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Buckner familiar with concept, official says
By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 10:38 p.m. EST, Feb 23, 2009
Riedinger Middle School Principal Traci Buckner will be the leader of Akron's new math and science middle school scheduled to open this fall.
The Akron Board of Education voted tonight night to approve the hire, selecting Buckner for the principal's job from two finalists that emerged from an initial field of 55 applicants.
The other finalist was James Millet, principal of Cardinal Middle School in Middlefield.
Buckner, 36, will be paid $90,588 a year. She has a master's degree in education from John Carroll University and a bachelor's degree in communication from Ohio State University.
She has been with the district since she was hired in 1998 to teach language arts at Innes Middle School. She has been assistant principal at Litchfield and Perkins middle schools and has been principal at Riedinger since 2006.
Riedinger is among five schools slated for closure at the end of the school year due to declining enrollment.
Buckner and her husband, Tobin Buckner, who works for the state of Ohio in minority business development, live in Copley Township. They have two sons, 5-year-old Jackson and Justice, who is 1.
Superintendent David James said a selection committee comprising the school's four primary partners — Akron Public Schools, the University of Akron, the city of Akron and National Inventors Hall of Fame — and community members interviewed candidates.
He said both finalists were equally qualified.
''It came down to looking at who can really see that vision through, who understands our community and our parents and who can work with all those,'' James said.
Buckner started ''family nights'' at Perkins and again at Riedinger to discuss curriculum with parents. And she's already familiar with some of the new curriculum emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math disciplines that will be offered at the new middle school.
''She actually got her staff to do a lot of the training at Riedinger for some of the new curriculum that we're going to be adopting for the STEM school,'' James said. ''So she really took her staff far with that. They were actually using some of those things this year with some of their students.''
Buckner said she is excited that the school will focus on grades five through eight, the middle years when interest in science and math tend to drop off.
''I like that fact that we're catching the kids early,'' Buckner said. ''A lot of people tend to shy away from math and sciences. You want to get kids excited about it.''
The new middle school will open this fall at the district's 400 W. Market St. building because the new $14.5 million building under construction on South Broadway adjacent to the National Inventors Hall of Fame won't be completed until the end of the year.
Opening at the West Market Street location allowed the district to widen its lottery for selecting the first fifth- and sixth-graders. The original plan was to select about 50 students for each grade by lottery.
Instead the school has accepted 101 incoming fifth-graders and 109 incoming sixth-graders, representing each of Akron's seven geographical clusters.
The fifth-grade class didn't require a lottery because all of the students who applied got in. Seven applicants from outside the district also were accepted.
Officials received 144 applications for the sixth-grade class and selected 14 by lottery from each cluster, plus seven from out of the district.
Four sixth-graders who were selected in the lottery had twins who were not, but those twins were admitted anyway to keep the siblings together.
Buckner will meet parents Thursday at 6 p.m. at the 400 W. Market St. site. A second meeting, also at 6 p.m. at the same location, will be held March 3.
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Riedinger Middle School Principal Traci Buckner will be the leader of Akron's new math and science middle school scheduled to open this fall.
The Akron Board of Education voted tonight night to approve the hire, selecting Buckner for the principal's job from two finalists that emerged from an initial field of 55 applicants.
The other finalist was James Millet, principal of Cardinal Middle School in Middlefield.
Buckner, 36, will be paid $90,588 a year. She has a master's degree in education from John Carroll University and a bachelor's degree in communication from Ohio State University.
She has been with the district since she was hired in 1998 to teach language arts at Innes Middle School. She has been assistant principal at Litchfield and Perkins middle schools and has been principal at Riedinger since 2006.
Riedinger is among five schools slated for closure at the end of the school year due to declining enrollment.
Buckner and her husband, Tobin Buckner, who works for the state of Ohio in minority business development, live in Copley Township. They have two sons, 5-year-old Jackson and Justice, who is 1.
Superintendent David James said a selection committee comprising the school's four primary partners — Akron Public Schools, the University of Akron, the city of Akron and National Inventors Hall of Fame — and community members interviewed candidates.
He said both finalists were equally qualified.
''It came down to looking at who can really see that vision through, who understands our community and our parents and who can work with all those,'' James said.
Buckner started ''family nights'' at Perkins and again at Riedinger to discuss curriculum with parents. And she's already familiar with some of the new curriculum emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math disciplines that will be offered at the new middle school.
''She actually got her staff to do a lot of the training at Riedinger for some of the new curriculum that we're going to be adopting for the STEM school,'' James said. ''So she really took her staff far with that. They were actually using some of those things this year with some of their students.''
