11th graders Wayne and Joe cook shrimp scampi in the demonstration classroom.
11th graders Wayne and Joe cook shrimp scampi in the demonstration classroom at East Tech's Executive Grille. Credit: Paul Rochford / Signal Cleveland

A lot is happening around education in Cleveland this month. There’s the ongoing search for a  new CEO for Cleveland schools and conversations about youth mental health and school safety. 

We’ve also recently covered an effort to help Cleveland college students transfer more easily from a community college to a four-year institution and a sweeping state bill that is worrying local faculty. We’ve heard from students on topics such as gun violence, voting, and the pandemic’s impact on college students. 

Signal Cleveland wants to ensure that the topics we cover are relevant and useful, and to do that we need to hear from you. We want to know what you think of our education coverage so far and what you think we should be paying more attention to.

This month, we would love to amplify voices in Cleveland’s Central Neighborhood. Signal Cleveland’s Central Listening Team, led by our community reporter Najee Hall, is working with Signal education reporters Paul Rochford and Amy Morona to get input from students, parents, caregivers, and others living in or attending school in the Central neighborhood.

Signal Cleveland is listening to residents in the Central neighborhood and building a list of the stories and issues they want us to write about throughout 2023. We want to hear from people of every age, race, income, ability and political viewpoint.

Come to the Executive Grille, CMSD’s new student-run restaurant at East Technical High School, 2439 E. 55th St., between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, for some food and conversation on education in Cleveland.

Find more information on the event here.

Can’t make it Thursday? Let us know what you’d like to see more of in our reporting on education in Cleveland by filling out the form below. Feel free to submit responses to any of the questions below or to suggest your own ideas.

How do you learn what’s happening in your school or in the school district at large?
Do you feel educated about the Say Yes to Education program?
Can Signal Cleveland reach out to you to talk more, potentially for a future story?(Required)

Paul Rochford, K-12 Education Reporter

K-12 Education Reporter (he/him)
Paul, a former City Year Cleveland AmeriCorps member based in a charter school, covers K-12 education. Paul joins us from Cleveland Documenters, where he focused on creating infographics and civic tech to make public information more accessible. Paul is also a musician, photographer and graphic designer.

Amy Morona, Higher Education Reporter

Higher Education Reporter (she/her)
Amy, who’s worked in both local and national newsrooms for nearly a decade, previously covered higher education at Crain's Cleveland Business in partnership with the national nonprofit news organization Open Campus. A first-generation college graduate, Amy is committed to highlighting the voices of students in her coverage.

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Community Reporter (he/him)
Najee has been a Cleveland Documenter since it started in 2020. He joins Signal Cleveland from a role as an organizer with New Voices for Reproductive Justice. He leads the Central Community Listening Team.