FREDERICKTOWN — At Thursday’s school board meeting, Fredericktown superintendent Jim Peterson proposed establishing a Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor. He said there are many notable Fredericktown High School graduates and believes it would be a good idea to celebrate those “small-town successes.” A committee will be established to identify candidates for the first “class” of honorees, which is expected to be announced the week of homecoming next fall.
The board also publicly congratulated Ann Ullman for being recognized by the Ohio Association of Education Management Information System Professionals as a certified EMIS professional.
Elementary principal Emily Funston told the board some fifth-grade students — and their parents — are unhappy about a measure implemented by the teachers. She said the teachers are working hard to prepare the students for middle school, to develop responsibility and maturity.
“Toward that end,” Funston said, “students with five or more late or missing assignments in one week are faced with Saturday School. ... Some lessons are learned the hard way.”
Funston reported 60 children have registered for kindergarten so far. She proposed expanding summer school, and asked the board to schedule one week of summer school for incoming kindergarten students determined to be at risk with regard to letter and sound recognition, which research indicates is very important for students entering kindergarten.
Following an executive session to discuss the matter, the board re-employed Treasurer Pat Miller, effective through July 31, 2014. Miller will receive no raises for the length of the contract. Also regarding personnel, the board granted the retirement request of high school health and physical education teacher Dennis Stevens, effective at the end of the school year. Stevens has been with Fredericktown for 30 years. It accepted the resignation of middle school math teacher Julia Shoup, who is not returning for the 2011-12 school year, accepted a long list of kindergarten volunteers, approved David Hurlbut as a JV softball volunteer and confirmed the following field experience assignments for Mount Vernon Nazarene University students: Kayla Bergenthun working with Robin McClay in grade one; Sarah Melge, working with Berni Murray in grade five; and Roseanne Gatton, working with Melissa Carpenter in grade two.
