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To The Northwest Community:
On behalf of the District Leadership Team and the Board of Education, welcome back to Northwest School District for the 2010-11 school year. It is hard to believe that summer is over and that the new school year is beginning. I hope that you found some time to relax and refresh during the summer. Our students and staff are ready to begin another productive year in the Northwest Local School District.
This was a busy summer. Several documents are available that summarize some of major projects. These documents are located on our district website – www.nwlsd.org for your viewing:
• The District Calendar, as usual provides a great deal of useful information. The Superintendent’s Message contains a summary of the major projects and initiatives for this, and future, school years.
• The Narrow Grade Range (NGR) Expansion Study is underway. We have asked for community input on this initiative and it has been well received.
• We are in the process of forming a study team to review the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) master plan. A brief announcement of this project is available on the district web-site.
• The district’s alternative programs will be expanding and improving this year. There are two FAQs on the district web-site with information about these changes.
There will be new procedures dictated by the state for use of calamity days. This is the first year for three, rather than five, calamity days. The calamity make-up days are listed on the one-page district calendar on the district web-site. We will closely monitor the use of calamity days during the year. You may want to look at this calendar prior to planning any vacation schedules during the holidays or school breaks.
Although the state report cards have not been released, the information we do have indicates that we will lose our excellent rating. We do NOT expect to be rated ‘Above’ in Value Added, which would mean the district will receive an Effective rating. I know that we will work together to regain our Excellent rating; however, to quote ‘A Few Good Men’, “You don’t need an excellent patch on your school to be excellent.” We know that our schools and district are Excellent, regardless of what the patch says.
In closing I would like to thank all the classified staff members who worked all summer to get our schools ready for next week. We could not open our schools without our custodians, maintenance crew, office staff members and other summer help- we appreciate all your hard work.
A very special thank you to the community groups that participated in several Back to School Supply Drives that benefitted our Northwest Local School District students! The response was overwhelming and so very much appreciated.
Rick Glatfelter
Superintendent
Northwest Local School District
8/23/2010
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