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The LHS 2020 “Safe” Graduation will be May 23

WHO

LHS CLASS OF 2020

WHY

Award Diplomas and honor the accomplishments of LHS graduates

Loveland, Ohio – Loveland High School (LHS) has announced a “Structured and Controlled In-Person Graduation Ceremony” for the Class of 2020. The commencement ceremony will be held on the day originally scheduled. It will be held at Loveland High School.

“The Class of 2020 deserves to have the most memorable ceremony possible given the current circumstances,” said LHS Principal Peggy Johnson. “While this is not the traditional ceremony that we had envisioned for our seniors when we started out this school year, we feel it is the most personal of all options given us by the Ohio Department of Education.”

EVENTS

May 13 – Drive Through Cap and Gown Distribution

Graduates will be given an appointment time and remain in their cars for the entire process. All LHS staff members will be wearing face masks and will adhere to health and safety guidelines. Any items or materials distributed to graduates will be sanitized and quarantined for at least 72 hours prior to distribution. Graduates will receive their rental gown, cap, and tassel. Graduates earning cords will receive them.

May 13 – Virtual Senior Awards Ceremony

The LHS staff will “host” the ceremony as if speaking to a packed house in the auditorium.

The goal is to honor the accomplishments the graduates have achieved. “Unfortunately, we are not able to hold our traditional Senior Awards Ceremony honoring students for a variety of accomplishments to include our Valedictorian, Salutatorian, Top 10 of the class, scholarship winners, military accolades, academic medals and pins, and much more.” This ceremony is also typically the night many “Local” scholarships are announced.

This year, the Class of 2020 will be celebrated virtually. The LHS staff will “host” the ceremony as if speaking to the usually packed house in the LHS auditorium during this annual event. The event will be video recorded and shared. “Our hope is that we can release it later in the day on May 13 so you can view it that evening.” As in the past, scholarship winners are not announced until the evening of the ceremony so most of what will be announced is a surprise.

May 23 – “Single Family In-Person” graduation ceremony

Graduation will be held on May 23, the originally scheduled date.

Families will be called into the Ron DeWitt auditorium at the High School one-by-one (no more than 10 people total including the school administrators). Graduates are permitted to bring 4 guests. The student walks across the stage, receives a diploma and their 4 guests remain in the general seating area.

Graduation speeches by school officials, student speakers, and musical performances will be recorded prior to the ceremony.

The entire graduation ceremony will be video recorded and shared.

Graduates and their families will exit the auditorium through a side door that will lead them to the cafeteria where they will return their rental graduation gown. The student and guests return back to their vehicle.

Any items or materials distributed to graduates will be sanitized and quarantined for at least 72 hours prior to distribution.

May 5, 2020
Loveland Junior Adella Winkle Recognized as Live Oaks Student of the Month for March

Loveland, Ohio – Adella Winkle, a Loveland junior in the Great Oaks Culinary Arts and Hospitality Services program at the Live Oaks campus in Milford, was recognized as the March Student of the Month for her contributions to the program.

“Live Oaks is undeniably a better place because Adella fosters strong relationships among students and faculty which has created a positive school culture where her classmates feel valued,” said Culinary Arts Instructor Molly Maundrell. “Adella fully embraces and exemplifies our ideal for engaged learning and community impact. She’s a pleasure to have in the Culinary Arts program.”

The Culinary Arts and Hospitality Services program allows students to learn various popular cooking methods to prepare an assortment of foods. Students learn how to create, write, and understand recipes and menus and to use a variety of hand tools and equipment found in commercial kitchens and bakeries. The program also teaches students to supervise and manage a restaurant staff, including front office, reservations, and support services.

May 3, 2020
U. S. News: Best High Schools in Ohio
U. S. News has released its annual report on the nation’s high schools.

Ohio had 732 school districts supporting 902 high schools in the 2017-18 academic year. Students are assessed via mathematics and English proficiency tests.

Loveland High School is ranked 55th within Ohio out of 902 schools.

Ohio high school students must earn at least 20 credits in various subjects, including four credits of English language arts, four of math, three of science, and three of social studies. High schoolers in Ohio must also learn economics and financial literacy to graduate, as well as take two or more semesters of fine arts, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

How U. S. News Rank the Best High Schools »

Quick Stats for Loveland H.S.

