As we begin the 2026-27 school year.

Our district has many successes to celebrate.  We’d like to thank our staff for their hard work, our students for their effort, and our families for their support.   Academics - Our State Report Card results released this fall showed our students are continuing to improve in overall achievement as indicated by the Performance Index. The (PI) is the highest it's been since 2014.   Some other notable improvements include higher achievement for students with disabilities, increasing our graduation rate, fewer students reading below grade level in K-3 literacy, an increase in Talented and Gifted identification and achievement, and improvement in College and Career Readiness.    Academically, we continue to focus on the growth of all students, and evaluate that growth by studying the data we gain through assessments completed by our students throughout the year.  We’d like to stress the importance of each student doing their best on these assessments so we can make accurate decisions on how to best meet the needs of every student.  Additionally, we are working to add more opportunities for our high school students to receive college credit within our buildings.  We have 6 teachers taking additional coursework so their classes can be offered for college credit.  This will be in addition to the 17 CCP courses and 30+ courses offered by our CLEP program which can be taken for college credit.   I’d also like to mention the CBI (Career Based Intervention) program we added last year at both River Valley and South Gallia.  This program focuses on 9th and 10th grade students who may be considered at-risk.  The group tours various businesses on Fridays to investigate career opportunities within those businesses which our students may be interested in pursuing.  With this program, we hope to promote engagement in school and provide a clear pathway to be employed in an area they’ve had an opportunity to experience firsthand.  Facilities – We are proud to add the following facilities for no additional tax dollars to our residents.  At RVMS, our 8th grade students have moved into the new academic wing, and we have brought our 5th grade students to River Valley Middle School. This transition seems to be going very well. Our staff and students are very excited to be able to use these new facilities.  This academic wing features 5 additional classrooms with state of the art technology.  One of those rooms is a new science lab.  There is also a new media center, an intervention classroom, and restroom facilities.     The new RVMS gym is also being built at this time and should be finished within the next month.  This facility will address several needs within the district and hopefully increase participation in our extra-curricular activities and allow more opportunities to have practices immediately after school which is more convenient for our families.   Lastly, the South Gallia Health Clinic is operational with Nurse Practitioner - Danielle Gruber, Dentist – Dr. Daniel Willis, and Optometrist – Dr. Hannah Davidson.  This clinic is open to the public, and a great addition to the community.  Education Concerns – Our district has been able to provide before and after school opportunities, as well as summer school opportunities with the support of the Gallia-Vinton ESC, and Gallia County Job and Family Services for many years.  The federal dollars that support these programs may not be available in the future. These grants are looked at from year to year and could eventually not be available to our district. Currently, we are able to provide these opportunities, but families should know they may not be available in the future.   Secondly, all public school districts are concerned about the future of school funding. There has been much debate regarding property tax cuts in Ohio. Property taxes are a key part of funding for public schools, police departments, libraries, and many other government agencies. While we would all like to pay less in taxes, we have not heard of a plan of how to fund education or these other government entities with the loss of property tax revenue.

Phillip Kuhn,
Superintendent

Welcome to Gallia County Local Schools