Wake County Public School System:
District Overview

ENROLLMENT/SCHOOL DISTRICT RANKING
Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) has been growing steadily over the past two decades. There were 3,690 more students enrolled on the 20th day in 2010-2011 than on the 20th day in 2009-2010.  With the 2010-2011 enrollment of 143,289, WCPSS remains the largest school district in the state, and the 18th largest school district in the nation. The WCPSS Superintendent is Anthony J. Tata.

NEW SCHOOL OPENINGS
With this growth comes the need for more schools to accommodate the increase in enrollment.  WCPSS opened one  elementary school at the beginning of this school year (Alston Ridge), two middle schools (Holly Grove and Mills Park), and one high school (Heritage). In addition, four new schools are planned to open by 2013 (one elementary, one middle, one high, and NC State STEM Early College High School).

SCHOOLS BY LEVEL
WCPSS has 103 elementary schools, 32 middle schools, 24 high schools and 4 special/optional schools for a total of 163 schools.

SUMMARIES BY LEVEL
Enrollment and Facility Utilization
143,289 students are enrolled in 163 schools. The annual school campus capacity is 158,795 seats (including 1,161 temporary classrooms), resulting in an overall crowding of 90.2 percent.
Race/Ethnicity
This is the first year that WCPSS is reporting race-ethnicity data following the Census Bureau-driven changes and the US Department of Education new standards for data collection and reporting. A slight shift in WCPSS demographics, as a result of the student re-identification survey, is consistent with the overall WCPSS race-ethnicity trends. Enrollment of White students (49.5%), Black or African-American students (24.8%) and Two or More Races (4.5%) is declining as a percentage of total students, while Hispanic/Latino (14.6%), Asian (6.0%) and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (0.1%) student enrollment is increasing as the state of North Carolina itself becomes more diverse.
Limited English Proficiency and Free and Reduced Lunch Program
The need for special services in LEP (Limited English Proficiency Program) and ESL (English as a Second Language Program) decreased in the current school year. Approximately 7.9% of students were classified as LEP, and 4.3% required ESL services.  However, 32.4% of WCPSS students applied and qualified for F&R (Free or Reduced-Price Lunches) – an increase of 1.2 percent since last year - with the majority of them being elementary school students.
Academically Gifted Program and Special Education Programs
Academically Gifted Programs are offered in grades 4 through 12. As of April 1, 2010, there were 26,230 students, or 28 percent, enrolled in academically gifted programs. In addition, 17,723 of WCPSS K-12 grade students were enrolled in Special Education Programs. Also, WCPSS is serving 1,261 Pre-School students bringing the total of special education students to 18,984, or 13.4 percent of the total student population.

CALENDAR SCHEDULE
Of the 163 schools:
-49 schools operate on a year-round calendar (40 elementary schools and 9 middle schools),
-5 schools operate on a modified calendar (2 elementary schools, 2 middle schools and 1 high school),
-1 school operates on a calendar matching the community college calendar (Wake Early College of Health and Sciences High School), and
-108 schools operate on a traditional calendar (61 elementary schools, 21 middle schools, 22 high schools, and 4 special/optional schools).

MAGNET SCHOOLS
32 schools offer magnet programs: 19 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, and 5 high schools.

AREA SUPERINTENDENTS
Six area superintendents provide regional leadership to Wake County's 163 schools.  The area superintendents are: Eastern Area: Danny Barnes, Chief Area Superintendent; Central Area: Cathy Moore, Northern Area: Ann Hooker , Northeastern Area: Andre Smith, Southern Area: Lloyd Gardner, and Southwestern Area: Julye Mizelle.

WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM BOARD of EDUCATION
The school system is governed by a nine-member board of education whose members are elected from nine separate districts in the county and serve staggered four-year terms.  The School Board Members are: District 1-Mr. Chris Malone, District 2-Mr. John Tedesco, District 3-Mr. Kevin L. Hill, District 4-Mr. Keith Sutton, District 5-Dr. Anne McLaurin, District 6-Dr. Carolyn Morrison, District 7-Ms. Deborah Pricket, District 8-Mr. Ron Margiotta, Chair; District 9-Ms. Debra Goldman, Vice Chair.