March 14, 2025

Dear Lakewood Schools Families,

It is hard to believe that we are already three-quarters of the way through this school year, and our students are preparing for their final quarter of 2024-25. Many great achievements have happened since the Fall newsletter and I’m happy to share them with you.

First, as I’m sure you have heard, I have decided to accept the position of permanent Superintendent of this district beginning next school year. I have said this many times, but I love our district's families and educators and look forward to continuing to build on the fine work of so many who have come before me. I cannot imagine a better way to head into the last chapter of my career in education than to be Superintendent of Lakewood Schools.

The winter brought some loss and sadness to our community, but I know that we are stronger together and supporting each other than alone. This quarter also brought much to celebrate across our district. LHS Senior Lilah Ball recently won the National Center for Women & Information Technology’s Award for Aspirations in Computing. Lilah is our IT program's fifth winner since 2013 and we are so happy for her! Mrs. Brittany Baker received the 2024-25 Leaders for Learning Award from the Licking County Foundation…congratulations to her! Congratulations also to Miss Mandy O'Dell for receiving the Coughlin's "You Made A Difference” Award. Miss O’Dell was nominated by sophomore Gracie Burns and presented her award at a ceremony at C-TEC on March 13. The JV Girls Bowling Team finished 1^st in the Licking County League (LCL) and the Varsity Team finished as LCL and District Runner Up, and 16^th in the OHSAA DII State Tournament, with Riley Bloise rolling a high game of 212 at the state contest! Boys Wrestling sent six qualifiers to Districts and one (Cohen Shinault) to State. The Girls Swim team finished 4^th at LCLs; Senior Scarlett Yugovich finished 15th in the 50 Freestyle with a PR of 26.66 and 18th in the 100 Freestyle with another PR of 59.18 at the District Championship – she finished her high school swim career as the record holder for both events at LHS!

As we move into Spring, many exciting things are on the horizon. The LHS and LMS spring musicals, Seussical the Musical and Annie Jr., respectively, are coming up. The LHS production will take place during the weekend of April 11-13, while the LMS production will be on May 8. We’re also looking forward to the spring sports season, with Lancer Baseball, Softball, and Track & Field programs striving for continued success. Lastly, the Class of 2025 will end their Lakewood Lancer career with Commencement on Friday, May 23, from The Court in Lakewood High School at 6:30 p.m. Please join me in wishing them well as they plan for their future beyond high school!

At the start of the school year, I told you that I would be focused on the following priorities, and I provided an update after the first quarter, so again, I’d like to provide an update on progress in these areas:

• Rigor in Teaching & Learning – Work continues in several content areas this year to update and align our curriculum. Subjects under review this year are Science, Family and Consumer Science, Health and Physical Education, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Career-Based Intervention. Mrs. Pickering, our Director of Teaching and Learning, has been leading this process to ensure that our content is engaging and fully aligned with the rigor of the Ohio standards.
• Student Behavior & Bullying – This area continues to be a work in progress. While we are seeing improvements in our data overall, there are simply too many infractions of this type still occurring in our buildings. I am grateful to the staff members and administrators who continue to hold students accountable for their actions and help them to make better decisions moving forward. The vast majority of our students continue to do an amazing job.
• Athletic Culture – We are currently just beginning our Spring Athletics season and already our teams are showing promise. That should not be a surprise to anyone, as our Spring Sports have always excelled and been a source of pride in our school and community. Join me in showing up to games and meets to cheer on our Lancers!
• School Attendance – As I have said previously, I believe that school attendance rate is one of the best predictors of academic success. Even with the tremendous amount of illness we’ve endured this year, we are ahead of last year’s mark for attendance, which means we are ahead of last year’s mark for time spent learning as well. The hard work of principals, staff, parents, and students in getting our learners to school continues to pay off.
• Restoring Pride – I am as proud as ever of our district and the improvements that are being made in this area. I am more proud of our students, our employees, and our community with each passing day. I am proud to call Lakewood my home and look forward to spending the rest of my career caring for its students. As always, I welcome your suggestions for how we can make improvements that strengthen our district and grow our Lancer Pride!

Thank you for your continued support of our Lancer students and staff members. With their hard work and dedication, and your encouragement, we are well on our journey to making Lakewood Local Schools the best we can be.

Let’s go, Lancers!

Sincerely,

Scott Coffey

Interim Superintendent, Lakewood Local Schools

Reimagining education, instilling community pride, inspiring future success.