer funding to spur the experiment. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008305080095
May 16, 200817 yr I think the Zoo program is run through Hughes now, I hope they keep that if not at Hughes within CPS somewhere. It's just such a cool program. It will be interesting to see the results from this new program
May 16, 200817 yr From the Minneapolis and St. Paul Star Tribune: The Cincinnati example By Joe Nathan October 29, 2007 Powerful progress in the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) may help efforts to improve Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. Despite its problems, CPS grew from a four-year, 51-percent high-school graduation rate in 2000 to a four-year, 79-percent graduation rate in 2007. It also eliminated the graduation gap between white and African-American students. Graduation rates for all students increased. Cincinnati appears to be among the first (if not the first) major urban districts to eliminate this gap. No one is satisfied with a 79-percent graduation rate. There are differences among Cincinnati, St Paul and Minneapolis (including higher funding in Minnesota schools, and a higher percentage here of limited-English-speaking students). But having represented the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Cincinnati for the last seven years. I've learned lessons that may be useful locally. Read full article here: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/11150746.html
May 19, 200817 yr Maybe as CPS builds more new high schools, more CPS schools will show up on this list.
May 21, 200817 yr Silverton neighbors object to school BY STEVE KEMME | [email protected] SILVERTON Some of the people who live in the vicinity of Ficke Memorial (Silverton) Park object to a proposal to build an elementary school in the park. They say the presence of the new Silverton Paideia School in the park would disrupt the quiet atmosphere of their neighborhood. Theres hardly any traffic back here, said Darlene Jones, who has lived on North Street in Silverton, four houses from the park, for 18 years. Its our little, quiet, undisturbed piece of serenity. Now youre going to have noisy kids, school buses and parents cars back here. I wouldnt like that at all. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/305210071
May 22, 200817 yr Should the Enquirer call a family with the surname Quarry, the Quarries? Or should it be the Quarrys? Seriously though, I had to google this location because I can't picture this park at all: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=stewart+road,+silverton,+OH+&sll=39.108332,-84.516486&sspn=0.010706,0.007424&ie=UTF8&ll=39.19631,-84.393303&spn=0.011424,0.019999&t=h&z=16">Google Map</a>
May 22, 200817 yr It is seriously hidden. It looks like little more than a driveway from Montgomery Road. I ate ice cream there in preschool.
June 6, 200817 yr Former Cincinnati school to be reborn as cultural arts center Much fund-raising, renovation needed for transformation http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/06/09/story22.html
June 12, 200817 yr Workers constructed a rental fence around Hughes High School this morning, right up to the sidewalks.
June 25, 200816 yr Rothenberg planning 'gaining momentum' http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/rothenberg0624.aspx
June 25, 200816 yr Also, it looks like renovation work has been started at Hughes. Are there any sort of drawings online showing the improvements to Hughes? I assume the only changes noticeable from outside will be new windows and a lack of AC units hanging out.
June 26, 200816 yr Are there any sort of drawings online showing the improvements to Hughes? Not much yet. http://www.cmw.osfc.state.oh.us/guest/ProjectPhotos.cgi?1003809 http://www.cps-k12.org/Facilities/Schools/ArchDraw/Hughes/HughesDraw.htm
June 26, 200816 yr ^ Wow that is great. I had no idea they renovations would be so extensive. A perfect way to honor one of the cities spectacular architectural icons.
August 11, 200816 yr Scores up, but is it the buildings? By Ben Fischer • [email protected] • August 8, 2008 http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080808/NEWS0102/308080006/
August 11, 200816 yr CPS: Giant job half done New schools create pride, but uneven enrollment http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=cps
August 11, 200816 yr The academic improvements at CPS has been quite possibly the most important thing that has happened to Cincinnati over the past several years, and it has also been one of the least covered stories. Most people have absolutely no clue that CPS is now scoring comparatively with many of the suburban school districts. At the same time they have significantly reduced the achievement gap between black and white students. Improved college placement, improved graduation rates, and have improved attendance numbers.
August 11, 200816 yr Can you imagine a couple years AFTER the entire master plan is finished! The sky could be the limit!!!!
August 11, 200816 yr The academic improvements at CPS has been quite possibly the most important thing that has happened to Cincinnati over the past several years, and it has also been one of the least covered stories. Most people have absolutely no clue that CPS is now scoring comparatively with many of the suburban school districts. The opinion piece in the Minneapolis paper was probaby one of the more glowing reports on urban public school district that Ive seen. Clearly CPS is doing something right. Can this be duplicated in underperforming urban districts elsewhere in Ohio? (and I am specifically thinking of Dayton), or is this positive outcome unique to Cincy, and not repeatable elsewhere.
