SUMMIT MEETING NOTES - Corrected
September 13, 2007
Location: College Hill Presbyterian Church

 ACTION ITEMS

The key action items as agreed to in this meeting are as follows:

ATTENDEES: (See Abbreviation Key)

ABSENT:

AGENDA

• Welcome and Introductions
• Host Greetings
• Agenda Review & Modification

• Review of Minutes from Last Month’s Meeting

• Opening Prayer

• Special Announcements

• Review of Action Items from Last Month’s Meeting

• CPOP/COP/Court Watch

• CHCURC Update

• CHBA Update

• Plan for Meeting with Dale Mallory

• Community Activities

• Discussion Topic: Schools

DISCUSSION: 

1.   Special Announcements

None. 

2.   Review of July 2007 Minutes
The July minutes were approved and will be sent to Tom Strothers for posting.  August minutes will be approved at the next meeting. 

3.   Review of Action Items from Previous Meetings

All action items scheduled to be done by this meeting were completed. 

4.   CPOP/CPD/COP/Court Watchers – by Jim Bodmer

Jim reported that kids are hanging out on the avenue again.   He reminded everyone with property there to get the Right of Entry forms filed with the police, and put ROE stickers in the windows. 

CPD reported that overall crime in College Hill dropped during the hottest August on record:

§         Thefts and auto thefts decreased.

§         Domestic violence and burglaries have decreased.

§         Assaults and vice did increase somewhat.

Other information included:

-     North Bend road from Hamilton Ave to the city limits is undergoing a complete repaving.

-     Cameras are going to be turned over to the College Hill community.   The process to formally acquire them has been completed.   Capt Bailey is going to look into what it would take technically to set up a local network. 

5.   CHCURC Update – by Marty Weldishofer

·        Linden Park – Neyer presented at the recent meeting their siteplan, budget, and timeline that will be taken to city council.  The project needs $1.8 million from the city over 2 years.  The vote was nearly unanimous in support of moving forward.   The townhouse design is expected from Neyer prior to submission to city council. 

·        Gateway – The Department of Community Planning asked purchasing to solicit bids on the design, which is expected to take 6-8 weeks.

·        Firehouse – There is a rumor going around that the firehouse will not be built on the corner of Llanfair and Hamilton.    This is false.   Marty is meeting with the architects on the 19^th to coordinate the designs on the gateway & firehouse.

·        Signs – The design is undergoing a second round review.   They will present to the CH Historical Society on Oct 3, and will request to move one of the Society’s signs. 

·        Streetscape – All the details are not yet done, but the final monies have finally been received from Duke Energy.   Marty is following up.

·        CHCURC – is having their quarterly meeting on Oct 3. 

6.   CHBA – by Sheena Parton

·        The annual Mix & Mingle will be Oct 2, 5:30 – 8:00 pm.   All Summit attenders were invited.

·        Sheena attended the Mayor’s meeting on behalf of Elizabeth.   She is sending a list of businesses and vacancies to the city, for a website.

·        As part of the plan to market the business district, there was a B&I inspection from Groesbeck to North Bend.  Citations were issued for signage and structural issues.   Façade monies are still available, and may be of interest to some of those cited.

·        Sheena gave a presentation to the Cincinnati Presbytery on Llanfair, including a positive report on College Hill activities. 

·        Dale Mallory’s office called on Tuesday.   They have not forgotten us, and are still trying to work out a meeting time with the Board of Education. 

9.   Announcements & Community Events

o       Rhythm Race – was very successful.   It raised about $26,000 (gross).   There was good publicity with Mayor Mallory involved.

o       Aiken Fund Raiser – was not well attended.   Probably didn’t break even.   It may need broader publicity the next time.

o       Grace Church – is partnering with Aiken to start an Aiken Community Choir.   The goal is arts/music education.   It will be a school year based program.

o       New Development – a developer has contacted the city about the old Waldorf school property on Winton Rd near North Bend.   Nothing is firm yet.

o       ARCH – is co-hosting a Ross Hauck concert on Oct 7 at the College Hill Presbyterian church.

o       Pumpkin Patch – the 6^th annual Pumpkin Patch Fall Festival will be held at Town Hall Park.   As before, CHBA is arranging the crafts fair, entertainment by ARCH, and food vendors by  Forum.  Scarecrow entries are free.

o       Aiken Open House – Aiken had a great open house on Sept 12.  About 350 people attended (students & parents), and Aiken students did the catering.  A free T-shirt was awarded to the first 50 parents to show up, and there were door prizes awarded throughout the evening.

o       Mercy Hospital – the Foundation will host a Great Gatsby Evening at the Powell Crosley Mansion on Sept 29.   A flyer was handed out.   Reservations are required.   