Grades

9-12

Total Enrollment

1,443

Student-Teacher Ratio

18:1

Overview of Loveland High School

Loveland High School is ranked 55th within Ohio. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement coursework and exams. The AP participation rate at Loveland High School is 50%. The total minority enrollment is 7%, and 11% of students are economically disadvantaged.

#1,745 in National Rankings

Overall Score 90.19/100

Top Ranked Cincinnati Metro Area Schools
Top Ranked Ohio Schools
1. 1. #1Ottawa Hills High School
  2. #2 Walnut Hills High School
  3. #3 Bexley High School
  4. #4 Solon High School
  5. #5 Indian Hill High School
  6. #6 Wyoming High School
  7. #7 Chagrin Falls High School
  8. #8 Mariemont High School
  9. #9 Dublin Jerome High School
  10. #10 William Mason High School
  11. # 14 Turpin High School
May 3, 2020
Loveland Levy apparently fails by wide margin

Loveland, Ohio – With “Summary/Unofficial” results, the Loveland City School District operating levy of 6.95 mills is failing in all three counties as of 6:30 AM Wednesday morning.

All mail-in ballots and provisional ballots will still have to be tabulated in the days to come. The mail-in ballots needed a postmark of April 27, so some of those ballots will still have to be received from the Post Office. Validly cast provisional ballots also will need to be tabulated.

Hamilton County says they will need 2-3 weeks to publish final results.

Clermont County

YES – 1,988

NO – 2,741

Hamilton County

YES – 1780

NO – 2921

Warren County

YES 76

NO 104

TOTAL

YES – 3844

NO – 5766

In a statement posted on the District web site, Superintendent Dr. Amy Crouse said, “We accept the outcome and respect the decision voters made, but this is a devastating loss for our schools. At this time of national and global uncertainty, we will also prepare to start the new school year in August with a significantly reduced budget, which will directly impact programs, class size, and services to our students. In addition, we will have to start preparing to go back on the ballot. This is unfortunately how school funding works in Ohio.”

As of this morning, the “Loveland Voice” Political Action Committee has not issued a statement only posting preliminary results on their FaceBook page. Loveland Voice had organized to actively oppose the levy.

The District statement also said:

In addition to the $2.7 million in expense reductions already made in 2019, significant cuts will be made to the operating budget in the coming months. These reductions include, among others, the elimination of at least 25 administrative, teaching and non-teaching staff positions, and the elimination of high school busing.

“Yes for Loveland” the Political Action Committee supporting the school levy posted this message on their FaceBook page 3 hours ago:

According to current results, it appears the Loveland Community has voted to NOT pass the Operating Levy. Official results will be reported in 2 – 3 weeks.

We appreciate all of your hard work and support this year. We understand we have to rally together once again to find the answer to funding the district for our children. We will do this together.

Seeing the out pour of love for one another and the care of our community gives us all hope in this time of a pandemic. Continue to support and take care of one another. We’re all in this together!

Apr 29, 2020
OHSAA Confirms Cancellation of Spring Sports

by Cassie Mattia

Loveland, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) informed member schools, including the Loveland City School District Monday, April 20th, that Spring sports would officially be canceled. This decision was made after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced earlier the same day that school facilities would remain closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus COVID-19.

OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass sent out a memo confirming to school administrators following Governor DeWine’s press conference about the Spring sports cancellation. For weeks, the OHSAA communicated that if schools remained closed for the year Spring sports would be canceled as well. Of course, there were several reasons that went into the final decision of Spring sports being canceled, one of the main reasons being that it would be nearly impossible to ensure the health and safety of all individuals and support personnel involved in practices and contests at all member schools.

OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass

“As we have stated in our previous communications, today’s announcement by Governor DeWine to close schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year also will now result in the cancellation of OHSAA-sponsored spring sports seasons including tournaments,” Snodgrass wrote Monday.

The OHSAA’s mandatory no-contact period for all interscholastic sports will remain in effect until at least May 3, and could in fact be extended until a later date. Coaches and school administrators have been encouraged to have non-mandatory electronic and online communications with their student-athletes during the no-contact period. The closure of school facilities includes all athletic facilities for any interscholastic training, practice, or competition.

