YOUNGSTOWN — When it came to his assessment of the Youngstown City School District’s first day of the new school year, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor didn’t mince words.

“I think overall, the year is off to a great start. The kids were engaged; they were willing to hit the ground running,” he said during Tuesday’s regular board of education meeting at Youngstown Rayen Early College.

Besides YREC, Batchelor visited Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School as well as East Middle and High schools Tuesday. He met Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary’s new principal and “saw a lot of teaching and learning going on” that included music and art lessons, Batchelor said.

While at East Middle, the superintendent visited science classes and added he was happy to see some students getting to know one another.

During Batchelor’s lunchtime visit at East High, where he had served as principal, he stopped in several freshman classrooms and said he witnessed a high level of enthusiasm among students.

A similar scenario played out while he was at YREC, where some of the students were leaving for Youngstown State University for their college-level classes soon after his arrival, Batchelor said.

Also during the meeting Tuesday, Batchelor discussed an agreement between the district and BD&E, a Pittsburgh-based marketing communications and branding firm hired to create a three-year strategic marketing plan. Specifically, BD&E will work with the district on its new Defenders logo and mascot that will be part of a reconfiguration project to consolidate Chaney and East high schools into a single Youngstown High School, as well as Chaney and East middle schools into one middle school beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

Even though the firm is in Pittsburgh, “They know our community,” Batchelor said, noting that BD&E also has worked with YSU on its “Know Your Y” marketing.

In other business, Batchelor noted that the district has made progress on meeting many of the 24 benchmarks that make up its Academic Improvement Plan. At least 51% of the requirements have to be met before being under academic distress “will go away,” Batchelor said.

The schools have seen double-digit gains in about 60% of tested areas, though specific figures will not be available until at least Sept. 15, when the state report card is expected to be issued, he said, adding that the city schools have the highest graduation rate of all urban districts in Ohio.

The district is required to submit an annual report by Dec. 1, Batchelor said.

Also, the schools are working with YSU graduate assistants to have them help students who are struggling with or are “higher learning” in math, he added.