INDIAN HILL SCHOOL DISTRICT
IH
PROMISE
SPRING
2023
We celebrate 10-time state champion IHHS senior Gibson Holmes as he prepares to attend Stanford University this fall!

Photo:

STATE OF THE SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDITION

INDIANHILLSCHOOLS.ORG

2022

2022

Indian Hill High School #1 in Ohio!

Indian Hill School District #7 in Ohio!

Indian Hill Exempted Village School District is a 2022 Top Workplace!
8 Years Running

2022 Best Communities for Music Education

Project Lead The Way Distinguished School in STEM three years & running! IHHS is one of only 191 high
school programs nationally to

A message from our CEO/Superintendent

receive this distinction for the 2021-2022 school year!

We are excited to share with you this special edition #IHPromise newsletter as a way to present to you through a multimedia approach the State of Our Schools.

I’m pleased to begin by assuring you that our financial outlook is stable, and our focus is to continue our history of being responsible stewards of the investment you make in our schools. This commitment was evidenced recently through the implementation of an Energy Savings Program, which guarantees more than $150,000 in savings annually; $300,000 in Ohio K-12 School Safety Grants Awarded for construction; $15,000 in grants for science, technology, engineering, and math through the Ohio STEM Learning Network STEM Classroom Grant program; and quick action by our Board of Education to lock in a long-term loan at 3.75 percent to cover potential construction overages due to inflation.

Ours is a story of fiscal responsibility without compromising the excellence you expect and deserve.

The Indian Hill School District earned a Aaa credit rating; we are one of an elite number of school districts – only two others in Ohio – with the Aaa rating.

This year, we are seeing another trend that makes us smile – increased enrollment. We want our community to use our schools, and this year we have invested time examining an important question: Why Indian Hill?

Within this publication and as part of our special State of Our Schools video presentation, we are sharing the stage so you can hear the answer to that question directly. We feature our staff, our parents, and we kick it all off by placing the stars of our show on center stage – our students.

		
	
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Indian Hill High School No. 1 in Ohio; a “BEST Communities” for music education nationally; nationally recognized STEM learning; and a Top Workplace for our world-class faculty and staff – this is what our #IHPromise in action looks like.

Welcome to the State of Our Schools – there’s never been a better time to be BRAVE!

In service to our children,

Kirk Koennecke CEO/Superintendent Indian Hill School District Kirk.Koennecke@ihsd.us
@ihsuperbrave

Indian
Hill?

					
				FEATURE VIDEO PRESENTATION

Why
Use your camera phone to view the
State of Our Schools video here.

			

It feels like home. – Violet Levine, Student

The best colleagues in the world. – Mark Atwood, Faculty

Indian Hill is simply the best! – Lynn Chabris, Current Parent

Why not?

– Linda Clement-Holmes, Alumni Parent

					

					

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Unparalleled Opportunities

ACADEMICS

IH Robotics students headed to the 2023 VEX Robotics WORLD competition include Tyler Huang, Krish Ranjan, Euan Ji, Nathan Padhy, Kunal Ranjan and Arjun Verma!

For the third year in a row, the Indian Hill School District congratulates students in the Indian Hill Robotics Club for
earning a $2,200 robotics grant from P&G!

Indian Hill Middle School Certamen Team wins the Southwest Ohio competition!

The Indian Hill School District congratulates the 56 Indian Hill High School students who qualified for the DECA State Competition!

Both Indian Hill High School teams advanced to the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education Mock Trial State Competition. Indian Hill is one of only three programs in Ohio to earn this accolade!

Indian Hill High School Mock Trial goes undefeated
in 2023 Buckeye Bash Championship

Congratulations to Indian Hill High School seniors Joseph Kayne, Kunal Ranjan, and Pranav Rastogi for being named Semifinalists out of 91,000 applicants for the 2023 class of the Coca-Cola Scholars Program!

Indian Hill Middle Schools students Arya Murphy, Anya Freed, and Brooklyn Gottlieb received recognition in transportation, energy use, and overall performance at the Future City State Competition!

We celebrate Indian Hill High School students Urvi Garg, Lillie Waltz, Grace Wang, and Hannah Kremer who competed in the JustWrite Regional Competitive Writing Tournament held at Dublin Coffman High School in Columbus. Hannah Kremer, Grace Wang, and Lillie Waltz advance to compete at state in May!

