Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Shauna Murphy will scoop ice cream and field questions from families at six free neighborhood events across the 2026–27 school year, the district announced Thursday, July 30.

The series, called "Sundaes with Shauna," kicks off Sunday, August 16, from 1–2 p.m. at Yeatman's Cove near the Children's Pavilion (705 E. Pete Rose Way) during the 38th Annual Midwest Black Family Reunion. All events are free and open to the public.

The program is returning for a second year. CPS ran it during the 2025–26 school year with stops at Roselawn Park, Taft Elementary, and Sands Montessori. In a March 10 post on X, the district's @iamcps account called the series a hit, noting families, students, and staff turned out for conversation and ice cream with Murphy.

None of the six 2026–27 stops land in Hyde Park, Oakley, or Mount Lookout, but every event is open to any CPS family regardless of neighborhood. The closest stop for east-side residents is the final event: Sunday, May 9, 2027, at Silverton Elementary School on Montgomery Road, a corridor familiar to Hyde Park and Oakley residents.

Full schedule

  • Sunday, August 16, 2026, 1–2 p.m. — Yeatman's Cove/Black Family Reunion, 705 E. Pete Rose Way
  • Sunday, September 20, 2026, 12–1 p.m. — North Avondale Montessori, 615 Clinton Springs Ave.
  • Sunday, October 18, 2026, 12–1 p.m. — Aiken New Tech High School, 5641 Belmont Ave.
  • Sunday, March 14, 2027, 12–1 p.m. — Chase School, 4151 Turrill St.
  • Sunday, April 11, 2027, 12–1 p.m. — Carthage School, 125 W. North Bend Rd.
  • Sunday, May 9, 2027, 12–1 p.m. — Silverton Elementary School, 7451 Montgomery Rd., Silverton

Why it matters now

The engagement series arrives as CPS prepares to ask voters for new operating money for the first time in more than a decade. The Cincinnati Board of Education voted Monday, July 27, to place a five-year, 0.75 percent earned-income tax levy on the Tuesday, November 3 ballot. The Sundaes with Shauna announcement does not mention the levy, but the events give families a direct line to Murphy as the district makes its case.

As we reported July 29, parents at Clark Montessori have already pressed for details on how levy dollars would reach east-side schools.

Coming up

Hyde Park and Oakley families with children heading back to CPS classrooms can also mark these dates:

  • Kilgour School open house — Monday, August 17, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
  • Hyde Park School open house — date still to be announced

The first Sundaes with Shauna stop is Sunday, August 16, at 1 p.m. at Yeatman's Cove during the Black Family Reunion, which runs Thursday, August 13, through Sunday, August 16, at Sawyer Point.