standards, Markwardt emphasizes,“It’s how we teach to those standards that separate us from many other districts. There’s a great deal of emphasis here on the importance of instruction, and in terms of how we hire people, and then how we work with those people to develop their skills once they’re here.” To meet the diverse needs of students, Dr. Markwardt says the district had to make some changes.“We’ve sort of moved the whole curve to the right, in that we’ve upped the middle,” he explains. “We’ve increased in terms of rigor, and we’ve made it tougher to earn an A than what it was 10 years ago. We also have put in place many supports for our lower achieving kids.” Proactively, the district uses a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model, addressing struggling students’ needs before they face significant academic setbacks. Dr. Markwardt mentions Amy Davis, Director of Pupil Personnel, sharing, “She was talking about our efforts in inclusion and equity. And she said the most equitable thing we can do is ensure that all of our children achieve proficiency or above in their academics.And that’s become a driving force for the district.” In addition, West Geauga Local Schools has revamped its approach to gifted education, making the effort to engage families more actively. “These kids also need opportunities to expand their minds and grow to their capacity and that may mean accelerating or expanding a curriculum, but the parents want to be involved in that,” he asserts. Initiatives such as these have brought unparalleled academic gains for West Geauga, as Markwardt summarizes, “We’ve done an exemplary job of providing additional services for all of our kids.” ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND BEYOND Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nancy Benincasa highlights the district’s approach to early literacy, and their use of the Science of Reading framework long before the state of Ohio mandated it. 5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 WEST GEAUGA LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
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