Engagement process builds on UA's enduring commitment to education

March is here, and it gives us all hope for warmer weather and clear skies ahead.

Another exciting thing on the horizon for us this spring is the first phase of the Board of Education’s community engagement process.  

One thing that sets Upper Arlington apart is our community’s commitment to and support of education.  We know that we are at our best as a district when we are actively working with our community to plan for the needs of our students.

Through this process, the Board of Education hopes to hear from as many students, families, community members and staff members as possible as we listen, learn and lead to help Upper Arlington Schools be the best it can be.

Board of Education President Lori Trent shared about this process: “The world is changing so quickly, it is really important that we adjust and adapt to meet the needs of our students today. We are incredibly fortunate to have so many community members interested and invested in our schools. With all of these voices, it’s our goal to gather input and ideas to push us forward as a district — to benefit our students today and well into the future.”

All Upper Arlington households are receiving a letter in the mail from the Board of Education as an invitation to be part of this process. There will be multiple opportunities and modes for you to provide feedback, and you can find dates and more details about those opportunities on our website at www.uaschools.org/ListenLearnLead.aspx. 

“We see this process as a first step for us as a community,” Trent shared. “The Board of Education wants to gather as much feedback as possible, through as many methods as possible, over the coming months with the hope of encouraging ongoing community engagement going forward.” 

Black History Month

One of the highlights of the winter was Black History Month, when we honor the contributions and the experience of Black Americans throughout the history of our country. 

For this year’s celebrations, Upper Arlington Schools came alongside other Upper Arlington community organizations to create a lineup of programming for community members, students and families. 

Throughout the month of February, our students engaged in several learning opportunities and experiences for Black History Month. These opportunities spanned all grade levels and enhanced our students’ learning in literacy, social studies, the arts and much more. 

One of the many important people students have learned about is Pleasant Litchford, who made many important contributions to the Columbus area and, specifically, the area that became known as Upper Arlington. The contributions of the Litchford family are among the many pieces of our local history that we are sharing with students as we work to ensure we are teaching the full history of our community. 

I’d like to thank our staff members and students who have dedicated time and effort to honoring Black History Month in our schools — which supports our continuing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our schools.

Academics are our main business, but we also know that students who aren’t well can’t learn. That’s why student and staff well-being is one of the priority areas identified in our district’s strategic plan. 

Upper Arlington Schools is uniquely equipped to address the needs of our students thanks to a network of full-time mental health and physical health services in our schools. We are excited to expand on this network by partnering with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Behavioral Health Services and Office of Student Life to provide access to school-based behavioral health services to our students and families. Through this partnership, students and families will have access to two onsite psychotherapists who will offer both in-person and virtual services, as well as priority access for clinical services. These experts will also work hand-in-hand with our school counselors, related staff and mental health professionals through our partnership with Syntero to ensure an overall continuity of services for our students.  

By expanding our toolkit and partnering with the experts from The Ohio State University, we will be better able to meet the unique needs of our students to ensure we are supporting them every step of their academic journey here in Upper Arlington.