Norwalk City School District

Norwalk City School District is a public school district serving students in the city of Norwalk, parts of Bronson Township, and Norwalk Township in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The school district enrolls 2,859 students as of the 2007-2008 academic year.^[1]

School Facilities

The school district has 8 schools, six of which are public, two are private.

Gerken Center (Pre)

Since the fall of 1995, the Gerken Center has offered a safe, nurturing environment for children of diverse ethnic, economic and developmental backgrounds. It houses the following agencies whose efforts prepare children for kindergarten and the rest of their lives:

Norwalk City Schools Preschool Head Start Program Early Intervention Program Early Childhood Center Christie Lane Preschool

League Elementary School (Grades 3 to 4)

Edit: This school once had grades K-4 but was changed to grades 3 and 4 beginning the 2011-2012 school year.

Location League Elementary is located in the heart of Norwalk and serves over 300 neighborhood students in grades kindergarten through 4. The school has a staff of 19 full-time classroom teachers and 10 part-time support specialists.

Activities A variety of special activities and programs are offered that serve to enhance the existing educational program. The following are just a few of the activities that are offered to League students each year: field trips, assemblies, awards ceremonies, Student-of-the-Month program, principal's lunch, the Accelerated Reader reading program, Good News student recognition program, Safety Patrol, Student Council, computer education, and pizza parties.

Parents are urged to take part in their children's education at League Elementary. A number of opportunities exist for parents to become actively involved through the League Parent/Teacher Organization and parent volunteer program.

Maplehurst Elementary School (Grades 1 to 2)

Edit: This school has grades one and two and as of the 2011-2012 School year.

Location Maplehurst Elementary is located at 195 St. Mary's Street near the northeastern edge of Norwalk and serves over 600 students in kindergarten through fourth grade from the eastern half of the community. The school has a staff of 23 full-time classroom teachers, 10 full or part time support teachers, and 11 full- or part-time classified employees.

Maplehurst was built in 1953. The original structure housed seven classrooms, offices, and a multipurpose room. In 1956, the two story wing of the building was erected, adding an additional fifteen classrooms. The summer of 1989 saw the addition of a modular unit on the site, adding two more classrooms. Recent additions of an outdoor fitness center, playground equipment and soccer fields have provided excellent physical education and recreation facilities for school and community use.

Activities An active PTO and volunteer program greatly enhances the school's offerings and opportunities. Individual parents contribute many hours of service volunteering in the library, classrooms, the "publishing center", and classroom parties as well as a number of other areas. The PTO provides family activities, school programs and school and playground equipment. The following programs were possible due to the cooperative efforts of the PTO fund raisers which have become school and community traditions: Fall Open House, School Wide Halloween Party, The Turkey Trot, Student Talent Show, Maplehurst Fun Fair, Art Show, Student Of The Month Program, Santa's Christmas Shop, PTO Christmas Bazaar, and School Music Programs and Assemblies.

Pleasant Elementary School (Pre to Kindergarten)

Location Pleasant Street Elementary is located at 16 S. Pleasant Street.

History In 1867, the Board of Education decided to erect a larger and better building on South Pleasant Street. The old building was small and dilapidated. A lot was bought for 800 dollars and a brick building was erected to accommodate primary scholars. The total amount spent for school purposes in 1867 was $13,035.79. At the graduating exercises in June, there were ten members of the class.

Activities An active PTO and volunteer program greatly enhances the school's offerings and opportunities. Individual parents contribute many hours of service volunteering in the library, classrooms, classroom parties as well as a number of other areas. The PTO provides family activities, school programs and school and playground equipment. The following programs were possible due to the cooperative efforts of the PTO fund raisers which have become school and community traditions: Pleasant Fall Festival, Art Show, Santa's Christmas Shop, Safety Patrol, Weekly Readers, and school music programs and assemblies.

It once had grades K-4 but was changed for the 2011-2012 school year.

Main Street Intermediate School (Grades 5 to 6)

This school once was the high school, but became the intermediate school when the new high school was finished being built. It is located on East Main St. Main Street School serves all 5th and 6th grade students attending the Norwalk City Schools (about 250 per grade). The school is intended to be suited specifically to the academic and developmental needs of ten, eleven, and twelve-year-olds, and to serve as a transition from the elementary schools to the middle school - as well as from childhood to the brink of adolescence.

Norwalk Middle School (Grades 7 to 8)

Location Norwalk Middle School is located at 64 Christie Ave and serves students in grades 7 and 8. Originally designed in the early 1960s to house grades seven and eight, the school now accommodates in excess of 400 students. In 1984, the voters of Norwalk provided funding to expand the school to include four classrooms, a multipurpose room, handicap restrooms and a teacher’s work room.

Norwalk Middle School continues to be committed to providing the most appropriate education for each student as evidenced by the varied curriculum. The Middle School is proud to offer specialized programs for students with learning disabilities and developmental and physical handicaps. Also a source of pride are curriculum offerings for the academically gifted students and a modern computer laboratory. Norwalk Middle School became a member of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges in 1977, and currently stands among only 35 middle schools out of 450 in the state of Ohio to hold membership.

