To Jonathan Alder Students and Families:

It has been an outstanding start to the school year at Jonathan Alder.  It’s hard to believe that our students and staff are well into the first quarter of the 24-25 school year.  As Superintendent, I could not be more proud and inspired by the work our teachers and students are committed to.  It is obvious that hard work, commitment, respect, and strong relationships are just a few values that I am observing amongst our school community.  

During our opening days, I introduced our focus word for 24-25, FAMILY. So much of our work preparing for the future such as our Teaching & Learning, to Educational Visioning and Master Facility Planning revolves around the values of Family, and it simply brings me so much gratitude to be part of a district and community with this vision.  

The Culminating Event, that was held on Wednesday, Sept 4th for our Educational Visioning involving Staff, Families and Students was significant.  Planning and collaboration amongst the groups allowed for creative ways to improve in areas of focus such as Active Learning, Community of Collaboration, Culture of Connection and Fostering Wellness. 

The Community Advisory Team Meeting (CAT 1 of 4) held on Thursday, Sept 12th for our Master Facilities Planning was a great turnout of over 50 parents and community members.  Multiple Presentations including Mayor Carney/Derek Hutchinson (PC Devp Update), Jeff Parker (Educational Visioning), Josh Predovich (Master Facilities Planning) and Miller (Progress of the District), were shared.  All of this information can be found at ElevateAlder.com.

I want to congratulate and thank the many students and staff involved in our extracurriculars and athletic programs. Students, athletes, directors & coaches of our various programs are commended for your hard work, dedication, commitment and success you have experienced throughout this fall season.  From the music departments, band showcase events, to the boys & girls’ golf teams, strong volleyball play, football, boys & girls soccer, girls tennis, cross country and cheerleading programs, it has been impressive.  Thanks for representing the Pioneers as you do.

Our goal is to continue to Elevate Alder and positively impact every FAMILY as we strive to provide the opportunity, flexibility & accessibility our students need to achieve, compete and succeed.

Never hesitate to reach out to me or your child’s principal if you have any questions or concerns.  We are here to Serve.

In Gratitude,

James Miller Ed.D. 
Superintendent
Jonathan Alder Local School District 

At JAJHS, the teachers continue to shape their class offerings to be responsive to the changing interests and passions of their students. This is especially evident in two of the exploratory courses offered to 7th and 8th graders: Engineering Exploration and Applied Engineering. These courses are available to students through Jonathan Alder’s partnership with Tolles Career and Technical Center. Both of these Tolles courses are taught by Mr. Creps.

During the course progression, this year’s students will likely experience some of the traditionally favorite projects, such as the egg drop challenge and the balsa wood bridge project. Both of these projects give students the opportunity to design, plan, build, test, and evaluate their projects while applying the fundamentals of engineering.

New this year, Mr. Creps added a new twist to the start of the course. While taking a break from reviewing procedures and class expectations, students got early hands-on experience with CYOEST “STEM kits” or build boxes. Inspired by popular consumer products like Mark Rober’s “Crunch Labs” boxes or KiwiCo’s “Eureka Crates”, Mr. Creps was able to find a similar–though more financially feasible–product available through Amazon. These build projects gave students the chance to immediately begin constructing and testing engineering projects. Students were able to choose solar-powered vehicles, turbine-powered cars, or battery-powered planes to create. Students quickly stumbled into real-world lessons about friction, circuits, and solar panels. Upon completion, many new engineers moved outside to test their prototypes. 

8th grader Parker Flowers enjoyed the activity, sharing, “I loved how I could be creative and also use my plane as a fan. It was just really fun to build.”

Additionally, Mr. Creps even heard feedback from a parent after their student came home to continue to work on the project: “She was actually jumping up and down when she figured out why it was going backward! I haven’t seen any of my kids have this much fun with a school project ever!”

For the JAJHS Tolles satellite courses, these projects mark just the beginning of a semester filled with exploration, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving. Mr. Creps added, “You always know it was a good lesson when you have to tell the students two, three… ten times to pack up their supplies, but they don’t want to because they are having fun and fully engaged with the activity. It was cool to witness that occurring already in the first week of class!”

For additional information on Tolles Career & Technical Center, visit their website.

The "PRIDE OF THE PIONEERS" presents:

The 6th Annual JA Band Show

Gates open at 6pm & show starts at 7pm Tickets: $8 at gate ~ cash or credit accepted 

**FREE ENTRY FOR JA STAFF**
Jonathan Alder High School 
Volunteer Field

Congrats to our first CBC Student-Athlete of the Month for the 24-25 school year.  Natalie Neumeier is our August recipient of the award with her current involvement in Tennis as well as being a softball player in the spring.  Natalie has started this tennis season off with an overall record of 10-2 and she is also 8-0 in Central Buckeye Conference matches.  Her success and dedication to the work put in is paying off as this is only her second year on the tennis courts.  She will end the school year being a two year letter winner in tennis and also a four year letter winner in softball where she has already been named All Conference two times in addition to being a two time All District performer.  Congratulations to Natalie for receiving the award as our CBC Student-Athlete of the Month.

Congratulations to senior Natalia Medici on being named a Semifinalist in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. The 2023 PSAT/NMSQT served as an initial screen of over 1.3 million entrants to the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Out of those 1.3 million entrants, 16,000 are named Semifinalists and will continue on in the competition to win 1-of-6,870 scholarships.

What a huge accomplishment Natalia!