By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Third-grade teacher Lori Barnes gets a laugh out of Sean Heinsen as they finish a science project at Heritage Elementary School. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

Lakota School District has all the makings of chaos: Skyrocketing growth, new schools and constantly changing boundaries. But unlike its big-district counterparts in Ohio, the Butler County district of nearly 16,000 students has climbed to the top of the academic ladder. Lakota was the only one of the state's 10 largest districts to achieve an "excellent" rating on the 2003 Local Report Card issued this year. The ratings are based on proficiency test scores, attendance and graduation rates.

The state's eighth-largest district achieved the top score despite spending $7,221 per student - $836 less than the state average of $8,057 - and juggling growth that has nearly doubled enrollment in 12 years:

• The district had 9,356 students in 1991, compared with 15,849 now. Projected enrollment in 2010-11 is 17,950.

• In 1991, Lakota had eight schools. Now, the district has 17 schools and will open two more this fall - VanGorden Elementary and Lakota Plains Junior School. A third high school is also being discussed.

• Sixty percent of Lakota's 11,160 elementary and junior school students will switch schools this fall.

So how did Lakota manage to achieve the top rating against such seemingly long odds? Through committed teachers, parental involvement, innovative programs and resources, school officials say.

"It all boils down to the professionalism and teaching skills of our staff,'' said Marco Pangallo, principal of Heritage Elementary, a school of 810 students in grades 1-6 in Liberty Township. (The township grew 147 percent in the 1990s.)

"We are able to attract and often hire the cream of the crop. That's where the rubber meets the road - in the classroom."

Growth is so ingrained in the district that teachers take the comings and goings of students in stride. "If you aren't flexible and can't adapt to change very well, (teachers) probably don't come to Lakota or stay in Lakota," said Lori Vanover, a sixth-grader teacher at Heritage.

Vanover started the year with 25 students but now has 28. One of her biggest challenges is getting new students prepared for proficiency tests - even those who walk in the door a week before the test. Every January, Vanover gives practice proficiency tests. If she finds students from other districts lagging because of differences in curriculum, Vanover arranges for tutoring by trained volunteer parents or peer partners.

Last year, Lakota received more than 1,800 applications for 114 positions.

BY THE NUMBERS

Ratings of the 10 biggest districts: 1. Cleveland: 72,199 Academic Emergency 2. Columbus: 64,835 Academic Emergency 3. Cincinnati; 42,774 Academic Emergency 4. Toledo: 36,495 Academic Emergency 5. Akron: 29,676 Academic Emergency 6. Dayton: 20,547 Academic Emergency 7. South-Western (Franklin Co.): 20,369 Academic Watch 8. Lakota: 15,498 Excellent 9. Westerville: 13,849 Effective 10. Parma: 13,475 Continuous Improvement Enrollment figures are from October 2001, the latest number available from the Ohio Department of Education.

"Competition is pretty stiff; but like other districts, we struggle with shortages in qualified teachers in science, math and special education, and candidates to help enrich the diversity of our district," said Cecilia Schmidt, director of professional development.

The average teacher salary is $43,397, a shade under the state average of $44,029. By comparison, Mason with 8,042 students, has an average teacher salary of $42,488. In Wyoming, a district of 1,968 students, average teacher pay is $51,376. Both districts also have "excellent" ratings.

Students, when asked what they like about Lakota, cite the choices in academics, extra-curriculars and the teachers.

"If you need extra help, (teachers) will be there before or after school,'' said Burke Gruber, 15, who attends Lakota Freshman School, which houses the district's 1,133 freshmen.Making good teachers better through professional development is high on Superintendent Kathy Klink's list for improving student achievement.

"We determined if we were going to move forward as a district, we would have to have the best supports for teachers," said Klink, who began her Lakota career as an English teacher in 1968 and became superintendent in 1994. "We needed to look at areas where we weren't as proficient."

For example, this is the third year the district pursued a literacy initiative, Lakota VIEW (Vision, Initiative, Excellence and Wisdom), primarily in preschool-grade 6. More than 500 teachers have been trained in the program, based on the best practices of teachers in the district.

The district is also part of High Aims, a consortium of 11 districts in Southwest Ohio that have determined math instruction must change. Klink is one of the founders.

Comparing instruction delivered in other nations, educators learned that too many math concepts are taught too quickly in this country.

"It's an inch deep and a mile wide instead of really focusing and giving them hands-on experience," said Jami Fullington, a first-grade teacher at Freedom Elementary who is involved with High Aims. "We try to teach it a lot of different ways so kids with different learning styles can catch it."

Teachers also appreciate that the district is willing to take risks. Here are three examples:

• East Learning Center

Inspired at an education conference, Principal Ruth Barber came back to Lakota East High School prepared to move mountains - or at least a wall between the teachers' workroom and a copy room. With that, the school created space for the East Learning Center (ELC), where students can go for help during school.