The curricular offerings are accented by a wide array of co-curricular offerings such as boys and girls sports, drama club, student council, student-teacher athletic tournaments, band & orchestra recitals, yearbook staff, academic challenge, science fair competition and much more.

In addition to the other offerings, many activities, events and special programs have been developed to raise the self-esteem of each child. Special programs include Academic Recognition Night, seventh and eighth grade Spring Dances, Read-A-Thon, The Breakfast of Champions, and many, many more.

Norwalk High School (Grades 9 to 12)

Location Norwalk High School is located at 350 Shady Lane and serves students in grades 9-12. Having an enrollment of approximately 900 students with about 70 of them attending EHOVE Career Center, the school has a staff of 40 teachers2 guidance counselors, a principal, an assistant principal and full-time or part-time support staff and teaching specialists.

Norwalk High has been accredited with North Central Association since 1912^{[citation needed]} and is also a member of the Northern Ohio League (NOL) athletic league. Norwalk High is proud of its curriculum. It offers 110 course offerings in college preparatory, business, vocational, home economics, industrial arts, general courses, learning disabilities classes and tutoring. The high school also offers advanced placement courses in English, American History, U.S. Government, Calculus, Biology, French, Spanish, and Computer Science. Honors classes are also offered in English, Geometry and Algebra II. The music program includes marching band, jazz band, orchestra, concert band and choir.

Activities Norwalk High offers a wide variety of extra-curricular activities for students from sports to clubs. These include:

SPORTS Football, Volleyball, Golf, Boys' & Girls' Tennis, Cross Country, Track, Softball, Baseball, Wrestling, Boys' & Girls' Bowling, Boys' & Girls' Basketball, Soccer and Swimming.

CLUBS Art, Student Council, World Language, Shadow (Recycling), Key Club, Teens for Christ.

In addition to the above activities, NHS. also provides: Fall, Winter and Spring Sports Awards, Academic Awards, Academic Hall of Excellence, Student of the Month, Underclassman Awards Recognition, Senior Awards Banquet, Fall/Winter & Spring Band, and Orchestra & Choir concerts.

Technology

Technology in Norwalk City Schools continues to seek ways to enhance student learning and support instructional staff and their supervisors.

Technology Staff

Deanna Lund - Technology Coordinator

Chris Adams - Technical Specialist

Tommy Schlotterer - Part-time Technical Specialist

One-to-One Tablet Project

During Summer 2009, our One-to-One Tablet project was expanded to include 12 classes and 7 staff members. The classes include: English 3 & 4, College English IV, AP English, Senior Social Studies, AP Government, AP Psychology, Math 4, AP Calculus, Teen Leadership, Physics.

The staff include: Mr. Cloud, Mr. Higgins, Mrs. Koch, Mr. Scheid, Mrs. Swope, Mrs. Zerman.

Over 200 students attended summer training session. 2 sessions, one session for 2 hours and a follow-up session for 1 hour were held for students. The sessions included care of the tablet, how to ink in Journal, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. Also included were techniques on saving files, printing PDF to different applications, screen captures and using our email, Moodle and Blog.

Staff attended at least 10 hours of training including strategies on using the tablet with 1-1 students, setting up their blog and Moodle and using DyKnow to monitor students and manage applications.

Interactive Lessons in the K-12 classrooms

All standard classroom staff has had the opportunity to incorporate interactive lessons in their classrooms. In most Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms, staff has moveable SmartBoards that move to about 6" from the floor. Students can easily interact with the large touch-screen.

In most 2nd grade through high school, staff and students access interactive laptop tablets with wireless projectors and 9 foot screens. Students and staff use a stylus to respond to lessons prepared by their teachers. Additionally, staff use the document camera/Elmo in place of the overhead projector. Audio, video and cable TV input is also available. Some staff use portable scanners to quickly import student projects and assignments to impact student learning.

Staff received paid training prior to incorporating these techniques in their classroom. Follow-up sessions continue throughout the school year.

Curriculum Updated

During the Spring 2009, the technology curriculum was updated. Staff from all buildings and all levels along with administrators, parents and students were involved in three aspects: 1) updating the students and staff computer rules 2) revising the 2009-2012 Technology Plan 3) updating the K-12 computer curriculum

Technology Rule - AUP

The student rules were modified to include computer usage, email rules, online content, and one-to-one implementations. Additionally, a glossary, computer safety sites and a separate K-4 and 5-12 versions were developed.

Now, yearly, all students and staff will sign the rules. Additionally, at the computer log in, students and staff will verify their agreement to the rules.

Links to the Technology Rules are on the front page of the district website under FORMS (on left).

References

1. ^ Great Schools.com. "Norwalk City School District Profile". http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/oh/district_profile/130. Retrieved 2008-07-20. 

http://norwalk-city.k12.oh.us/

External links

• Norwalk City School District