Partner with Us
Lakota’s community partnerships include countless individuals, agencies, organizations and businesses that allow us to provide opportunities and services that would otherwise be difficult for an individual school district to offer.
Whether you're a parent, community member or local business professional, we hope you'll explore all the opportunities in this section to partner with us. We believe in partnerships that are mutually beneficial to our students and the community around us.
Our Community Partners
In addition to the countless businesses and individuals supporting our real world learning efforts, local universities providing college-readiness opportunities, and others providing educational opportunities to our students, some of our local partners include the following.
Butler County Educational Service Center (BCESC)
School districts are required under our Operating Standards for Ohio's Schools serving children with disabilities to enter into inter-agency agreements with Head Start programs, the Department of Health and the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD).
For us in Butler County, that means inter-agency agreements with Butler County ESC's Head Start preschool and Help Me Grow Home Visiting programs, as well as Butler County MRDD. These agreements are critical to our school district because of our responsibility to serve children with disabilities from birth through age 21.
Also, as a “local” school district (instead of a “city” or “exempted village” school district), Lakota’s curriculum is overseen by the Butler County ESC. Several administrators and staff in the Curriculum & Instruction Department are actually ESC employees; this provides support at a lower cost to Lakota.
Butler Tech
The joint vocational school district serves hundreds of Lakota students each year, both on site at Lakota's secondary schools and at Butler Tech's campuses, including D. Russell Lee, the School of the Arts, the Bioscience Center and the Natural Science Center.
In Lakota schools, a range of satellite courses are taught on site by Butler Tech teachers, introducing students to an assortment of technical industries like engineering, biomedical sciences and culinary arts, for example.
Butler County and Liberty & West Chester Townships
The support of Butler County and both West Chester and Liberty Townships provides infrastructure, programs and services that support our work on a daily basis.
The local township fire departments provide training for Lakota employees in CPR and AED (automated electronic defibrillator) use, and have been instrumental in creating plans for each school building to have AEDs and other resources available for emergencies.
The West Chester Police Department and the Butler County Sheriff's Office also help share the costs of having school resource officers dedicated to the oversight of student and staff safety and security. They collaborate closely with district and school administrators to prepare for the "unthinkable" crisis by ensuring timely emergency response and training.
MidPointe Library
The MidPointe Library System serves both West Chester and Liberty townships, among others, providing Lakota students and families with direct access to educational resources, programs and services that support our daily mission.
Additionally, the Bookmobile visits Lakota's K-6 buildings regularly, giving all students a library card and providing thousands more materials.
Northern Cincinnati Foundation
The Northern Cincinnati Foundation administers the Lakota Fund, supported by donations from teachers, parents and community members. The Lakota Fund provides classroom grants for school projects awarded through an application process. The Foundation has also secured health care and other needed services for Lakota students.
The Foundation sponsors Lakota's annual Educator of Excellence Awards, which honors teachers, administrators and support staff who exhibit a high commitment to students and whose support makes a difference in the larger community.
Reach Out Lakota
Reach Out Lakota is the largest food and clothing pantry supporting West Chester and Liberty townships, serving approximately 200,000 meals a year. Lakota's annual district-wide food drive continues to be the pantry's largest collection and during one of its busiest months. Student service organizations and service learning activities in our classrooms oftentimes involve partnerships with Reach Out Lakota throughout the school year.
West Chester ▪ Liberty Chamber Alliance
The West Chester ▪ Liberty Chamber Alliance is our region’s third largest Chamber, representing the interests of businesses in West Chester and Liberty townships and along the I-75 corridor. The Chamber's mission is to establish our area as the region’s business epicenter.
The Chamber is critically important to Lakota's connection with the local business community and commitment to building a strong future workforce. From business education events to leadership programs to internship connections, the Chamber is the link between education and business development.