August 12, 200816 yr CPS enrollment throws wrench in building plan http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS0102/805060354/1058/NEWS01 Hyde Park School reopening? That's one possibility to alleviate overcrowding Cincinnati school district planners raised the prospect Monday of reopening Hyde Park School to alleviate overcrowding at newly renovated Kilgour School in Mount Lookout. The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council has been trying to persuade the district to reopen the school for more than a year, arguing that parent demand has increased enough to justify it. School district administrators included the Hyde Park proposal in a memo to the school board describing other potential solutions to crowding, which is affecting six newly constructed schools built during the district's decade-long reconstruction plan and threatens yet-to-be-built schools. Read full article here: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/NEWS0102/808120324/1055/NEWS
August 22, 200816 yr Demolition of Taft High School to get under way http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/08/18/daily50.html The 53-year-old Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School in the West End will be razed starting Aug. 25 to make way for a new high school, Cincinnati Public Schools said Friday. After the high school on Ezzard Charles Drive is demolished, which will take about a month, construction will begin on the new Taft IT High School, the district said. The school is expected to be completed in 2010. In the interim, the school will operate at a temporary location in North Fairmount. For more info click the link above...
August 22, 200816 yr Robert A. Taft Technology High School Statistics: Cincinnati Public Schools Grades 9-12 600 Students 101,000 sq. ft. Est. Completion: 2010 Features: Grand 3-Story Entry Vestibule Large Courtyard Enhanced Daylighting in all Academic Areas (14) General Classrooms (11) Special Education Rooms (9) Computer Labs (4) Science Labs Art and Music Rooms 900-Seat Gymnasium (4) Locker Rooms http://www.vswc.com/index.php?page=project&sub=educational&id=93
August 22, 200816 yr ^I wouldn't say that, the old Taft has some character. Not that I'm saying it should have been preserved, but it is somewhat interesting for a 1950's design.
August 26, 200816 yr Apparenly the state has released a schools report card (and Dayton schools are at the bottom). How did CPS fair on the state report card. Are the positive signs still showing on the state ratings?
August 27, 200816 yr CPS got the highest rating of any urban school district in Ohio. They have received a 'Continuous Improvement' rating for the 4th consecutive year, and narrowly missed the 'Effective' rating.
August 27, 200816 yr City schools hold rating High schools prop up local report card scores For the fourth consecutive year, Cincinnati Public Schools held onto its “continuous improvement” rating on Ohio’s local report cards released Tuesday, the third-lowest rating out of six possible. However, the district solidified its position in 2007-08, easily clearing the minimum standards for the mid-level category. Last year, the 33,000-student system narrowly avoided falling back into “academic watch” after new social studies and science tests began. CPS again rode the strength of its high schools to meet 9 out of 30 indicators on the increasingly complex report cards – the most indicators met by any large, urban district. Read full article here: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/NEWS0102/308250031/1058
August 27, 200816 yr Of the 62 schools in CPS that received ratings: 12 are in academic emergency 16 are in academic watch 15 are in continuous improvement, 13 are effective, 5 are excellent, 1, Kilgour School in Mount Lookout earned the new excellent with distinction rating. ...However, long-term disparities between the district's schools continued in 2008. Regular neighborhood elementary schools continue to make up the vast majority of schools earning the worst scores. If you get your child into one of the 19 schools that are Effective to Excellent, then CPS is a great place for your kids. Top notch. I am continually impressed with my son's teachers and school environment. Unfortunately, I also have some aquaintances who somehow missed getting into the track of one of these schools and have ended up at Taft Elementary, which is one of the lowest rated schools.
August 27, 200816 yr Ideally, the whole district will eventually improve, but beware a Board and Superintendent that decides that equality is more important than quality (see CPS in the 80s Lee Etta Powell). The key to successful urban school districts for the middle class is to provide a place for them to invest in. It should be as diverse as possible but a city's middle class absolutely has to be committed to its schools. Otherwise, an urban district will collapse and take the city with it.
August 27, 200816 yr Otherwise, an urban district will collapse and take the city with it. Classic example is just up the road here in Dayton.
August 28, 200816 yr However, looking at the numbers, 41% of the schools in CPS are in academic emergency or academic watch. This sounds like a lot, given the glowing reports that have abeen posted.
August 28, 200816 yr ^Oh, they've got their share of problems, I'm just saying you can get an excellent education with CPS if you work the system right.
August 28, 200816 yr Cincinnati (and its not alone in this) has managed to return to a version of the system 'when the public schools worked', which is that some schools are fantastic (mostly middle class) and some are urban public schools. I'd say that the high schools have seen the most dramatic improvement in the last ten years. When I was that age, Walnut was the only real option (SCPA was okay), but my sense is that many of the schools have carved out decent programs.
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