In an interview Monday afternoon, Snodgrass reflected on the unprecedented times that the pandemic has brought to the nation and the impact it has had on schools and interscholastic athletics.

“I’ve heard from so many people who have said ‘You really need to understand what this means to our kids,’” Snodgrass said during the interview. “I’m a parent. I was a coach. I grew up every day as a player and a coach wanting to play high school sports and get to the state tournament. So I do think I understand that. I also have to go with the fact that my number one concern that I have, over everything, is the health and safety of everyone involved. It’s not just our student-athletes. It’s the parents, coaches, umpires, officials, the scorekeepers. All those things enter into this. It’s a tough decision and it’s one that I and all the other Executive Directors of the other states never thought we would have to do. Never did I think this would be the case, but I’ve tried to be as prepared as I could every step of the way.”

Snodgrass also addressed the Summer and the start of Fall sports in the interview

“July is a very physical month for our student-athletes entering fall sports, so we have already started looking at, if this continues through the summer, we’ll have the potential of having a lot of kids who haven’t had the physical activity that they would normally have going into a fall season. So for the health and safety of everyone, we have to look at the acclimation periods going into the fall, if that happens. We have to be prepared for that. We’re also talking about that if this does go through the summer, what is the likelihood that a student can get in to get a physical (annual medical exam). We have a sports medicine advisory group that is looking at that. They are looking at all aspects such as whether artificial surfaces need to be treated. We are relying on the advice of experts in our decision making.”

The OHSAA said that they will continue to communicate throughout the Spring and during the Summer regarding any adjustments to OHSAA’s off-season regulations, academic eligibility standards, sports medicine updates, and more. STAY TUNED!

Want a yummy way to Help OHSAA out of their scholarship shortfall?

Raising Cane’s Partners with the OHSAA to Support Programs for Student-Athletes!

Apr 26, 2020
Raising Cane’s Partners with the OHSAA to Support Programs for Student-Athletes!

WHAT Raising Cane’s Ohio and the OHSAA partnership to provide funding for student-athletes.

WHERE All Raising Cane’s locations in Ohio, a full list of Ohio Raising Cane’s locations can be found here.

WHEN Thursday, April 30, 2020.

The nearest location is at 3901 Montgomery Road in Deerfield Township near Menards

by Cassie Mattia

Deerfield Township, Ohio – Restaurant chain Raising Cane’s Ohio is raising money for scholarships! The popular chicken establishment recently entered into a partnership with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) in order to provide funding for student-athlete scholarship programs and postseason tournaments.

The three-year partnership will kick off Thursday, April 30th, in which all Raising Cane’s restaurants across Ohio will donate 15 percent of their sales from 4 PM to close to the OHSAA scholarship project. Due to the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that earlier this month canceled all of the OHSAA’s Winter State Tournaments as well as all Spring sports competitions, guests will have the ability to place their orders at the drive-thru.

The annual OHSAA Scholar-Athlete Scholarship Program, which provides more than $175,000 to college-bound seniors including many Loveland High School Tigers, was canceled this Spring partly due to the OHSAA’s lack of revenue from the tournaments.

Jerry Snodgrass, executive director of the OHSAA

“We cannot begin to thank Raising Cane’s enough for stepping up during these unprecedented times to help give back to the student-athletes across Ohio,” said Jerry Snodgrass, Executive Director of the OHSAA. “Our mission at the OHSAA begins with ‘to serve’ and we will be able to continue to do just that with partners like Raising Cane’s, who are committed to both education and active lifestyles. We get to see firsthand how those two directly impact communities, schools, and students across Ohio. We’re really excited to kick off this three-year partnership and forge what will be a special effort to positively impact students statewide.”

“Active lifestyle and education are two of our pillars of community involvement, when we found out various programming and scholarships could be lessened or taken away due to cancellations of championships from the COVID-19 pandemic, we immediately reached out to the OHSAA to see how we could help,” said Matt Salts, Director of Marketing at Raising Cane’s Ohio. “We’re committed to team up with the OHSAA to help provide support for the next three years to help keep these key programs available to athletes across the state of Ohio.”

For the latest updates on Ohio’s sports world stay tuned to Loveland Sports 411 With Cassie Mattia!

