Phoenix School soared, district's state ranking fell in '08

The Worthington City School District took a roller-coaster ride in 2007, tackling a treasurer search and a school board vacancy, giving wings to the new Phoenix Middle School, electing new board members and fighting a whooping cough epidemic.

Here's a look back at some of the most memorable stories of 2007 in the Worthington schools.

Crowd of candidates

The year began with 26 residents applying for an empty school board seat after board member Gary Tyack was elected to serve as a Franklin County Court of Appeals judge.

Superintendent Melissa Conrath invited staff members to come up with creative ideas for an alternative middle school to deal with declining enrollment at the middle school level.

"Instead of opting to close a school and redistribute the kids, or having half a middle school, why not give students the opportunity to attend an alternative school similar to Linworth?" Conrath said.

Creative teachers came up with four proposals: the Phoenix Project, the School for Kinesthetic Learning, Global Experiential School and Worthington Experiential Middle School.

Near the end of the month, five residents were chosen from the 26 who applied for the school board seat. They were James Caldwall, Anita Doran, Julie Keegan, Abramo Ottolenghi and Charlie Wilson. All five attended a public forum to introduce themselves and answer questions about their ideas for the district.

On Jan. 29, Wilson, an OSU law professor and Worthington parent, was selected to fill the board vacancy.

Sub-zero temperatures and numbing wind chills in February caused Worthington to join most other schools across the district in canceling classes for two days at the beginning of the month.

Thomas Worthington High School art students braved the cold to create 100 ceramic bowls for an Empty Bowl dinner, with the goal to raise at least $1,000 for the Children's Hunger Alliance.

Student academics reached a pinnacle as 21 National Merit Finalists were selected -- 16 from Thomas Worthington and five from Worthington Kilbourne High School.

The two high schools also swept the regional Science Olympiad competition, answering tough science questions and capturing first and second place among 16 high schools.

School board members chose the Phoenix Project as the district's new alternative middle school, slated to open in the summer with 80 seventh-graders.

The Battle of Worthington erupted at the beginning of March, with the special-education team the Worthington Stars dribbling and dunking their way to victory over the Worthington Ambassadors, a middle school team. The basketball game featured fast and furious fun, with a packed house cheering for both sides.

Mad about merger

A number of Granby Elementary School and Perry Middle School parents weren't happy with the feeder pattern changes and the merge of two middle school sports teams in order for the district to accommodate the new Phoenix School. Granby sixth-graders were slated to attend McCord Middle School instead of Perry.

"You're affecting many children, and this is not going to be well-received," said one parent.

The district reached a global language milestone, offering Mandarin Chinese as a post-secondary educational option through Ohio State University.

The month ended in tragedy, as 17-year-old Kilbourne junior Daniel Silcott was critically injured in an auto accident.

The district in April joined the "green team" by applying for and receiving a $74,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant to retrofit existing school buses with cleaner-burning diesel oxidation catalysts.

Board members paved the way for capital improvements by authorizing $3.5 million of last year's bond issue to go to priority repairs at several school buildings, including boiler, roof and track replacements.

Colonial Hills Elementary School teacher Jill Carter helped students "munch on Mandarin" as she brought Mandarin Chinese instruction to the elementary school level in a lunchtime course.

"China has the largest population speaking English in the world, and we as educators would be remiss not to recognize the significance of China's rise," she said.

Three Worthington Kilbourne students -- juniors Grant Steward and Matt Bobson and senior Matt Porter -- flirted with national fame after receiving regional student Emmy awards for outstanding journalism from the Foundation of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Treasurer Jonathan Boyd announced he would leave his post to accept a job in Cincinnati.

A 1983 Worthington graduate, Paul Laws, was arrested for alleged terrorist activities, causing some longtime teachers to recall his interest in religious crusades and the Middle East.

In May, the school board looked at an inside candidate to temporarily replace Treasurer Jonathan Boyd, hiring Tracy DeMatteo, director of financial operations, as interim treasurer.

Responding to a plea for middle school softball and baseball, after a number of youth teams descended on a board meeting, the district began a process to determine the feasibility and expenses of adding the middle school sport.

To continue the treasurer search, board members approved hiring the Ohio Association of School Business Officials to conduct the search at a cost of about $6,700.

No levy next year?

Conrath asked residents to attend two "community conversation" nights to determine "how to describe a high-performing school district."

A new five-year financial forecast brought good number news, which prompted board member Marc Schare to announce the possibility of "no levy request until 2009."

About 438 Thomas Worthington seniors and 362 Worthington Kilbourne seniors celebrated commencement June 3 at the Schottenstein Center.

Safety concerns prompted board members to decide to cancel classes on Election Day in 2008, citing the last presidential election as a reason, with its parking pileups and people squeezed into hallways as they waited to vote in several buildings.

Appointed school board member Wilson and teacher Jill Carter left on a trip to China to learn more about Mandarin and the Chinese education system.

At the end of June, board members had 18 applications to review for the treasurer post.

As July began, students conquered Camp Invention at Liberty Elementary School, building items such as a "sister-not-botherer" and a motorized trash can that would take itself to the curb. The kids didn't build actual working models of their inventions, but discussed ways to make their prototypes perform while learning myriad facts about simple machines.

The Fourth of July prompted a family fun night at Worthington Hills Elementary School, complete with water gun battles, food and fireworks.

