The Cleveland Hill School District is a small district located in the suburban community of the Town of Cheektowaga, a first ring suburb of Buffalo, New York. The western border of the district is the City of Buffalo. Nearly all the property in the district is residential with very little commercial and no industrial property.
The Cleveland Hill community is a small, working/middle class neighborhood of solid starter homes and apartments, with a few upscale properties. Most homes were built during the post-World War II building boom, to serve workers in Cheektowaga’s growing industrial and research and development industries. Many families have lived in the district for generations and their children are second, third, and fourth generation Cleveland Hill district attendees.
Centers in the community are the school, churches and the volunteer fire department, in addition to libraries and Cheektowaga Town Park.
Our students are racially and ethnically diverse: 62% are European-American, 29% are African-American, 5% are Hispanic/Latino, 2% are Multiracial, 1% are Asian, .4% are American Indian/Alaskan Native and .06% are Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. A small minority of students are recent immigrants. This diverse population presents the district with a rich mix of students.
Cleveland Hill is a single-campus district educating 1575 with one elementary, one middle and one high school located on a 28-acre site in the center of the district. A $28.5 million dollar expansion and renovation project was completed in the spring of 2004. This extensive project expanded and renovated the entire school complex, creating a structure that the entire Cleveland Hill community is proud of.
Cleveland Hill Elementary School houses pre-kindergarten to fifth grade. In addition to the developmental academic programs, remedial programs are available in all areas. Kindergarten screening helps identify children exhibiting learning challenges before they begin their school career. Special education programs use both coteaching and consultant teacher models.
The Middle School, grades sixth through eighth, provides an ideal small setting for delivering educational services to this unique age group of learners. The emphasis is on the development of the whole child to include academic areas as well as personal/social growth during this stage of early adolescence. A strong feature of the Middle School is the close working relationship among teachers for the benefit of the students. Each grade level has a teacher team to include a consultant teacher who works with special education students in a regular classroom setting. Additional math and reading support is available. Exploratory courses and enrichment activities support and enhance the core academic instruction. The Cleveland Hill High School offers a wide range of academic programs, extracurricular activities and support programs that allow the students to develop all facets of their skills and interests.
providing a safe and positive educational environment where all students “soar toward success”. Students are able to earn college credits in some courses. The district employs three school psychologists and four school counselors district-wide.
Music and athletics have always been areas of high interest for students and the community. Instrumental music lessons begin for students in the fourth grade, and there is a band and chorus from fourth to twelfth grades. Musicians have received a number of awards for performance. We offer a full complement of interscholastic athletics.
The Cleveland Hill School District is very small compared to many of its neighbors in Erie County. While this presents some difficulties, it also provides an outstanding opportunity to maximize on this very characteristic to uniquely meet the needs of a diverse student body. The district is able to focus on the individual learner in order to stress academic excellence and social responsibility as a preparation for higher education or the world of work.
