The Twinsburg City School District was rated "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education this week. The grade was based off the district's performance over the 2011-12 school year. That rating ended the district's streak of having an "Excellent With Distinction" ranking four years straight. While it lost the "Distinction" tag, school officials still believe the district is performing well. Twinsburg met all 26 performance indicators and scored a 106.2 on the state's performance index, one of the best scores in the state. However, because the district only met the yearly growth rate and …

If you could put anything at Corbett Farm, what would it be? This week Michael Turle approached city leaders presenting his idea to turn the 82 acres into a city park. Turle said he would love to see soccer and football fields, and maybe moving the community gardens into the spot as well. While the mayor and council applauded his creativity, they said the cost to buy the property back from MSRK LLC would be too high. At a price of $4.5 million, it would come out to $55,000 an acre before taxes, a steep price for the city. Turle also suggested finding corporate sponsors or even grant money to …

Business has been good in Twinsburg recently, with several new stores and restaurants opening and more on the way. A new Goodwill opened in Twinsburg Plaza on Ravenna Road in August. The 13,000 square-foot retail store at 10735 Ravenna Rd., featureing goods at bargain prices and serve as a donation site in the community for gently used clothes, furniture, books, household items, and more. The owners of Brewster's opened up Bica this week, a coffee and sandwich shop next to their restaurant on Creekside Drive. The grand opening is Monday, but they prepared this week with a soft open. Panera …

Twinsburg schools has a 4.9 mill levy (Issue 69) on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election. The school board approved the levy in June which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $150.06 annually. That would generate $3.8 million for the district each year, alongside the $3.2 million in cuts and changes earlier this year. But some residents have raised questions about asking the community for more money when teachers are still getting step increases each year and the district is paying into administrators' pensions, also known as "pickups." Those issues mixed with the fact that the district has…

Goodwill now occupies the space where True Value once was in Twinsburg Plaza on Ravenna Road. Goodwill Industries of Akron recently opened a new 13,000 square-foot retail store at 10735 Ravenna Rd., featureing goods at bargain prices and serve as a donation site in the community for gently used clothes, furniture, books, household items, and more. Earlier this year Goodwill said it anticipates hiring 12-15 full- and part-time staff for the new store, bringing new business and jobs to the city. Net proceeds from the sale of items donated to the stores are used in assisting the agency in …

With almost two full weeks of school under their belts, Twinsburg High School students and parents have had time to adjust to the schedule change. Earlier this year the high school switched to the new modified block schedule, veering from the typical block system. Principal Louise Teringo said in March she examined the transition to an alternating block day schedule, letting students choose seven course offerings, rather than eight. Before, students took four 90-minute classes everyday each semester. Each day represents a different schedule, called "blue" and "white" days. Twinsburg Patch …