Did you know that it’s possible to make a flashlight out of an index card? Fourth graders at Independence Elementary School certainly do. As part of the science curriculum unit on electricity and magnetism, the fourth-grade team of teachers make sure to include hands-on learning to “spark” their students’ interest.

To ease the transition to a new school year and honor families’ requests for alternative pick-up and drop-off locations for transportation, Lakota is asking that families submit transportation forms by Aug. 4 to receive transportation on the first day of school.

Chris Passarge, Chief Operations Officer at Lakota Local Schools, was awarded the 2022 Southwest Region Distinguished Service Award and the statewide 2022 Virginia Ramsey Service Award by the Ohio Association of School Business Officials’ (OASBO) Foundation for School Business Management at its 2022 Annual Conference & Expo in Columbus.

The Lakota District is soliciting community input on the 2023-2024 district calendar. Lakota staff, students, parents and community members are invited to review the current draft before any final recommendation is presented to the school board.

Lakota shares an update on further action being taken in response to the recent situation involving a Lakota Board of Education member and for the safety of all Lakota students and staff.

Lakota Local Schools would like to address recent behavior by one school board member and allegations posted to social media.

Each school year, the Lakota Board of Education re-evaluates the district's open enrollment policy and votes on whether or not to approve its renewal. If renewed, students residing in other Ohio school districts can apply to attend Lakota. Due to the high volume of returning open enrolled students, at this time we are not accepting first-time applicants for the 2022-2023 school year.

The Lakota Local Schools Board of Education called for an emergency meeting this afternoon to ask for a resolution to censure Board Member Darbi Boddy and also request her resignation. The resolution to censure passed 4-1. The motion to request Boddy’s resignation passed 4-0, with Boddy leaving the meeting before the vote took place.

If you’ve ever heard your child talking about their own personal academic progress, a regular check-in with a teacher, or perhaps “following the group plan,” it’s likely just one of the many byproducts of Lakota’s increased focus on something called MTSS - otherwise known as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. MTSS is the driver behind personalized learning at Lakota and a big success story playing out at Lakota West Freshman.