Thomas Worthington Principal Rich Littell left his administrative duties behind as he accepted a post as journalism teacher at Worthington Kilbourne High School. Assistant Principal Jim Gaskill was hired as interim principal.

Board members narrowed the treasurer applicants to seven, three, and then two. The two applicants, Jeff McCuen and Jim Szabo, attended a community forum to see which one was more nimble with numbers and to gain community feedback.

McCuen joins district

In August, Jeff McCuen, assistant treasurer of Dublin City Schools, was named district treasurer at an annual salary of $112,500.

Frustration grew over the district's state report card, due later in the month. Preliminary results indicated a seventh year in the "Excellent" category was not to be, even though Worthington met 29 of 30 state indicators. The district failed the Adequate Yearly Progress requirement for subgroups of students for its third consecutive year, which meant it would drop into a "Continuous Improvement" rating, the middle of five possible state rankings.

Assessment Coordinator Jennifer Wene predicted most of the typically high-performing local districts will be rated continuous improvement by next year, due to the "moving target" of AYP, she said.

The new Phoenix Middle School spread its wings and opened Aug. 29 with 81 students, featuring a school day that began at 7:45 a.m. and ended at 4:45 p.m. The day includes an emphasis on creative arts, wellness and global studies.

The rest of Worthington City Schools began the 2007-08 school year Aug. 28.

When the state report card became official, the continuous improvement rating rankled district leaders and parents, but the district learned 13 individual district buildings rated excellent rankings, with four earning the "effective" grade.

Results from the 2006 Primary Prevention Awareness, Attitude and Use Survey in September revealed marijuana use appeared to be slowly increasing among Worthington students.

Both high schools continued an emphasis on students encouraging other students to stay drug-free, with the Students Substance Abuse Prevention Program at Thomas Worthington and Driven! at Worthington Kilbourne.

Having a blast

A faux bomb sparked an exercise in evacuation in September as Kilbourne Middle School students took part in a countywide improvised explosive device exercise to test their "first responder" safety plans.

Four hundred Kilbourne students and staff made it out of the school and onto buses in 23 minutes, which was "wonderfully surprising to everyone" said Principal Pamela VanHorn.

Worthington school board members nearly pulled the plug on Metro School support when Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann stated his opinion that school districts "do not have the authority" to charge tuition to the Metro School, because it is an alternative public school.

With six Worthington students in the school, board members balked at paying $6,200 per student, because district taxpayers would actually foot the bill.

Conrath made a deal with Metro School officials to offset costs for this year, at least, in exchange for teacher training.

By the end of the month, Dann had issued another opinion, this time stating districts should not charge for all-day kindergarten, threatening the district's self-sustaining program. The district stopped charging tuition, but decided to seek legislation concerning the issue.

Three candidates were confirmed in October for a school board race for two open board seats: appointed board member Charlie Wilson and residents Julie Keegan and Geoffrey Scott.

Official enrollment counts revealed a rise in students for the first time in years, with elementary growth topping out at 188 students.

McCuen prepared a new five-year financial forecast, which confirmed good financial news: positive general fund balances "should keep us off the ballot until sometime in calendar year 2009," McCuen said.

The district pushed "going green" to new levels, increasing its recycling program to include all paper products, corrugated cardboard, aluminum and steel cans and most plastics.

Conrath outlined new district goals, after gathering feedback from two public forums, to support "high-quality learning opportunities that emphasize 21st-century learning skills."

The goals emphasized technology, filling achievement gaps, recruiting high-quality staff and expanding community communication.

Sick days

A whooping cough outbreak among students prompted the Columbus Board of Health to conduct immunization clinics at both high schools for staff and students. More than 55 students were diagnosed with the disease.

A busy October ended with bomb threats and other threatening notes appearing in the restrooms and lockers of two students at Thomas Worthington High School. Police and schools launched an extensive investigation into the threats.

In November, schools celebrated Veterans Day with Blackhawk helicopter landings, patriotic songs and assemblies to honor local military personnel.

Wilson was elected to a four-year term Nov. 8, along with Keegan, who will be sworn in as a board member in January.

A Thomas Worthington sophomore faced felony charges for writing threatening notes that police said two girls found in their lockers Oct. 26. The arrest came after an extensive handwriting analysis was conducted by teachers and a professional analyst, police said.

Battelle announced Evening Street and Worthington Estates elementary schools were among 16 Ohio schools receiving the Kids SOAR Award for High Progress. Only the top 3.5 percent of schools out of 435 eligible SOAR schools received the award.

Worthington schools in December proved generosity is a trademark as district nurses took on the task of "adopting" 485 kids from 195 needy families.

Worthington Kilbourne students raised $7,000 in two weeks to buy a happier holiday for 60 of those children, and other sponsors, including St. Michael's Church and many other community school and church groups, raised funds to make sure the families had gifts, clothing, food and other items in time for the holidays.

A new state law, signed as "emergency legislation," contained an education clause that allows districts that are not receiving federal poverty dollars to charge for all-day kindergarten.

The law means Worthington legally can charge parents the $275-per-month tuition to continue the program.

Director of Elementary Education Marc Glasbrenner outlined several ways parents could pay the back tuition without paying two to three months at once.

Granby Elementary School joined a few other buildings in offering lunch-time language options as students studied Japanese language and culture.

The year ended with several schools, including Thomas Worthington High School with its "Helping Hands" program, raising funds to make holidays happier for needy children.