I want to take the time to thank all the students and families who participated in our graduation ceremony last week.

The plans for next school year are still in flux as we wait for guidance from the state of Ohio. Superintendent Angela Smith will be sending out updates this summer as information becomes available.

Summer is just around the corner -- can you believe it? We can’t! -- and our minds have been buzzing with the question: what will this summer look like? 

Congratulations to all the Award Winners!

This quarantine has been boring -- there’s only so much we can all do under these limited social interactions -- and has been forcing us to think outside of the box.

We want to take a moment to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, which was last week. Our teachers are the backbone of our schools; without you all, our students would be lost!

We’ll say it once and we’ll say it again: this is a difficult period in our lives. Between limited social interactions, being stuck in the house with our dear, but annoying, loved ones (we joke!) – oh, and the national pandemic – we are all overdue for a mental health check up. 

It has been a busy week.  We have worked with Lake County Health Department, our senior class, and our administrative team to plan a commencement ceremony that captures all the pieces of what makes our Madison Commencement Ceremony special. 

2020 - 2021

Scheduling

Information

My goal throughout this process has been to provide you information in a timely fashion.  While the focus of the past several updates has been on graduation and seniors, today’s update is looking to closing this year and planning for next.  For seniors and their families, our team is still reviewing the guidance from the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Health; we are looking at all the possibilities available to us, as well as how to move forward. 

Our hearts go out to our 2020 seniors for missing the remainder of their senior years and not getting a proper graduation ceremony. While we can never truly understand what that is like, we sympathize beyond measure, and we want to do everything we can to recognize our amazing graduating class of 2020. 

Click HERE to view the school calendars

Need to Register a Kindergartner for the 2020-2021 School Year?

This process will be a little different this year because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

First:

We need to know who you are.  Please visit our district website at 

www.madisonschools.net    

• Go to the COVID19 Resources section on the front page.

• Click the Kindergarten Pre-Registration Link

• Complete and submit the short form  or

• Click HERE to go directly to the form

Next:

We will reach out to you with specific information about registration.

Questions:

If you cannot access the Kindergarten Pre-registration link above, contact debra.richardson@madisonschools.net or at 440-428-9336.

It will be helpful to get this form completed quickly.  During these challenging times our staff are working from home and normal procedures like this take longer than usual.  Thank you for your help.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all your efforts these past two months.  So many in the community have reached out to help our students and our soon-to-be-graduates during this extremely challenging time.

With Mother’s Day coming up -- this Sunday, May 10 -- we wanted to give you all some ideas on how to make the day extra-special under these unusual circumstances. Our moms have had to pull double duty this year, not only keeping up with normal work and obligations, but helping to homeschool their students. We certainly appreciate all the work our mothers do for us daily, and we want to be sure they get a little extra loving this year. 

Each year, School Lunch Hero Day is a chance to showcase the difference school nutrition professionals make for every child who comes through the cafeteria. This year, with all that COVID-19 has brought upon us, School Lunch Hero Day brings a more significant  meaning.. Join us as we show some appreciation to all our School Lunch Heroes who have ‘geared up’ each week during the closure, to distribute safe and nutritious meals to our students.

It’s time to register your kindergartner for the 2020-2021 school year! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the process will be different than other years - directions are below.

The community is working to stay positive throughout this period of at-home school, work, and limited social interactions. In order to add a little more fun to the car rides and walks outside, the community has enlisted a “Bear Hunt!”

While virtual education isn’t our preferred way to teach here at Madison, we are determined to become accustomed with as many virtual resources as we can! 

Due to COVID-19, voting is still open for the March 17 Primary election. The Madison School District is part of the Lake County Finance District, which has a renewal levy on this ballot. 

We love our staff here at Madison – and they love our students! To welcome our students back from spring break, the staff created a video compilation of short clips of teachers, photos, and more.

COVID-19 has changed a lot of plans – not only our own school schedule, but your individual spring break plans! It’s easy to get wrapped up in quarantine-demanded isolation, but it’s important to remember you can still do some of the things you love virtually. 

Dear Madison Community:

I hope that you found time today to get some much-needed fresh air. I know when I am done with this update, I am going to take a walk and celebrate the signs of spring. 

I have been getting many questions about Google Classroom and student expectations. This week was a week to learn not only for staff, but for students. Next week is our scheduled spring break; we want our students to enjoy as much as possible – and not be stressed over school work. However, we hope that on Monday, March 30, all students will have confirmed they can log on and “return to school” ready to learn. 

We understand that the school closure creates many challenges for our community members. One of the biggest is the lack of reliable meals for our students. We have several options available for students and families who are in need of meals during this time.

With the new adjustments to your students’ learning schedules and your work schedules, this is a stressful time for all of us. Not knowing when this will let up just adds to the anxiety. We wanted to share some tips for how to keep life as “normal” as possible with your kids – and yourself – through this period. 

Keeping your children occupied during this forced schooling-at-home can be a struggle - for them and for you! There are all kinds of web-based opportunities for your children to enhance their learning, and one of these websites might take the edge off their boredom when they’ve had enough of reading and other games around the house. Enjoy these options, and please share those you have found with us as well.

