by Phil Keren
Editor
Though the Woodridge Local School District has made large gains during the last five years, officials are still striving to reach some lofty goals.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Graham shared that message during his "State of the Schools" address at the Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce lunch at the Sheraton Suites Nov. 19.
"We have come a long way in a short period of time and we're on pace to reach the top soon," said Graham.
Woodridge's leader highlighted the district's academic, fiscal and athletic achievements for approximately 75 of the community's business leaders.
Graham said the district began targeting areas to improve student achievement five years ago. At that time, Graham said, the district had earned a continuous improvement rating on the state report card for the fourth straight year, "our African-American students had the lowest achievement rate in Northeastern Ohio ... [and] we had one of the largest achievement gaps in the state -- and we knew we could fix it."
However, Graham emphasized that closing the achievement gap wasn't the only issue to address.
"We needed to improve student achievement across the board from our highest to our lowest achievers and everybody in the middle," said Graham. "Some students just required a different approach than others."
During the last half-decade, Graham noted the district:
* achieved an excellent rating on the state report card;
* had its performance index score rise from 88.1 to 100.3;
* has met or exceeded 96 percent of its indicators on the state report card (five years ago, it was 55 percent); and
* saw a 48 percent increase in students who are reading at grade-level heading into third grade.
This past school year, the district met 29 of the 30 performance indicators on the report card, and earned a 100.3 on its Performance Index, which Graham said "rewards the achievement of every student, not just those who are proficient." Woodridge met the Adequate Yearly Progress rating both as a district and in each building.
"We met the academic targets for our student subgroups," said Graham. "We earned a Value-added score of Above -- which means in one year our students demonstrated more than a year of expected growth academically."
According to Graham, the district is hoping to achieve the Excellent with Distinction rating next year.
"We are very proud of where we are ... However, to be true to ourselves, we're not done yet," said Graham. "We need to keep climbing one branch at a time. But as we get higher the branches get smaller and thinner ... we understand that it takes more effort to make smaller gains."
One of those small gains the district is trying to attain is to see 100 percent of its students pass the achievement tests. To earn this lofty goal, Graham noted the district is fortunate to have a dedicated staff.
As an example he said staff members "filled the room" at a professional development seminar in June to learn strategies to help at-risk students.
"The message of that day was 100 percent of your students can pass the test," said Graham. "It is because of this attitude being common among the members of our Woodridge family that our students are continuing to achieve at higher and higher levels every year."
Cross country teams praised
Graham offered kudos to Woodridge High School's cross country teams, calling their achievements "nothing short of amazing." The boys' cross country squad won its third straight state championship earlier this month, while the girls' team placed in the top seven in Ohio in each of the last three years, including a fourth-place finish in 2008.
Graham said a cross country courtyard will be created this spring between the tennis courts and Quick Road to serve as "a tribute to the success of a program and to the commitment of the athletes and its coaches." He added the site "will be a permanent salute" to cross country coach Jeff Howard.
Fiscal stability maintained
Graham said the district had in 2004 projected that it would have to ask voters to pass a levy this year, but noted officials "have been able to stretch our dollar much longer than we anticipated."
He highlighted some of the ways those dollars have been stretched: the Woodridge Foundation is "financially supporting" the construction of a field house that would have carried a $1.8 million-plus price tag, the district has secured about $300,000 in grants, and community members have donated land, equipment and supplies.
"We continue to aim for success and we are confident that we will reach it because of our skilled staff, dedicated board members and supportive community," said Graham.
E-mail: pkeren@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3940