Douglas W. Fries, Superintendent
With the close of the 2021-2022 school year, it is time to congratulate another group of outstanding seniors who formally became graduates on June 4, 2022. Approximately 200 graduates received their diploma representing the Greenville Schools Class of 2022. This class can be proud of how they endured the Coronavirus global pandemic the past three years and all the challenges that went with that. The class was able to navigate these challenges successfully. The 2022 class has had many academic and extra- curricular accomplishments while at Greenville and we commend each and every graduate. We wish all graduates much success and happiness in their future endeavors and they are now welcomed as our alumni.
Our district now turns its attention to the preparation for next year. Academically, we continue to focus on teaching twenty-first century learning skills to all of our students. We strive to continue to improve our performance on end-of-course, ACT, web and work key exams at the high school and career tech building and on the Ohio Achievement Test in grades three through eight. These tests will continue to be given online for the most part. We will also begin to staff our building for the 2022-2023 year to replace personnel who have retired or left for other opportunities. Annual cleaning of our buildings and grounds will also take place as will needed repairs and inspections in our buildings and with our bus fleet.
At the K-4 elementary level we will continue to offer our Kids Read Now summer reading program along with our Summer Bridges program for standards-based summer learning. At the K-8 grade levels we will offer summer school to allow students extra time for academic recovery. Summer School at the K-8 will be held the first three weeks of August. Contact the building principal or the curriculum department at Memorial Hall if interested in the Summer School program.
Summer School is also available at the high school and will be held in June and the first two weeks of July. Summer School courses will be blended learning in physical education and health. There will also be courses in algebra I or II and geometry as well as the Virtual Academy for make-up recovery credits including English. Again, contact the high school principal or the curriculum department at Memorial Hall with Summer School registration questions. All courses at the high school are pending having enough students for enrollment. Transportation and lunches are again provided at no cost as well as course registration being free for all summer K-12 course work within the district as a continued effort of our academic recovery plan related to the pandemic. Social and educational counseling are also available as needed and requested through our summer school programs.
At the high school next year, we will continue to implement the College Credit Plus courses for the ninth year. We now offer CCP from several colleges and universities including Edison State, Sinclair, and Wright State. Many of our students continue to take advantage of the CCP program. In fact, this year five of our high school graduates also received associate’s degrees at the same time as their high school diploma.
At the elementary level, many of our students continue to participate in our supplemental eSpark program using their IPad. All of our elementary and middle school students continue to participate in our Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) online testing assessments again using their iPad device. This test is given three times a year and allows our staff to see how students are aligning to their end of year state test and see the reading and mathematical level gains they are achieving.
Across the district, other curriculum plans for next year include the purchase of textbooks and supplemental material in the discipline of language arts, grades 6-12. We continue to incorporate a six- year cycle to upgrade our curriculum material by content area.
Much of the focus this summer with maintenance projects will be on finishing phase two of our stadium project at Harmon Field with the completion of the new Field House. We are hopeful to have the Field House complete by August 1, 2022. Presently things are moving along as scheduled and we hope the community, student athletes, coaches, and trainers can enjoy the new facility this fall.
Another major focus in maintenance this summer are three separate roof repairs on Memorial Hall that are presently being coordinated with Mote and Associates.
The district will also be cleaning and sealing the terrazzo floor at the K-8 facility, cleaning and varnishing gymnasiums at the high school and middle school, completing painting projects at Memorial Hall and the high school, placing a new roof on the storage barn at the high school, as well as routine and annual landscaping updates and/or repairs across district grounds.
A special thank you and congratulations to our seven class of 2022 Valedictorians that each gave wonderful addresses at Greenville High School’s One Hundred and Forty-Eighth Commencement exercise. The seven honored Valedictorians in the class of 2022 were Carmen Badell-Kestler, Laikyn Bruner, Hannah Gartenman, Jack Marchal, Libby McKinney, Nathan Miniard and Kate Rehmert.
The district would like to highlight several recent accomplishments by students and staff:
• Brittni Walker for being recognized as a 20 Under 20 Award winner through her involvement in Career Tech employment at Greenville City Schools and a part of the Darke Economic Regional Tri-County Award program
• Tammie Riffle for being selected as our Darke County Teacher of the Year
• Five of our graduating seniors who earned their associates degrees from Edison State Community
College at the same time as their high school diploma including: Jenna Leigh Hughes, Kaijsa Alexis Maxwell, Reina Lynnmarie Gibson, Madison Nichole Werner, Jason Lee Byrum Jr.
• Sierra Crist winning the Board of Education Outstanding Art Award at the annual Waves of Pride
• Andrew Abell and Jack Marchal District qualifiers in boys tennis
• Emily Gibson (Discus) and Crocket Parsons (Pole Vault) Regional qualifiers in track and field
• The Greenville Girls Softball team qualifying for the Regional competition and winning the Division II District Tournament as well as MVL Divisional and overall MVL Championship
• Susie Blocher for being MVL Softball Player of the Year, First Team All-Southwest District and Second Team All-Ohio in softball
• Jerrod Newland for winning his 500th High School softball game being named Coach of the Year All Southwest District
• First Team Miami Valley League Spring Awards
Softball
Kylie Hamm – pitcher, Ashlyn Zimmer – infielder, Saige Fellers – infielder, Susie Blocher – infielder
Boys Tennis
Jack Marchal – singles
Baseball
Matthew Edwards – outfielder
Girls Track
Addie Klosterman – high jump, Samantha Suter – pole vault
Academic Team Maxwell Jordan
The close of the 2021-2022 school year will mark the retirement of some of our employees. Staff members retiring at the end of the year and in some cases during the year include Lisa Beasecker, Carl Brown, Cindy Lou Hunt, Rachel Jones, Eric Lorents, Jeff Miller, Krista Quellhorst, Lisa Spille and Melinda Robbins. Two of these staff we have re-employed and were happy to do so. For each of the other retiring employees we wish them the very best in their retirement and future endeavors. Please join me in thanking each of these retiring employees for their dedication and commitment to Greenville City Schools and our students. Collectively, these staff members had 206 years in education with 178.50 of those years at Greenville.
Also, this year Dave Westfall retired for a second time after 42 years in education. Likewise, we wish him all the best and thank him for his years of service as a teacher and coach. Finally, we will sincerely miss our longtime Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Laura Bemus, who passed away shortly after her second retirement this past May. Laura Bemus was a dedicated, hardworking, and enthusiastic employee that left a message with all of us to always be kind, friendly, and positive in everything we do. Our thoughts continue to be with her family.
We wish all of our students an enjoyable and safe summer vacation full of relaxing time with family and friends. The Superintendent and Treasurer’s Offices are open all summer. As always, feel free to contact me by phone at 937-548-3185, ext. 4010, or email at dfries@gcswave.com with any questions you have about our district. Thanks to everyone for helping us all with another wonderful academic year.
To all our students, parents, staff, and community members, stay safe over the summer and enjoy your break. We look forward to working with everyone again next fall. Greenville City Schools is a great place for students to learn and teachers to teach. Go WAVE!