IHHS and IHMS students earned awards in the annual Scholastic Writing Competition. IHHS student-authors included Alexander Castellini (five total awards, including two Gold Key awards); Hannah Kremern (an Honorable Mention); and Lillie Waltz (a Silver Key award.) IHMS student-authors included Ardisha Thawrani (a Silver Key award and an Honorable Mention.)

Debut

30+ Sessions • 60+ Educators • 50+ Student Volunteers
	
IH STEM Night
ACCESS THE
VIDEO HERE!
	
One AMAZING Impact!

ACCESS THE PODCAST HERE!

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WE SALUTE OUR EDUHEROES!
We celebrate our EduHERO students and staff through recognition and podcasts!

Champions
Jeffrey Wenker
and Arjun
200 IM - State
of the Year
Spamalot
Braves Make Headlines
ARTS IHHS congratulates the 11 students who
were selected to perform with the OMEA All-State Orchestra and Choir Ensembles!

Aaron Scott OMEA All-State

Congratulations to IHHS finalists for the Cincinnati Arts Association Overture Awards Competition, junior Franny Bell and sophomore Lillie Waltz. Bell is a finalist for the Theatre category; Waltz is a finalist for the Creative Writing category.

Over 200 students participated in IHMS
and IHHS Theatrical Productions!

IHHS Winter Musical

Senior Joseph Kayne was the recipient of the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award.

Senior Luis Vega-Torres and junior Makenna Peterson were chosen as Forest-Aires scholars for the 2022-2023 season!

ACCESS THE VIDEO HERE!

Indian Hill High School student-artists earn
25 Scholastic Art Awards! Two students, Jenna O’Driscoll and Belinda Zhong, will advance to the national competition in New York City.

ATHLETICS Indian Hill Aquabraves celebrate 10-time state champion and new state record

Gibson Holmes	Jason Zhao	400 Free 400 Free Relay -        500 Free State            Relay State
State Champion	Champion and
Holder - 4:24.01
Jason Zhao,
200 Medley Relay - New STATE record	Gibson Holmes, State Champion
400 Free Relay -
Champion (3rd	State Champion	Velayutham consecutive)        200 Medley Relay -
Champion
100 Fly - State	State Champion (4th
Consecutive)

D2 Swimmer Performance of the State Meet

10 total State
D2 Boys State Coach
Championships - Most	Matt Harrison -Decorated D2 swimmer
in State history

200 Medley Relay State Champions

Gibson Holmes, Jason Zhao, Jack Edmonson and Arjun Velayutham

Boys Team D2 State Runner-up

Josie Festa,	Indian Hill Hall of Courtney Wenker       Fame welcomes
and Marisol	two new members-Mason advance             Liz Slattery,
to the OHSAA	Class of 2013, and State Diving              Bryan Walker,
Championship	Class of 1999

Cheerleading          IH Sports Media qualified for          Team - IH Sports Nationals at Disney     Media Presents
in Orlando, Florida first ever “Game and finished 12th     Day” experience

Signing Day

(L to R)
Jordan Church -Soccer - Arkansas State University

Emily Eckert -Lacrosse - Butler University

Mia Fiore -Soccer - Xavier University

Gibson Holmes -Swimming -Stanford University

Rose Vigran -Soccer - George
Washington University

Courtney Wenker -Diving - Ohio Northern University

Not pictured...

Jonah Waltz -Cross Country and
Track & Field - Denison University

Kira Ericsson -Soccer - Pepperdine University

Alex Hansen -Baseball - Centre College

Boys Swim Team -District Champs

Junior, Josie Festa finishes in 7th place at the OHSAA State Diving Championship

7th Grade Girls	9th Grade Boys Basketball Basketball wins the CHL           win the Freshmen
Tournament and has	tournament held at
an undefeated season Western Brown High School

8th Grade Girls basketball win the CHL Tournament

Alex Sheldon -Cheer - Vanderbilt

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D O E R S | I N D I V I D U A L S | W H O L E C H I L D

S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G P R O C E S S

Plan & Align Governance Communication Engagement Plan

August

2021

Foundations Analyze Feedback Define Strategic Direction

September

2021

Design Engage Community Refine, Draft, Metrics

October - November

2021

Launch Team Practices Communicate Strategize Next Steps

December

2021

S T R A T E G I C P L A N P H A S E S

2022-2023	2023-2024	2024-2025	2025-2026	2026-2027

Research
Discovery
rocess: Each of our 10 initiatives is	5-	ne	ugh	s o	discovery

nd	tat Implementing

Process: Each of our 10 initiatives is on its own 5-year timeline to go through the phases of research, discovery, and implementation. Initiative Teams: Teachers, staff, and administrators to research, discover, and implement programs.
Goal: Improve the student experience at Indian Hill Schools.