The Madison Local Schools District is part of the Lake County School Financing District renewal levy that will appear on the March 17, 2020 primary election ballot. This is a renewal levy therefore there is no tax increase for residents. 

This year marks the 29th Annual Juried Art Show, sponsored by the Rabbit Run Community Arts Association and the Madison Public Library. Applications for admission open March 9. 

Congratulations to Madison High School wrestler Logan Blough, he recently earned his 100th career win. He is one of five Madison wrestlers who qualified for the district tournament, which will be held this weekend, March 6th and 7th, in Mentor.

It’s that time of year -- the bad news is we lose the hour of the day we’ve been so enjoying… but the good news is we will have more daylight! While not every place in the United States observes Daylight Saving Time (and note, there is no “s” on Saving), we here in the Madison Local school district do.

The Madison School District has financial challenges; however, the good news is the Board of Education and administration are working proactively to ensure we balance our budget and maintain the quality of what we provide our students. 

The girls STEM club at South Elementary School had a special visit from the DriveMind Group, an organization committed to helping modern-day classrooms embrace the next-generation of teaching: computers. 

Learn about the registration and screening process as well as how to prepare your child for kindergarten.

We could not be more proud of our senior athletes, who just signed their scholarships this past Wednesday morning! 

A huge C-O-N-G-R-A-Tulations to all the little bees who participated in our North Elementary School Spelling Bee! 

Our talented NES students amazed not only their friends, but their families and NES staff at the PTO Variety Show - students razzled and dazzled us from beginning to end!

Mr. Pira’s Honors Ecology class at Madison High School had a busy first semester. The class is an extension of Ecology I, with more of a focus on hands-on, service-based projects. Students in the Honors Ecology class are required to complete 10 hours of ecologically-based projects in the Madison community. Projects are usually coordinated with the elementary schools, the senior center, and the public library.

It may not be obvious at first glance, but there were big changes in all five of the Madison Schools buildings in 2019. The district recently completed a project to replace the light bulbs in every building with energy-efficient LED bulbs.

Welcome back to school Madison students and families! We hope you enjoyed your long weekend.

In March, Madison School District residents will be asked to vote on a 4.9 mill renewal levy through the Lake County School Financing District. This levy will not increase taxes and will continue to generate $1 million a year for the Madison School District.

In 2010, Madison Local Schools issued $10.665 million in bonds under the Build America Bonds (BAB) program. One of the appealing aspects of this program was that the federal government would subsidize 35% of the district’s interest payments on the bonds, saving money for taxpayers.

Welcome to 2020! It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the school year. The past year was a great one for Madison’s students, teachers, and the overall community.

Our staff and students have been in the holiday spirit all week! Our jazz band entertained shoppers at Giant Eagle. Our elementary students visited residents at local healthcare facilities. And our staff and students dressed up in their most festive outfits for holiday parties all across the district.

We hope you enjoy the holiday break with your loved ones! We wanted to take a second to remind you of some very important upcoming dates.

Finally, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us, and from all of us here at Madison Local Schools, we want to wish you the happiest of holidays! The holiday season is one full of cheer and love for family and friends, but some of us may experience some anxiety with people visiting – and possibly staying – during our celebrations. We wanted to share some ways to look after your family members this holiday season — this is the time for us to be together and happy, and the best way to do that is to check in on yourself and your loved ones.

Madison Local Schools superintendent Angela Smith recently joined kindergartners at South Elementary School for a very special reading celebration. She read the book, “Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies,” which tells the story of a girl named Adelaide and her special reading buddy, which is a bear.

Our elementary students welcomed a group of distinguished guests on Monday. Students at NES and SES celebrated our local service members with Veterans Day ceremonies.

Thank you to the Madison Blue Streaks for participating in our recent Family Literacy Night at South Elementary School. Players read to students, participated in fun activities, and made the whole night memorable for the 400 people in attendance. Thank you also to all our sponsors and volunteers, including Thompson/Grand River Valley KOA, Ponyland Pony Parties, and the Madison Public Library.

Madison Schools celebrated National School Lunch Week (NSLW) from October 14-18. National School Lunch Week was created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy to celebrate and child nutrition and the importance of a healthy lunch in a child’s life. Healthy meals impact every aspect of a child’s life, both in and out of the classroom.

We have received reports from a number of parents today that they did not receive the email last night notifying families that school would be closed today. If you did not receive an email, it is most likely that you have not marked email as a contact method for emergency situations.

Tradition is important to the Madison community – from our fight song, to our cheerleaders, to our 212 cheer. Seventy years ago, a very special tradition was born: the annual Madison-Perry Little Brown Jug rivalry. And at that very first game, Mr. Dick Harmon, lifelong resident of Madison, was there as they brought the Jug home for the very first time.

This year, the Little Brown Jug Madison-Perry game was played in honor of Mr. Harmon and all the players who began such a longstanding, exciting tradition. And while Madison was not able to bring the Jug home this year, the game was, as always, a reminder of our history and the sense of community that surrounds this special game.

The video below is from the Madison High School pep rally last Friday where Superintendent Smith and Coach Willis honored Mr. Harmon, who tossed the coin at the game along with a representative of Perry’s team from 70 years ago!

Click HERE to view Madison's Strategic Plan.  

https://tinyurl.com/yxduvfp7