CINCINNATI — Ohio schools are earning a new distinction for their commitment to supporting students from military families. In April, 151 schools in the state renewed their Purple Star status, and 153 new schools earned the designation for the first time.
The Purple Star Award recognizes schools that do specific work to help address the unique challenges military and veteran families may face. For students in those families, school can serve as a critical source of stability.
"They come to school for a safe place, they come to school for consistency, they come to school to belong, and the Purple Star is important because there are a lot of families who are military connected," Allie Lampe said.
Lampe is the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes in Westwood. She said earning the designation goes beyond a symbol on the front door.
"It's not about hanging something on the front door, it's really about understanding that children are more than just students at a desk," Lampe said.
WATCH: Learn more about the Purple Star designation for local schools
She said military-connected students often carry invisible struggles, and educators must focus on teaching the whole child. The goal, she said, is to give those students a genuine sense of belonging.
"Give families who are sometimes on their second or third school or second or third group of friends a real place to belong," Lampe said.
That sense of belonging is also taking shape in Anderson Township, where every one of the nine schools in the Forest Hills School District received the Purple Star for the first time this year.
"We do have a number of reservist families in the area and in our district," Superintendent Larry Hook said. "It just becomes important to support them. Sometimes they go through issues with deployments and movements and transfers that other kids don't really experience."
Hook said the designation carries both pride and purpose.
"It's nice to have the banner ... but more importantly, it's important that somebody that moves into our district or is experiencing a deployment or experiencing some kind of transition that they know that they have a home here as well and support," Hook said.
The push to apply for the designation began with Dr. Charles Ogdan, the district's secondary director of teaching and learning, and a colleague. Ogdan said the star opens new doors for how the district serves military families.
"It is allowing us to lean into and look into things — think outside the box of what we can do for our military families," Ogdan said.
Ogdan and the assistant superintendent will serve as district liaisons for the Purple Star program. Both have personal military connections through their sons. Ogdan said the designation also creates an opportunity for all students.
"It's educational for our students, and I think it's a good opportunity, as well, for some of our students to look in and see there are some great opportunities out there for them if they choose to serve, um, when they graduate high school and go on," Ogdan said.
The ties between the Forest Hills community and the military run deep, Ogdan said, and the Purple Star formalizes a commitment that was already there.
"The ties in our school district to the military community at large is deep-rooted, and so this was just taking advantage of the amazing things we already do," Ogdan said.
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