Federal Hocking Local Schools

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow is Field Day for all students! As such, there will be no morning clubs.

New Staff and Re-assignments: Please see below the list of new staff, re-assignments and fall sports coaches for the 2024-2025 school year: District Curriculum Director and Federal Programs - Bruce Hoover Coolville Elementary School Principal - Ashley Miller Amesville 5th Grade - Tanner Esselburn High School English - Kaitlyn Jarrell High School Intervention Specialist - Rebecca Jessee Amesville Intervention Specialist - Jennifer Williams Amesville 4th Grade - Laurel Davis Middle School Intervention Specialist - Phil Hoffman Coolville Custodian - Jerry Jackson Coolville 4th Grade - Mavee O'Callaghan Coolville 5th Grade - Ashley Ward Fall Sports Coaches: Cody Mason - Varsity Football Head Coach Ryan Grimm - Varsity Volleyball Head Coach McKenzie Steel - Varsity Volleyball Assistant Coach Dave Miller - Boys XC Michelle Miller - Girls XC Levi Thompson - Varsity Girls Golf Head Coach Sheridan Boyd - Volunteer Girls Golf Coach Assistant Diane Richardson - Varsity Cheer Head Coach Lori Cline - Varsity Cheer Assistant Coach

Dear Students, Staff, and Community Members, Please read the statement below from the Federal Hocking Local School Board about deficit reduction: We are following the legal process, we would like to meet with the leadership from each union. We are leaving current building principals in their current buildings, which includes Ashley Miller becoming the Coolville elementary principal. We understand student and staff mental health. We are looking at sub cost, overtime and working through attrition when possible. We are discussing the possibility of an earned income tax levy.

Our hard-working Career Coach Evin Stotts shared this opportunity for students interested in healthcare or behavioral health. Priority will be given to those students who apply before June 1st, and sessions begin in August, so now is the time to sign up! Email shawk@ohio.edu for more information

Tonight is the night....it's the Amesville performance of Shrek, Jr. Doors open for dinner at 5:30. The show will begin at 6:30. If your student(s) is a performer, they will need to be here at 6:00. Can't wait to see you all this evening!!!

We held the 2024 Senior Signing Day this week to recognize students who have committed to plans for success after high school. This year we brought all high school students to the ceremony so that they could begin to see themselves as future graduates.

The Federal Hocking Local School Board will hold a Finance Committee meeting Thursday, May 16, 2024 in the Federal Hocking High School Library at 4:00. There will be no public participation at the meeting.

Wyatt has spent each Friday of second semester taking courses at Washington State College of Ohio and has earned his CISCO Networking Academy Cybersecurity certificate - all while making up the coursework that he missed in his FH class! Congratulations, Wyatt!

Happy Monday, Amesville families! Hope you had a great weekend. Linked here (https://5il.co/2lhzk) you can find the news for the week ahead. Looking forward to a fantastic week!

REMINDER: Senior Showcase is tonight at 7:00 in McInturf Gymnasium! Come join us in celebrating our seniors and the hard work they've done on their self-directed Capstone Learning Experiences.

Good afternoon, Amesville families!!! Hope all is well with you. See the newsletter link (https://5il.co/2k0dt) for more news about what is going on at Amesville!

We're always grateful for the many community members who volunteer to come talk to FHHS students about their careers. Pictured are: Judge Zachary Saunders - Athens County Juvenile Court Judge Chief Rymer, Chief Hart, Hailee Hart and Wesley Carpenter - Firefighters Ryan Stolz - The Athens Real Estate Company Sara Conroy- Hopewell Mental Health Counselor Aaron Dixon - Lanning Mechanical Tracie Dixon - First Responder Will Tevis - AirClaws HVAC Jake Clark - Manager at Avalanche Pizza Terrie Baringer - Hopewell Nursing and Healthcare Administration Kristi Weber - Occupational Therapist

We had a great time celebrating A/B Honor Roll this morning!

Ms. Roberts' Modeling and Mathematical Reasoning class created blueprints and used them to build a mini golf course for Ms. Terwilliger's class to play today. Math in the real world!

The high school has a busy month scheduled between now and graduation!

On Friday Amesville students, staff and families celebrated reaching our 7,000 mile running goal! We recognizing our top runners, took a victory lap and had a sweet treat from the Mister Softee ice cream truck! Thanks to everyone who joined us! 10,000 by the end of the year!

2024.04.15 - Bus 26 will pick up high school students at Coolville Elementary School only and there will be no elementary school pick up for bus 26 today, Monday, April 15, 2024.

Happy Monday, Amesville families!! I hope you had a lovely weekend. The newsletter for this week is linked here (https://5il.co/2ijmz). A big thank you goes out to everyone who was able to join us on Friday for our Victory Lap celebration. The weather wasn't ideal but the celebration was fun. I'm so excited for the students and can't wait to watch them crush their next goal!!!

Dear Federal Hocking Students, Staff and Families, At our last regular board of education meeting on March 12, 2024 there was a first reading of updates in our board policies. Most of these were the result of changes in law necessitating policy revisions. All of these were discussed at a previous board policy committee meeting. One of the changes recommended by the administration concerned graduation requirements. Graduation requirements have changed dramatically in the last several years. Part of the reason for this is the recognition that students don't all learn the same way and don't demonstrate competency in the same way. Currently, Ohio requires students to earn 20 credits, demonstrate competency using one of the five options approved by the state (state tests, career readiness, College Credit Plus, military enlistment, or a minimum ACT or SAT score), and demonstrate readiness by earning at least two graduation "seals", one of which can be a locally developed seal. This is confusing for many, but these requirements provide more options for students to meet graduation requirements than ever before. Folks may not realize this, but this is the result of much of the work done by Federal Hocking many years ago. Advisory, the senior portfolio, and the senior project have all been templates for the current minimum graduation requirements. The initial policy recommendation was to reduce the number of required credits from 27 to 20, which is the state minimum requirement. The board can have requirements above and beyond what the state requires. Adopting the state minimum requirements as prescribed in law would eliminate the senior project and the portfolio as a requirement. However, the board can reduce the number of credits required and still require the project and portfolio if they so choose. Policies have a first and second reading to give stakeholders the opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions about the changes as long as they are in compliance with law. The board has heard concerns on both sides of this issue from several in the community and have decided to not make any change to graduation requirements at this time. As part of the district's strategic planning work all stakeholders - students, staff, parents, and community members will have the opportunity to take a survey to voice your priorities and concerns. The surveys are designed by the Mid Ohio Educational Service Center. They are currently being finalized and reviewed by Federal Hocking Local School Board members. The surveys will be available on the district website under the "News" section on the homepage. A message will be sent from the district on April 22, 2024. While the survey will be electronic, those who want to complete the survey on paper can contact the district office and one will be mailed to you or you can answer questions over the phone. The district office can be reached at 740-662-6691. These surveys will include questions specific to graduation requirements. The results will be shared with stakeholders and meetings for public participation will be held for further discussion in June 2024 as we move forward in this process. Thank you for being involved in the discussion. Sincerely, David Hanning

Before Spring Break, the Amesville PTO held it's 3rd annual Egg Hunt for students! This tradition has become a favorite for everyone involved! Thanks PTO and all the family members who joined us!