Dear CH-UH School Community,
I am so thankful for the tremendous start we have had to the school year. My sincere gratitude goes out to our parents, staff, students and community members for coming together to make the past few weeks run so smoothly.
From the opening of the beautifully-renovated Heights High, to the new Heights Middle School campus, to a district-wide viewing of the solar eclipse on day 1, it’s been a truly remarkable beginning to the school year. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for CH-UH.
This is year three of our five-year Strategic Plan, and we have adopted the theme “A Culture of Excellence” to guide our work in 2017-2018. I want our district to be focused on excellence in everything we do, especially in working together to serve our students and our community.
As we start this new school year, I’m asking that we all commit to a renewed dedication to collaboration and to creativity. Let’s work together as a school community to provide an excellent education for each of our students and continue to move CH-UH forward as a leader in public education.
This work is not exclusive to our teachers and our staff. It takes the entire community to help a school district succeed as we strive to reach our goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020. We have many different opportunities for the district to engage our community stakeholders in this important work.
First, we have partnered with United Way of Greater Cleveland and formed a Community in Schools Task Force. This group includes over 30 stakeholders who are working together to assess the need for wraparound services in our community.
Also, we have selected eight well-qualified community members for the new Bond Accountability Commission, which will oversee the work done on the middle renovation project. This committee will meet four times a year beginning in October and report out to the Board of Education after each meeting.
Later this year we will convene the following task forces:
- District Grading Policy
- Alternative Education Options
- Student Conduct/Discipline
Please look out for more information on the CH-UH website to volunteer for the various committee opportunities.
Lastly, a priority of mine is to get out in the community to talk with all of our community stakeholders and share what’s happening in the district.
Beginning next month I will start Community Coffee Chats with the Superintendent. The chats are informal public forums for the public to come talk with me about emerging or current issues. This will allow for a more organized and strategic effort to inform you on the happenings in the district. Stay tuned for the dates and locations!
I hope your school year has been a good one thus far, and I look forward to meeting with you in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Dr. Talisa Dixon
P.S. I hope to see everyone at the Heights High Grand Opening on Sunday, Sept. 10. It is sure to be an exciting event!