Editor's note: The Akron Beacon Journal asked the leaders of Summit County's 17 public school districts to share some highlights of what's new in their schools this year. We will continue to share these highlights this week as students begin returning to class.
Read previous stories in this series here.
Nordonia Hills City Schools is studying its long-term facility needs and introducing new ways for parents to communicate with staff, while also welcoming new leaders and a colorful facelift to an elementary school playground.
Here is what's new for Nordonia Hills City Schools:
Nordonia Hills City Schools replaced the roofs of Ledgeview Elementary and over Nordonia High School's auditorium over the summer, as it continues to evaluate its facilities long term.
The district in March unveiled a 25-year master facilities plan, which outlines its future facility needs and reflects residents' feedback after voters rejected a 2022 bond issue that would have funded the consolidation of six buildings into three new schools.
The new plan still recommends the district merge its buildings to replace aging schools, improve operational efficiency and to adapt to current and anticipated enrollment declines. An assessment shows the district has 568,901 square feet of space across its six facilities, which is 93,891 square feet more than what's recommended by the state facilities commission.
But the plan doesn't propose pursuing all of the consolidation projects at once. The two proposed options include the construction of a school for grades 5-8 in the first phase with variations of other possible facility changes in future phases. The proposed 5-8 grade school would require 30 acres of land, which is larger than what the district currently has available, according to the plan.
Superintendent Casey Wright said the school board will continue to discuss the facilities plan this school year, including exploring land options and the timing of a potential bond issue to finance the construction. He said no decisions have been made.
Rushwood Elementary's playground has been transformed with paint into an interactive space with a hopscotch grid, walking path, giant keyboard, knights and animals and words of motivation.
Brian Bauman, a handyman and artist who owns Big Happy's LLC, said it took him, his father, mother, sister and nieces who attend Rushwood about 100 hours over four days and roughly 10 gallons of paint to create the permanent designs.
Bauman, who donated the paint, materials and labor, said he wanted to show the students that happiness and creativity can be spread to many with a little effort and few days.
Ashley Turner, who was named principal of Rushwood Elementary in February, will serve her first full school year at the school's helm this school year. She previously was the associate principal at Nordonia Middle School.
Ronald "Chris" Wiggins has been named associate principal at Nordonia Middle School. Wiggins lives in the community and has children in the district.
Scott Barwidi, a longtime assistant football coach and physical education teacher at Nordonia High School, made his debut on Aug. 21 as the Knights head football coach. He succeeds Jeff Fox, who led the team over the past 14 seasons before returning to his alma mater, Willoughby South High School, to serve as athletic director.
Barwidi, whose son, Brock, is a senior on the team, has been on Nordonia's football coaching staff for the past 18 seasons, serving as strength and conditioning coach, defensive backs coach, quarterbacks coach, special teams coordinator and most recently as assistant head coach with the varsity team. He also led Nordonia's track and field program for roughly 12 years.
Nordonia Hills is using two new platforms to provide information to parents this school year.
It is using ParentSquare to notify families about districtwide updates, school building announcements and messages from individual teachers. Families can set how and how often they choose to receive the notifications and use can use ParentSquare to reply to messages, sign permission slips and participate in surveys.
The district also is now using My School Menus, which is a program that will allow families to view school meal menus, nutritional details and allergen information.
Reach Akron Beacon Journal education writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nordonia Hills studies facility needs, welcomes playground facelift