Lakewood School Officials Focus on Early Childhood Education

As part of a national effort to recognize the scholastic achievements of Pre-k staff, teachers and students, announced on Monday that starting April 11 the Lakewood City Schools would celebrate the Week of the Young Child.

In cooperation with the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the district is going to hold open houses that will run concurrently at , and Elementary schools from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. and 2:15 to 3:00 p.m. on April 14.

“It’s a way of highlighting what goes on in the school districts from a national perspective,” student service director Dr. Kate Foley said. “Each community does something for the Week of the Young Child. In Lakewood, we’re looking at health and fitness, the community partnerships and the good work of the staff.”

Parents, school officials and various attendees will hear from teachers and preschoolers who will educate the audience on health and fitness, leading an active life from an early age and practicing good eating habits, she said.

“I think it’s good that we celebrate the Lakewood City Schools and what we have to offer to young families…Studies show that students perform better in K-12 when they start out in enhanced preschools programs such as ours,” board president Matt Markling said. “And next week is a great opportunity for us to stop, reflect and thank the staff for the hard work they do for the kids.”

For more information, e-mail student services secretary Linda Turk at linda.turk@lakewood.k12.oh.us.

In other news, after a recent annual audit of the district’s bookkeeping and accounting practices, state officials concluded that treasurer Rick Berdine and his staff had done an “excellent job” of keeping an accurate record of the schools’ financials during the past year.

“In our basic operations, our federal operations and our Lakewood City Academy operations, they found no material control weaknesses reported at the financial state level, they found no significant deficiencies in internal control…and there were no material non-compliances,” Madak said.

State auditors applauded Berdine’s financial stewardship and personally recognized him for the truthfulness, credibility and transparency that he maintained throughout the review process.