WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Menchie’s West Chester location. Photo provided.

Menchie’s to open West Chester location Aug. 17- West Chester will have Greater Cincinnati’s second Menchie’s frozen yogurt location when it opens at 8177 Princeton-Glendale Road next Friday, Aug. 17. Owner and operator Jim Hach announced the grand opening date last Wednesday night.

Local siblings share unique bond – John Johnston of The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote a story last week about a West Chester family with two siblings, who have both recently received heart transplants.

Ohio swine flu cases grow again – Sheila McLaughlin of The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote last Thursday that the Ohio Department of Health reported the number of confirmed H3N2v swine flu cases from the Butler County Fair has risen to 16.

Eric Bauman. Photo provided.

Eric Bauman named principal at Lakota’s Liberty Junior- The Lakota Board of Education approved the appointment of Eric Bauman to principal of Liberty Junior School during a recent school board meeting. Bauman had previously served as an assistant principal at Lakota Plains Junior School and at Lakota East High School.

Liberty Township seeing a rash of vandalism – Sue Kiesewetter reported last week for The Cincinnati Enquirer that a rash of vandalism in parts of Liberty Township has officials working to increase Butler County sheriff’s patrols in targeted areas.

Lakota West senior Annie Bierman verbals to Furman – Lakota West senior Annie Bierman once thought of herself as a soccer player until her father forced her to play volleyball. After eight years of playing soccer, Bierman eventually quit and is now planning to continue her volleyball career in college.

Street name changes near West Chester Hospital – If you are having trouble finding directions to your local doctor’s office, it is likely the office hasn’t moved. But, it could mean, the name of the street of where it is located may have changed. University Court, which surrounds West Chester Hospital, now has two different names.

Lakota West grads play in Bengals preseason game – A pair of Lakota West graduates played in Friday night’s preseason game between the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Fullback John Conner started for the Jets, while linebacker Grant Hunter made a tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals in his first NFL game.

Former Lakota East wrestler to compete at Olympics Aug. 12 – Former Lakota East and Princeton wrestler Khetag Pliev wrestled for Team Canada this past Sunday, which was the last day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Pliev had a unique journey to the Games, where he won his first match before losing to eventual gold-medal winner Jacob Stephen Varner of the United States and then to bronze-medal winner Kurban Kurbanov of Azerbaijan.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: Annie Bierman, Annie Bierman Furman, Annie Bierman Lakota West, Butler County Fair, Butler County Fair 2012, Butler County Fair flu, Butler County Fair swine flu, Furman volleyball, Grant Hunter Bengals, John Conner Jets, Khetag Pliev, Khetag Pliev Olympics, Lakota West, Lakota West football, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Liberty Junior, Liberty Junior Eric Bauman, Liberty Junior principal Eric Bauman, Liberty Junior School, Menchie's, Menchie's Cincinnati, Menchie's West Chester, West Chester business, West Chester business news, Zhania Coleman, Zion Coleman

The Lakota Board of Education approved the appointment of Eric Bauman to principal of Liberty Junior School during a school board meeting July 16.

Eric Bauman. Photo provided.

Bauman had previously served as an assistant principal at Lakota Plains Junior School and at Lakota East High School. He is replacing Robb Vogelmann, who was hired to be the school district’s new assistant superintendent in June.

Prior to his time in the Lakota school district, Bauman taught science and coached football at Little Miami High School, Loveland High School and Thomas Worthington High School.

In his new role, Bauman will receive a base salary of $91,000 annually for two years.

• Lakota losing principals at high rate
• Lakota names four new principals
• Suzanna Davis named principal at Lakota East HS
• Elgin Card named principal at Lakota West HS
• Paulette Grady named principal at Cherokee Elementary

Bauman has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Dayton, a master’s in educational administration from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s in secondary science education from Ohio State University.

Liberty Junior, located at 7055 Dutchland Parkway in Liberty Township, has about 900 pupils in seventh and eighth grades.

