WestChesterBuzz.com

Photos captured by Tony Jones of The Cincinnati Enquirer

Staff from the Cincinnati Zoo visited the Liberty Early Childhood School in Liberty Township last week. It was part of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and Frisch’s Outreach program.

For more West Chester and Liberty Township photos, there are many other events captured on our Flickr photostream and more West Chester and Liberty Township related photo galleries on our Photos page.

Also, remember to share your photos through the Photos page or by email akiefaber@westchesterbuzz.com.

Posted in: Events, School events, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati Zoo photos, Liberty Early Childhood School, Liberty Township photos, West Chester photos

The Lakota school district recently released the dates, times and locations for the 2012-2013 Lakota preschool informational sessions.

During the sessions, parents will have the opportunity to learn about preschool curriculum, starting and ending times, classroom composition, application and registration process, tuition, special education information and Butler County’s hiring forecast.

Lakota and Butler County administrators will be available to answer any questions.

The Lakota preschool program will be going through the transition of consolidating its services with the Head Start program, operated by the Butler County Educational Service Center. By merging the programs, the district is saving an estimated $1.2 million in 2012-2013.

For details on the preschool budget reduction plan approved in March, go to www.lakotaonline.com/budget.

The informational sessions will be Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Creekside Early Childhood School, 5070 Tylersville Road; Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Shawnee Early Childhood School, 9394 Sterling Drive; and Thursday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Liberty Early Childhood School, 6040 Princeton Road.

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Educational Service Center, Creekside Early Childhood School, Head Start program, Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West, Liberty Early Childhood School, Shawnee Early Childhood School

The Lakota school district recently released the dates, times and locations for the 2012-2013 Lakota preschool informational sessions.

During the sessions, parents will have the opportunity to learn about preschool curriculum, starting and ending times, classroom composition, application and registration process, tuition, special education information and Butler County’s hiring forecast.

Lakota and Butler County administrators will be available to answer any questions.

The Lakota preschool program will be going through the transition of consolidating its services with the Head Start program, operated by the Butler County Educational Service Center. By merging the programs, the district is saving an estimated $1.2 million in 2012-2013.

For details on the preschool budget reduction plan approved in March, go to www.lakotaonline.com/budget.

The informational sessions will be Monday, April 23 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Creekside Early Childhood School, 5070 Tylersville Road; Wednesday, April 25 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Shawnee Early Childhood School, 9394 Sterling Drive; and Thursday, April 26 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Liberty Early Childhood School, 6040 Princeton Road.

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Educational Service Center, Creekside Early Childhood School, Head Start program, Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West, Liberty Early Childhood School, Shawnee Early Childhood School

Enquirer contributor Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Children living in the Lakota Schools who will be 5-years-old by Sept. 30 may begin registering for kindergarten for the 2012-13 school year Monday, Feb. 27.

All children will be registered at the Lakota Enrollment Center, 8735 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, in West Chester Township. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. It will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Feb. 29, March 7, 14 and 21.

Parents are asked to register their children by school attendance zones according to the following schedule:

• Wyandot: Feb. 27 through March 2
• Shawnee: March 5-9
• Creekside: March 12-16
• Liberty: March 19-23

Completed registration packets should be brought to the enrollment center when registering children. They can be downloaded from the district’s website, www.lakotaonline.com, or can be picked up at the early childhood schools.

Other documentation needed for registration is: child’s original birth certificate, guardian’s driver’s license or state identification, proof of residency, immunization records, and custody papers, if applicable.

For more information, call 513-682-4120

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: Creekside Early Childhood School, kindergarten registration, Lakota, Lakota Local Schools, Liberty Early Childhood School, registration, Shawnee Early Childhood School, Wyandot Early Childhood School

Cincinnati Enquirer Denise Smith Amos reports:

About half the nation’s public schools failed to meet federal No Child Left Behind progress goals, a national study showed Thursday, adding grist to federal policymakers’ arguments to give waivers to states to change the standards for “adequate yearly progress” in schools.

Ohio, which plans to apply for a waiver, did better than the nation: 60 percent of its schools met federal goals in the last school year, but half its districts failed to.