Buckner said she is excited that the school will focus on grades five through eight, the middle years when interest in science and math tend to drop off.
''I like that fact that we're catching the kids early,'' Buckner said. ''A lot of people tend to shy away from math and sciences. You want to get kids excited about it.''
The new middle school will open this fall at the district's 400 W. Market St. building because the new $14.5 million building under construction on South Broadway adjacent to the National Inventors Hall of Fame won't be completed until the end of the year.
Opening at the West Market Street location allowed the district to widen its lottery for selecting the first fifth- and sixth-graders. The original plan was to select about 50 students for each grade by lottery.
Instead the school has accepted 101 incoming fifth-graders and 109 incoming sixth-graders, representing each of Akron's seven geographical clusters.
The fifth-grade class didn't require a lottery because all of the students who applied got in. Seven applicants from outside the district also were accepted.
Officials received 144 applications for the sixth-grade class and selected 14 by lottery from each cluster, plus seven from out of the district.
Four sixth-graders who were selected in the lottery had twins who were not, but those twins were admitted anyway to keep the siblings together.
Buckner will meet parents Thursday at 6 p.m. at the 400 W. Market St. site. A second meeting, also at 6 p.m. at the same location, will be held March 3.
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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_________, OH
Posted 12:26 AM, 02/24/2009
She seems wonderful! A very postive step for this innovative middle school program. A breath of fresh air! I wish her every sucess. Sounds as though she truly deserves them!
Posted 12:39 AM, 02/24/2009
I think its funny how a lot of the Akron Public School pricipals live in Copley and Fairlawn! So their kids will not go to Akron Public Schools?????
Akron, OH
Posted 08:36 AM, 02/24/2009
@ b - I was thinkin' the same thing when I read she was chosen because she "understands the community".
Posted 10:25 AM, 02/24/2009
Um would you send your kids to a school when day after day you see the trash thats in APS. My husband is a teacher in Akron Public & he said No way he will send his children there. Not only are the students nasty but alot of the teachers do a half as$ job. Nothing that they can retire in the next few years or they are of a different ethnicity so they cant get fired. I went to Akron Schools & I see myself struggling in college from the lousy way teachers taught me. I cant remember a teacher really pushing me hard to strive for a grade better than a C. Sorry to say the Principles are right.
Posted 10:25 AM, 02/24/2009
knowing****
Posted 12:14 PM, 02/24/2009
Hopefully this new venture represents a step in the right direction for APS. It's about time we hear about someone in the system actually pushing for excellence.
I'm sure she's not the only one, but we need more like her.
akron, oh
Posted 12:21 PM, 02/24/2009
That is ridiculous. When I was a student in the Jackson-Milton school system I distinctly remember teachers teasing us about how they would never send their kids to our school.
My Heart Is In K-Town, .
Posted 01:01 PM, 02/24/2009
@ yeah right - So it's the teachers fault for not pushing you to do better? Hummmmm...
Akron, OH
Posted 01:36 PM, 02/24/2009
@yeah right, did you graduate? You post is almost impossible to read.
Akron, OH
Posted 01:59 PM, 02/24/2009
Shouldn't someone chosen to lead a math and science school have some kind of math and/or science background?
My Heart Is In K-Town, .
Posted 02:21 PM, 02/24/2009
@ outside the box - Now that's outside the box thinking.
clinton, oh
Posted 03:23 PM, 02/24/2009
I had the privilege to work with Traci at Riedinger last year and she is perfect for this position! Congrats to her, she really is the best!!!!
clinton, oh
Posted 03:28 PM, 02/24/2009
I had the privilege of working with Traci last year and she is PERFECT for that school. She has the enthusiasm and the drive to get the job done!
Congrats to her!!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 03:34 PM, 02/24/2009
Okay, so if Akron employees have to live inside the Akron city limits, when can we expect this new principal to be moving inside Akron city? Why should school officials be permitted to live outside the city limits. Seem's we have a crooked system in enforcing this unconstitutional requirement.
Akron, OH
Posted 06:02 PM, 02/24/2009
Personally I dont see why the article mentioned where the principal resides at all. The aps is what it is. We need to do whatever it takes to get the school system up to par. I dont think that education is the sole responsibility of the schools. Parents need to participate too. This is a positive step in the right direction. Now if only we could get the parents on the same page.
akron, oh
Posted 07:12 PM, 02/24/2009
She is afraid to live in Akron with the thugs, just like the rest of us.
