Shaker Heights City School District, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
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[edit] A Brief History
The Shaker Heights City School District includes the city of Shaker Heights and a small portion of Cleveland near Shaker Square, encompassing about 7.5 square miles. From almost anywhere in the district, you’re a 15-minute drive from Cleveland’s University Circle, the home of world-class hospitals and museums, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Case Western Reserve University. Long known for the beauty of its neighborhoods and parklands, Shaker Heights is home to some 30,000 residents of diverse cultural backgrounds and is renowned for its commitment to educational excellence.
Since the construction of its first school building over 90 years ago, the Shaker Heights City School District has blossomed into one of the finest public school systems in the country. Families from all over the United States—and from all over the world—continue to seek out the Shaker Heights community because of its outstanding schools. In fact, successful Shaker graduates total more than 30,000 worldwide, and more than 3,000 graduates have returned to make their homes in Shaker Heights.
The Shaker schools currently serve about 5,600 students in eight buildings: five K-4 elementary schools (Boulevard, Fernway, Lomond, Mercer, and Onaway); Woodbury Elementary School (grades 5 and 6); Shaker Middle School (grades 7 and 8); and Shaker Heights High School (grades 9-12).
Shaker Heights employs the most highly educated teachers in the Cleveland area. Our certified staff consists of about 500 teachers, 83% of whom hold master’s degrees or higher. The average class size is 23 students, and the pupil-teacher ratio is 13:1.
Awards & Honors
• Shaker Heights High School is consistently ranked among Ohio’s top schools with National Merit, National Achievement, and Advanced Placement Scholars.
• Consistent top honors have been awarded in band, orchestra, choir, and fine arts competitions.
• Shaker Heights school teams are recent state champions in women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis and ice hockey.
• The Shaker schools are nine-time winners of the “What Parents Want” award given by School Match, a national organization that assists corporations and parents in locating top schools.
• The Shaker Heights City School District was the first district in Ohio to have each of its schools cited by the United States Department of Education as National Blue Ribbon Schools.
• The High School’s Theatre Department has been named a National Center of Excellence by the National Council of Teachers of English.
• In 1999, the High School was named a Grammy Signature School by the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences Foundation. (The recognition was bestowed upon the top 250 high school music departments in the country.)
• For two years in a row, Shaker was named “Outstanding School” at the Cuyahoga County Regional Scholastic Art competition, producing more award winners than any other school.
• Shaker students have been state and national award winners in the National History Day Contest, U.S. Physics Team and Math League competitions, foreign language examinations, the Federal Reserve Challenge, and Scholastic Art and Writing Awards programs.
No Limits Shaker Heights High School offers 17 Advanced Placement courses, which are college-level classes taught according to a curriculum prescribed by the College Board. The total number of Advanced Placement courses offered at Shaker is among the highest of any school, public or private, in Northeast Ohio. In any given year, about one-third of our High School students take at least one AP class. Increasing numbers of Shaker students are taking AP exams, and 90% of their scores are 3 or higher, making the students eligible for college credit. Highly accelerated students may also take courses at a nearby college.
About 80% of Shaker students are involved in one or more of 50 co-curricular activities ranging from Academic Decathlon to Youth Ending Hunger to the Junior Council on World Affairs.
The schools’ unparalleled offerings in the fine and performing arts include a nationally recognized theatre program, while 24 varsity sports are offered to Shaker High School students. Shaker also offers nationally recognized programs in human relations and minority achievement.
A World of Opportunities To help students prepare for participation in a global and multicultural society, Shaker Heights High School engages in annual exchange visits with high schools in Mexico, Japan, France, Germany, and Russia. An exchange with a school in China is scheduled to begin in summer 2004.
Foreign language students may take study trips, accompanied by teachers, to live among native speakers and to experience different cultures. The bands, orchestra, and choruses also travel abroad periodically, both to perform and to see cultural landmarks.
Facilities Our schools were designed to complement the natural and architectural beauty of Shaker Heights. Facilities include eight school buildings, mainly of Georgian design; at least one multimedia computer in every classroom; a fast-growing computer network with access to libraries and the Internet; computer laboratories in schools serving grades 5-12; a planetarium; two indoor pools; newly equipped playgrounds; and spacious athletic fields.
Community Support Shaker residents are passionate about education and deeply involved in their schools. The Shaker Heights Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), with an independent unit at each of the eight schools and a district-wide council, is an extraordinarily broad-based and active organization made up of faculty and staff members, parents, guardians, grandparents, and other family members. The PTO provides a strong link between school and home; encourages parents’ involvement in their children’s education; promotes public policies beneficial to children; and offers direct support through volunteer and fundraising efforts.
The Shaker Schools Foundation was formed in 1981 to support the Shaker Heights schools, and was the first foundation in Ohio designed to support a public school district. The Foundation provides support for student awards, the acquisition of instructional technology, and special projects initiated by teachers. The Foundation raises funds from private sources, including individuals.
Additional support is generated through A Night for the Red and White, an annual benefit that draws hundreds of parents and other supporters. Since its inception in 1992, the benefit has generated more than $1,000,000 for arts enrichment and technology.
[edit] Facts
Area Served:
The City of Shaker Heights, plus a one-square-mile portion of the City of Cleveland (in the Shaker Square area).
K-12 Enrollment:
About 5,600
Number of Schools: 8
K-4: Boulevard, Fernway, Lomond, Mercer, Onaway
5-6: Woodbury Elementary School
7-8: Shaker Heights Middle School
9-12: Shaker Heights High School
Certified Staff
Approximately 510 FTE More than 80% hold master’s degrees or higher—the most highly educated faculty in the Cleveland area.
Support Personnel
Approximately 270 FTE
Pupil-Teacher Ratio: 13:1
Average Class Size: 23
College Attendance Rate
Approximately 90%, including the Ivy League schools and others among the most competitive in the nation.
Number of Advanced Placement Courses Offered: 17
National Merit and National Achievement Semifinalists and Commended Students:
Shaker is consistently at the top in Ohio, with anywhere from 8 to 15 percent of the senior class earning these honors, compared with only 2 percent nationally.
[edit] Mission Statement
The Mission of the Schools The District will nurture, educate, and graduate students who are civic-minded and prepared to make ethical decisions; who are confident, competent communicators, skillful in problem solving, capable of creative thinking; who have a career motivation and a knowledge of our global and multicultural society.
