Reynoldsburg Revamp: How The School District is Reshaping it's Academy Experience
The Public School Debate
Public schooling is continually a topic for debate within national and local communities. How do we prepare our children for the world, how do we fund those preparations, and how effective are the results? These questions are answered in an abundance of ways. In our national government, the education debate mainly focuses on these larger ideas. Locally, the management of our public schools is more focused on the details. In Reynoldsburg specifically, the use of academies to prepare students for specialized career choices is the foundation on which our education system operates.
When it was originally founded in 2009, the Reynoldsburg academy program’s main objective was to enrich the impact of public education on a student’s professional interests. To serve this purpose, four academies were developed. These four academies would be split among two physical locations. Reynoldsburg’s original high school opened in 1961, the Livingston campus, and the summit campus built in 2011. These four academies help students explore the nuances of the career clusters they are most interested in.
Reynoldsburg’s Academy Structure
Encore is the district’s visual academy. Over the years, Encore has evolved to offer students an eclectic mix of electives focused on the development of visual communications, performing arts, and more creative fields. Though traditional art was the academy’s main focus, the addition of Mac labs in 2015 meant a renewed interest in digital arts as well.
On the other end of Reynoldsburg’s Summit campus, the eSTEM academy focuses on careers specializing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Fablab, created in 2013 with the help of central Ohio’s Battelle Memorial Institute, allows eSTEM’S students to actively participate in basic engineering concepts through real world projects. eSTEM’S robotics club also competes in state wide competitions exhibiting their coding and engineering skills.
Reynoldsburg’s Summit Campus, which hosts the eSTEM and Encore academies. Photo via FRAME CO.
Traveling to the Livingston campus, we peer into the last two academies within Reynoldsburg’s system. The first, BELL, focuses on business, education, leadership, and law. The academy has a deep focus on student’s curriculum as it relates to these subjects, and provides them elective opportunities that specifically relate what they’re learning in their core classes to real world applications. One of those applications takes form in Reynoldsburg’s R-design. The program, operated and managed by students within BELL, provides clothing products to businesses within the community. This program assists students in making real world decisions as it relates to the operation of a small business.
The last academy, HS Squared, focuses on the medical field. Students can participate in classes specialized in applying their science based studies to medical procedures. This includes portions of class time where students practice medical procedures, even working on models to enhance the realism in medical emergencies.
Measuring success within the academy structure
Reynoldsburg isn’t the only school to host this interesting approach to high school education. Since the early 2000’s public schools have embraced the career specialization within an academy structure like Reynoldsburg has. But one important question many people have, and rightly so, is if the academy structure has an impact on the performance of students within them. No strategy to enhance education can be effective without understanding why they are effective, and why so many public schools are adopting it. A study and survey conducted by MDRC in the year 2000 delves fully into explaining the advantages and drawbacks of the academy structure within high schools. Though the study is a bit outdated, it’s the most recent scientific approach to explaining why this strategy is advantageous for schools like Reynoldsburg.
the academy approach to education provides an advantage to students who are at the highest risk of not graduating
This is Reynoldsburg
One of the main aspects which the study takes into account is the success rate of students in traditional high school atmospheres, compared to students in the academy approach. Students in these studies were categorized in terms of their “risk” of not graduating high school. It was found that in most cases, the academy approach had the largest impact on the “high risk” pool of students. In simpler terms, the academy approach to education provides an advantage to students who are at the highest risk of not graduating. Other categories of students don’t seem to be effected at the same degree by the academy approach in terms of educational success. The academy approach to education was also found to have a positive impact on creating a community around the student, and using that community to support the student in and out of the classroom.
If we take a step back, we notice that since 2000, graduation rates have drastically improved. Though data wasn’t readily available for the amount of school districts utilizing the academy approach in education, it is safe to say that number has steadily increased. That does not mean that the academy approach has anything to do with the increase in graduation rates, but it could be one of many contributing factors.
By examining our local community, we find that Reynoldsburg does not have a specific problem with graduation rates, either. In fact, according to US News, the four academies within Reynoldsburg maintained exceptional graduation rates. Although the district could use a boost in other statistics (including college readiness), the academy approach to education hasn’t been shown to improve such statistics. In conclusion, the academy approach is proving to work in the central Ohio suburb for graduation rates, and may help it’s students in adopting community values. In that case, why is the district about to drastically restructure the system for incoming freshman? What has the district identified as the reason for such a large change?
What is the 9X Experience?
In Reynoldsburg’s next school year (2019-2020), the district is planning to roll out a completely new program, one that will change the structure of the academy experience for the district altogether. In it’s current state, Reynoldsburg’s academy structure works much like a college decision, without the FAFSA application and grade point average requirements. Students are taught the differences within the academies offered in Reynoldsburg, and are essentially given guidance on what academies apply to possible future careers. The students are then given the year to decide which academy they would like to attend. This process happens in Eighth grade, which is considerably young for such a broad and important topic like career readiness. But this process is exactly what the district wishes to change.
Such a change is being spearheaded by the invention of a new quasi academy, built especially for the incoming freshman of Reynoldsburg high school. Labeled “The 9X Experience”, the new environment will be built around the concept of preparing these transition students for their next step in education within Reynoldsburg’s district. Complete with a student body designed logo, the experience is set to launch next school year. If all goes well, the experience will help with one of Reynoldsburg’s largest problems in their academy centered educational foundation.
Being High School Ready
One of the largest drawbacks of the academy experience in Reynoldsburg is the continued expression that freshman don’t fully comprehend the differences each academy can offer, and more importantly, aren’t ready for the changes that high school can cause in their education. Many students, and parents of students, mention the lack of understanding that students have about the academies and what they can offer students. Four drastically different high school experiences await incoming freshman, and the district recognizes the lack of preparation they have given past freshman. To improve this, the district is placing the 9X experience ahead of the normal academy choice, to soften the blow. This means that all incoming freshman will be held at the Livingston campus, creating a better environment for collaboration and community building within the school.
By having the freshman experience we’re giving our [students] much more opportunity to learn more about those academies and to explore each one of them in a much more meaningful way, so that by the time they make that selection they are more confident.
- Debbie Dunlap, Board of Education Vice President
The movement to found 9X also tends to another problem Reynoldsburg has faced since the founding of their academy program, and the separation of the academics between the two Reynoldsburg high schools (the Livingston Campus and the Summit Campus). The issue of overcrowding at Reynoldsburg’s Summit Campus has existed since it’s construction, with the opposite problem of under enrollment happening at the Livingston campus. The 9X experience, though founded for specific purposes of catering to incoming freshman, also has the added advantage of managing the population of students between the two schools.
The impact of the 9X Experience is yet to bee seen, but we’ll be eager to cover the impact of the program as it is implemented next year. Melvin Brown, Reynoldsburg’s superintendent, is set to make the annual “State of the Schools” presentation on March 7th. This is Reynoldsburg will actively report on the meeting, as it is sure to address some of the changes the school district is going to be managing within this, and next, school year. For now, read a few questions answered by Mr.Brown we’ve posted to our site. As always, thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more articles and videos on centered around the Reyoldsburg community.