#I H P R O M I S E I N A C T I O N	B Y T H E N U M B E R S :

Wildlife Designation @IHPS

Playground Design @IHES

Silent Disco @IHMS

The Big Pitch @IHHS

80 FACULTY & STAFF TAKING
PART IN STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE TEAMS

1200
# OF HOURS DEDICATED BY BRAVE LEADERSHIP & INITIATIVE TEAMS

1 0 I N I T I A T I V E S

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Indian Hill Assistant Superintendent Dr. Melissa Stewart

Building a Brave Future for generations of students goes beyond the steel beams and brick fronts of the new facilities currently under construction across the Indian Hill School District campus. It also includes deep research into the ideal environment for our students to become Learners as Doers, one of the three focus areas of our #IHPromise strategic plan. A key initiative within this focus area is Create New Spaces.

We started with doing our homework. We set up pilot classrooms for both our faculty and students to experience the latest and greatest in classroom learning products. By the numbers:

• 100 percent of our educators vetted our new furniture selections • 100 percent of our students provided input
• 1,040 students participated in lab classroom design • 48 lab classroom visits were conducted
Conservatively, our research has saved approximately $355,594 through educated decision-making due to the pilot study and the hard work of our partners to lock in preferred pricing. This research, which led to cost savings, was a point of celebration as we presented our furniture selection to the Indian Hill Board of Education during the January 10 meeting. Despite market conditions forcing an exponential increase in furniture costs during this project (an estimated 20-40 percent), our diligent research and close work with partners kept the Indian Hill School District within 5 percent of the original projected budget.

“As a parent of Indian Hill students and a taxpayer, our goal was to be forward thinking in the design process and fiscally responsible,” said Ben Kremer with Schools In. “While we worked with the administration
and staff, we continued to hone the spaces and furniture and were able to push the envelope for classroom design and keep everything within a budget that was set prior to the pandemic and all that it brought with it. We’re excited to see this project come to fruition and look forward to using Indian Hill as an example of how a great partnership can create
outstanding results for both the students and the larger community.”

One partner, LOTH, was so impressed by our dedication to research before purchase, they said we have changed the K-12 model.

“Indian Hill leadership’s thoughtfulness for their students, care for their staff, and passion for learning is unmatched,” said Andrea Akin with LOTH. “Through this process we were able to learn together from our pilot spaces, research, and design meetings to create spaces that support the district’s goals in culture and pedagogy while being attentive to the budget. We are proud to be an Indian Hill partner and look forward to watching the buildings come to life.”

Through research we learned:

Conservatively, our research has
saved approximately $355,594 through educated decision-making
due to the pilot study and the hard work of our partners to lock in preferred pricing.

• Environment impacts student engagement

• Vertical writing spaces are equally important as horizontal writing spaces

• Students benefit from different configurations that are adjustable • Comfortable seating brings joy and enhances learning
• Furniture mobility supports flexibility for students and teachers

• Spaces beyond the classroom impact overall school culture and learning participation

• Students find school more engaging if there is a variety of seating options room to room • Students will need the skills to thrive in a variety of settings in post-high school careers
At the Indian Hill School District, our students dream big. Now, because of our dedication to the research of creating new spaces, we know we will present an environment to help make all those dreams come true.

Dedicated to the success of our Braves,

Dr. Melissa Stewart Assistant Superintendent
Indian Hill School District	7

Indian Hill Exempted Village School District 6855 Drake Road, Cincinnati, OH 45243
(513) 272-4500

facebook.com/indianhillschools @ihschools
Indianhillschools

indianhillschools.org The Indian Hill Exempted Village School District serves students
in the Village of Indian Hill, Kenwood, parts of Sycamore and Symmes Township, Camp Dennison and a small portion of Loveland.

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Cincinnati, OH Permit No. 197

Indian Hill Board of Education (L to R):Bear Tullis, Board Member; Craig Sumerel, Board President; Niki Singh, Board Vice President; Nancy Aichholz, Board Member; Nolan Marx, Board Member

IHPS	IHES	IHMS	IHHS

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