Beginning this year, College Board has moved the registration for AP exams from the spring to
the fall. In schools in which this has been piloted, they have found that students who commit to
taking the test in the fall have increased their test scores on AP exams overall.
Students and teachers will also have access to digital resources throughout the year that measure
student progress. These resources are available to help students master the content and skills to
be successful in the course and on the exam.

Preferred exam registration is through MyPaymentsPlus. You may also pay via cash or check to
Mrs. Leeka in the Guidance Office.
● The registration window is 9/23/19 – 11/1/19
● Each AP exam is $94. Students who qualify for free/reduced lunch have a fee of $53 per
exam.
● The AP exam calendar can be found here:  https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/exam-calendar

Please feel free to reach out to Rachel Creamer or Norb Fischer if you have any questions.
Rachel Creamer: rachel_creamer@hboe.org
Norb Fischer: norb_fischer@hboe.org

The Ohio High School Athletic Association this week posted an important blog on their web page addressing fan behavior at sporting events. We hope our entire community will take a moment to read this and help create a better environment at our athletic events. There are six simple guidelines we can all follow.

You can read the blog here.

Today the Ohio Department of Education released the State Report Cards.  The Hilliard City Schools received an overall B for this year.  This is the second year schools and districts were assigned an overall letter grade which is calculated using six components: achievement, progress, gap closing, improving at-risk K-3 readers, graduation rate and prepared for success.

“The Hilliard City School District utilizes the State Report Card as one, of many, data points we consider to measure our progress as a district.” Said Dr. John Marschhausen, Hilliard Superintendent.  “We truly value the whole child; the State Report Card has some limitations. We will use the data from this report card to identify the areas for improvement that align with our mission and vision.”

Our school district, much like an annual physical, takes time each year to conduct our annual check-up.  Just as multiple measurements are evaluated as part of our yearly physical, we take into account a holistic approach to educating each child.  Evaluating our district’s performance is a complex, often complicated process.  The more diverse our population – both economically and socially – the more complex the evaluation process.  The more programs and services required to meet student needs – the more complicated our assessment process.

“Our professional teachers are the key to a high-quality education. Hilliard uses standardized assessments, teacher assessment, and professional skills to ensure every student is Ready for Tomorrow.”

We are proud of the gains we made in the Gap Closing component, which measures how well schools are addressing the achievement gaps that exist nationwide between our most vulnerable populations of students and the general student population in the areas of English language arts, math, and graduation.

“Standardized tests are one tool Hilliard uses to measure student growth. We embrace the complexity of the educational process; we have dozens of data points that are all included in analyzing each student’s growth and needs.”

We will continue to be honest and open about our performance.  We don’t meet every mark; we aren’t meeting every student’s needs.  We can, and we must do better.  Just as there are often places to improve our physical health, there are always places we need to improve as a district.  Furthermore, needing to improve isn’t the end . . . It is a beginning.  We live our Passion for Growth and commit to doing the work necessary in the coming year.

This past year we trained hundreds of our students to be a part of our Hope Squad Team. This is a school-based peer to peer suicide prevention program. Our Hope Squad Teams are made up of students selected by their peers. They are trained to watch for at-risk students, provide friendship, identify suicide-warning signs, and seek help from adults. Hope Squad members are NOT taught to act as counselors but are educated on recognizing suicide warning signs and how to properly and respectfully report concerns to an adult. The Hope Squads have been doing amazing things in our schools and are already helping our students.  For instance, playing Hope Squad Bingo.  At a football game last week, they handed out bingo cards, with suggestions on how to reach out to others and engage in friendly activities.  They could cheer for the other team, or buy a stranger a hotdog, just fun ways to treat others with kindness.

With September being Suicide Awareness Month, we wanted to express the importance of communication about mental health and eliminate the stigma that has surrounded this for years.  We want to give our community some resources for when a friend, child or neighbor needs help.

https://www.nami.org/

https://nationaltoday.com/national-suicide-prevention-month/

Suicide Hotline        1-800-273-8255

Text HOME to           741741

Hilliard PD – 614-876-7321

Dublin PD – 614-889-1112

Columbus PD – 614-645-4545

Please, talk with your children and keep an open dialogue. Please, call for help when you need it. This is a concern we share with our community, and together we can combat this and get our students the help they need.

Registration is now open! Discover HCS will take place at Darby High School on September, 28th from 8 am – 12:30 pm.

Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, CEO and founder of ROX, (ruling our eXperiences.) She will share a riveting presentation called “A Confidence Crisis: What 10,678 girls think about stress, social media, school, and their future.”

In addition to the keynote, you will be able to attend up to 3 additional sessions on topics such as Igniting a Passion for Reading in Young Children, Understanding Your Child’s Star Scores, Navigating Canvas, iPad Tips for Parents and The Gift of Failure. You may register for as many or few sessions as you like.