Every hour of the school day, the center is staffed with teachers from math, English, science and social studies. To accomplish that, the school reduced the number of teachers who do lunchroom monitoring and other tasks during their duty periods.

Since the center opened in September, there have been more than 2,000 student visits.

• Reggio Emilia

At the district's Early Childhood Center (ECC), 1,120 preschool and kindergarten students are being exposed to Reggio Emilia. The growing educational movement, named for the Italian city where it was established, is an early childhood education program that encourages children to lead the way in their learning.

Guided by teachers, the children create hands-on projects. The teachers then document how and what the children learn. For example, students will make ice and melt it, recording observations and asking questions.

"We're trying to view children as very capable problem-solvers, as opposed to empty vessels that come to us in preschool and kindergarten that we need to fill with knowledge," said Matt Glover, principal of ECC.

• Arts integration program

Eleven years ago, Heritage Elementary received a state grant to integrate the arts in classroom instruction. Long after the five-year grant ran out, the school continues on that course.

It's all about catering to individual learning styles and figuring out how each one learns best.

Through arts integration, teachers use music and art to teach concepts, because not all children learn by pencil and paper. Students might be introduced to a concept in class, then go to music class and write a song that helps them learn and retain it.

Parents cite these programs and the district's resources as reasons they are drawn to Lakota.

"A lot of people perceive us as rich, but every wealth indicator we see - with the exception of income levels - we're just above average," said Alan Hutchinson, district treasurer.

The median income of Lakota residents is $48,423, about $20,000 above the state average.

The district's taxable valuation per pupil, $134,000, is slightly above the state average, Hutchinson said. Across town, Sycamore Community Schools has a taxable valuation per pupil of $277,000.

Last year, eight of 50 districts in Greater Cincinnati achieved all 27 state standards, the number required for the top rating at that time. (This year, the number of standards is 22.) Those districts spent from $286 to $4,233 more per student than Lakota. The per-student figure doesn't include building new schools.

"We use our money differently than a lot of school districts," Hutchinson said. "We put money into instruction and money into support staff to support instruction. ... We don't put a lot of money into administrative costs.''

Hutchinson has been at Lakota four years, coming from South-Western City Schools near Columbus, the seventh-largest Ohio district with about 20,000 students.

He attributed the district's top rating to a single focus toward that goal, putting resources behind it and the community support.

"The values of our community, I think, are dramatically different from South-Western City Schools, where education is probably not as valued as it is here.''

Parents spend a lot of time in the schools, Xeroxing for teachers or tutoring or running after-school enrichment programs. The average parent volunteer hours logged each month at each of the 11 elementary schools is 951. The percentage of parents who volunteer at the secondary level is 50.5 percent.

Even grandparents pitch in. In fall 2000, Diana Forbes started a grandparents club at her grandchildren's school, Union Elementary, where she greets children at the door daily.

Pleasing parents is important to Klink, who was the named Ohio's superintendent of the year in 1999. Like any good business, Lakota knows who its customers are.

"We can either move forward successfully, or we run the risk of just being in second place all of the time," Klink said. "Parents have so many choices - private schools, home school, charter schools, e-learning.''

For four years, Klink has held a series of informal coffees, inviting Lakota residents to ask questions and discuss educational issues. She also holds monthly meetings with the District Parent Council, made up of two parents from each school. Parents listen to guest speakers from the district, and review policies, procedures and curriculum.

Cindy Hinrichs, president of the council, said Klink is responsive. A few years back, when boundary changes were proposed, Klink held meetings at affected schools and met with unhappy parents.

"They have actually gone back and reworked boundaries before based on parental suggestions," Hinrichs said.

Lakota's biggest drawback are the constantly changing attendance areas.

Board President Joan Powell's youngest daughter attended seven schools between third grade and graduation in 1999. However, when the district changes boundaries, she said, it moves an entire neighborhood to soften the blow.

Scott and Teri Ellsworth moved from Medina, Ohio, in October and settled in the Cherokee Elementary attendance area in Liberty Township.

"We heard they were progressive," Scott Ellsworth said. "We heard they had extensive resources."

They weren't disappointed. Their second-grade daughter, Amanda, 8, has a minor speech problem and gets help at Cherokee. The Medina schools had one speech specialist, and their daughter's situation was so minor that it didn't merit placement.

"Here, we said we'd like to have her checked out, and boom, she was in speech," Scott Ellsworth said.

Amanda, and her brother Ben, 10, a fourth-grader, will attend the new VanGorden Elementary this fall because of boundary changes. That's OK with the Ellsworths.

"It's a risk you take moving into a district that's progressive and growing fast because of people like us who want to move into it," Scott Ellsworth said.

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com