The Ohio School With a Strong Foundation
When Walnut Hills High School needs help making ends meet, its alumni foundation chips in
For the most part, Walnut Hills has managed to avoid that. "The diamond here is the faculty," Brokamp says. Reductions have come to Walnut Hills—an athletic director has been cut, and some higher-cost food items have been pulled from the cafeteria—but Brokamp and Heldman constantly look to get the most from the school's $12 million operating budget. They have struck deals with publishers and booksellers on textbook discounts and buybacks of used books. "It's a combination of cutting and finding more resources," Brokamp says. "It's something we balance every day."
While other schools are dropping faculty who teach outside a meat-and-potato curriculum, art and music are required courses at Walnut Hills. To provide more of that overall high school experience, Brokamp is loath to cut the extracurricular activities. Walnut Hills has 61 athletic teams that compete interscholastically. Costs to transport students to after-school activities totaled $15,000 last year versus $40,000 this year, thanks to rising expenses. Again, Brokamp can look to the foundation. The school is even looking to add courses next year, including digital imaging, creative writing, and an Advanced Placement U.S. government class.
"We're not going to talk about reducing classes or staff," says Brokamp, "but what we can add. I couldn't say that with any honesty...without the foundation. It allows me to go in with a straight face in the face of the worst economic crisis [in our lifetime] and say, 'What can we add?' "
Reader Comments
Teaching Staff
The teaching staff at Walnut Hills is hand picked. The best teachers want to teach there and do. If tenure wasn't an issue, most other schools could have similar outcomes. The school systems all over the country suffer from "union control." Cincinnati Public Schools received $1 Billion just to build new schools. Many perfectly fine buildings were left to rot or torn down in order to spend that money. Walnut Hills should have received an equal share of that money. The fact that Walnut Hills is an old school is proof positive that new building do not create the atmosphere for learning. That is created by leadership.
The governor of Ohio received much of his campaign funding from the Ohio Education Association. He is doing what the union wants in his so-called new and innovative reform act. We can not establish cookie cutter curriculums and expect all to fare equally in that sort of system. The result will be mediocre or worse, but all have high "self esteem," superior sex skills, multicultural backgrounds and a belief that the United States caused all of the ills of the world.
It is high time we allow the more gifted to excel and the average or less to get an education that will them to successfully survive in todays workforce.
Walnut Hills Legacy
As a testament to Walnut Hills High School (WHHS), you need to look no further than the legacy of the school. I attended, as did my two sisters. My niece and several other family members are also an alumni. The Principal, Jeff Brokamp was my classmate (1978), and his father was our Principal for part of our tour. These are two of many examples of family ties. Not to mention that we came from totally different backgrounds and neighborhoods in Cincinnati. This is what makes the foundation strong, former alumni. It's a proud tradition, built on academic excellence, first and foremost. The school thrives on diversity. Getting the best out of the best, no matter race, creed, or religion. If only this could be bottled and sold to every school district in this great country.
I live in Prince Georges County, Maryland. I see people paying ridiculous amounts of money to try and get the kind of education that I received for free at WHHS. Our schoold district spends more money per pupil than most school districts across the US. And it ranks second to last in Maryland, ahead only of Baltimore City, in test scores. WHHS has set a blueprint that needs to be replicated. Prince Georges County Public School District take heed.
WHHS prepared me well for life's challenges.
Walnut Hills High School
Rise to the Highest:
It was a pleasure to return to Walnut Hills in November, 2008 to celebrate with my High School class mates of 50 years ago. Nothing mutch has changed, the same desire for higher education, with we all received. It was pleasure for our class of "58"
to make a donation to the "arts program". My canadian friends asked if I would recogonize people. We all did.
A little less hair on the top for some of the guys, but all and all a great reunion except Cincinnati had changed a bit, but the liberary was the same.
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