US News and World Report judged over 18,000 public high schools, Aurora ranked in the top 500. IÂ figured that’s the top 2%? Am i right?
Aurora High School Ranks at the top for high schools across the nation, scoring in the silver category. The news agency in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education and data research and analysis business, analyzed academic and enrollment data from more than 18,000 public high schools to find the very best across the country. These top schools were placed into gold, silver, or bronze medal categories. Using a formula produced in collaboration with School Evaluation Services U.S. News & World Report put high schools in 40 states through a three-step analysis. First, it measured how each school’s students performed on state tests, adjusting for student circumstances. It then evaluated how well each school’s disadvantaged students did. Finally, we looked at whether the school was successful in providing college-level coursework.
The 100 schools that did the best in this analysis earned gold medals. The next 405 schools were awarded silver medals, and an additional 1,086 schools earned bronze. For the entire story, please go to here Drill down in the info and i think you’ll agree that we have good schools!
John Olivier has left his position as youth sports coordinator for the Aurora Rec. Dept. He took another job with the Muskingum Park District, just south of Canton. He had worked there before and inquired about a job several years ago, before he came to Aurora. Well, something came up and they offered him a job and he took it.  It’s too bad, he really did a great job here and was overqualified for his jobjob. The youth sports that i was involved with really was a great growing program. He brought the small sided games to youth soccer. Good luck John, see you in the daks.
While channel switching I was City Council discussion about kids loitering and hanging out in the movie theatre lot. I have noticed they are there, between Starbucks and the movie theatre. I seem to remember when the theatre was going to be built, it was a good thing, “now kids will have a place to go”. The police seem to have the situation under control, the kids are breaking no laws.
Have you ever had a problem with these kids ? Does you kid go there? What’s going on there really “American Graffiti” type hanging out and checking out each other, or is it really a breeding ground for really bad behaviors? Are these the kids who vandalize?
And what is the diffeerence between the car cruise-ins that Pappous has in their parking lot? Are’nt those people just congregating in the lot also? If fact i bet many of them go into Pappous for an “adult beverage” then come back out and loiter.
The Board and Superintendent Invite the Community to Public Hearing
The Aurora Board of Education and Superintendent invite the community to share its feedback and concerns regarding the levy failure, recent cuts, and the district’s plans to move forward. The Community Meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 5 at Aurora High School in the auditorium. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
The Board scheduled the meeting Saturday at its special Board Meeting. “There is a sense of urgency to have this meeting as soon as possible to hear the voice of the community. The Board does not have much time to consider feedback on this issue as the Ohio Department of Education requires us to decide on the particulars of filing to go on the ballot by December 15,†said Board President Jerry Kohanski. The meeting date was also chosen to be December 5, because all other days early this month had holiday concerts or other school events scheduled.
The Superintendent, Russ Bennett, and Board Members will also make themselves available following holiday concerts this month in room 100 at the high school.
If you don’t know what that means ask your kids!
Anyway the East Garfield / Rt 82 bridge is open. yahoo! hammer down!
A special meeting will be held Saturday, Dec 1 at 8 am the agenda is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
While attempting to flee, the suspect in a rape case, drew a gun, Aurora Police Chief Seth Reiwald struggled with him and several shots were fired. The Chief pulled his weapon and fired, wounding the suspect in the face. The alledged rape had occurred in Aurora, and the Chief was in Solon to serve a forthcoming search warrant.
To Be Jolly! here is last year’s holiday lights highlights
Here is a link to the Advocate story about the school cuts. Many good quotes and explanations.
Editor, Ken Lahmers has written about the levy in this insightful editorial hereÂ
Despite terrible weather, the Aurora Turkey Trot was a success. Here’s one runner’s description.
Here is a link to the school website which announces the reasoning for cutbacks and full effect of the levy failure.
As a result of the failure of the November 6 mill combined levy, the Aurora School Board announced cost-saving cuts and increases in fees. The meeting was attended by mostly teachers and administrative staff, maybe 10 parents were there. Some of these cuts have Read the rest of this entry »
The Aurora School Levies came so close to passing. Can’t we do some extra credit to bring up the vote a bit? How about we vote on a curve? You know supporters really wanted it to pass so can’t we go over the vote and get a few extra points somewhere? Kidding aside, only 126 more yes votes would have made the difference, and passed the levy. Or if 65 voters had changed their minds at the polls.
The past is over, we can’t change it. This will be up for a vote again in March. I think this needs to pass. Let’s start getting ready.
It’s a shame that the kids who work hard, the teachers who deserve our support and the administrators who do a good job don’t have a community who supports the school levy. I don’t really want to spend $300 a year more, but i voted for the levy because they really need the improvements that the levy would have funded.
All civil opinions and comments are welcome here, pro or con, but Olive is taking sides on this particular issue. Funding our schools is good for the community.
What can you do to pass the next levy?
Does anyone care that the fron of the Aurora library looks like it’s a vacant lot? Sure the grass is cut but that’s about all. The walk has loose and broken bricks, somebody is going to trip and fall there. The front sitting area is overgrown with weeds. The brick patio has weeds and grass growingn through. Whatever happened to the landscaping? It was removed two years ago when the basement wall was waterproofed and none of the shrubs were ever replaced.
