RUSSIA — This fall, the State of Ohio released the 2017-2018 District Report Card which ranks the performance of each school district in the State of Ohio.
“Russia was one of 28 districts in the state of Ohio to Earn an overall “A” rating!” said Superintendent Steve Rose. “The Dayton Business Journal also ranked Russia the 2nd highest district in the Dayton Area. These are both amazing accomplishments and we are very proud of our students, staff, and community who all worked together to earn these achievements.”
His report continues:
This year Russia Local School implemented “The R Factor” developed by Tim and Brian Kight of Focus3 Learning. This is a system for developing discipline responses to daily situations, challenging goals, and unexpected circumstances. The background of the system is that outcomes to specific events are determined by how you respond. The more discipline-driven the response, the more productive the outcome will be. For kindergarten through fourth-grade students, the focus has been on developing a relentless effort and attitude associated with developing a growth mindset, students with a relentless effort and attitude are more likely to take on difficult tasks in and out of the classroom. Students in the middle school and high school have worked on weekly R Factor lessons that focus on what a discipline-driven response looks like and the six disciplines that can help lead to discipline-driven responses. These short lessons utilize podcasts, videos, small group, and collaborative activities.
In the high school, we have started a new student organization called LEAD Russia. The organization is set up to enhance the development of student leadership skills as well as give them an opportunity to foster a positive culture within the school and community. Selected students met with the University of Dayton’s Leadership Team on two separate days and learned numerous leadership skills. These students then created different committees, each with their own specific goal of implementing positive change within Russia Local School. I look forward to seeing the great things that the LEAD Russia Organization accomplishes in the years to come.
Although, this school year is only half over, we are already making plans for the 2019-20 school year. One of the biggest changes that we are considering is the implementation of all day kindergarten. We have discussed this at the board level for several months and it is set to be voted on at the February Board of Education meeting. The district is also looking into the idea of implementing a One-to-One Technology Program that has been widely implemented across the state. A district team has toured several local schools who have successfully implemented a One-to-One Program and although the details are not final it is our goal to implement a One-to-One Technology Program in the high school for the start of the 2019-20 school year.
On Nov. 8, we held our annual Senior Citizens to Lunch and Veterans Assembly with the entire student body and staff wearing red, white, and blue. To start the assembly, everyone walked to the park and were arranged in the shape of an “R” on the hill, which made for a great photo that is now on display in the commons. The students then served our senior citizens and veterans a very nice meal and ended the day with a K-12 assembly in the gym with performances from the high school band and the elementary music classes. I want to thank Mrs. Elmore and all of her students who worked so hard to coordinate this amazing program.
In closing, I want to thank the Russia Community for your ongoing support of Russia Local School. It is your constant support that makes Russia School what it is today and it is very much appreciated!
