Summer moving ahead of schedule

After two years of planning, Mentor Schools' transition to a middle school / four-year high school model is nearly complete. Our material handlers have moved more than 2,400 boxes of teaching materials between buildings, finishing the project nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. They also moved more than 700 boxes of textbooks for the relocation of our book depository and moved lockers from the former junior high schools to the high school to accommodate the incoming ninth graders.

The renovation of the Mentor High School iWing, the largest permanent improvement project for our district this summer, is a few days behind schedule but still on target to be complete before the start of school. Among many other essential building and renovation projects, we have installed new carpeting at Bellflower and Orchard Hollow elementaries; installed 11 new drop ceilings with enhanced classroom lighting at Shore Middle School; and will be repaving several parking lots in the district including Bellflower, Hopkins Elementary and Mentor High School.

While the reorganization of our schools has required a great deal of planning, the transition to the middle school model is one that will benefit students in a variety of ways. Ninth graders will now have access to academic and extra-curricular offerings previously available only to 10th, 11th and 12th graders. Our middle school students will have a wider range of opportunities as well. Sixth graders will now be able to take a double block of language arts, a full semester of physical education and art, and a full year of music. The seventh grade exploratory wheel will now include family and consumer science, applied technology and content area reading. Eighth graders may take a first year world language, with a choice of Chinese, French, German and Spanish.

This fall, our district's 473 incoming kindergarten students will be in school all day, five days a week. The success of our three pilot all-day kindergarten programs has shown that the program yields great benefits for these students for both their short- and long-term academic careers.

I would like to commend all our staff for their dedication and hard work in making this transition possible. We look forward to welcoming our students to the new Mentor Public Schools on Sept. 2 as we Take Flight! to an exciting year of new opportunity.