Independence Local Schools

Good luck to our Power of the Pen teams at the St. Charles regional tournament today!!

Thank you, Independence Kiwanis Club, for inviting us to your February meeting. Superintendent Kelli Cogan enjoyed talking and having dinner with everyone. We appreciate your partnership and we're excited for the Pancake Breakfast on Sunday!

Our teachers are spending the day learning, collaborating, and growing together during our district Professional Development Day. It’s a full day of choice-based workshops designed to support our educators at every level. From artificial intelligence and Google tools to writing strategies, trauma informed practices, gifted education, science curriculum implementation, and more, staff selected sessions that best fit their roles and goals.
When our educators learn, our students benefit. Thank you to all of our presenters and teachers for investing in continuous improvement for Independence Local Schools.

We are having so much fun at the Community Expo at IMS today! We are here until noon!

IHS Iron Chef competes in a “Countries Around the World” challenge with our staff judging!

Chocolate croissants anyone? The halls at IMS smell so good after our 7th graders made these delicious treats in Mrs. Whitacre's class!

Mark your calendars to attend Independence Local Schools' State of the Schools address on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. in the IMS auditorium.

Our conversation has started at IPS. Thank you to those taking the time to learn more about the proposed PreK-8 school building tonight.

Join the Conversation: We invite you to hear more about the new PreK-8 building project. Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 24 at 7 PM – Independence Primary School.

Chef Mark Corpuz was in full uniform at IHS yesterday — hat, apron, bread, butter, and toaster — all to help students tackle parallel lines and proportionality.

The class kicked off by solving the mystery of “The Burnt Toast.” The storyline? A husband attempts to make breakfast but slices freshly baked bread unevenly — not parallel to the original cut — leading to a breakfast fail. From there, students connected the (slightly crispy) dots to the Triangle Proportionality Theorem: when a line is parallel to one side of a triangle, it divides the other two sides proportionally.

This hands-on (and tasty!) lesson brought similarity, dilation, and trigonometry to life — concepts used in architecture, design, and indirect measurement. And yes, students got to enjoy a slice of freshly cut bread while applying the theorem to solve the mystery.

Real-world math. Memorable visuals. And learning that’s anything but stale.

Nice work, Mr. Corpuz and our IHS Math Department!

The creative gifts of Tech Engineering and Woods students
Mr. Mike Foor’s classes create cutting boards in time for the holidays! Great article by Quincy, arts editor of The Spectator
https://ihsspectator.com/2326/showcase/the-creative-gifts-of-tech-engineering-and-woods-students/

CHAMPIONS! 🎉 Independence High School is proud to celebrate our Quiz Bowl team, winners of the CVC Academic Challenge Annual Tournament on February 7, 2026, hosted at Geneva High School! 👏 Mes Sheehan 👏 Ben Cober 👏 Matthew Shamblen 👏 Tatiana Randjelovic 👏 Carmen Chen This talented team showcased exceptional knowledge, teamwork, and quick thinking to bring home the championship. Way to represent Independence with excellence!

Great story by Ryan and Alyssa! Joey on photos!
Independence Boys Basketball Takes Over Rocket Arena
https://ihsspectator.com/2665/showcase/independence-boys-basketball-takes-over-rocket-arena/

First round of teacher judges for Iron Chef’s first challenge…. A Breakfast Battle at IHS!

Pizza. Conversation. Community. 🍕
Join Superintendent Kelli Cogan for Pizza with Kelli on March 11, 5:30–7 p.m. at The Declaration Tavern.
Learn more about the proposed PreK–8 school building project and ask your questions.

This week, we celebrate the incredible school counselors of Independence Local Schools who support our students every day—academically, socially, and emotionally. Our counselors are trusted listeners, problem-solvers, advocates, and champions for student success. Whether helping students plan for the future, navigate challenges, or simply feel seen and supported, their impact reaches far beyond the classroom.

Thank you for all you do to help our Blue Devils thrive—today and every day!

Swing by Sweet P's this Thursday, 2/5 at 7 a.m. to meet Superintendent Kelli Cogan for a cup of coffee! Learn more about the PreK-8 school building project.

Join the Conversation on Feb. 3 Residents are invited to a special City Council meeting on February 3, where Superintendent Kelli Cogan will share an update on the PreK–8 school planning process. Community members will also have the opportunity to listen, learn, and share feedback directly with City Council. Get the latest on PreK–8 planning... February 3 | 5:00 p.m. | City Hall

Build a Bridge! In Design Technology at IPS, students completed an engineering challenge by working together to design bridges strong enough to support a toy car.

At the Power of the Pen district tournament today, there were many IMS winners! The seventh-grade team won fourth place overall! The eighth-grade team won third place overall! Individual medals went to Piper Breslaw - 7th grade - fourth place overall. Brooklyn Porowski - 7th grade - 9th place overall. Freddie Averre - 8th grade - 6th place overall. And a special congratulations to Camryn Clark for winning - 8th grade FIRST PLACE overall! ** 14 teams close to 150 writers from northern Ohio! These IMS writers are masterful!