It’s a question that many people have when they’re searching for a long-term residence: How are the schools? To no surprise, there are a lot of opinions about which public districts are best. And then there’s the age-old Cincinnati question of Public or Private. To set the record straight on the Norwood Ohio Schools, we sat down with Brandon Atwood, who serves on the local school board.
Brandon’s desire to run for election was sparked after the district moved to close the pool at Norwood High School. As his son was on the team, Brandon knew the consequences of such a decision would be dramatic. After gathering the info and presenting it to the board members, he was able to save the swimming pool. However, that experience left him wondering about the decision making that was going on in other areas.
In this wide-ranging conversation about the Norwood City School District, you’ll hear…
- about the strengths of Norwood Ohio schools
- how the district is modernizing its buildings
- what the district is doing to prepare its students for college, even before they graduate
- and much more…
Listen here. ⬇️
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Selected links from Episode 7 about Norwood Ohio Schools
Here is the chart, from Brandon’s Facebook page, that shows Norwood schools “punching above their weight class.” To explain, he took the State Report Card grades — which don’t account for how wealthy a school district is — and plotted them against median household income for each district. The resulting trendline shows how good a person could expect each district to be based on how wealthy they are. If a district is above the trendline, it means they do better than expectations. If they’re below the trendline, it means they do worse than expectations. Long story short, Norwood earned much better grades than one would expect based on median household income in the area, which seems to indicate an efficient, better-than-you’d-expect district.
Look up how much of your property taxes go to the school district by visiting the Auditor’s site and typing in your address. For most people in Norwood, it’s about 64% of your taxes.
Learn more about the Ohio Board of Education and their funding formula.
Get familiar with the Gear Up program, which pays for students to take the ACT twice and funds several other initiatives.
Did you know that Norwood High School is one of the few in Hamilton County with an on-site swimming pool?
Read more about the resignation of the Norwood superintendent in 2017.
Check out the latest updates on the school construction projects.
College Credit Plus is a program through which Norwood students can earn college credits before they graduate high school.
Norwood Promise ensures that any student who completes K-12 in Norwood City Schools, will receive a scholarship to support their attendance at a state university.
Action Items
Review the five year forecast of financials for Norwood City School District.
Email Meggie Kingsley to learn more about becoming a block captain.
Check out Indian Mound Cafe, which Brandon mentioned in the episode.
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Move Norwood Forward aims to shed light on the people, businesses and happenings of Norwood, Ohio that are bettering the city. If you know of a person who should be featured on an episode, nominate them here.