A Letter from Our School Board President Dear Beachwood Residents, Happy New Year! Your Board of Education thanks you for the trust you place in us and in allowing us to serve. I consider it an honor to do my part to ensure that Beachwood remains the premier place to live, work and raise a family. I am proud to state: Beachwood City School District achieved its highest-ever Performance Index Score in 2014, ranking eighth out of 611 districts in Ohio; u Our academic, extracurricular and athletics offerings continue to expand as our students excel in them; u Relationships between the administration and staff, and with the city and business community, are strong; u Per-pupil expenditures have been flat since 2010 and in fact, when adjusted for inflation, have been reduced compared with a decade ago. All of this has been accomplished while maintaining the highest bond rating and managing to keep an operating levy off of the ballot since 2005, longer than any other school district in Northeast Ohio, if not the state. While we celebrate both our new and continuing successes, we must continually look to the future. The board’s and administration’s overall goal is always to maintain and achieve even greater excellence in our academic, athletic and extracurricular programs in the most fiscally responsible and transparent manner. To do this, the administration is always fine-tuning, enhancing and improving our educational offerings to provide the most effective and efficient learning environment for our students. Each year the board sets a series of goals for the administration. Last year the board highlighted for the community specific goals relating to a development plan, our athletic teams and facilities, and the conditions of our elementary schools. The administration thoroughly addressed each of these goals and is prepared to take them to the next stages of implementation. Below is an update relating to each of these directives that represent the next step in a continuation of the ongoing, never-ending work of our administration. 1. Development: The board approved the creation and hiring of a director of development who is already working with the various school support organizations, activities and clubs, to assist in their respective efforts and facilitate collaboration between them and outside organizations. 2. Athletics Programming: The board moved the athletic director’s reporting duties to the Superintendent which emphasizes that athletics is a K-12 initiative. The AD has developed and is perfecting an athletic plan that will improve our programs for our younger athletes to build on our 2014 successes and ensure we remain competitive in years to come. 3. Athletics Facilities: In 2014, the administration assembled a committee of administrators, coaches, studentathletes and parents to assess our athletic facilities and to make a recommendation of the improvements and changes that will best address the utilization issues facing our athletic facilities. We anticipate in the very near future retaining the services of a design firm that will work with the committee to ensure the greatest space utilization, design and efficiency. u The 30 Beachwood Buzz n February 2015