Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Project More gives a literacy boost to students who struggling.
At the start of the school year, Christine Smith decided to spend some of her time volunteering at Hayes Elementary School, lending a hand to students who need a little extra help with their reading skills. Smith spends about three afternoons each week working with students. She is one of about 20 volunteers helping out at schools around the district with a program called Project More, a free tutoring initiative aimed at assisting students who struggle with reading. “I used to be a teacher and I enjoy working with kids,” Smith said. “I thought this would be a fun thing to do now that my daughter is in school. It’s very enjoyable.” The district is looking for more volunteers like Smith. Meredith Wojtkun, an intervention specialist at Hayes…
41.47116
-81.8115
Hayes Elementary School
16401 Delaware Ave, Lakewood, OH
/articles/volunteer-literacy-program-at-lakewood-schools-needing-help
1082191
/locations/8800681
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Grant Elementary School student found at friend's house.
A Grant Elementary School student gave his mom quite a scare on Friday night. The 8-year-old boy’s mother called police at around 5 p.m. saying he hadn’t come home from school on Friday afternoon. Police immediately began an investigation. He was found near the school at a friend’s house less than an hour later. One witness told Lakewood Patch that about seven squad cars arrived at Grant Elementary School around 5:30 p.m. Officers wearing bulletproof vests were seen through the school’s large windows roaming the halls. Lt. Roger Warner said the boy was safely returned to his mother. “We found the kid, and he’s back where he belongs,” said Warner.
41.48306
-81.80091
Grant Elementary School
1470 Victoria Ave, Lakewood, OH
/articles/police-search-for-and-find-missing-8-year-old-boy
1082163
/locations/8040268
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Grant, Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary schools were all on the chopping block — one of them was expected to close. However, an unexpected increase in enrollment will keep them all open.
The Lakewood Board of Education agreed Monday with the superintendent’s recommendation that no elementary schools be closed — until at least 2014. As expected, Jeff Patterson urged the board to keep all seven of the district’s elementary schools open, citing a projected increase in enrollment during the next few years. “As we talk about closing a school, we should use some caution,” Patterson told board members at Monday’s meeting. “We’re going to see a growth of students coming to our schools." According to U.S. Census data and the city’s live birth records, there are 3,020 children up to 4 years old living in Lakewood. That’s compared to 2,631 children ages 5-9 — a nearly 15 percent increase. Historically, on average, 79 percent of the …
41.48306
-81.80091
Grant Elementary School
1470 Victoria Ave, Lakewood, OH
/articles/school-board-agrees-to-keep-elementary-schools-open
1082163
/locations/7536477
Monday, August 6, 2012
Jeff Patterson is expected to make that pitch tonight to the Lakewood Board of Education.
With a sharp increase in students currently projected to enter the Lakewood City Schools, the district is going to need all the elementary schools that it’s got. That means that earlier plans to shutter Grant Elementary School may be put on hold — at least through 2014 — while district officials weigh their options. Superintendent Jeff Patterson said that he’s going to officially present a plan to the Lakewood School Board tonight, that will ask them to reconsider plans to close Grant. Instead, he hopes the board will consider urging the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission to pay for another enrollment projection. Patterson said that according to the US Census, the number of children from birth to 5 years old has spiked. “We’re going to …
Friday, July 13, 2012
With more students entering the district, the administration is considering postponing a plan to close one of three elementary schools in the district.
The Lakewood City Schools district is considering a move that would halt — or at least postpone — the closing of one of its elementary schools by 2014. At the board of education’s annual retreat on Thursday, superintendent Jeff Patterson proposed holding off a decision, based on the growing student population entering the district. “If we close an elementary school (now) we could fit all the students in our schools now,” Patterson said. “Our number of students is growing significantly, and we might not be able to do that (in the future).” The school board had previously voted — as part of the Phase 3 construction plan — to shutter Grant Elementary School, but Patterson said last month he’d like see which school “makes the most sense” to …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Move brings the district in line with pay freezes and insurance cost increases along with the rest of the teachers and staff in the district.
