What do recycled carpet, downtown Indianapolis and Avon’s grading scale have in common? These all contribute to Avon Schools’ celebration of an unprecedented school year. Unique facilities and new initiatives along with expanding of previously successful programs continue to prove the district’s prominence in the Midwest. As Avon students enter into the 2009-2010 school year, below are a few of our staggering firsts that students will personally experience.

Avon Middle School North (AMSN) is on track to be the 1st LEED certified green school in Indiana. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. LEED is a benchmark by which all "green" buildings are judged on standards that must be met in order to qualify for certification. See page 20 for more information on our Dedication August 11th at 5:00 p.m.

Class of 2010 Commencement will be held at the Indiana Convention Center. See article on page 2. 

Unified grading scale from Kindergarten through 12th grade.   Beginning this fall, K-6’s grading scale will mirror the 7-12th grade scale. The modified grading scale preserves our high academic expectations while presenting a consistent scale for Avon students.

Revised school calendar. Please note that this calendar does not have any half school days. K-8 schools will be on a delayed schedule the week of October 26 to accommodate parent teacher conferences. Instead of using a series of six half school days for staff development, our K-8 will use one full day on September 29 for this purpose. Avon High School’s staff development and teacher record days are scheduled for November 6, 2009 and February 19, 2010. On these two particular days, grades 9-12 will not have school. The weather may dictate some delayed start days which will be made on an as needed basis during the winter months. Please review your individual school calendar closely for more specific information.

Federal stimulus money to touch every classroom. The Federal Government is adding significant revenue to our nation’s school districts over the next 24 months through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the “stimulus money” as it is commonly called. Secretary of Education Duncan has challenged superintendents to utilize this money to benefit student learning while not creating long term contractual obligations dependent upon the funds. After several months of work with senior district leadership, principals, representatives of our teacher organization, and state officials, we have an ACSC staff development delivery system which has been designed to meet the ever-changing needs of our classroom teachers. In our continued quest to remain one of the top school corporations in the Midwest, we have hired a cadre of current Avon teachers to deliver current, job embedded, school based, and collegial instructional coaching and staff development.

AHS Fieldhouse to open this summer. This state-of-the-art facility is attached to the current high school. It includes an expanded entry way with restrooms, 3 classrooms, 3 rubberized flooring courts lined for basketball, tennis, volleyball, pickle ball and badminton, divider curtains for courts and running track, long jump pit, pole vault box, 3 lane jogging track with 5 lane sprint, 4 locker rooms with 2 offices, 2 community dressing locker rooms, ID entrance office, and a cardio room!

In addition to a year of incredible firsts, current successful programs are expanding.

Full-day kindergarten is transforming to ensure each of our elementary schools can offer the all day experience to those 5 year olds in need.

Avon High School teams will expand to include all freshman students. Principal, Rick Adcock commented, “Our past pilot program was incredibly successful and demonstrated important benefits to the students.” The team experience will allow for all 9th grade students enrolled in math, science, English, and social studies to have that class for 180 days solid and connect with the same teacher all year.

Both Japanese and orchestra classes will see a dramatic growth at the middle school and high school level.

Vincennes University will begin to offer college credit classes at Avon High School! This is only the beginning of college classes being offered at a high school level allowing seniors to receive dual credit hours, high school credit plus transferable college credit hours. 

Current college-prep engineering program, Project Lead the Way, is adding bio-medical science classes at AHS as well as Gateway to Engineering classes at the middle schools. 

New buildings always bring about new leadership at Avon and this year is no exception!

Below we welcome new and current administrators into new positions within Avon.

Mrs. Ginger Davis, Assistant Principal, AMSN

Mrs. Kellie Rodkey, Assistant Principal, AHS

Mr. Mike Swank, Associate Principal, AHS

Mr. Ryan Walden, Dean/Athletic Director, AMSN

Dr. Michael Whitman, current White Oak Elementary Principal, will become Principal of the new elementary, River Birch, in January 2010.

See page 7 for additional information on the above staff persons.

The District’s Demographic Study and Long Term Facility Plan will be updated October 13 to outline Avon Schools’ future building needs. We anticipate an additional intermediate school (5-6) will be needed as well additional K-4 classrooms. Current renovation is underway at White Oak Elementary, Maple Elementary, Avon Middle School South with two new buildings set to open Fall 2010—River Birch Elementary and Avon High School’s (AHS) Advanced Learning Center. Thank you for joining us this year at Avon Schools as we commemorate this year of remarkable firsts and work together to provide excellent education to an always first-rate group of students.