Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > April > 12
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Springfield announces superintendent pick
A man who began his career in education administration in Springfield, Ill., will take the reigns of another Springfield, board members announced today, April 13.
Board members will vote tonight to hire David Estrop, superintendent of Lakewood City Schools in Cuyahoga County, to be the next city schools’ chief, according to board President Donna Picklesimer.
Estrop, 62, was selected over two other finalists, Butler Technology and Career Development Schools CEO/Superintendent Bob Sommers and Austintown schools Superintendent Douglas Heuer. All three men were interviewed by board members, residents, parents, teachers and staff in recent weeks.
Estrop also was named as one of two finalists for the top job in Cincinnati schools. He was scheduled to interview there this Thursday.
I’ll update as soon as I have more information about what he plans to do about the Cincinnati opening, salary and a starting date. The board meets at 7 p.m. tonight at South High School to vote on the hire.
UPDATE: Picklesimer tells me Estrop will be at tonight’s meeting and plans to withdraw his name from the Cincinnati search today. He will begin in the district Aug. 1, but there will likely be some overlapping during the month of July between him and Interim Superintendent Don Thompson for transitioning, she said.
UPDATE 2.0: My education counterpart (well, one of them) at the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Estrop confirmed his intention to withdraw his name from their search if Springfield approves the contract tonight.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Springfield City Schools
Helping kids cope
Local schools have been dealing with difficult blows over the last few weeks.
Graham lost three elementary students - Patrick Snelling, Breonna Snelling and Cassandra Karg - and two-year-old Nathan Skaggs, in a fire last month. This weekend, Emanuel Christian Academy lost senior Hannah Young in a car crash.
A couple years ago my cousins - who were about 8 at the time - brought a letter home from school about a classmate’s death. When my mother told me, I wondered how you talk to an 8-year-old about death, especially when it happens to a child.
Typically the schools will offer resources and trained counselors to help students and staff cope, but kids will still have questions, fears and grief when they get off the bus.
There are many organizations out there offering resources to help parents who aren’t sure how to help their children grieve. The National Institute of Health has a thorough guide to understanding what children may need and how they deal with loss (the second link under “Coping.”) North Dakota State University has a guide that breaks information down by age group to help parents decipher how much information to give their children, among other things.
A couple quick tips from those sites:
- Answer questions honestly. - Keep you child’s age and prior experience with death in mind when deciding how much to tell them. - Remember that, like adults, children will react to loss in different ways. - Let your child talk about their loss and their feelings. - If you are concerned about the way your child is coping, contact the school to find out what resources they might have available for students.
If anyone who has more advice for helping children understand death or has questions, leave them in the comments.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Parenting