Apr 26, 2020
Former LHS standout Giovanni Ricci joins Panthers as Undrafted Free Agent

From wmubroncos.com/news

Photo from Western Michigan Broncos

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A native of Loveland, Ohio, Giovanni Ricci was a four-time Academic All-MAC selection at Western Michigan who was a third-team all-league selection in 2018 before bumping up to the first team in 2019. He finished with 21 games with two or more receptions and 22 contests with 20 or more receiving yards. Ricci received the Iron Bronco Award in 2019 for having played the most snaps during the regular season and represented WMU at the East-West Shrine Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., on January 18, 2020. Ricci was a standout player for Loveland High School Tigers. Ricci was on the Loveland High Schoo’s 2013 Ohio State Championship team.

In 2013 Gio Ricci catches a pass for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter against the Zanesville Blue Devils. The Tiger win sent them to the State Championship. (Loveland Magazine File Photo by David Burig)

Ricci has agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers to join the NFL organization as an undrafted free agent.

A two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection and one of eight semifinalists for the John Mackey Award in 2019, Ricci was a four-year letterwinner for the Broncos. In 45 career games with 21 starts, Ricci tallied 98 receptions for 1,114 yards (11.37) and 11 touchdowns.

During his 2019 senior season, Ricci started all 13 games, catching 51 passes for 642 yards (12.59) and eight touchdowns. He tied for the team lead in receptions and finished second on the squad in receiving yards. Ricci also tied for the lead in the MAC, and for 40th nationally, in receiving touchdowns. Among tight ends nationally, he tied for third in receiving TDs. Ricci caught two TD passes versus Monmouth and Ohio and had one score against Michigan State, Syracuse, Central Michigan and Toledo.

As a senior, Ricci caught two or more passes in 11 games and made four or more receptions in eight contests. He finished with a personal-best eight grabs at Syracuse and added a career-high 105 receiving yards versus the Orange. In his two games against Power 5 opponents (Michigan State & Syracuse) during the season, Ricci finished with 14 receptions for 158 yards and two TDs.

During his junior campaign in 2018, Ricci caught 35 passes for 392 yards (11.20) and three touchdowns to finish third on the team in receptions and receiving yards. He registered two touchdown catches against Delaware State and one against Ball State, hauling in a nine-yard pass from Kaleb Eleby with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 35-35. Earlier in the final quarter against the Cardinals, Ricci caught a two-point conversion pass from Eleby to knot the contest at 28-28.

A member of one of the best Western Michigan teams in program history, Ricci primarily played on special teams in 2016 as the Broncos captured the MAC West Division title and Marathon MAC Championship Game crown and made an appearance in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Ricci recovered a fumble against Ohio in the Marathon MAC Championship Game, setting up WMU at the Bobcat 17-yard line and leading to a Bronco field goal and a 6-0 lead.

Ricci graduated from Western Michigan in April, 2019, with a degree in finance.

Apr 26, 2020
Sabrina Newstead took a chance and came home to Loveland: Such great news for us all

After a totally unprecedented plan of action to safeguard the senior students, Newstead had just 3 days to cram in as much knowledge as she could, to try and pass her long case exam.

Paul and Sarina Newstead

by Paul Newstead

My wife Sarina told me about Loveland Magazine and I thought that this story about our daughter could be a little piece of happiness during these stressful times.

Our daughter Sabrina Newstead attended the Loveland school system from the time we moved to Loveland from England back in 1999. After graduating LHS in 2012, she attended Ohio Northern University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Biology Pre-Med) degree. She was then accepted into the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) for her Medical Degree program.

In the middle of March this year, the COVID-19 virus took hold in Ireland. RCSI thought that all graduation exams were going to have to be canceled since they were all due to be held this April. After a number of serious talks within RCSI, they decided upon a totally unprecedented plan of action to safeguard the senior students. In fact, they decided to bring forward all of their end of year medical school exams by 7 weeks! This had never happened before.

Sabrina Newstead attended the Loveland school system from the time we moved to Loveland from England back in 1999. She graduated from Loveland High School in 2012.

