By Doug Fries

Greenville City Schools

With the close of the 2022-2023 school year, it is time to congratulate another group of outstanding seniors who formally became graduates on June 3, 2023. Approximately 200 graduates received their diploma representing the Greenville Schools Class of 2023. The 2023 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 21st 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 and Measurement of Academic Progress testing 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 2023-2024 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 from July 31st through August 18th. 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, emotional, and educational counseling are also available as needed and requested through our summer school programs.

At the high school and middle school next year, we will continue to implement the College Credit Plus courses for the tenth 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.

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 K-5. We have purchased the McGraw Hill Wonders program for next year. 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 installing a new parking lot at much of the high school. We will also be cleaning and varnishing all gymnasiums. The terrazzo floor at the K8 complex will be cleaned and resealed. There will also be some repair work at both the transportation facility and Memorial Hall. We will also be painting the storage building and roof at the stadium.

A special thank you and congratulations to our eight Class of 2023 Valedictorians that each gave wonderful addresses at Greenville High School’s One Hundred and Forty-Ninth Commencement exercise.

The eight honored Valedictorians in the Class of 2023 were Alaina Baughn, Ellasyn Bruner, Sierra Dobson, Noah Ellis, Nolan Ellis, Samantha Frens, Carson Pope, and Mason Shuttleworth.

The district would like to highlight several recent accomplishments by students and staff:

• Alexis Arnett and Nathan Hittle for being recognized as a 20 Under 20 Award winner through their involvement in Career Tech employment at Greenville City Schools and a part of the Darke Economic Regional Tri-County Award program.

• Libby Langston for being selected as our Darke County Teacher of the Year for Greenville City Schools

• Jenna Jurosic for being honored with the Ohio Auditor of State Award with Distinction. The district audit was in the top 3% of 6,000 state audits.

• Heather Crews for being selected as Darke County Mentor of the Year for 2023

• Skylar Fletcher for winning the Board of Education Outstanding Art Award at the annual Waves of Pride

• Haleigh Hoening, Mason Shuttleworth, and Adrian Miller-Castano for their outstanding participation in the 85th Anniversary of the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestras

• National Career Tech Competition Qualifiers:

* Lauren Wright, National Career Tech Competition in International Health Occupations Students of America Conference

* Alex Plessinger in Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Career Tech Competition through Supply Chain Management

* Kate Garber, Emma Howard, Emily Gibson, Isabelle Sommer, Elise Fugett, and Shyanne Gibboney participating in the National Career Tech Competition through FCCLA

• GHS Concert Band, under the direction of Carl Phlipot, for earning the highest honor of a SUPERIOR rating and was rated 3rd place overall in their division in the Parks at Kings Island Competition

• Trevor Coppess for earning his Associate of Science degree from Edison State Community College at the same time as his high school diploma (this was completed by a combination of College Credit Plus and Career Tech credits)

• The following students achieved either perfect, or nearly perfect scores, in their Mathematics or Language Arts Ohio Achievement Test scores for the Spring 2023:

3rd Grade Math: Kyle Ganiron, Franklin Gilmore, Benson Duncan, Lillian Helman, Aaron Holzapfel, and Zander Huffman

4th Grade Math: Baylee Andorfer, Jack Driscoll, Jaxsyn Hupman, Leighton Quintor, and Grady Steyer

5th Grade Math: Kael Harrison and Abby McGlinch

6th Grade Math: Lucy Castle, Hallee Fourman, Gavin Stonerock, and Alexis Yundt

7th Grade Math: Shane Gilman

3rd Grade Language Arts: Jakson Tanner-Viro

5th Grade Language Arts: Brant Kissinger

7th Grade Language Arts: Claire Miller-Castano

8th Grade Language Arts: Shane Eikenbery

• First Team Miami Valley League Spring Awards:

Softball – Kylar Arnett – Infielder; Alaina Baughn – Catcher; Zoey Burns – Pitcher; Skylar Fletcher – Outfielder; Ashlyn Zimmer – Infielder

Boys Track – T.J. Barr – High Jump (Champion)

Girls Track – Emily Gibson – Discus (Champion); Addie Klosterman – High Jump (Champion); Brooke Schmidt – Discus; and Samantha Suter – Pole Vault

• Mason Pierri for being a district qualifier in boys tennis

• Emily Gibson (Discus), Samantha Suter (Pole Vault), and Addie Klosterman (High Jump) for qualifying for the regional track meet (Addie Klosterman also won the District Girls High Jump)

• The Greenville Girls Softball team for qualifying for the State competition and winning the Division II District & Regional Tournament as well as MVL Divisional and overall MVL Championship

The close of the 2022-2023 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 Sherri Beisner, Lisa Byram, Mark Housman, Cindy Hunt, Kathy Quinn, Jennifer Schatz, John Shutts, and Dan Williams. One of these staff members 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 223 years in education with 203 of those years at Greenville.

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 [email protected] with any questions you have about our district. Thanks to everyone for helping us all with another wonderful school 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. Go WAVE!