Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant John Husted have declared February 16-22, 2020 Digital Wellness Week in the state of Ohio. The proclamation states, “In today’s world, it’s more important than ever that we successfully prepare our youth on how to interact socially, personally, and educationally in online environments.” Digital Wellness Week is a statewide initiative designed to encourage Ohio students to make safe, healthy, and positive decisions in our technology-rich world. There are four focus areas; well-being, citizenship, etiquette, and safety. In Hilliard, we recognize February as Digital Wellness Month. Each week we work on a specific topic with students and send home links for families to become engaged at home. You can visit www.wosu.org/digitalwellness to learn more about the state-wide project. Hilliard is one of many districts and organizations that collaborated to create this website and the resources. The other groups include: WOSU Classroom ESC of Central Ohio Bexley Delaware City Fairbanks Grandview Heights Groveport Madison Logan Elm New Albany Teays Valley Upper Arlington City West Jefferson Westerville
Welcome to the Hilliard School District’s Master Facility Plan online community meeting. We know how busy our families are, so we are again trying this Master Facility Plan Community Meeting online in hopes of reaching more stakeholders. Tonight we are asking you to take part in a survey, which was developed after months of research from our Master Facility Plan Steering Committee. We have a video you can watch that walks you through our district scenarios and options. Those options are located on the Master Facility Plan webpage, under documents. The webpage also contains all the information the Steering Committee has worked on, including presentations, documents and a glossary of terms. You can access this information on any device in your own time. We also ask that you share this online meeting with family and friends within our district who may not have students in our schools. We want to hear from our entire community.
During the last week of January, Dr. Marschhausen and I facilitated our first Listening Leaders tour. These events were opportunities for us to hear the questions, concerns, and perspectives of our community members. In order to live our growth mindset, we have to understand the concerns of our stakeholders so that we know where potential opportunities for improvement may be. Those that attended had great questions and issues to discuss with us. The issues that arose from our discussions ranged across several topics, but there were three themes that seemed to be consistently addressed: student wellness, educational opportunities, and dealing with growth. The mental health issues that students face today are varied. From anxiety and bullying on social media to depression and dealing with change that new academic and extra-curricular opportunities introduce, students (and parents) today must find the skills to develop and maintain mental wellness. Hilliard City Schools has taken several steps in the past couple of years to provide resources for both students and parents in dealing with wellness and mental health issues. Through Federal grant money, we have been able to help fund new positions in our schools for wellness. Namely, we are now able to expand… read more →
Over the past two years, 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. This video created by one of our students, Salma, is one example of our students reaching out to others.
As a parent, scheduling time during the summer for family vacations can be challenging with sports schedules. The Hilliard City School District is blessed to have dedicated, passionate coaches willing to create opportunities for our athletes during the summer months. Our summer conditioning programs, camps, and leagues keep our students involved, reinforce a strong work ethic, and create a team culture. While our summer activities are outstanding, we also want our “kids to be kids” and recognize the importance of family time during the summer months. Pediatricians and psychologists all agree – a break from organized athletics for a week or two is essential for both physical and mental well-being. As our middle and high school families consider plans for the summer, please know two district expectations- First of all, there will be no athletic activities in any Hilliard City School District Middle or High School from Sunday, June 28, 2020, through Sunday, July 5, 2020. The district will have a “dark period” for all athletic activities. There will be no organized or voluntary workouts during this week; coaches will not provide suggested individual workouts or activities. Hilliard athletes will have a full week on their own. Secondly, the first… read more →