First, I want to thank each and every family and staff member for your efforts in making the transition to virtual learning last week successful.  I know that for those who chose in-person learning, this was a transition that happened very quickly; I appreciate everyone’s ability to adapt and support one another.  

Link to Meeting Videos

As I shared with you this yesterday, the situation in our school community is beginning to mirror what is happening in the rest of the state. While cases among students are beginning to increase, we are also having to quarantine personnel. This is limiting our ability to continue our face-to-face instruction. Therefore, beginning Monday,  November 16, 2020, we are going to pause our in-person learning model for all buildings through November 30, 2020, with the intention of resuming face to face learning December 1, 2020.

Both elementary buildings held their fall family literacy nights at the end of October. Families were able to attend face-to-face and virtually! At South Elementary, staff decorated their cars for families to drive by and guess the book they were depicting.

Following state funding cuts this past spring due to the pandemic, combined with a tight budget before the cuts and the potential for further reductions this fiscal year, the Madison Local School District is facing a critical juncture in funding and the quality of what is able to be provided to our 3,058 students.

We would like to remind all Madison Local Schools staff and students to continue practicing health and safety habits and social distancing protocols. We have procedures in place to limit contact from student to student on our campuses, but we cannot control what anyone else does outside of the school environment. We need to remember to remain vigilant to the real possibility of being exposed to COVID-19 as we go about our daily lives. 

We don’t have to tell you that COVID-19 has changed just about everything. Unfortunately, in order to ensure everyone’s safety, we have had to place a limit on ticket sales for fall sports.

In Conjunction with NBD Medical/International:

VIDEO

Click HERE to find the bus routes for the 2020-2021 school year. Please see the revision on NES Route 4.  

2020 - 2021

Scheduling

Information

Click HERE to view the school calendars

November 2nd-November 6th

CHECK OUT PHOTO GALLERY FOR MORE PICS

Happy Halloween! While many things have looked different due to COVID-19, we are excited to celebrate a little bit of normalcy with Halloween -- a time to hang out with your families, eat candy, and watch spooky movies. 

I hope that everyone has had the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful fall season. The colors have been spectacular and have provided me a sense of hope as we go into the colder months of late fall and early winter. We are fortunate here in Lake County: while the virus is with us, we are working hard to keep it at bay.  

Crossroad Health Center is facilitating a Trauma Sensitive Schools grant, which is available to all Lake County Schools (K-12). The grant is focused on mental health in students, as studies have shown that mental health problems can affect many areas in a student’s life.

It was only a few months ago that many of us were just hoping to start the fall sports season -- fast-forward to the present, and the season is coming to a close! We’ve had an amazing run; with all of the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, it has been a successful season. All of our teams were able to have a full season and play all of their contests, which is more than we could have hoped for. 

Now - more than five months after their original performance dates - Madison Theatre is attempting to be the first area high school in Northeast Ohio to return live musical theatre performances to the area. With protocols approved by the Lake County Health Department and using their original cast from the spring production, Madison Theatre is proud to lead the way on the return of live high school theatre.

In the midst of the pandemic, it is really easy to become overwhelmed with negativity and anxiety. We always welcome the little things, but in a time like this, positivity and generosity are needed more than ever. This is why MHS Art & Design has been recognizing students as “Positive Student of the Week.” To earn this award, students have gone out of their way to help someone without being prompted, bring a positive attitude to the classroom, and put effort into what they do, taking guidance and pushing themselves to be better. 

This October, we welcome SOCKtober -- send in a donation of new or unused socks with your students to any Madison Local School! Socks will be collected and donated to the homeless.

Hello, Madison Community! We here at the middle school have had a fantastic start. We have two formats for students this year: a virtual at home learning environment and the traditional in-person learning. Both formats are working well and our teachers are doing an amazing job. Here are some other activities that are going smoothly at the middle school... 

Click HERE for additional courses being offered through Edmentum. 

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? 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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