Earlier, the School Board approved our new Strategic Plan Goals: SMART Goal 1: Strengthen Recruitment and Retention of Quality Staff SMART Goal 2: Establish a Clear, Consistent District Vision, Curriculum, and Graduate Profile SMART Goal 3: Improve Communication and Streamline Systems Our next step in this process is to develop our Profile of a Graduate. A Profile of a Graduate is a clear, shared vision of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions we want every South Dearborn student to possess by the time they graduate. It serves as our district’s “north star,” guiding teaching, learning, and decision-making so that all students are prepared for life after high school—whether they choose college, career, military service, or entrepreneurship. To ensure this profile reflects the values and priorities of our community, SDCSC will be hosting one more input session: 📅 Tuesday, January 27th 📍 South Dearborn Middle School Cafeteria 🕡 6:30pm If you previously attended last week's meeting, you do not need to attend next week's meeting. The content will be the same. We are simply offering multiple opportunities for families, staff, students, and community members to participate. We hope you can join us and help shape the future of South Dearborn! Let’s work together to define what it truly means to be a South Dearborn Graduate.

Earlier, the School Board approved our new Strategic Plan Goals:
SMART Goal 1: Strengthen Recruitment and Retention of Quality Staff
SMART Goal 2: Establish a Clear, Consistent District Vision, Curriculum, and Graduate Profile
SMART Goal 3: Improve Communication and Streamline Systems
Our next step in this process is to develop our Profile of a Graduate.
A Profile of a Graduate is a clear, shared vision of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions we want every South Dearborn student to possess by the time they graduate. It serves as our district’s “north star,” guiding teaching, learning, and decision-making so that all students are prepared for life after high school—whether they choose college, career, military service, or entrepreneurship.
To ensure this profile reflects the values and priorities of our community, SDCSC will be hosting one more input session:
📅 Tuesday, January 27th
📍 South Dearborn Middle School Cafeteria
🕡 6:30pm
If you previously attended last week's meeting, you do not need to attend next week's meeting. The content will be the same. We are simply offering multiple opportunities for families, staff, students, and community members to participate.
We hope you can join us and help shape the future of South Dearborn! Let’s work together to define what it truly means to be a South Dearborn Graduate.

South Dearborn Middle School students in Mr. Pallada’s band class refined their musical talent through focused warm-ups designed to strengthen note values and rhythmic accuracy. As they played, students also sharpened their ability to identify melodies and explored how note length influences musical expression, deepening both their technical skills and their understanding of how music comes to life. 🎶

South Dearborn Middle School students in Mr. Pallada’s band class refined their musical talent through focused warm-ups designed to strengthen note values and rhythmic accuracy. As they played, students also sharpened their ability to identify melodies and explored how note length influences musical expression, deepening both their technical skills and their understanding of how music comes to life. 🎶

Phonics was in focus as Dillsboro Elementary School students in Mrs. White’s first-grade class practiced the soft "c" sound through a variety of purposeful, independent activities. Students also strengthened their reading foundations by working with high-frequency words like “you” and “we” and completing sound sorts that reinforced accurate vowel sound matching. This helped the students build confidence and essential phonics skills that support their early literacy growth!

Phonics was in focus as Dillsboro Elementary School students in Mrs. White’s first-grade class practiced the soft "c" sound through a variety of purposeful, independent activities. Students also strengthened their reading foundations by working with high-frequency words like “you” and “we” and completing sound sorts that reinforced accurate vowel sound matching. This helped the students build confidence and essential phonics skills that support their early literacy growth!

Today, South Dearborn Community School Corporation is closed as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose courage, compassion, and vision for unity inspired lasting change. As we reflect on his impact, we are reminded to lead with kindness, understanding, and respect as we continue building stronger schools and communities together.

Today, South Dearborn Community School Corporation is closed as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose courage, compassion, and vision for unity inspired lasting change.
As we reflect on his impact, we are reminded to lead with kindness, understanding, and respect as we continue building stronger schools and communities together.

