Southside STAY Group Reports Progress

-by Southside STAY’s Jessica Bennett

UpdateThank you to everyone who was able to came show their support at the Board Meeting January 8th. We just received word back from Dr. Harris and she is “seriously exploring the opportunity” to change the status of Stewart from 100% lottery to partial neighborhood/partial lottery when the school reopens.  Dr. Harris, her team at CCS, and the Capital Improvements program are also going to further look into the space and funds available to see if our request to expand the school to make it preK-6 is feasible.

Most encouraging is the following excerpt from the letter she sent us:

“I am both impressed and excited about the energy, passion, and commitment demonstrated by the members of Southside STAY. Parental involvement is one of the key ingredients for the success of a school and the engagement efforts of your organization give me great confidence that the South High School Feeder Pattern has a bright future ahead of it. Your organization’s efforts will not only prove beneficial for your children but all of the children in your community will benefit from the support you can leverage for our neighborhood schools. You have my sincerest appreciation for the work and commitment of Southside STAY.”

We will send out the entire letter from Dr. Harris and the Board of Education in a separate email so you can read it for yourself.

With that praise and encouragement, grab your calendars and let’s continue to stand together to  support the children in our neighborhood schools!

Next Large Group Meeting- Dr. Harris Will Join UsJoin us Feb 27th 6:30-7:30- at our next large group meeting as we welcome Dr. Harris and colleagues as our special guest presenters!  The topic of the evening will be the overall work we are doing in Southside STAY as well as details on the plan for Stewart Alternative Elementary. The meeting will be held at Stewart School at Beck- 387 Beck Street.  The meeting is open and childcare will be provided: Please RSVP if you need childcare.
More News… School Choice, Preschool Option, the Mayor, and moreHave a little one who is gearing up to start their school career?  Check out Columbus City Schools “Open House Wednesdays” January 9^th-Februrary 27^th.  Click here for more information on CCS School Choice/Lottery program, including elementary, middle, and high school fairs (to get more information on each school in the lottery program) and most importantly, to make sure your application is turned in by the deadline. The fairs are happening soon, so don’t delay! Pre-K classrooms start for 4 year olds and Kindergarten starts for 5 year olds.

Looking for a preschool for a child younger than 4?  Check out the Southside Learning and Development Center on Reeb Road. Stay tuned for an open house date coming in February.
In addition, St. Joeseph’sMontesorri (in Italian Village) has an early childhood program and is having an open house January 27, from 3-5 (children are welcome).
South High School is looking for business and community leaders that are willing to come speak with individual students about their second quarter report card. The second quarter report card conference will take place on February 7, 2013 from 8:30 – 10:30am in the school cafeteria. You do not have to stay the entire time if you have other conflicts; any time you can give is greatly appreciated. A brief training on how the conferences are to be conducted beginning at 8:30am on February 7^th. South High School is a block east of Parsons as Deshler dead ends into Anne Street.  The school recently reopened after a $30million dollar renovation project.  It is a beautiful facility.  I was able to go to the conferences in November and really enjoyed meeting the ambitious and motivated freshmen who I conferenced with.  I look forward to checking in on their progress and hope you are able to join me in reaching out to the students in our community–what better opportunity to “stand together to advance youth”! Email William Ragland to RSVP.

Speaking of South High, Mayor Coleman will be holding his “State of the City” address there on February 21^st at 6:30pm.  Let’s represent STAY and show our support for the city, our community, and our schools!

Speaking of Mayor Coleman, the February Reimagine Columbus Education Commission meetings are February 8th and 18th from 9am-3pm.  These meetings are open to the public.  Check out their website for more details. You can follow the meetings and message boards online if you are not able to attend.

Mayor Coleman’s Education Commission wants to hear from us!  A public forum will be set up in the near future.  Please stay tuned for the details and get ready to share your thoughts with his team on how you think we can improve our city schools.

Finally, STAY has monthly subcommittee meetings in the areas of: Marketing, Curriculum, Enrichment, and Infrastructure.  Email us if you would like to learn more about the dates for these meetings.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our community!

Sign up for emailed updates by sending your request to: southsidestay@gmail.com.