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Dear CH-UH Families,

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the National Honor Society induction ceremony at Heights High School. The NHS welcomed 60 new members to its ranks. These juniors and seniors have displayed outstanding achievement in the areas of scholarship, character, service, and leadership. School counselor Haethem Rasul and his team did a tremendous job in making the night special for the honorees.

I am also excited to share that senior Maple Buescher has been named a U.S. Presidential Scholar, one of only 3 in Ohio and 161 in the nation. The White House selects scholars annually based on their academic success, essays, transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.

As part of the process, candidates were able to nominate a particularly influential teacher. Maple nominated Mr. Matthew Meister, history & humanities teacher at Heights High. Tiger Nation is proud of Maple for earning this prestigious honor, and I thank Mr. Meister and the many other educators who have inspired her along the way.

It’s so great to wrap up the week celebrating these wonderful student achievements!

Summer programming
In just a few short weeks, CH-UH will kick off its first-ever summer camp for students. If you have already pre-registered your K-8 student, you would have received an email earlier this evening with next steps from Robert Swaggard, Director of Curriculum and Instruction. If you are interested in registering your child for camp, that information can be found here. Sign-up will close tomorrow, May 15. At that time, the Google Form will point to information about a wait list.

Advocacy updates
Thank you for your calls and letters to legislators on behalf of HB 110 (which includes the Fair School Funding language). Board member Dan Heintz testified in Columbus on Wednesday in front of the Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education committee. On Tuesday, May 18, our Board work session will include a presentation from the Ohio School Boards Association on the latest regarding fair school funding, EdChoice and the biennial budget process. We will keep you abreast of developments and continue to share information.

Take a look at (and feel free to share) this letter to the editor for Cleveland.com written by Heights High sophomore Kenji Sakaie, explaining why an investment in our public schools is more important than ever. Kenji is wise beyond his years; sometimes we need children to remind the adults to examine what truly matters.

Updated CDC guidance
On Thursday, the CDC released new guidance on mask-wearing, stating that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” Per our mask policy, staff,  students and visitors are still required to wear masks and physically distance themselves regardless of vaccination status. We will continue to revisit our policies and keep stakeholders informed as we move forward.

COVID-19 case summary for the week of May 10
Since Monday, May 10, we have received reports of zero staff members and two students testing positive for COVID-19. Positive cases are reflected on the District’s case reporting dashboard. The county remains in Level 3 “red” alert level status in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. The data released by the Ohio Department of Health on Thursday show that three of the seven indicators are currently met.

When staff and students who have been in District buildings test positive for COVID-19, we send notices to the families whose children attend the affected schools and to the staff members of those schools. We also post the notices on chuh.org and our District app, available for Android and iPhone. This document contains the process following a staff or student testing positive for COVID-19.

Enjoy your weekend!

Sincerely,
Superintendent Kirby