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Greenville City Schools
Welcome to the 2019-20 School Year
By Doug Fries, Superintendent
Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year. Our administration and staff are
eager to begin another year with the students, parents, grandparents,
and community members throughout our district. We hope to have everyone
work together to make this another successful instructional and
enjoyable year for all.
I trust each of you have had a relaxing and enjoyable summer with your
family and friends. I hope your vacations, special trips, and family
gatherings have been fun, safe and educational. As September is upon
us, I hope all of you are looking forward to another exciting and
rewarding school year. As you return to school, notice the newly
re-sealed parking lot at the Jennings Track and Field Complex and new
asphalt at the transportation department.
Likewise, at the K-8 we have added some outdoor athletic goals, the
terrazzo floors have been re-sealed, the gym floors cleaned and
varnished, and new signage in the cafeteria. At the high school the
front athletic field has been resurfaced, new security cameras added,
additional fobbed doors, and sidewalk repairs. Also, the high school
gymnasium floor was cleaned and re- varnished. At Memorial Hall we have
installed additional cameras and landscaping. We thank the community
for your ongoing support of our facilities.
This fall our district will participate in two approved waiver days.
These are non-instructional days for students that allow for additional
professional development for our staff. These two waiver days will take
place on Monday, September 30, 2019, and Monday, October 28, 2019.
Parents can coordinate now for these two days the students will not be
in session. The staff will be participating in professional development
related to school climate and culture and establishing positive
educational relationships and differentiated instruction. All these
sessions will promote a current curriculum and safer environment for
our students.
Greenville Schools has a tradition of excellence and we certainly are
working to continue the excellence. The entire district wants to lead
the way by making sure our students are ready for higher education and
jobs of tomorrow in a global economy. To promote this tradition we will
continue with all our students and teachers having access to one to one
iPads for instructional use. This continues to be a major area of our
instructional emphasis.
Our elementary through tenth grades will continue to participate in
Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) testing to continue throughout
the year to keep a close measure on our alignment to end of year
required state assessments. At the high school, we will continue for
the fifth year with the College Credit Plus program, including again
Edison State, Sinclair, and Wright State, as well as, Urbana. We also
look forward to continuing with all our Career Tech programming at the
high school which continues to be well received by our students. Many
of these programs continue to compete in state and national
competitions. The junior class will continue to take the required ACT
test for all junior students this spring.
The district would like to highlight the Greenville High School FCCLA
program for earning the following awards during National Competition in
Anaheim, California during June/July. These include: Gold Medal-1st
Place - Sophie Gettinger and Eliza Wysong, Digital Stories for Change;
Silver Medal - Layne Claudy, Advocacy; Gold Medal - 5th Place - Brooke
Stachler, Mackenzie McMiller, and Alexa Snyder, FCCLA Chapter Website;
Bronze Medal - Summer Cook, Early Childhood Education; Silver Medal -
Rain Richardson, Focus on Children; Bronze Medal - 4th Place - Alyssa
York, Anna Combs, and Jenna Netzley, Digital Stories for Change; Gold
Medal - Brittni Walker, Brittany Grice, Chapter Service Project
Portfolio. You are all a source of pride for Greenville City Schools.
Congratulations to Amy Schoen and Rita Potter for their instructional
leadership to this program.
Our district continues to be on a rotational basis to purchase
textbooks and supplemental materials beyond the required College Credit
Plus textbook purchases. This year our district purchased many new
science textbooks and materials. Next year we will be purchasing
foreign language, business education, and health materials.
This fall we will continue to contract with the City of Greenville to
provide us with two school resource officers. One will continue to be
housed at the high school while the other will be at the K-8 facility.
These SRO’s will assist us with safety and security, but also provide
educational programming. They have done an outstanding job for the
district and it our pleasure to work with the city to staff these
positions. Safety wise we continue to have more of our staff educated
to train in the ALICE safety procedures.
As we begin a new year, remember to travel slowly on Ohio and Main
Street and observe the speed limit when students are present and
particularly during drop off and dismissal times at the K-8 complex, as
well as, the high school. Always slow down in the parking lots and
follow marked traffic flow to keep everyone safe. At the K-8 complex in
front of the building the first row of parking on both sides will be
reserved for visitors. Staff members assigned to these buildings will
not park in these areas. Likewise, staff parking at Memorial Hall will
continue to be assigned to the new side lot leaving the front circle
open to visitors.
Please join me in welcoming the new employees to the Greenville School
District. We look forward to working with each of them in our
educational delivery and are glad they have joined the Greenville
School District team. The following is the list of new employees at the
time of this release:
Memorial Hall: Katherine Widener (Custodian)
High School: Kyle Fox (Custodian); Winford Knowles (NJRTOC Instructor); Clayton Westerbeck (Asst. Principal)
Middle School: Raegan Clark (Social Studies Teacher); Victoria Fitzwater (Custodian)
Elementary School: Twila Blowers (Crossing Guard); Brooke Copeland (3rd
Grade Teacher); Shelly King (Para Professional); Betsy Kraft (3rd Grade
Teacher); Mary Kate Lefeld (2nd Grade Teacher); Laura Shafer
(Kindergarten Teacher); Janet Smith (Intervention Specialist); Sarah
Stipe (Intervention Specialist); Kelsey Wise (Kindergarten Teacher)
Transportation: Annie Oiler (Bus Driver)
This year the board of education and district have made a conscious
effort to improve and provide more mental health services and support.
The district has added two additional contracts with Recovery and
Wellness to provide mental health services. One is mental health
counseling available for all needed students with parental permission
after a screening if necessary. One day a week coordinated at the high
school and the other day at the K-8 complex. The second contract is for
the student support groups at the high school for two hours a week.
Allocations for additional mental health services were included in this
year’s state budget. The district also continues to employ a social
worker for the fourth year, as well.
I invite everyone in the community to attend and support our students
in the various extracurricular activities that take place throughout
the school year. Your attendance is appreciated by the students and the
school system.
Remember, the entire Greenville School faculty and staff is here to
assist you – our students, parents and community. If we can be of
assistance, please feel free to contact our principals or myself. I can
be reached by phone at 937-548-3185, or by email at dfries@gcswave.com.
Let’s all work together to make 2019-2020 an outstanding school year.
Our district wants to focus on being kind and providing hope.
We look forward to seeing all of you again this fall. Go Wave!
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