Sycamore Schools (Middletown, Bowling Green, Green: house, neighborhood, school district)

[cgs2000]

There has been much discussion here recently about local schools and the community needs they meet. I moved to Blue Ash a year ago and started to look around the town: one of the most impressive findings was the schools and their quality of education and the many activities they provide for students and for the rest of us. If I hadn't been inquisitive I could well have missed what is available here for the children and also for older adults like me. I believe that the future is built on the education of our youngsters and wonder how many older folks like me (whose children are all grown up!) might benefit by learning more about the Sycamore Schools.

[kjbrill]

Glad to hear you are discovering what Sycamore Schools means to the area. Living in Blue Ash which brings you the Rec Center and all of the city sponsored events is just icing on the cake.

Anyone desiring to live on the East side of town is an idiot if they do not consider Blue Ash.

One of my daughters lives in Paris Ky and is an active member of the Army Reserve Band based at Fort Knox. She and her husband are both in the band, he is a saxophonist and she is a percussionist, all forms of drums from the set to the quads for marching. They have been in the band now for about 12 years, they joined while students at UK, as it was a source of school money. They are both members of the Bourbon County School district near Paris, he is the school music director and she is a 5th grade science teacher. Most of this training was provided by the Army Reserve.

For several years the City of Blue Ash has recruited their band to march for a summer parade and to give a concert on the village green. Blue Ash pays the lodging cost and also meal costs for the members of the band. The army pays the transportation costs as it is considered part of their summer drill period. They rave about the treatment Blue Ash provides. Naturally the grandkids come to our house in Mason.

The only other gig they say comes close is the 4th of July parade at Gatlinburg, TN which begins at 12 Midnight.

12 or more years in the Reserve Army Band. They have enjoyed it. Last year the band was sent to Hawaii for their primary summer gig. The daughter was able to see her old sister/BIL in Honolulu.

But still high on their list is the gig at Blue Ash. Believe me all of the band members appreciate what Blue Ash provides them to help fulfill their army PR requirements.

[cgs2000]

Did your daughter attend the Sycamore Schools? I understand they emphasize music as a student activity.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by cgs2000

Did your daughter attend the Sycamore Schools? I understand they emphasize music as a student activity.

No, she was a Mason student all the way. Her mother saw to it she had lessons in her chosen field - percussion, and she was a member of the Middletown Youth Symphony. She went to Fort Knox, had an audition and was accepted into the band (and of course the Army) prior to her graduation from Mason. Right after graduation she went to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Louisiana, then it was on to Fort Knox. She met her future husband at basic training.

She has an older sister who is a music education graduate of Bowling Green State University of Ohio. Her major instrument was slightly harder - the orchestra Oboe. She was also a complete music program student at Mason. She can pick up about any reed instrument going along with most of the brass and play it. She played trombone in the Mason marching band.

I know Sycamore has a fine music program. But so does Mason. During my two kids tenure there, the music director was Tim Holt, retired from the Marine Military Band in DC. He gave them a reason to shoot at only one goal - the top. Both of my kids are grown and married with kids of their own. They are definitely raising band geeks of their own. It is rewarding to see your kids and grandkids participating in a field such as music which they date back to their experience in school.

[Zen_master]

Originally Posted by cgs2000

There has been much discussion here recently about local schools and the community needs they meet. I moved to Blue Ash a year ago and started to look around the town: one of the most impressive findings was the schools and their quality of education and the many activities they provide for students and for the rest of us. If I hadn't been inquisitive I could well have missed what is available here for the children and also for older adults like me. I believe that the future is built on the education of our youngsters and wonder how many older folks like me (whose children are all grown up!) might benefit by learning more about the Sycamore Schools.

Sycamore Schools are rated Excellent with Distinction and are in the top decile of districts in the county and perhaps even the state. The community support is something to behold and as you drive through the community there are countless housewives driving minivans and SUVs with Aves window stickers. I have heard some parents express concern over politics within the district and reports are the large jewish population is the perceived "in crowd" within the political circle dominating the district. Just what I've heard over the years and not from one or two sources but from many and across a timespan of a decade plus.

[cgs2000]

If that large Jewish population works to support the quality of education, that's OK with me. All components of the local community should be expected to do that.

[kjbrill]

I am chiming back in here just for respect for the Sycamore program. I don't claim to be current on all aspects of the program at my aqe. But my son-in-law and daughter are both very active in the music program at the Bourbon County KY schools near Paris KY. They are both musicians in their own right, almost 20 year members of the Army Reserve Band based at Fort Knox KY, and parents of their own troop of band geeks. The SIL is actually music director for the Paris Schools.

The daughter is a graduate of Mason, OH schools. Prior to graduation she went to Fort Knox to audition for the band. She came home a member of he band and went off the next week to Fort Leonard Wood, Ms for basic training. She met her husband at basic training.

The SIL makes sure he applies for competition for his band at two locations in Ohio - Mason and Sycamore. He simply states if you want recognition for points won at a multiple state level, Mason and Sycamore are it. They are simply the elite and everyone knows it, even us bumpkins down in Paris KY.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by cgs2000

I believe that the future is built on the education of our youngsters and wonder how many older folks like me (whose children are all grown up!) might benefit by learning more about the Sycamore Schools.

I think this holds true no matter what the school district. Most schools also have adult-ed programs. "Mrs Goyguy Sr" (like many people) used to scoff at them as excuses for divorcees and other unattached persons to hook up - not exactly an inaccurate perception. Then a friend of hers raved about a class she'd taken, and encouraged her to come along for the next installment. A local housewife hailing from Taiwan devoted a couple of weekday evenings for a long time to passing along Chinese recipes and cooking tips to aspiring kitchen wizards in town. The results were tasty enough to my family that some of the dishes rated being served to dinner guests. Lots of folks, "single and looking to mingle" or not, also avail themselves of such courses to improve their card games or brush up on "tourist French" or any number of other fun things. And much - sometimes all - of the cost is borne by the school system.

Schools are all too often overlooked as anchors of a community. In the city this is unfortunate but probably unavoidable, given the way all too many neighborhood schools are functioning poorly. (How can there be much "spirit" in College Hill, for instance, when "there's no way in hell I'd send my kids to Aiken"?) But in suburbia there's really no excuse. Places such as Wyoming, Deer Park, and Sycamore definitely "get it." That's where you see the stands filled for high school football and basketball games. That's where school board elections are lively and competitive. And that's where you find a healthy and aspiring student body. The kids know their teachers - and neighbors - are supporting them.

The rise of "55+" developments, going along with the ever-present segment of the population that votes down necessary taxes to support education ("We don't have children in the schools so we don't care"), is a dismaying reality.

As for Sycamore, the sizable number of Jewish households in the district - as in Wyoming - shouldn't be a surprise MUCH LESS cause for alarm. They are there for the same reason the exponentially growing Asian population is there, as well as in the Lakota and Mason school systems. Ideally the educational playing field would be level no matter where a child's family resides. But since that isn't the case, for damn sure, why hedge your bets?