10. Discussion Topic: Schools

Eric Thomas gave a presentation to Summit about Aiken College & Career High School.   Key points communicated included:

This past year, Aiken C&C has the greatest level of improvement of any school in the district.   Aiken C&C improved from Academic Emergency to Continuous Improvement.  The goal for this year is to earn an Effective Rating.

The stated goal last year was to provide the community with a school that they would consider sending their kids to.   Progress has been made toward this goal, with only 35 registered for 9^th grade enrollment 3 years ago, and 140 registered this year.   

In order to earn an Effective Rating, a high percentage of students need to pass at least 4 of the 5 standard tests: Reading, Writing, Match, Social Studies, and Science.   75% of 10^th graders, and 85% of 11^th graders need to achieve this.   Eric believes that Aiken C&C students will be able to achieve this on everything test except Science, which continues to be an area of relative weakness for Aiken C&C.    There are additional indicators as well, such as attendance and graduation rate, which Aiken C&C is tracking as well: 

-     Aiken C&C is continuing an emphasis on literacy, particularly in the ability to handle both short answer and extended response tests.  

-     11 students were in National Honor Society last year, and the goal is 20 for this year.

-     Teachers are identifying potential graduates for 2008 by Sept 15, and the goal is to achieve 100% graduation of students on this list.   This doesn’t match the standard way to measure graduation rate, but it will move Aiken in the right direction.

-     A complementary goal is for 100% of graduates to have established plans for after high school, such as employment, military service, or more education.

-     Another goal is for 100% of 9^th graders to be promoted to 10^th grade.   Studies have shown that 90% of 9^th grade students who fail to get promoted will never graduate.  This is a particular challenge for African American males, and Aiken C&C has received a grant to focus on this.   They plan to hire someone to work exclusively on 9^th grade males. 

Aiken C&C’s new mission is to give the kids the opportunity for “the American Dream” they aspire to have, which is to achieve a better standard of living, to have options and choices in life, and to provide well for their own children. 

Aiken C&C is also making use of the most recent research on what needs to happen in the classroom in order for kids to learn.   In the past, teaching has been considered purely an art, but research shows that there is considerable science needed as well.   So Aiken C&C has instituted the “Daily Critical Question” approach to actually assess how much learning has occurred in the classroom each day.  

1. What do we want students to learn and how much do they already know?
2. What strategies will we utilize?
3. How will we know if they learned? 
4. What will we do if they do not learn immediately?

Finally, Eric talked about how Aiken C&C is reaching out to form alliances with other organizations for the benefit of the students.   They are working with GE to obtain volunteer tutors to come for an hour during the day.   Aiken C&C is also partnering with the Ministerium and The Rock to develop an “End Zone Club” of mentoring and tutoring.    

Pleasant Hill gave a brief summary of recent activities, and promised a more comprehensive update at the next Summit meeting.   Pleasant Hill recently hosted the Rhythm Race, had an ice cream social, and has an Open House planned.   They have an after-school program starting in October run by the Powell Crosley YMCA.   A new Assistant Principal will start soon. 

Hillcrest Science Academy is in session.   Fr. George will invite the headmaster to come to the next Summit meeting to share more information. 

Jim Bodmer will follow up with College Hill Fundamental Academy, to invite them to come and share more information with Summit.

11. Future Meeting Topic

Anita suggested that we spend some time at a future meeting discussing media options to publicize the good things about College Hill.   She indicated she would be happy to lead that discussion. 

Next Summit Meeting: October 11, 2007 @ 8:00 am at St. Clare Catholic Church.                                                                                                  

Summarized by:

                                                                                                Valerie Hershberger

                                                                                                Oct 7, 2007

                                                                                                Corrected Oct 12, 2007

Abbreviation Key: