The Ashland City Schools is located midway between Cleveland and Columbus and serves 3800 urban and rural students.  

Our five elementary schools have been engaged with Character Education for three years and currently integrate character traits through the Language Arts curriculum.  Reinforcement is ongoing with activities such as quote of the day, character word school-wide assemblies, classroom plays/performances and community involvement.   Character word banners are visual reminders to staff and students, as are bulletin boards and displays of student work throughout all buildings.

An extension of our current program has been initiated through our P.A.L.S. (Partners About Loving & Sharing) program which pairs a high school role model with an elementary student.  The fall kick-off, Picnic in the Park, involves parents of younger students and gives them the program scope and purpose.  Monthly activities include athletic events, Saturday trips to the zoo, roller skating, etc.  This program has been a very positive endeavor for everyone involved.

Our extension of Character Education into the community is the “Grandparent on Line” project and elementary “Community Classroom” program.  Three elementary buildings are engaged with e-mailing senior citizens in area nursing homes.  Children in grades 3-5 participate and the classrooms visit twice a year.  The Community Classroom program provides students in grades K-6 with a field trip to a community business (Wal-Mart, hospital, florist, etc.) where personnel explain their job and how positive character traits are necessary in the job world.

Although promoting positive character is emphasized most in grades K-6, our goal is to continue promoting opportunities for students in grades 7-12.  This fall, every Ashland resident was provided a school calendar highlighting the character word of the month and home activities to reinforce positive character.

We attribute declining discipline referrals district-wide to a stronger foundation of promoting positive character traits and providing reinforcement through good role models and leadership.