More on the Crowding Solutions for 2006-07

Year-Round: WCPSS is opening five new elementary schools on the year-round calendar next year -- four newly designated schools, plus the previously determined Carpenter Elementary. There is no plan to convert existing schools to the year-round calendar in 2006-07.

Holly Grove Elementary: The 2006-07 crowding solution includes having Holly Grove Elementary School students start a year early in a wing of the new Holly Springs High School. Although planning is still in progress, several measures will be in place to keep the older and younger students separated. In addition to being located in separate wings of the building, the younger students will have separate eating areas, separate media centers, etc.

The high school will be outfitted to meet elementary school needs and then changed to accommodate the high school program the next year. Holly Grove Elementary will open with playground areas.

Panther Creek High and Holly Springs High: WCPSS opens new high schools with ninth and 10th grades so that rising 11th- and 12th-graders may remain at their existing school. Because of the need for classroom seats across the county, rising ninth- and 10th-graders will be expected to attend the newly assigned schools.

New schools still offer the same rigorous curriculum, program and activities as existing high schools the first year. For example, Knightdale High School offered a full compliment of English, math, science and social studies courses with honors and special electives when it opened in 2004-05; Advanced Placement (AP) courses were added this year. The school played a varsity and junior varsity schedule for all athletic teams except football -- they had J.V. football the first year.

Similarly, Panther Creek and Holly Springs high school students will select from the same course guide as any other high school. Whether a course will be taught or not will depend on the number of students who sign up for it. However, we take into consideration special cases. For example, if a student is on track in 10th grade to take Spanish IV, but very few students have signed up for it, we may be able to make special staffing arrangements so that he or she has that opportunity.

Growth Management Plan Timeline: The Office of Growth Management will incorporate data from the community engagement meetings (Sept. 19 - Nov. 3) into a draft assignment proposal, which the department plans to post on the Web in December for the community to review and provide feedback. In January, Growth Management will publish the revised plan and notify parents. The Board of Education will hold public hearings and a work session before adopting the final plan in late March or early April.

There are several ways to make your voice heard. You may speak or fill out a comment card at one of the community engagement meetings, e-mail studentassignment@wcpss.net, or call the hotline (501-7998) and leave a message.

Multi-Story Schools: WCPSS does build multi-story schools. In fact, Wake has approximately 60 multi-story schools, with over 20 of those at the elementary school level. Building multi-story schools, however, also has some trade-offs: They require less land, but tend to cost more than single-story schools. Due to tremendous growth in the county and limited suitable acreage, the school system will continue developing plans for multi-story sites, as they require a smaller building footprint. However, multi-story schools also need multiple stair towers, an elevator for the disabled, and face more stringent building code requirements.

For example, state building code requires that all pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first-grade students be housed on the ground floor and have direct exits to the outdoors from all spaces they use, including classrooms, media centers, multi-purpose rooms and cafeterias. Second-graders may not be housed more than one story above the ground floor.