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Winter 2022

A Brave Publication Indian Hill Exempted Village School District

State of Schools Special Edition

Students are center stage for our new strategic plan!

Indianhillschools.org

Superinte
A message from our ndent

Welcome to a special edition of our IH Promise newsletter, designed to provide you, our valued partner, an insider’s look into the State of our Schools.

Our budget is balanced; our financial outlook is stable; our construction is underway. Our laser focus is to provide world-class opportunities to our students, detailed within our new 5-year district strategic plan.

Building a Brave Future: Our Facilities

We are moving forward to Build a Brave Future that will serve generations of our future global leaders to come.

Across the district, plans are in place for mechanical, safety and security upgrades at each of our buildings, including the construction of our new Indian Hill Middle School building. Indian Hill Elementary School will add a robust new Unified Arts addition, replacing the old sawtooth section.

Building a Brave Future: Our Strategic Plan

We are in the Brave Construction Zone not only with our facilities, but also as we launch our new 5-year District strategic plan. More than 2,200 stakeholders were involved in developing this plan, and we want to thank every member of our Brave family who invested time
in this important work.

It is work that is student-centered to the core, as we move forward in using our Experiences, Environment, and Resources to develop: Learners as Doers; Learners as Individuals; and Learners as the Whole Child. Through these pages, we will define what this means, how
we plan to develop our goals in each of these three key areas, and the timeline for implementation.

Keeping our students in the center of all we do, this is our IH Promise to you.

Indian Hill Middle School

Indian Hill Middle School/Indian Hill High School Connector

Indian Hill Elementary School

This is what it means to be Brave.

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

Building a Brave Future: Indian Hill Facilities Transition Resource

Please note: Renderings are in draft; these are not final designs.

Indian Hill Primary School

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The State of Our Schools A special video presentation by the

Indian Hill School District

2,200 stakeholders

developed our plan -students, community members, staff, &
Indian Hill	alumni

Strategic Plan Development
Use your smartphone to access the video through the QR code

22 steering team

members met for 10-plus planning and design sessions

160 students

participated in focus groups

6 community

engagement events hosted by the District

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Unparalleled Opportunities Braves Make Headlines

I     i	ill		l i tri t i         i !

Indian Hill School District #7 in Ohio!

Indian Hill Exempted Village School District is a 2021 Top Workplace! 7 Years Running

Project Lead The Way Distinguished School in STEM two years & running!
IHHS is one of only 204 high school programs nationally to receive this distinction for
the 2020-2021 school year!

Indian Hill Primary School earns
$5,000 OSLN Grant, funded by Battelle	ACADEMICS

IHPS was the only primary school and one of three schools in Hamilton County to receive the Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN) $5,000 grant, funded by Battelle.

“These are highly selective grants that speak to important cultural work in STEM,” said Indian Hill Primary School Principal Dr. Erin Owens. “As one of the few primary schools in Ohio to receive this recognition, this grant is further evidence of the holistic approach to academics that begins with our youngest Braves.”

Indian Hill Elementary School students earn big in The Stock Market Game

The Indian Hill Elementary School first-place team of Jenny Willingham, Devyanshie Rautela, and Chloe Luther earned more than $21,000 in 10 weeks during The Stock Market Game, sponsored by the non-profit Alpaugh Family Economics Center, part of the University of Cincinnati. The team will compete in the Portfolio Challenge this spring at the University of Cincinnati.

Indian Hill High School student presents research at national Biomedical Engineering Society conference

Congratulations to junior Elsa Zhou who completed an independent research project on cardiovascular medical devices under the mentorship of a professor at Harvard and the University of Delaware. Zhou presented her findings at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) annual national conference held in Orlando!

Indian Hill Primary School Family Literacy Night

What an incredible event for our families – and 200 BOOKS were handed out! Thank you to the IHPS team for pivoting in dramatic fashion to ensure this fantastic event could happen this year for our students and families – excellent work!

Indian Hill educators achieve premiere certification to empower students through technology

Indian Hill Innovative Teaching and Learning Coaches Ashley Morrison and Lauren Richardson, in addition to Director of Technology Mark Richardson, are oficially International Society
for Technology in Education (ISTE) certified! Please join us in congratulating these dedicated educators for earning this elite status!

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Bravo to Indian Hill Middle School & Indian Hill High School student-performers!

Bravo to all Braves involved in the production of the IHHS fall musical “Little Women” and the IHMS production of “My Son Pinocchio” - both shows were simply outstanding!

