Board Approves Leadership Academies as Part of New WCPSS Facilities Plan
Oct. 4, 2011 – The Board of Education approved a new school facilities plan that includes adding two new single-gender leadership academies and converting Hilburn Drive Elementary School to a kindergarten through eighth-grade facility.
The board agreed to build a new high school near Apex, a new elementary school near Wake Forest and continue improvements to Cary High.
Leadership Academies
Two single-gender leadership academies will provide students a new option that focuses on student achievement and leadership skills. Both the male and the female academy will focus on specialized leadership training for the students. One component of leadership training includes the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training (JROTC) program for high school students.Once fully operational, the Wake Leadership Academies will each serve 400 students in grades 6-12. Superintendent Tony Tata has proposed opening the academies in 2012 with students in grades six, seven, nine and 10 and approximately 240 students per school.
The primary purpose of establishing the two single gender academies is to create a success-oriented environment where students are inspired and supported in achieving their full potential. The focus will be on developing future leaders through team cohesiveness, academic rigor and personal attention in a highly structured environment committed to success.
Highly qualified staff will teach the students at each academy in small, supportive learning environments. The academic program will provide middle school and early college programming. Students will take part in challenging middle school courses, accelerate their high school schedule and take some college courses as early as their sophomore year. They will complete their high school degree and earn college credits.
Each academy will partner with a local college or university to provide students college instruction. The district plans to talk with Meredith College, North Carolina State University, Peace College, St. Augustine’s College and Shaw University about potential partnerships.
Students will have the opportunity to participate in athletics at a nearby school.
The boys academy will be housed on the current campus of Longview School on N. King Charles Road in Raleigh.
To create space for the boys’ academy, current students attending River Oaks Middle School on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh will be relocated over winter break to the campus of Phillips High on Milburnie Road and Mount Vernon School on Hillsborough St. During the remainder of the 2011-12 school year, River Oaks and Phillips will continue to operate as separate schools. Beginning with the 2012 school year, Phillips will become a new comprehensive 6-12 alternative school. The current Longview students will move into the River Oaks site over summer break.
The girl’s academy is intended to be housed on the former campus of Raleigh Charter High School in Pilot Mill, pending contract negotiations.
The Wake Leadership Academies will be seeking students with interest in creating a school culture that produces future leaders at the global, national and civic levels. Other key attributes include being self-motivated, committed to academic excellence, having the desire to belong to a leading team and having an interest in a culture of high expectations.
The goal is for all the students attending the Wake Leadership Academies to graduate on time with college credits, motivated and highly prepared for college and careers.
Conversion of Hilburn Drive Elementary to 21st Century K-8 Campus
Under the approved plan, Hilburn Drive Elementary will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade, starting with kindergarten through sixth grade next school year. The change allows the district to create much needed middle school seats and postpone the need to build a new middle school in northwest Raleigh.Hilburn will offer foreign language instruction through the global schools network and a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for all students in kindergarten through eighth grade. One-to-one laptops will be available in grades 6-8. Coursework will be threaded throughout the entire curriculum to prepare students for more advanced STEM opportunities.
The district received positive feedback on the conversion through two community meetings and is currently seeking additional feedback through an online survey on our website.
School Construction
The bulk of the $130.3 million facilities plan will pay for a new high school in the Apex area scheduled to open in 2015, a new elementary school in Wake Forest scheduled for 2014 and more classroom modular buildings and off-campus ninth-grade centers for crowded high schools. Funds will also be used to begin the design of a North Raleigh elementary school, and to complete the design and begin renovations to Cary High.The projects will be funded by more than $99 million in savings realized in the CIP 2006 capital improvement program and more than $30 million being repurposed from other projects.