Dr. Kimberly Halley has been the superintendent of Circleville City Schools for three years and is very proud of the Portrait of a Circleville Tiger initiative implemented one year ago. This initiative to transform classroom instruction shows the commitment made by the schools to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the future.
“We convened a small design team of staff, parents, and students and we asked ourselves about the most important competencies that will prepare our students for success. That design team then added over 400 staff, parents, students and community members,” said Halley.
The initiative encompasses 5 competencies (adaptability, communication, critical thinking, empathy, and perseverance) that we feel are ‘durable skills’ our Tigers need to be successful in whatever they take on after graduation,” said Darci Valentine, Communications Director.
A detailed explanation of this initiative was featured in Network News, a national newsletter from Battelle for Kids, and can be found at
EL21 Network News: Lights, Camera, Learning (mailchi.mp)
The results of that initiative were clearly seen in the State of the Schools event held March 6. “It’s an annual event open to parents, students, staff, and community members. Each year we have made it more student focused, and this year it was student led,” said Halley. This year saw the largest crowd with over 600 guests and was standing room only in the auditorium.
“We started in the auditorium and then moved to the gymnasium where our guests had the opportunity to see 37 student demonstrations which exhibited one or more of the competencies,” continued Halley. “It was a red-carpet event with lots of fan-fare and so exciting to see the children be recognized.”
Some of the demonstrations included a preschool demonstration of how to speak through a conflict while being empathetic, a middle school presentation ELA (English and Language Arts) and Science joining forces to create a persuasive writing about the solar eclipse and why students should not be in school that day, and a high school presentation on growing lettuce in a hydroponic garden.
Other new advances in learning include recently adopted Math and ELA curriculum.
“Ahead of each adoption, we had materials and other items on display for our community members and families to view,” said Valentine. “A team of teachers was put in place to study and try out various options for curriculum and they worked alongside Dr. Amy Boston, Director of Teaching and Learning.”
Updates have also been made to the Tiger facilities.
“We have just completed an update/repair to the roof at the elementary school. In addition, there are several new safety updates on campus this year. The parking lot surrounding the Ohio Health Field House and our tennis courts was also recently paved, allowing for more parking for our fans! Matt McLaughlin, our new Facilities Director, will be working with his department on some more exciting updates to campus later this spring,” continued Valentine.
The district has a Momentum Plan, which is a mini strategic plan with a vision for the future of Circleville City Schools.
“We have three goals and they each have strategic priorities and specific action steps,” said Halley.
1. Improve academic performance by 5% in Math and ELA.
2. Safety and belonging / creating an inclusive school culture
3. Data analysis for teaching staff
Halley credits the members of the Board of Education for their level of involvement and support for the work being done in the district. “They are student centered and they very much care about our staff also.”
Communication is key to successful interaction with families, and a new Tigers website and app are planned to launch soon.
“We do try to engage with both the community and our families through our social media channels (Facebook, ‘X’, Instagram and TikTok),” said Valentine.
By the Numbers
Student Enrollment: 2,045
Attendance Rate: 92.9%
4-year Graduation Rate: 93.1%
Number of schools: 3
Teacher average years of experience: 12
(Source: reportcard.education.ohio.gov and updated by Valentine)
Ohio School report card Overall rating — 3.5 stars
(Source: Ohio Department of Education)
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