As part of the recent contract negotiations with the Lakewood Teachers Association, the teachers and staff took a 0 percent pay raise for the 2013-14 school year. They also agreed to increase their health care insurance costs by 5 percent. Now, the administration will follow suit. On Monday, the Lakewood Board of Education approved a new “Leadership Team Package” which will freeze pay increases for administrators, and will boost the health care payments from 10 to 15 percent. In a district-wide effort to make up for a looming multi-million-dollar shortfall in the budget, Superintendent Jeff Patterson renegotiated the contract with the teachers’ union. “I’d like everybody to know that every employee in this district is taking a zero percent…
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Treasurer: “The levy dollars we expected aren’t here. That’s why a new levy just has to happen.”
In one of his last acts as Lakewood’s treasurer, Rick Berdine laid out the school district’s updated five-year forecast to the Lakewood School Board on Monday night. As expected, the school district's financial picture isn’t exactly pretty. But it’s also not as bad as officials had anticipated during the last forecast in October. After Berdine laid out the five-year plan, the school board OK’d Superintendent Jeff Patterson’s plan to trim millions from the budget. Berdine said among the reasons for the shortfall are falling property values — which means fewer dollars the district can collect from levies. State cuts — to the tune of $6.3 million — haven’t helped either. “It’s nobody’s fault,” Berdine said. “The levy dollars we expected aren’…
Thursday, May 24, 2012
We put our readers to the test. To help close a $12.4 million shortfall over the next five years, the Lakewood City Schools will shutter Grant, Lincoln or Roosevelt elementary schools.
To help close a $12.4 million shortfall over the next five years, the Lakewood City Schools will shutter Grant, Lincoln or Roosevelt elementary schools by the start of the 2013-14 school year. On Monday, Superintendent Jeff Patterson said that's part of his proposal to help balance the district's budget, following massive cuts in state funding last year. So, on Tuesday, we asked Patch readers — in a completely unscientific poll — which school they’d close. If it were up to them, Grant Elementary School would close. Lakewood Patch readers overwhelmingly voted to shutter Grant (57 percent), over the other two schools — Lincoln was next with 16 percent of the vote. The school board previously voted — as part of the Phase 3 construction plan…
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
To make up for a $12.4 million shortfall over the next five years, Superintendent Jeff Patterson laid out a budget blueprint at Monday’s school board meeting. But the district’s also going to need some help with a school levy.
In an effort to close a looming $12.4 million budget shortfall over the next five years, the Lakewood School Board considered some deep cuts to the budget on Monday. And not much was left off the table — including cuts to staffing, fewer textbooks and closing a school. Those were just a few of the ideas presented by Superintendent Jeff Patterson at Monday night’s school board meeting. If approved, the proposal would save the district about $8.6 million over the next three years. “This budget reduction plan accomplishes three goals,” said Patterson. “(It) minimizes the impact on student achievement; meets the criteria set by the community; and significantly reduces the amount of millage necessary in 2013.” Patterson has made no secret that …
The district must close one of three elementary schools in Lakewood. Take our completely unscientific poll and let us know which one you'd choose.
To help close a $12.4 million shortfall over the next five years, the Lakewood City Schools must close one elementary school by the start of the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Jeff Patterson said that's part of his proposal to help balance the district's budget, following massive cuts in state funding last year. The school board previously voted — as part of the Phase 3 construction plan — to shutter Grant Elementary School, but Patterson said he’d like see which school “makes the most sense” to close. The district will consider closing Grant, Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary schools, he said, however the final decision won’t be made until August. “There are a lot factors to consider,” he said. Take our completely unscientific poll …
Christina Cocchiarale Ward
1:34 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012
wow. with some of the harsh comments on here, i'd hate it if THOSE people were MY parents. I'd actually WANT people looking for me. If a child is expected home and doesn't return you actually wouldn't call for help?? Wow. more ›