February 3, 2016
Contact: Jill Moberley, Public Information Officer
jmoberle@dps.k12.oh.us
For Immediate Release

Plan addresses higher achievement, closing gaps, focus on attendance and suspension

Improved student achievement is the focus of a strategy to boost attendance, lower suspension rates, and close achievement gaps among early adolescents through a grade reconfiguration plan for the 2016-17 school year. The plan, approved by the Dayton Board of Education Feb. 2, removes grades seven and eight from all but two PreK-8 buildings, creates three middle schools, and adds grades seven and eight to Meadowdale High School.

Edwin Joel Brown PreK-8 School, Wogaman 5-8 School and Wright Brothers PreK-8 School will become middle schools serving grades seven and eight, beginning August 2016. Meadowdale High School will become a 7-12 building, joining Belmont and Stivers.

The change creates a district of PreK-6 elementary schools, with the exceptions of Charity Adams Earley Girls Academy and Dayton Boys Preparatory Academy, which will continue to house grades seven and eight.

“We believe this reconfiguration will help address the unique needs and interests of early adolescents and prepare them academically and socially to build the necessary foundation for high school and beyond,” Superintendent Lori Ward said. “We will concentrate our resources in eight buildings instead of 17; this has tremendous implications for everything from teacher placement and broader course offerings to extracurricular activities that can result in higher student achievement.”

District and state data make a compelling case for the change. Suspension rates for DPS students in grades seven and eight are among the highest in the district. Approximately 21 percent of seventh-graders and 25 percent of eighth-graders miss more than 10 days, or 10 percent, of school (defined as chronic absence), which profoundly impacts achievement. The same group also trails their Ohio counterparts with achievement gaps of 23 to 34 percentage points in reading and math and a 37 percentage-point gap in science for eighth grade.

Schools that will become prek-6 buildings next fall include Belle Haven, Eastmont, Edison, Fairview, Horace Mann, Kiser, Meadowdale, Ruskin, Louise Troy, Westwood and World of Wonder. They join Cleveland, Kemp, River’s Edge and Valerie preK-6 schools.

Parent meetings will be held over the next two weeks by the schools impacted to discuss the changes for next year in greater detail.

“Interrupting our families, staff and students is never an easy decision,” Ward said. “We will be working diligently to provide enrollment options for our families and provide support and professional development for our staff in their assignments.”

A reassessment of the district’s grade configuration to ensure delivery of an effective and rigorous curriculum is part of a district improvement plan. The plan, which was applauded by an Ohio Department of  Education review team last spring, involves serious work at all levels to turn the district around over the next several years.

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