commitment to academic achievement, innovative teaching methods, and comprehensive student support. In thewords of Superintendent,Dr.RichardMarkwardt, “One of the first things that we emphasize is giving our students, and our staff, a safe, nurturing, learning environment.And that incorporates a lot of different elements, including physical safety, emotional safety, the opportunity to grow, and the opportunity to fail. And when people fail, we allow them to try again and to eventually achieve success.” A VISION OF EXCELLENCE As Superintendent of theWest Geauga School District since 2015, Dr.Markwardt recalls the ambitious goals set by the Board upon his arrival.“Academically they felt that the district was under-achieving and they’d like to be in the top five percentage of districts in the state within five years,” he recounts.“Well, I think we’ve done better than that.” The Board’s goals set a vision at West Geauga Local Schools that staff has embraced. This vision has influenced practices from hiring to program evaluating to training. Rather than filling traditional school district leadership roles when hiring, Markwardt notes that “we look to fill district needs that serve our larger vision of excellence.” Dr. Markwardt points out that the district emphasis on leadership recruitment has enabled us to find the best administrators who help craft their own positions to best support the work. This approach sets West Geauga apart and helps to attract talented staff to a small suburban district. Now high-performing,West Geauga has made great strides over the last decade, to reach its academic potential. “We’ve probably charted more academic gains than any other district in the state,” says Markwardt. He attributes this success to the efforts of students, support from the community, and a forward-thinking team of teachers and leaders, boasting, “We have a pretty outstanding staff who are amenable to new ideas and who will incorporate those ideas into their classroom.” Noting that all educators in Ohio are teaching to the same state 445 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 WEST GEAUGA LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
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