• Welcome back, Wolfpack!

    Principal Nina Ginocchioo
    As we prepare to welcome our students back into the building for the 2021-22 school year, I am reminded of a favorite quote that captures the spirit of our community which I borrow from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book "For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack." We are better and stronger because we are together, and our community finds its strength in the contributions of each individual member. After two school years of not being able to fully share our school space together, I am grateful to say that the heart of our school community remains strong. However, I am THRILLED to begin this year in the same space and to open the doors each morning to our incredible students and to watch their learning happen in person. The PACK is BACK!

    While we will resume what will hopefully feel like a much more normal school year, we will still be following our safety protocols to ensure the health of our students, staff and families. Distancing, mask-wearing and hand washing measures will still be in place for the foreseeable future. Our Operational Plan (The Spencer Center Playbook) which was developed for the 2020-21 school year will continue to guide our time together in the building. Should anything change at Spencer or Cincinnati Public Schools in this regard, we will communicate these changes to you swiftly.

    Spencer Center is a truly special place and this year we will celebrate a momentous occasion in our history: we will graduate our first class of seniors. We are so proud of this group of young people and their accomplishments while here at Spencer and cannot wait to see what they do next. We will share information throughout the year about ways that we are honoring this group of students and the traditions we will build around high school graduation. In working with our PTSO as well as our Upper School teaching team, we are focusing diligently on new and important experiences for our middle and high school students, including dances and other social experiences, trips, career and college experiences and extracurricular clubs. 

    We are excited to share that our Lower School students will now have an Enrichment/Help Session block at the end of each day. This time will allow our teachers to offer specialized electives on some days and help sessions/small group tutoring on others. We believe that this level of personalization, along with the exposure to topics outside of the typical school curricula will support student growth academically and socially. Our goal, as always, is to provide students with a rigorous education while also allowing them to represent their mastery in multiple ways and to open up time for them to explore new interests. 

    Please read and review the important updates below:

    Transportation Updates

    Transportation will be mailing bus information cards to families for the first day of school the week of July 26. If you have moved recently, address changes will need to be updated by July 20 for service to the updated address to start on the first day of school. If you have a new address, please call our Main Office at (513) 363-5800 or email for information on the documentation needed to make this change.
    If you plan on filing a "Deviated Childcare" or "Alternative Stop Request" form for this school year, please know that these changes must be reflected by July 16 to be active for the first day of school. 

    School Supplies and Summer Suggested Reading Lists

    School Supply Lists and Suggested Summer Reading Lists are now posted on the school website. Our teachers want to wish our students a happy, safe and relaxed summer, so no assignments will be collected from summer. However, they do encourage students to engage their minds by choosing books of high interest.

    We have several tools that we will utilize to maintain ongoing communication between school and home:

    • Weekly Principals Newsletter: sent by email each Sunday evening. To ensure you receive this email please check that your email address is updated in PowerSchool.
    • School Website: our school site will hold an archive of each weekly newsletter as well as links to many important family resources. Our website is also home to our online Attendance Reporting Tool (under the Contact Us tab on the school home page) which families can use to report a student absence.
    • School Email Address: we have one centralized email address for our Main Office. Please email us with any general questions and a member of our team will get back to you ASAP.
    • Powerschool and Schoology will continue to serve as the primary academic and data management tools.
    • PTSO: Our Parent Teacher Student Organization has a great year planned. If you are interested in volunteering, please plan to attend our meetings this year, or reach out by email.  

    Welcome to the 2021-22 school year, PACK! Let's make it our best year yet!

    Sincerely,

    Ms. Nina Ginocchio
    Principal, Spencer Center