The Shaker eNews is a weekly roundup of important information including District events, school newsletters and District, PTO Council, Shaker Schools Foundation and City news. Be sure to read the entire Shaker eNews each week to stay informed! | |
The Shaker eNews is published weekly on Sundays. | |
|
Visit our District Calendar online for a complete list of upcoming activities, events and athletic competitions.
Please note the following upcoming important dates:
-
First Day for Preschool Students | Monday, August 26
-
FACE Academy: All About PowerSchool Info Session | Tuesday, August 27, 6:30 p.m.
-
Labor Day: Schools & Offices Closed | Monday, September 2
| |
|
Click on the appropriate link below for school-level and building PTO news:
| |
|
Use these Quick Links to access the following District information:
| |
The 2024-2025 School Year is Underway!
The District welcomed students back to school last week! For the third year in a row, schools opened with a staggered start. The staggered start has allowed students, families and staff to ease into the new school at a pace that allows for adjustments as needed. Additionally, the staggered start has given faculty additional time to set up their classrooms, enabling them to focus professional days on growing instructional capacity.
- At the Middle School, sixth-grade students were welcomed to their new learning space on August 21, followed by seventh- and eighth-graders on August 22. Students enjoyed classes in the school’s 10 new modular classrooms!
- The High School welcomed back freshmen on August 21. On August 22, all students returned to the building.
- Families with students in Grades K-5 met one-on-one with their classroom teacher and students began classes on August 22.
- Preschool students will be welcomed back to school Monday, August 26.
|
Don't Miss Curriculum Night!
Curriculum Nights are a vital opportunity for families to connect with teachers, learn about class expectations and understand the learning objectives for the year. Your presence helps strengthen the partnership between home and school, ensuring a successful year for your child. Save the date for these upcoming Curriculum Night events:
Preschool
-
PreK Curriculum Night: Wednesday, October 2, 6 p.m.
All Elementary Schools
-
Kindergarten Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 25, 5:30 p.m.
-
Grades 1 & 2 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 18, 5 p.m.
-
Grades 3 & 4 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 18, 6 p.m.
-
Grade 5 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 p.m.
Shaker Heights Middle School
-
Grade 6 Curriculum Night: Wednesday, September 4, 6 p.m.
-
Grades 7 & 8 Curriculum Night: Thursday, September 5, 6 p.m.
Shaker Heights High School
-
Grades 9-12 Curriculum Night: Thursday, September 19, 7 p.m.
|
Don't Forget! Register for ParentSquare
New this year, ParentSquare is the District's platform for attendance notices and classroom-level communications. This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with student's school. Teachers will also be able to use ParentSquare to send out important notifications and reminders to students at the Middle School and High School. Please ensure your contact information is up to date so you receive important updates from your child’s teachers.
Register here for ParentSquare
View more details about the District's communications channels available to families.
|
Preparations Begin for Woodbury Renovation
The GPD Group, the architect hired by the District for the renovation of Woodbury Elementary School, has begun preliminary steps to prepare for eventual construction work at the school.
Engineers have begun to conduct a structural analysis of the building, including the identification of existing bearing walls. An electrical analysis of the building has been conducted to determine the impact of construction on other District buildings.
GPD is securing a quote from a firm to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Woodbury-Onaway campus and develop a topographic map that identifies the location of utilities, trees and other natural and artificial features of the land.
Such maps are crucial to building design and construction. GPD expects to use these analyses to help develop several design options that will be shared in order to solicit input and feedback.
|
Reporting Absences in PowerSchool
Instead of calling or emailing the school offices, we encourage families to conveniently report absences through the PowerSchool Portal. Login at https://ps-sh.metasolutions.net, and select Attendance Monitor from the left sidebar. (Please note that this option is only available on the web version of the Portal, not the PowerSchool app.) Click to view this Attendance Monitor Help Doc.
|
Fall Assessment Information
Fall assessments are administered to determine a student’s present level of performance. Teachers use results to inform instruction and to monitor progress. The following assessments will be administered during the next few weeks. For more information, click on the name of the assessment.
In addition, kindergarten students will participate in AIMSwebPlus to satisfy Ohio’s Dyslexia Screening requirement. Information about dyslexia can be found here.
Our District Assessment Calendar has dates for all of the national, state and district standardized assessments we administer and can now be found on the Assessments and Testing page of shaker.org.
|
Policies and Expectations at Athletic Events
With fall sports starting, community members planning to attend should note the following:
Student IDs Required for Admission
All Shaker Heights High School and Middle School students must present their student ID with a valid game ticket for entry. Students without a valid Shaker Heights Schools student ID will not be admitted.
Students from Other Schools
Only students from Shaker Heights and that game's opposing school will be admitted to varsity football games.
Middle School & Elementary Students
All Middle School and Elementary school students must be accompanied by a paying adult.
Cashless Concessions
Concession sales for all football games will be cashless. Credit cards, Apple Pay and cash apps will be accepted.
Spectator Policies & Expectations
All spectators are expected to follow the Spectator Policies & Expectations for all athletic events.
Thank you in advance for observing these policies and helping us to cheer on our Raiders!
|
Students Can Now Receive College Credit for IB Higher Level Courses
The Ohio Department of Higher Education has provided guidance on implementing a new policy that will allow students to receive college credits for International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) courses they completed in high school. All public universities in Ohio must now adhere to the following:
- Students who achieve a 4 or higher in all IB Higher Level courses will receive credit for a corresponding college course.
- Students who achieve a 5 or higher in all IB Standard Level courses will receive credit for a corresponding college course.
