People stand outside waiting for the beginning of a ribbon cutting ceremony at Hillsdale Local Schools' new facility on July 18, 2023. The facility's been a work in progress since a community meeting was held about it on March 13, 2018. Credit: Mariah Thomas, Report For America Corps Member

JEROMESVILLE — Hillsdale Elementary School has been recognized with a Momentum Award from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

The news came from a press release the district shared on Tuesday.

“Our teachers, educational aides, support staff — everybody works really hard rowing in the same direction to support students,” said Tom Williams, principal of Hillsdale Elementary School.

What is the Momentum Award?

The award, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s website, is presented to districts that demonstrate “outstanding improvement in achievement while also continuing to show growth.”

It’s based on schools’ report card results. Report cards show districts’ progress through several sets of data across five categories. Those categories are:

  • Achievement
  • Early literacy
  • Gap closing
  • Graduation
  • College, career, workforce and military readiness

Schools receive ratings based on a 5-star scale, factoring in the first four categories.

Momentum awards are rewarded to schools that improved their performance index by three or more points between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 report cards.

Schools also had to receive a value-added progress rating of four or more stars. But, schools that had a five-star rating weren’t eligible for the momentum award.

Hillsdale Elementary School received a 4.5-star rating overall on its 2022-2023 report card. It earned a four-star progress rating.

Hillsdale’s recognition

According to Hillsdale’s press release about the award, Hillsdale Elementary was selected for the award out of a pool of “42 districts and 310 buildings meeting the stringent criteria.”

In Williams’ estimation, a large part of Hillsdale Elementary’s academic success came from its consistency in curriculum between different grade levels.

He added he knows how hard all the schools in Ashland County work to help students and meet their needs. Receiving the momentum award felt like an extra special honor for Williams thanks to that.

This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous support of the Ashland County Community Foundation.

Ashland Source's Report for America corps member. She covers education and workforce development, among other things, for Ashland Source. Thomas comes to Ashland Source from Montana, where she graduated...