All the students were told about this. They had not even finished their classes and of course, had not even begun to revise for their end of year exams. Emotions were at fever pitch. To make matters worse, due to scheduling of the incredibly difficult “Long-Case” practical exams, Sabrina was told that her exams would start in just 3 days’ time on a Sunday.

She had just 3 days to cram in as much knowledge as she could, to try and pass her long case exam. All doctors, professors, and examiners were amazed. This news even hit the press in Ireland (Read the story in The Irish Times). Other colleges were laughing at RCSI thinking that they were overreacting. However, RCSI had the last laugh as the Irish government began to close schools and colleges.

Sabrina took her long case exam and was then told to pack up and leave Ireland as soon as possible because President Trump had declared that he was going to close international borders. She had less than 48 hours to pack up her 4-year apartment and leave the country.

‘Match Day’ (a day in which final year medical students find out if they have matched to a residency program in the states) was the day she was leaving Ireland, and if she did not match back to residency, she had to turn around and go back to Ireland to begin her intern year there. So she took a chance and came home.

She grabbed as much as she could and packed 3 suitcases.

She grabbed as much as she could and packed 3 suitcases. She managed to get the last flight out of Ireland bound for Boston and then Cincinnati. Her flight was delayed by 4 hours due to the new medical tests that were being performed in Boston. However, the flight eventually took off, and during the flight home, over the Atlantic, she received an email congratulating her for matching to the United States for her 3-year residency program.

Sabrina made it home and 4 days later.

Sabrina made it home and 4 days later found out that her new hospital for residency was The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Such great news for us all.

Once home, she spent the next 2 weeks studying 14 hours a day, in self-quarantine, in her bedroom. RCSI had two more final exams for her to take before she could graduate. She took these two exams and then finally clicked “End Exam” to finish the last exams of her medical school journey.

Students then wait anxiously for “Reading of results day” which was today, April 22nd. On this day, all graduating students in RCSI discover their results by reading student numbers based on their grades and degree awarded.

Sabrina was awarded a First Class Honors Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree in Surgery, and Bachelor’s Degree in Obstetrics.

The celebration at home for Sabrina Newstead

It was incredible. RCSI did a live stream from their offices in Dublin, Ireland. Each of the professors spoke of their absolute admiration for the class of 2020. Never before has a graduating year taken their final medical exams with no prior time for studying.

She was awarded a First Class Honors Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree in Surgery, and Bachelor’s Degree in Obstetrics.

Congratulations to all the new doctors graduating this year, during the middle of a pandemic. We all support you.

Apr 23, 2020
LHS Principal Peggy Johnson to Class of 2020: You are the light of hope for school, community, and society

Loveland, Ohio – In honor of the Loveland High School Spring Athletes and Class of 2020, the lights of Tiger Stadium were turned on for 20 minutes last evening.

Watch this heartfelt video greeting that Principal Peggy Johnson recorded for the students about the tribute.

Tigers @classof2020LHS pic.twitter.com/tpw3hTm8j8

— Loveland High School (@Loveland_HS) April 20, 2020

LovelandAthletics

@LovTigers_AD

In honor of our Spring Athletes and Class of 2020. These lights are on for you this evening. We appreciate all your dedication and commitment. We miss you ALL! Forever, Go Tigers!

BUY your Loveland Tiger Spirit Wear

New items have been added to our online flash sale. Available for a limited time! Up to 33% off items below! https://rpdiamond.com/products/ols/categories/sale-items

Apr 21, 2020
Important up-date on Loveland Athletic Boosters mulch sale

Loveland, Ohio – Due to the COVID-19 safety measures put in place, the student/athletes of the Loveland Schools will not be able to deliver bag purchases of mulch this year.

Full pallet orders will still be accepted and delivered.

All bag orders that were already submitted will be refunded in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact Bob Gerstemeier at (513) 898-9973 or LAB@G-FG.com

The Boosters thank you for your patience and consideration as they work through this process.

Click Here to Order Mulch

– Two kinds of high quality mulch are available to purchase by the bag or by the pallet

– Queen City Dark Hardwood – Triple processed (their biggest seller)
* $5.00 per 2.0cf bag (50 bags/pallet = $250.00)
– Enhanced Black Dye
* $5.50 per 2.0cf bag (60 bags/pallet = $330.00)

Apr 1, 2020