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Superintendent and principals brief board on curriculum, testing and athletics; CCP expansion with Muskingum University discussed
Summary
Superintendent and building principals updated the board on literacy implementation, upcoming testing schedules, athletics results, and plans to expand college-credit-plus (CCP) offerings through Muskingum University. Principals also reported on PBIS, Power of the Pen, Hope Squad and proposal for student involvement in a mental-health outreach.
District leaders used their Feb. 20 presentation to update the Fairfield Union Local School District board on instructional work, testing calendars, extracurricular successes and partnerships with higher education.
Superintendent Mister Bellwell told the board the district is continuing to implement the science-of-reading approach across grade levels and has five policies in first reading this month. He reported partnerships with Muskingum University and the Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center (ESC) as recurring agreements for academic services.
Middle school principal Missus Hahn reported grade-level instruction and assessments: grade 8 had two language-arts blocks covering Romeo and Juliet and Holocaust study; seventh graders completed an Iowa Algebra Readiness assessment; the Torrance assessment was being administered to some fifth graders and the district’s sixth graders would take IO assessments the following week. Hahn noted the Power of the Pen teams placed at district competition and several students qualified for regionals on March 7.
High school principal Mister Matt MacPhail summarized athletics and extracurriculars: the swim team won the Mid-State League championship for boys and the girls finished second; wrestlers qualified for district competition; the boys basketball team had a district semifinal game scheduled and the girls team entered regionals with a 25-0 record. MacPhail also described a scheduling conflict in which the Southeast District Athletic Board did not accommodate overlapping playoff dates; he said the district had raised concerns but the district board did not change the schedule.
MacPhail and superintendent Bellwell discussed career and college-credit programming. The district is pursuing expanded CCP (college-credit-plus) classes in partnership with Muskingum University — potentially adding up to 13 CCP offerings, including two in agricultural education — pending approvals. The goal is to offer more CCP classes inside district buildings so students can remain on campus for college-level coursework.
Principals described student supports and programs: PBIS recognition events, cyber-safety presentations by Fairfield County deputies, the Hope Squad peer-support group (about 25 students and five advisers), and a possible invitation to present Hope Squad programming at the Phoenix Project first-responder mental-health outreach event. Elementary principals reported kindergarten registration and building music events and listed upcoming parent-teacher conference dates.
Staff noted state testing windows: ACT testing for juniors this week, additional ACT sessions in March, course exams April 7–17 (including makeup days) and AP exams in May. The superintendent said March 21 would be a professional-development day for staff and that the district intends to run remote learning on March 21 and April 20 to preserve instructional time and staff development.
