ADAMS TOWNSHIP — The new district technology coordinator for Clinton-Massie has a series of initiatives, including a computer loaner program, a helpdesk that ultimately will be available to the community, and a community technology night this fall.
David Moss discussed those projects and others when he gave a report Monday for the first time to the Clinton-Massie Local Schools Board of Education.
To help keep students in class by providing them a laptop when theirs is having an issue, Moss said a pool of loaner computers is being collected so laptops will be available to temporarily swap with students while their computer is getting examined and hopefully fixed.
Previously, students could be without their device for a while, said Moss, and a loaner program deals with that.
A new helpdesk system with a new ticket setup is available for students with questions or problems with their computers.
In the future, parents will be able to contact the helpdesk by email to ask questions about, for example, the school district’s website or ProgressBook. ProgressBook is an online system for parents where they can view their child’s averages, assignment details, homework participation, teacher messages and attendance.
Moss said the Clinton-Massie Tech Team has five students, and two students already are signed up for next semester.
The district has a new website, though at this point it is mainly a district-focused site rather than building-focused sites. Going forward, Moss said there will be a need for four separate sites — one each for the district, elementary school, middle school, and high school.
The goal is by the end of the school year to transition to a new website address of cmfalcons.org along with transitioning email addresses.
The community technology night, tentatively targeted for mid-October, will cover topics such as cyberbullying, digital responsibility and footprint, ProgressBook access for parents, current filtering, and the role of social media.
Toward the end of Moss’ presentation, school board member Jeremy Lamb said he loved the loaner program.
He added he thinks a helpdesk staffed by students is “a huge win.” Lamb recommended more of the same, saying it’s really good when schools can involve students and give them “some real-life experience.”
In that connection, Superintendent Matt Baker said plans are for students to do portions of the website that’s being developed.
Baker reported to the board that district enrollment is up as a new school year begins.
He also said it’s likely an announcement will soon be made that Clinton-Massie will resume holding its graduation ceremonies at Wilmington College “for a while and see how that works.” More seating is needed than is available at the current location, he said, and he doesn’t like the idea of holding outdoor exercises at the mercy of Mother Nature.
As reported in the News Journal’s Tuesday edition, Clinton-Massie Curriculum Director Robyn Donisi reviewed preliminary data from 2017 state testing during the board of education meeting. Baker added a postscript to her information, in reply to Lamb’s question about how Massie’s scores stack up with other districts.
Of the 18 Ohio’s State Tests administered at Clinton-Massie last school year, covering a range of academic subjects and grades, Massie finished in the top three (among 12 districts in the region) in 14 of those 18 tests.
One other school district among those dozen districts did as well — Fairfield Local — thus Clinton-Massie “tied for first in the amount of gold, silver and bronze [medals],” said Baker, using an Olympics analogy.
Further, Massie’s district average for all 18 tests was 71.1 — second only to Fairfield Local by two points, Baker said. Moreover, in nine of the 18 tests Clinton-Massie’s scores increased by double digits over the prior year’s state testing results.
Donisi added the district also did very well compared to Warren County school districts. A part of the Massie district is within Warren County. The dozen regional districts included in the rankings spoken of by Baker are located in Adams, Clinton, Fayette and Highland Counties, which is to say the 12 districts affiliated with the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center.
Donisi’s printed handout to board members, under the heading of “College Credit Plus (CCP) Resources,” reported “the cost is ballooning” with resources such as textbooks. College Credit Plus gives students in the upper grades an opportunity to take college courses for free and earn high school and college credit before graduating high school.
Finally, the District Leadership Team met Aug. 11, its first meeting for the new academic year, and set annual goals concerning communication, academics, and behavior.
Under communication, the district aims to “establish consistent communication” with the community through technology via media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Massie’s website.
Regarding academics, the schools will continue to focus on math instructional strategies to increase student performance as defined in the buildings goals.
And in respect to behavior, the district “will model and expect appropriate behaviors and provide interventions.”
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
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