The planters in the front are empty except for the weeds growing there. The back entrance looks almost as bad.
As the only community building in town you would think that the city who ons the building would plan for better upkeep of the grounds. Or that the library trust would want to show pride by having flowers in the planters. If it’s too much trouble remove them. Maybe the garden club could assist with the beds.
Let’s make the Aurora Library look as good as the cemetary!
Aurora firemen get the call they’ve been waiting for, dirty, dirty woman at Sunny Lake needs them, now! Bring your hose too. But really, this is why you should stay out of the mud surrounding Sunny Lake!
There is so much more that could be written! Clickable photos…
Firemen hosed her off afterwards. (not with lake water i hope)
Aurora candidate petitions court over ballot
An Aurora City Council candidate thrown off the November ballot because of a residency issue has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to intercede. Richard Duncan has requested that the court grant a writ of mandamus requiring the Portage County Board of Elections to put his name back on the Nov. 6 ballot. His driver’s license has the Middlefield address, and he has not been paying income tax in Aurora.
This is considered an expedited election matter, meaning the parties have short time periods to file briefs and responses. Duncan, a candidate for an at-large council seat, contends he has homes in Aurora and Middlefield, but lives in Aurora. Elections board members didn’t think he made a persuasiveenough case. His driver’s license has the Middlefield address, and he has not been paying income tax in Aurora.
If you have questions about the upcoming school levy you can go here
Aurora’s schools created all day kindergarten to help families and the kids. But thanks to the Ohio Attorney General ruling everybody will loose.
The Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann released an opinion this month stating, in part, that charging for all-day kindergarten is unlawful. The State mandates a ½ day of kindergarten and helps fund this requirement. It does not require a full day for kindergarten. Aurora City Schools, like many school districts in our region, offered the all-day class because so many parents showed an interest. However, like other districts, Aurora City Schools could only afford to run the program by charging tuition. The district has five all-day classes and does charge a tuition of $2,000 per student to enroll in this class. The funds cover staff, materials and operations.
Superintendent Russ Bennett says the Attorney General’s opinion could cost the district $200,000 Read the rest of this entry »
Here is more on changes at Geauga Lake. There are many rumours floating around on the roller coaster/amusement park sites including: Why no mention of 2008 passes anywhere? Others are the removal of the coasters; the ferris wheel; the texas twister, the space needle. I’ve also heard one about building a indoor waterpark/hotel on the wet side. The former Turtle Beach and old waterpark along Rt 43 are sure to come down this year also. In addition, a marketing director has relocated to Sandusky.
In case this coaster goes too, here is a video from the park.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNMH9Z8NMFc[/youtube]
On their last podcast, the hosts of Coasterdom talked about the rumors floating around about Geauga Lake.
They said, “The word on the street is that both Dominator and Thunderhawk are on their way out of the park. Now if these rumors stay true, Geauga Lake would of lost four coasters in the past two years. And other rumors Read the rest of this entry »
It might be a little late, but go here to fill out a survey.
You can pretty much tell what direction they are going with this plan here in Aurora from the leading questions. National chains? T1, condos,
What is the picture after you submit the survey? A bottle of booze?
from the school website call them or leave your feedback here for themÂ
Aurora City School District Residents,
This open letter to the community is our invitation to you to provide us with feedback about our decision to go on the ballot this November and any other issues and concerns you may want to share. To give all residents an opportunity to participate in this discussion, we are scheduling small group discussions (coffees) throughout the school district.
During the past few years, our community has been experiencing significant growth in its population, and projections indicate this trend will continue.
As a result of the increasing number of families moving into our school district, we will continue to need more classroom space. Read the rest of this entry »
The Aurora School District once again topped the list of Portage County’s 12 school districts, not necessarily something to get too excited about. However, unlike last year, Aurora was the only Portage district rated “excellent” by the state, and the only one to meet Read the rest of this entry »
I found this great essay here, on Gene’s blog, hope we can hear more about “old” Aurora from you Gene. You look you-know-who in that red shirt!
Growing Up on Conquered Lands
The August heat this year has reminded me of hot summer days in one of the fields on our farm in Aurora, Ohio where I grew up. The farm has long been overtaken by factories and suburban sprawl. But in my mind it is as fresh as it was 55 years ago when we took care of 25 cows and had just begun the transition to mechanized farming that included combines, tractors with rubber tires and milking machines. Two parts of the farm remain firmly attached in my brain. The first is the maple sugar bush where we gathered sap every spring to make maple syrup. I loved to skip school to help. The second was a field immediately to the north of the woods where we often found relics which we referred to as “Indian heads†(arrowheads, sometimes called flint heads} and other artifacts from a long forgotten native settlement. I never connected the two until recently.
I was reminded of the native people who once lived on our farm in Ohio Read the rest of this entry »
With the expansion of Marcs, the approval of “Skill games” and the soon to open Dollar Tree store in Barrington the retail scene has never looked brighter!
Sorry the post have been few and far between from me. Summertime.
Who has a topic to write about or someone/something interesting?
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