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota assistant superintendent Robb Vogelmann, Liberty Junior, Liberty Junior Eric Bauman, Liberty Junior principal Eric Bauman, Liberty Junior Robb Vogelmann, Liberty Junior School, Robb Vogelmann

Robb Vogelmann, who was named the principal at Liberty Junior in 2009, was approved by the Lakota Board of Education as the school district's new assistant superintendent June 25, 2012. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.

The Lakota Board of Education approved at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday the hiring of a new assistant superintendent and a new open enrollment policy, which allows children of Lakota employees who don’t live in the school district to attend Lakota schools.

Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia recommended Robb Vogelmann, who was named principal at Liberty Junior School three years ago, for the district’s open assistant superintendent position.

The board then unanimously approved Vogelmann, who will be Lakota’s only assistant superintendent after Ron Spurlock and Lon Stettler announced their retirements in December.

“The demands of the position will be challenging,” Mantia said. “But Mr. Vogelmann is perfected suited for this difficult role.

“He has a perfect handle on trends in education, a solid understanding of what it takes to run a great school and cares deeply about this community.”

Prior to being principal at Liberty Junior, Vogelmann served as an assistant principal at Lakota East High School since 2002. Prior to that, he was a math teacher at Liberty Junior since 1997.

“I am very grateful to be part of the dynamic leadership of this district,” said Vogelmann, who will earn a base salary $116,000. “I just hope to continue to work hard and keep the tradition of Lakota and the badge of honor that it carries with its name of quality education.

“To be able to represent the district as a whole and be one of the leaders is the biggest accomplishment of my career at this point.”

The decision to fill only one of the assistant superintendent positions was made shortly after voters rejected the third proposed Lakota school tax levy in two years. As a result, the school district has been forced to cut $35 million from its operating budget during the past three school years.

The school board has decided to not seek another levy this November.

Meanwhile, also at Monday’s meeting, the board approved an open enrollment policy.

Lakota officials claim that the district has not had the capacity to accept students who live outside the district because population growth had been so steep for so long.

However, just this past year, enrollment dropped 3 percent as 500 fewer students enrolled into Lakota schools compared to the 2010-2011 school year.

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

Tags: Tags: Karen Manita, Karen Mantia, Lakota, Lakota assistant superintendent Robb Vogelmann, Lakota Board of Education, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota reductions, Lakota school board, Lakota school levy, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, Lakota West, Liberty Junior, Liberty Junior Robb Vogelmann, Liberty Junior School, Robb Vogelmann, Ron Spurlock, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, superintendent Karen Mantia

For the 10th consecutive year, the Lakota school district will receive a rating of Excellent or better from the state. According to a release from the school district, Lakota students met 26 out of the 26 indicators for testing as well as improved its performance index from last year’s 104.2 to 105.9.

“This is no small achievement. I understand and recognize what this means in our team’s daily work and what these results mean for advancing student learning,” Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia said in a release.

“Our team recognizes that continuing excellence means that we are always improving and always working to bring our students the best teaching to help them succeed in their world.”

According to Cincinnati.com, Lakota is the seventh largest district in Ohio and the biggest in the state to earn the top academic ranking (Excellent with Distinction).

Individually, every school within the district received a rating of Excellent or better.

Schools receiving the Excellent with Distinction rating include Adena Elementary, Freedom Elementary, Heritage Elementary, Hopewell Elementary, Independence Elementary, Lakota Plains Junior, Lakota Ridge Junior, Liberty Junior, Union Elementary and VanGorden Elementary.

Meanwhile, both high schools (Lakota East and Lakota West) and two elementary schools (Cherokee and Woodland) received Excellent ratings.

Overall, the district showed improvement. Seven of the 10 Lakota schools, which received the Excellent with Distinction rating in 2011, had an Excellent rating in 2010. None of the schools in the district fell in rating.

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Adena Elementary, Cherokee Elementary, Excellent, Excellent with Distinction, Freedom Elementary, Heritage Elementary, Hopewell Elementary, Independence Elementary, Lakota, Lakota East, Lakota Plains Junior, Lakota Ridge Junior, Lakota schools, Lakota West, Liberty Junior, school rating, Union Elementary, VanGorden Elemenatry School, Woodland Elementary