Dear CCS Community,

I am so excited to announce that our Pathway Express program is back with four all-new destinations for students and families to explore!

Our students will once again have an opportunity to sharpen their skills through immersive, hands-on lessons, while also experiencing some of the city’s top family-friendly sites.

This year, Pathway Express activities kick off in October with FREE admission EVERY weekend to the Ohio History Center. Then, we will head to a new location each quarter leading up to the 2023 Summer Experience. Students and their families will explore Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Ohio State Capitol building, and the Franklin Park Conservatory.

All this while honing their Portrait of a Graduate attributes, with each event having corresponding themes of Adaptability, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Global Empathy, and Technology.

As you may know, we began this initiative last year as a reimagined Saturday Academy. We had thousands of families participate each month, and if you were one of those families, you know this is something you don’t want to miss!

We had incredible experiences at COSI, the Columbus Museum of Art, Downtown North Market, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and our very own Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School. I had the opportunity to speak with many of you and the recurring themes I heard were “fun learning,” “unique educational opportunities,” and “unforgettable memories.”

I am confident that this year’s partnerships and experiences will be just as fun, educational, and unforgettable! And that’s what this is all about! The Power of One community coming together to provide opportunities, challenge young minds, and get our students excited about learning!

To learn more about the new Pathway Express program, visit www.ccsoh.us/pathwayexpress.

You can also pre-register for October Pathway Express activities here.

I can’t wait to see you there!

Sincerely,

Talisa Dixon

Superintendent/CEO, Columbus City Schools

This year, Pathway Express activities kick off in October with FREE admission EVERY weekend to the Ohio History Center. Then, we will head to a new location each quarter leading up to the 2023 Summer Experience. Students and their families will explore Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Ohio State Capitol building, and the Franklin Park Conservatory.

Our transportation team is working diligently to resolve all issues as quickly as possible so that every student can arrive at school and back home safely, on time, every day. We would like to provide you with the following updates:

• All high school students eligible for transportation MUST opt-in to be routed. If you haven’t already done so, this can be completed in the Parent Portal. Go to: Parent Portal > Quick Links > Transportation Opt-In. If you have questions or need assistance, please call the FACTline at 614-221-FACT (221-3228).

• All transportation-eligible students, whom we are aware of, have been routed and are receiving transportation services - including Charter and Non-Public Schools, for which we also provide transportation services. The transportation department continues to improve streamlining routes for efficiency and has made significant gains since the start of the school year.

• The department reviews routes daily to determine which students use our transportation services as students enter and leave the district and routes change. Our goal is to have new students routed within 5 days.

• Like many school districts across the country, we are still dealing with a shortage of drivers. We are actively recruiting more bus drivers. If you are interested in joining our team as a bus driver, or know someone who is, please visit our website for more information, or email talentacquisition@columbus.k12.oh.us.

• We are also working with the Ohio Department of Education and our internal teams to determine what additional short-term resources we might utilize to offset the driver shortage.

• We currently have 686 routes to transport more than 38,000 students. We are doubling and even tripling routes as needed. We have 538 active school bus drivers with an additional 20 supervisors who are also driving. Unfortunately, we are still seeing a daily call-off rate of nearly 18%.

• We have been using two third-party yellow bus vendors, V.A.T., Inc. and Universal Transportation Services (UTS), since the first day of school. They each cover 25 routes. We are looking to increase the number of routes from 25 to 40 for UTS and from 25 to 30 for VAT to offset the driver shortage we are facing. If you are having specific vendor-related transportation issues please call 380-997-7145.

• We are seeing a decrease in call wait times, nearly 40% less per day compared to the start of the school year. Most calls received now are requests for stop changes and late buses. We are working to resolve all of the issues brought to our attention.

As a reminder, all CCS high school students can use their Student Success Cards to ride COTA at no charge to them or their parents/guardians. Students have unlimited access to fixed-route transit services. Although this is not intended as a permanent solution, COTA can serve as a temporary, safe, and free mode of transportation to and from school for our high school students.

Getting students excited about coming to school every day is a team effort. As part of launching our “Stay in the Game” campaign, we’ve pulled together some tips and strategies for parents to use at home. You’ll hear from our Stay in the Game Network partners and attendance experts in our district.

Please click here to RSVP for upcoming Virtual Family Engagement Sessions.

Our sessions are recorded and posted in our Virtual Family Engagement Session Library in case you are unable to attend.

Chronic absence, missing 10 percent or more school days (or just two days a month) due to any reason - excused, unexcused, and suspensions, can translate into third-graders unable to master reading, a lower achievement for sixth-graders, and ninth-graders dropping out of high school. Children living in poverty are two to three times more likely to be chronically absent and face the most harm because their community lacks the resources to make up for the lost learning in school.

Whether it occurs in the early grades or in high school, chronic absence undermines a school system’s effectiveness in achieving its academic goals of graduating students ready for college, career, and life.

Graduating from Ohio high schools has become more complicated in recent years. Graduation requirements for each student are determined by that student's ninth grade entry year, not by the year they graduate. Find information about your graduation requirements below- and don't forget to meet with your school counselor to make sure you have all your bases covered!

A collaboration with the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, The Ohio State University, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), OSU Extension Franklin County, and local community partners.

Eighth graders from the urban core of Franklin County will experience hands-on and immersive learning opportunities that focus on food, agriculture, the environment, and related technologies in their lives.

The experiential program includes:

• Year-round campus and community educational programs

• Neighborhood-based youth and family engagement

• Open house visits to connect the university and community

• Bus tours to events, such as the Franklin County Fair and Farm Science Review

• Five-day, 4-night residential summer camp for 40 youth selected based on their program participation

Urban ROOTS is open to all Franklin County eighth graders, with priority given to students from the Columbus, Whitehall, South-Western & Reynoldsburg school districts.

In-demand, well-paid jobs in Ohio are going unfilled. Teens and families need information about these 21st century career options in emerging technologies and how to gain the skills for these jobs. Ohio Technical Centers provide post-secondary educational opportunities in a wide variety of fields including healthcare, computers, culinary, welding, HVAC, automation, and many more. Join representatives from the Ohio Technical Centers and At The Core for an informative, free webinar on October 13 at 6:30 pm.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2916590175468/WN_WgRB_BudRCe33OujdYvFcg