Program started to help students raise grades

FORT RECOVERY - Struggling students at Fort Recovery Local Schools are getting extra help with academics.

Both middle school Principal Matt Triplett and high school Principal Jeff Hobbs informed school board members on Tuesday night of new programs intended to prevent students from faltering in various subjects.

Triplett said a program called Grade Recovery was started at the beginning of the second nine weeks. Any student who had two or more grades below C at the middle or end of a grading period must participate in the academic mitigation initiative.

Those students meet with school officials twice a week in the library during recess.

"They work two days a week for 15 minutes," he said. "I think it's been a positive thing."

The only way to get out of the program is for a student to raise his or her grades above the required level. Once a student is enrolled in Grade Recovery, they must stay for at least five weeks.

Failure to attend results in a detention.

Hobbs said a similar mentor program is ongoing at the high school. Initially, students involved in the program had a total of 86 D or F grades. But after receiving help, only six grades of F were recorded on report cards.

In other news, board members agreed to begin establishing desired candidate qualities for the upcoming superintendent search.

In July, Pat Niekamp resigned as Auglaize County Educational Service Center superintendent to replace Fort Recovery's superintendent, David Riel, who left for another job. Niekamp had served as Fort Recovery's superintendent years ago and agreed to take on the job again on a temporary basis.

The job is planned to be posted in February, with board members holding interviews in March and April. Board members hope to hire someone by June 1, Niekamp said.

In other news, board members:

• Honored the high school band and its director Megan Beavers for receiving a rating of two at the state competition. This is Beavers' first year at Fort Recovery.

• Learned 65 students rode in the school's spirit bus to Napoleon to watch the volleyball team in the district round of the playoffs.

• Learned junior Caleb Heitkamp, who broke a vertebrae in his neck and back in a motorcycle accident, is expected to fully recover.

• Learned the high school student council collected 52 units of blood in their first blood drive working with the Red Cross.

• Accepted the resignation of Lisa Fullenkamp as bus driver, effective Nov. 18.

• Approved the reappointment of Bob Staugler as Fort Recovery school's representative to the Fort Recovery Park Board for a five-year term, starting on Dec. 31.