Lakota Local Schools, Cincinnati’s second largest school district, had nine of its 20 schools fail to make federal annual academic progress goals.

• Database: Local ‘No Child’ ratings
• Cincinnati Enquirer: Local schools fail ‘No Child Left Behind’ goals

Among those not meeting the federal goals includes Creekside Early Childhood School, Endeavor Elementary School, Independence Elementary School, Cherokee Elementary School, Heritage Elementary School, Liberty Early Childhood School, Union Elementary School, Wyandot Early Childhood School and Lakota East High School.

Besides Creekside, Endeavor and Independence, those same schools failed to meet progress goals in 2010.

Schools that failed to meet progress goals in 2010, but met them in 2011 includes Freedom Elementary, VanGorden Elementary School and Lakota West High School.

Posted in: Board of Education, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Cherokee Elementary School, Creekside Early Childhood School, Endeavor Elementary School, Freedom Elementary, Heritage Elementary School, Independence Elementary School, Lakota, Lakota East, Lakota East High School, Lakota schools, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Liberty Early Childhood School, No Child Left Behind, Union Elementary School, VanGorden Elementary School, Wyandot Early Childhood School

Parents can learn more about Lakota Local Schools kindergarten program and sign out a registration packet during one its kindergarten information nights this week. Shawnee ECS and Wyandot ECS will each host an informative session this Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m., while Creekside ECS and Liberty ECS will each host its session this Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m.

Then, on next Saturday, March 19, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the school district will have its kindergarten registration day at the Lakota East Freshman Campus.

Parents will need the following items for registration day:

• Completed registration packet

• Driver’s license or state I.D. of residential/custodial parent

• Child’s original birth certificate

• Proof of residency—lease/rental agreement, deed, mortgage statement, purchase contract with custodial/residential parents’ names and signatures (no exceptions). Resident affidavits will not be accepted during spring registration

• Custody paperwork if applicable

• Immunization/Medical Records—If available, please submit during registration. School nurses will be available to review records and check for any missing immunizations. This information must be presented within 14 days after student’s first day of attendance or student will be excluded from school

• IEP/MFE (if applicable)

For more information, contact the Lakota Enrollment Center at 513-682-4120.

The Lakota East Freshman Campus is located at 7630 Bethany Road in Liberty Township.

Posted in: Board of Education, Events, School events, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Creekside Early Childhood School, kindergarten, kindergarten registration, Lakota East Freshman Campus, Lakota Local Schools, Liberty Early Childhood School, registration, Shawnee Early Childhood School, Wyandot Early Childhood School

Lakota Local Schools has opened up registration for its preschool program for the 2011-2012 school year. The preschool program began in 1990 and was developed to serve children three-to-five years old, who qualify for special education services.

There was an informational meeting about the program scheduled tonight, Jan. 11, at the Liberty Early Childhood School. That meeting, however, was canceled due to the weather.

Additional information about the program was provided in a press release.

The program provides a nurturing environment that supports the intellectual, academic, and social growth of young children. Each class is comprised of children with identified disabilities as well as children who are typically developing.

Lakota’s preschool is a two-and-a-half hour program that runs Monday through Thursday. Morning and afternoon sessions are offered.

Children must be three years old on or before Sept. 30, 2011 to be eligible. Children, who will be five years old on or before Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for the preschool program.

The program will be offered at Shawnee Early Childhood School, Creekside Early Childhood School and Liberty Early Childhood School.

Additional informational meetings are scheduled for Jan. 19 at Shawnee ECS at 7 p.m. and for Jan. 30 at Creekside ECS at 7 p.m.

Registration information and applications are currently available on the Lakota Local Schools website. This information is also available at Shawnee, Creekside, Liberty and Wyandot early childhood schools, as well as at all Lakota elementary schools.

Applications should be returned to Creekside, Liberty or Shawnee no later than Jan. 31. It is expected that the number of children applying will exceed the available vacancies, therefore a lottery to determine enrollment.

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: Creekside Early Childhood School, Lakota Local Schools, Liberty Early Childhood School, preschool, Shawnee Early Childhood School, Shawnee Elementary