Just a few weeks in, students at The Intergenerational School – East kicked off a new academic year with a very special recognition for their consistent commitment to attendance.
On Tuesday, September 15, the Cleveland Browns welcomed 45 students from TIS-East to spend the day at their CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. They were invited as part of September’s Stay in the Game! Attendance Awareness Month. The celebration recognized students across all learning stages who have shown up, consistently, for their classmates and their own learning this year.
Students toured the facility and closed out the visit with football drills in the field house, working alongside Cleveland Browns linebacker Winston Reid. Each student also went home with a personalized jersey and backpack.
The day took an unexpected turn when U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon joined the celebration, drawing a direct line between the football field and the classroom. “If you want to play football, you have to show up, be at practice and listen to the coach and understand the plays,” McMahon told students. “No different than being in school.”
It was a fitting message for a group of students who earned their trip to Berea through their commitment to attendance, an effort reflected schoolwide. Over the past two years, TIS-East has reduced chronic absenteeism by approximately 20 percent, meaning more students are in school, engaged, and ready to learn. That progress is part of what’s reflected in this year’s Ohio State Report Card results for TIS-East.
“This progress belongs to our entire community,” said Aziz Ahmed, principal of The Intergenerational School – East. “Our leadership team, teachers, staff, partners, students, and families have continued to work together and remained committed to growth and excellence, even when the work was difficult. Today, we’re seeing the results of that commitment.”
None of this happens without the partners who show up for TIS-East in return. Thank you to Battelle, the Cleveland Browns Foundation, the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network, Channel 3, and the U.S. Department of Education for making the day possible, and to the teachers, staff, families and students who form our school community, and strengthen it each day—starting with showing up.
Each day that students and their families choose to walk through our doors and trust us with their education is an investment that builds our school community, opens doors to discovery and develops the skills and values that help students achieve more.
Congratulations, again, to the students whose commitment to showing up earned them this amazing opportunity!
If your family is looking for a school community that shows up, contact our Enrollment Office to schedule a tour. Limited seats are open for immediate enrollment. Early enrollment for the 2027-2028 academic year opens in early January.