ARTS

Indian Hill High School student selected for Cincinnati Youth Jazz Orchestra

We congratulate sophomore student-musician George Zaring for his selection in the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music Cincinnati Youth Jazz Orchestra. Zaring is one of 15 musicians selected from across the region to participate!

Indian Hill High School student-musician selected for All-National Concert Band

Congratulations to senior student-musician Jessie Chan, who was selected as a member of the 2021 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-National Concert Band!

Indian Hill Brave Marching Band earns first place!

Congratulations to the Brave Marching Band for a first-place finish at the Miamisburg Band Invitational! Our talented student-musicians also won awards for percussion, color guard, music, visual, and general effect, and they posted their highest score of the season!

Use your camera phone to buy tickets now!

ATHLETICS

A living legend joins the Indian Hill Football Program:
Welcome Coach John Rodenberg

The Indian Hill School District welcomes seasoned and honored Coach John Rodenberg to the Indian Hill Football Program to lead the Braves starting in the 2022-2023 school year. Coach Rodenberg has developed student leaders on the football field within elite programs for nearly 30 years. His accolades include four State Championship teams, multiple NFL players (Sam Hubbard and Kevin Huber), more than 30 NCAA Division I, II, and III scholarship players, multiple All-State performers, and he has been recognized as the Cincinnati Bengals Coach of the Week five times.

Indian Hill celebrates student-athletes with signing ceremony

Congratulations to our four student-athletes who committed to continue both academic and athletic careers beyond high school during a college signing ceremony. Participating students included seniors Will Adair, Annie Isphording, Ella Riggs, and Elizabeth Whaley. We also want to celebrate Annie Isphording for her selection as part of the East Team in the ninth annual Girls High School All-American Game. Isphording is one of 43 elite players selected from across the country!

A celebration of enduring excellence at the Indian Hill Hall of Fame

The Indian Hill Hall of Fame welcomed new members Nicole Bell (2012) and Eppa Rixey IV (1972) on Friday, January 21, 2022 at Indian Hill High School with a
formal ceremony.	5

Strategic Plan

Learners as Doers

Creating learning experiences for students to engage in authentic and real-world applications by emphasizing critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration

Learners as the Whole Child

Providing instruction and experiences for learners by fostering self-awareness, developing
responsible decision-making skills, valuing diverse perspectives, and establishing positive relationships

EXPERIENCE

·ÊSchool / Life Integration

ENVIRONMENT

·ÊWellness Life Skill Development · Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

RESOURCES ·ÊExpand Career
Pathways Mentorship

EXPERIENCE ·ÊStudent Agency

ENVIRONMENT ·ÊCreate New Spaces

RESOURCES ·ÊDistrict STEM Advisory

Learners as Individuals

Offering a guaranteed and viable curriculum by recognizing the unique abilities, learning preferences, and background of each student

EXPERIENCE ·ÊCulminating Experiences

ENVIRONMENT

·ÊPractical Life Skill Development

RESOURCES

·ÊStreamline Communications

Our #IHPromise prioritizes our students by empowering their voice in a personalized, collaborative, and inclusive learning environment.

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Learners as Doers

Learners as Individuals

Learners as the Whole Child

We promise to...

create opportunities for student agency in voice, path, and place that empower learners and values process as much as practice.

develop a variety of different types of spaces which will encourage collaboration, autonomy, creativity, enjoyment, and self-care.

build sustainable partnerships to address a variety of different types of STEM learning
activities/spaces which will encourage collaboration, autonomy, creativity, enjoyment, and self-care.

support students in each building as they engage in developmentally appropriate research, writing, and presentation of a subject of personal interest or passion to be completed by the time the student transitions out of the highest grade in the building.

create developmentally appropriate courses and programs in practical skills to prepare students for future success.

develop/reﬁne the communications strategy to include clear and consistent access to ﬁnancial and district-wide information,
embedded options to drill deeper for more detailed information, and a more surgical approach to speciﬁc topics and audiences.

support students learning how to maintain a healthy balance inside and outside of school through active engagement in BRAVE lessons and tools.

teach developmentally appropriate, wellness-related, Life Skills through BRAVE Character Education to prepare students for future success.

design environments and experiences that prioritize belonging, dignity, and love for each learner.

create a sustained mentorship program, utilizing the Foundation board committee to ensure equitable access to mentorship for all IH students.

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

		

beBRAVE
A Weekly Wrap of News Around the Hill
Septtemberr 13 | 2019

				
		#IIHpromiise iin ACTION

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

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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.

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