The month of March is a very busy time period for our students and staff. Winter sports are either moving into their tournament opportunities or are winding down. Our students athletes are also gearing up for their participation in a spring sport season. A sizeable number of our students have also been busy in preparation for the High School musical entitled “Beauty and the Beast”. Performances will take place March 15th and 16th at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 17th at 2:00 p.m. All performances will take place in our Auditeria. We are also looking forward to our annual Family Literacy Night event that will take place Thursday, March 14th from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The theme for this years’ event is “Western.”
From an academic standpoint, the third nine-week grading period ends Friday, March 15
th. As we work our way through the last half of the school year, our seniors are busy planning for their future after graduation by finalizing plans for college, work, or the military. Similarly, during the last quarter of the school year, students in grades 3 – 11 will also engage in state assessments. Additional information regarding the state assessments is available on the Ohio Department of Education website:
http://education.ohio.gov/
The effort to assure that educational needs and requirements are met for all the children in our school district, is a challenge especially when you consider that several of our school age children are receiving their education outside of the traditional school setting of our school building. On any given school day, Antwerp Local Schools provide an educational setting for 703 students in grades PK -12. Twenty-one high school students are enrolled in at least one College Credit Plus (CCP) course that may involve traveling to a college campus or completing the course online. Thirty-six students in grades 11 and 12 attend the Vantage Vocational school in Van Wert. Nine students attend the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center Opportunity School located in Paulding, Ohio. We have two students who are transported and attend the Bryan Autism Center. There is also one student currently at home receiving their education through our NOVA online program. While technically not Antwerp students, we have 29 school age children receiving their education in a “home school” environment.
We are excited to let you know that construction of the “Range” Wellness and Recreation Center (located to the west of the baseball and softball complex) is nearing completion. A significant portion of the project was funded through ARP ESSR federal funds. The Center includes a recreation area, multi- purpose classroom, restrooms, concession and patio area, press box and storage areas. Specifically, the Center will provide additional space for early childhood programs, a home base for our wrestling program, and space for community members to utilize for meetings or exercise. An official Open House date will take place sometime this spring. Stay tuned for more information.
Per adopted board policy 5517.01 (Bullying and Other Forms of Aggressive Behavior), schools are required to semi-annually provide a written summary of all reported incidents of bullying/harassment/intimidation. Ohio law requires school policies to use the definition of bullying found in R.C. 3313.666, which defines "harassment, intimidation, or bullying" as: Any intentional written, verbal, or physical act that a student has exhibited toward another particular student more than once and the behavior both: (a) causes mental or physical harm to the other student; (b) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that is creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student.
In accordance with these laws of the State of Ohio, it is reported that the administrators of Antwerp Local Schools dealt with the following number of incidences of bullying during the 1st Semester:
Gr. PK-5: For the 1st semester of the 2023-2024 school year, there were 0 cases of bullying.
Gr. 6-12: For the 1st semester of the 2023-2024 school year, there was 1 case of bullying.
Go Archers,
Dr. Martin Miller