Welcome Back Avon Lake Students

Editor's note: The following is a welcome back message from Avon Lake Superintendent Bob Scott. Look for new Avon Superintendent Michael Laub's column tomorrow. Avon returns Aug. 23.

Classes Begin Aug. 22 for Avon Lake students. (But activity never really stopped.)

Depending on the age of your student, Aug. 22 may have a completely different meaning for you than it has for other parents, grandparents or persons responsible for a school age person during June, July, and August. 

For some, days at the pool, playing with friends, camps, softball, baseball, and soccer are coming to an end (Can’t summer be a couple of weeks longer?). For others, (usually as students get older - teenagers), they are looking at their watches and calendars daily wanting to know why the 22nd is so slow getting here. While for others, the marching band, athletic teams, and many other groups, the 22nd represents the end of a summer of preparation, the date when their hard work can be displayed.

Regardless of which group you fall in, Aug. 22 is upon us.  The doors at the seven Avon Lake City School buildings will be open. Between 7:45 and 8:45 a.m., more than 3,900 children and young men and women will pass through those doors and begin the next phase of their education. Whether they are a kindergartener and this is their first year or they are seniors and this is their last year,  we are excited that they are here and about the opportunities they will have during the 2012 – 2013 school year.

The opportunities students have this year are built upon the past successes of the students at Avon Lake City Schools. I cannot list all of our awards and honors which we received individually, as teams or groups, as schools or as the District during the 2011-2012 school year because of the lack of space, but just a few of our accolades include:

• Being rated by the State of Ohio as “Excellent” for the ninth consecutive year
• Avon Lake High School being rated by Newsweek as one of the top schools in the country for the fourth consecutive year 
• The Graduating Class of 2012 earning over $17,500,000 in scholarships
• Over 90 percent of the Class of 2012 going to 2-year, 4-year colleges or the military
• Over 60 percent of our graduates earning college credit before graduation

Even with our past success in and outside the classroom,  knows that in our fast paced world we cannot rest on our laurels. Preparing students to take their place in the work world and in our society is an ongoing endeavor.  We strive to have every child ready for their next step whether that is continued education or the workplace. 

Besides our many outstanding programs (which we improve each year as needed), students will see changes to the K-8 Science curriculum this year based on the new Ohio Common Core Standards. There will be addition PSEO classes at thel in collaboration with Lorain County Community College and all campuses will be working on the uses of “smart” technology in the classroom as we expand our BYOD/Bring Your Own Device initiative. We are excited about our academic year.

In 2009 the Avon Lake community passed an $18.5 million bond to add much needed classrooms at our four elementary school buildings and make improvements at   Construction was completed on these projects in the summer of 2011. Tight management of the projects saw their completion coming in at over a million dollars under the projected cost.  This savings has allowed the district to undertake 2 major projects this summer which will help ensure the safety of our students long term at the Avon Lake High School and to replace an aged (1970s vintage) heating and cooling system at .

Bond levy dollars can only be used for “capital improvements” and cannot be used for any type of operational costs. Use of the 2009 bond dollars to change the South drive of the High School and to develop a handicapped bus drop off area on the loop off of Route 83 makes our environment safer for our students.  Replacing the HVAC system at Troy will allow the District to manage operational cost better in the future.  The replacement was inevitable and the use of bond dollars kept the cost from coming from the general fund.

The 2012 – 2013 school year will be exciting and another tremendous year for our students, parents, staff and community. As always, please join us at any of our buildings for the many activities open to the public. Thank you for your support. Go Shoremen and Shoregals!

Bob Scott
Superintendent
Avon Lake City School District