Shaker Heights High School students can select from a broad range of IBDP courses at both the Standard and Higher Level in Grades 11 and 12. Students who seek candidacy for the full IB Diploma Programme take no fewer than six IB courses plus the “core experience” of Theory of Knowledge, service learning and the Extended Essay thesis. Additional details of the college credit policy may be reviewed here.
|
District Participates in Science of Reading Summit Kickoff
District educators participated in the inaugural Northeast Ohio Science of Reading Summit. The event took place August 23 at Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University.
Dr. John Moore, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and Jocelyn Dietz, Coordinator of Early Literacy and an Instructional Coach at Fernway Elementary School, represented the District at the event, sponsored by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
The summit was the first in a series of such events by Bibb designed to bring together a network of educational leaders committed to accelerating literacy gains in Northeast Ohio. All Ohio schools are slated to teach state-approved, high-quality instructional materials aligned with the Science of Reading this school year.
The Science of Reading is based on current brain research related to how humans develop the ability to code and decode language, relating letters and sounds to construct meaning in the written word.
|
District Staff Receives Safety and Security Training
Prior to the start of the 2024-2025 school year, District faculty and staff participated in a variety of safety and security training and professional learning opportunities. Such training opportunities will continue during the school year.
District security monitors received training focused on situational awareness, verbal de-escalation, active shooter defense techniques, zone checks in buildings and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS).
The faculty and staff at Onaway Elementary School received Stop the Bleed (STB) emergency medical training. STB is a national program started by the National Security Council at the White House in 2015 in response to the Sandy Hook school shooting. Its goal is to provide basic training to stop life-threatening bleeding following emergencies and man-made or natural disasters. The program is provided in this area by the University Hospitals EMS Training Disaster and Preparedness Institute free of charge.
Finally, the High School faculty and staff received comprehensive active shooter preparedness training. The training is designed to help schools mitigate risk, respond with confidence to acts of violence and increase the survivability of those in their care.
| |
Staff Celebrates the New School Year with Lively Convocation
The District celebrated the start of the 2024-2025 school year with an all-staff Convocation on August 19. The hour-long, pep rally-style event, included audience-participation games, a pep band, the flag corp and cheerleaders. The event was co-sponsored by the Shaker Schools Foundation.
Ahmaad Crump, in-arena host for the Cleveland Cavaliers, served as the special guest master-of-ceremonies, and Sean Brown, Assistant Director of Buildings & Ground, gave the keynote remarks. Superintendent Dr. David Glasner and Holly McCormick, Executive Director of the Shaker Schools Foundation, also offered remarks.
This year’s Convocation theme was “Shaker Rising: Shaping Our Future,” and a special recognition of the District’s custodial and buildings and grounds staff and the work they have done related to the District’s Long-Term Master Facilities Plan.
| |
 |
From the Margins to the Center: The Re-Introduction
By William Warren, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Coordinator
“From the Margins to the Center” is an initiative of the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion that celebrates and recognizes historical and current lived experiences and contributions of marginalized and minoritized communities. The initiative builds on the tradition of Shaker Heights teachers and staff who have brought to the center of curricular content and professional learning those voices, narratives, stories, contributions, struggles and histories of communities that have been historically pushed to the margins of required educational discourses and curricula.” - Dr. Lawrence Burnley, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Shaker Heights Schools
The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is excited to re-introduce our weekly "From the Margins to the Center" content, which celebrates and commemorates the history, heritage and cultural insights of individuals and communities in alignment with nationally recognized History/Heritage Months and Identity Recognition.
The first heritage month of acknowledgment in this series will be Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15 to October 15. We look forward to celebrating the diversity of cultures, experiences, challenges and triumphs, as a way to inform and educate the Shaker Heights Schools community as we continue to champion inclusive excellence.
| |
|
Stay up to date by following the Shaker Schools Foundation on the following social media platforms:
| |
|
The Shaker Schools Foundation is excited to welcome everyone back to school! We are eager to help make this the best year yet and continue with our mission of supporting the Shaker City Schools District!
Our Mission Statement: The Shaker Schools Foundation supports all Shaker Heights City Schools students by cultivating community resources to advance equitable access and enhance opportunities in and out of the classroom.
Learn more by visiting www.shakerschoolsfoundation.org today!
| |
Join Us in Honoring This Year's Shaker Schools Alumni Hall of Fame Inductees on September 14
Our Shaker community and friends are invited to the 2024 Shaker Schools Alumni Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony on Saturday, September 14 at the Shaker Heights Country Club at 6 pm. Tickets are on sale now! The talented inductees include:
Dr. Andy Ellner, 1993, Jeff Epstein, 1993, Reverend Rachel Hollander, 1981, Dr. Leslie S. Kean, 1983, Jonathan (Jon) Leiken, 1990, David Warren Mason, 1971, Judy Immerman Payne, 1974, and Bishop St. Clair Walker, 2008.
Find details about our inductees and ticket information at https://shakerschoolsfoundation.org/hall-of-fame-2024/
| |
Labor Day Pool Party September 2
Join your friends and family at Thornton Park Pool Monday, September 2 from 1-5 pm for an end-of-summer holiday splash! Music, activities, and fun in the sun. Food and beverages available. Regular pool admissions and rules apply – advance daily admission for our holiday pool parties will be available on RecDesk.
|
Take the Listening Project Survey
Participate in the City’s Listening Project regarding policing in Shaker Heights by taking a brief, online survey about safety concerns and interactions with police. This anonymous survey typically takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Take the survey through September 30.
| | | | |