Here is this week’s edition of the Knightly News!
#SuccessDriven
#GrowExcelAchieve
#YouKnighted
#WeAreSD

The featured staff member of the week is Mr. Austin Ridlen. Mr. Ridlen is a proud South Dearborn graduate who returned to his roots after earning his degree in music education from Northern Kentucky University. Along the way, he also earned a certificate in elementary education, further strengthening his passion for working with students. He spent two years teaching prior to coming back home and has now been at South Dearborn for five years, bringing his total teaching experience to seven years. He currently teaches fourth-grade students at Dillsboro Elementary School. Mr. Ridlen has been married for nearly five years and loves spending time with his wife and their young daughter. He also enjoys watching and reviewing movies (he has an IMDB review account), being active in music theatre, repairing electronics, and collecting Pokémon cards and vintage video games. A fun fact about Mr. Ridlen is that he has an impressive collection of over 4,000 Pokémon cards! We appreciate Mr. Ridlen’s passion and dedication to his students and the SD community. #SuccessDriven #GrowExcelAchieve #YouKnighted #WeAreSD

Reminder: South Dearborn Community School Corporation will be closed on Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Hands-on science came to life in Mrs. Hornberger’s third-grade class at Aurora Elementary School. After studying the phases of the moon, students modeled lunar movement using a Styrofoam “moon,” a flashlight representing the sun, and their own heads as the Earth—bringing an abstract concept into clear focus. Students also created moon calendars and tracked changes in the moon’s phases throughout the month, strengthening observation skills and deepening their understanding of how the moon moves and changes over time. 🌘

South Dearborn Middle School students in Ms. Williams’s class kicked off the new year with purpose by creating SMART goals focused on growth and achievement! Each student identified three specific, measurable goals and designed personalized punch cards to track progress and stay motivated along the way. This activity helped students build goal-setting skills, accountability, and self-reflection—tools they will carry with them well beyond the classroom!

Parents of 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade South Dearborn High School students are invited and encouraged to participate in your student's academic year 2026–2027 course selection and scheduling meeting to address any questions you may have about the course selection process. You may participate in person or virtually. Appointments are available between Tuesday, January 20th, and Friday, February 20th, and are scheduled using the appropriate link below: 📌 Students’ Last Name A–K: Mrs. Sally Bender Scheduling Link: https://calendly.com/sally-bender-sdcsc/30min?month=2026-01 📌 Students’ Last Name L–Z: Mr. Darryl Gibbs Scheduling Link: https://calendly.com/darryl-gibbs/schedule-meetings-with-mr-gibbs?back=1&month=2026-01

Future astronomers were hard at work in Mrs. Peterson’s fifth-grade class at Dillsboro Elementary School! Students explored the solar system by designing and building detailed dioramas that modeled the planets. Through this hands-on project, students deepened their understanding of planetary relationships and spatial reasoning while bringing science concepts to life in a creative and engaging way. 🪐

In Ms. Gabbard’s reading class at Aurora Elementary School, students were up and moving as they built foundational literacy skills. Through active, hands-on learning, students practiced identifying letters and matching sounds, reinforcing early reading concepts in a way that kept them engaged and focused. By pairing movement with instruction, students strengthened letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and confidence as emerging readers!

Mr. Kirchgassner’s Digital Marketing class at South Dearborn High School recently filmed a segment for the student-led "Knights Spotlight" weekly YouTube show that highlights events, programs, and achievements at South Dearborn High School. During the filming, students applied real-world digital marketing skills such as planning content, operating cameras, and collaborating on production to create an engaging feature for the show. The experience gave students hands-on practice while contributing to Knights Spotlight. You can check out all of the uploaded Knights Spotlight shows right now through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@knights.spotlight/videos

Mr. Breden’s ASL 3 class at South Dearborn High School took learning to the next level with an immersive, holiday-themed escape room conducted entirely in American Sign Language. Students became detectives in “A Silent Night Heist,” using ASL comprehension to crack codes, follow signed video clues, and solve the mystery of Mrs. Claus’s missing cookies. The experience was brought to life through a collaboration with Irish Deaf actress and author Alvean Jones, who helped create signed videos accessed via QR codes. Over several class periods, students worked together to solve interconnected puzzles, building language fluency, critical thinking, and teamwork—all while having fun. This hands-on approach gave students authentic reasons to engage deeply with ASL and offered meaningful exposure to the global Deaf community.