Cleveland Plan News
Highlighting our progress and partners
May 2021
Summer Learning shines in NBC spotlight
The CMSD Summer Learning Experience grabbed the spotlight May 19 as NBC Nightly News featured it in a series devoted to issues of national significance.
Lester Holt anchored the newscast from Cleveland, one of five stops on his “Across America” tour. In a segment lasting more than 3 minutes, he said the District is seeking to “reinvent summer learning and make kids want to be there.”
The segment (Watch the report here) revisited last year’s abrupt switch to remote classes and its impact on a city that ranks at the top nationally in child poverty and the bottom in connectivity. To continue instruction, the District pulled together money to distribute 37,000 devices, give out hotspots and connect families to reliable high-speed Internet.
Now, with the support of federal COVID relief funds, the District is inviting students and families to take part, at no charge, in the Summer Learning Experience.
Summer Learning is not "summer school." It is designed to appeal to students of all ages, whether they want to catch up, get ahead or explore their interests in fun activities and camps.
An NBC crew visited Orchard STEM School last week, talking to Principal Kathryn Haneline, a teacher, parents and students. On May 19, Holt interviewed CEO Eric Gordon with Wade Park School serving as the backdrop.
CEO Gordon said students who need to catch up did not lose the ability to learn during the pandemic; they simply lost time.
“Our kids can still learn to read, they can still learn chemistry,” he said. “If we stay really aggressive about creating the right opportunities, we will get kids to where they need to be.”
Ivy League alums honor, network with top CMSD juniors
Local Ivy League alumni recently honored 84 top CMSD juniors in a virtual event that combined recognition with networking and recruiting.
The annual Ivy League Book Awards ceremony, now in its 11th year, recognizes juniors for academic achievement and community service. It also sends a message to CMSD students that they can aspire to attend institutions such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, whose area alumni groups participate in the event.
All four institutions accept Say Yes to Education Cleveland scholarships, which pay up to the full value of tuition, minus federal and state aid. To qualify, students must be continuously enrolled in a CMSD high school and live in the District or city of Cleveland from ninth grade until graduation.
The Ivy League clubs and associations present a book to each of the juniors. And the Harvard Club of Northeast Ohio has awarded scholarships to four seniors who attended last year, with the funds usable at the college of their choice.
Alumni and students also mingled in Zoom breakout rooms.
District CEO Eric Gordon urged the CMSD students to ask questions and get contact information from the Ivy League graduates. He said the graduates could mentor the juniors through the college admissions process and help them land internships and jobs.
“Take advantage of our alums, who really want to be part of your success,” he said.
Page through a digital program that lists the students and their accomplishments.
2 CMSD high schools ranked among area’s best
U.S. News and World Report has released its annual ranking of the nation’s best high schools, and two CMSD high schools again rate near the top in the Cleveland area.
Cleveland Early College High School placed seventh in the metropolitan area and the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine ranked 16th.
The schools, both located at the John Hay Campus, also fared well statewide – CECHS was ranked 25th best in Ohio and CSSM was ranked 50th.
The publication's annual ratings use a weighted formula that takes into account college readiness, math and reading proficiency, how many students take and pass Advanced Placement exams and graduation rate. The rankings also factor in performance by students who are African-American, Hispanic or from low-income households.
Graduation rates were 99 percent at Cleveland Early College High School and 97 percent at Science and Medicine. Both schools had 100 percent participation in in Advanced Placement courses.
The two schools were in the Cleveland area's top 10 last year.
Campus High School wins music award for third time
For the third year in a row, Campus International High School has earned a national award for its commitment to teaching music.
Campus is one of only 80 schools nationwide and three in Ohio to earn a SupportMusic Merit Award from the NAMM Foundation’s Best Communities for Music Education Program.
CIHS, which will graduate its first seniors this year, is located on the campus of Cleveland State University. It opened in 2017 after Campus International K-8 School, also based at CSU, had expanded to include the eighth grade.
The school’s music program includes band, orchestra, and music industry and music theatre classes. Campus has 375 students, and nearly one in four is enrolled in music classes.
Like schools across the District, CIHS had to improvise during remote and hybrid learning.
Heard becomes president of Ohio School Boards Association
Cleveland Board of Education member Robert Heard Sr. has become president of the Ohio School Boards Association.
OSBA delegates selected Heard to be the association’s president-elect in October. He moved up to the presidency May 8 after his predecessor resigned.
Heard, a retired claims investigator, has served on the Cleveland board since 2004 and is currently vice chairman.
He graduated from John Adams High School and received a bachelor’s degree in English from Cleveland State University. He earned the title of fellow from the Broad Institute and completed the Executive Leadership Program for Educators at Harvard University.
Heard represents Ohio in the National School Boards Association Delegate Assembly and Federal Relations Network. He also serves on the OSBA’s Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, Northeast Region Executive Committee, Urban Network, Diversity and Equity Committee and Legislative Platform Committee.
The OSBA was founded in 1955. The association serves school board members through advocacy and by providing a variety of services.
Fowler-Mack picked to be Akron superintendent
Christine Fowler-Mack, a top administrator who helped build CMSD's portfolio of school options, has been picked to be the next superintendent of Akron's public schools.
“It’s a proud moment for Christine and also for the District, as the honor is so well deserved,” said CEO Eric Gordon. “Her selection to lead one of eight urban districts in Ohio is an affirmation of her outstanding leadership and service to CMSD for the last 12 years.”
Fowler-Mack, who will be Akron's first female superintendent, is CMSD's chief portfolio officer, a job that placed her at the center of research, strategy and innovation.
Among highlights of her work, she led development of high school choices. Under The Cleveland Plan, families may now select from models that emphasize interests such as digital arts, computer science, aerospace, environmental studies and more.
Fowler-Mack also guided the creation of K-8 models where students lead their own instruction, forged working relationships with charter schools and in 2019 supported communitywide strategic planning for the future of District programs and facilities. Most recently, she led planning for instruction as CMSD adapted to the pandemic.
Fowler-Mack grew up in Akron and began her career there as a teacher. She also served as assistant superintendent and interim superintendent in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights district. She joined the CMSD's executive cabinet 12 years ago as chief of staff under former CMSD CEO Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders.
“Education is not just my craft, it is my life’s passion, and expanding opportunity is what has driven me every day of my career,” said Fowler-Mack. “I started my career in Akron, and I am elated to return home and lead a district in a community that means so much to me. I am ready and eager to work with the community to build on Akron’s strengths and turn challenges into opportunities.”
Replica of oak preserves part of Jesse Owens legacy
An English oak that legendary Olympian Jesse Owens donated to Rhodes High School more than 80 years ago is near the end of its life span, but experts have cultivated clones that will keep the historic tree’s DNA going for generations.
A planting ceremony for one of the clones was held April 30 -- Arbor Day -- in Rockefeller Park. CMSD joined the ceremony with representatives of Holden Forests and Gardens, the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corp. and University Circle Inc., which serves a host of world-class destinations, including the park.
The Rhodes oak was the last known survivor of four that Owens, an East Tech graduate who trained at Rhodes, brought back from the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Owens was presented with one for each of the gold medals he won in track and field events, famously showing up Adolf Hitler and his doctrine of white supremacy.
“CMSD has been privileged to host this part of Jesse Owens' rich legacy for all these years,” school district CEO Eric Gordon said. “We are excited that the tree’s descendants will live on and be shared with people from Cleveland and beyond.”
Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Email: newstips@ClevelandMetroSchools.org
Website: ClevelandMetroSchools.org
Location: 1111 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone: 216-838-0000