Recognizing success

Administration Recognized

2003-2004

Superintendent Bill McNeal has been named the 2004 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

2003-2004

Three Wake County principals were honored by the Wake County PTA Council. Greg Decker of Lead Mine Elementary was named Elementary School Principal Of The Year. David Ansbacher of East Millbrook Middle was named Middle School Principal Of The Year. Gerald Pickett of Fuquay-Varina High was named High School Principal Of The Year.

2003-2004

At its March 16 meeting, Board of Education chair Susan Parry and Board Finance Committee Chair Rosa Gill congratulated WCPSS Budget Officer Terri Kimzey and her staff for earning recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association. The association awarded the WCPSS Budget staff with its Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. In order to receive the budget award, WCPSS had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. The award reflects the commitment of the school system and staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting. The WCPSS Budget staff includes Kimzey, Meg Farris, Yadira Vasquez, Cherie Wiggs, Suzan Johnson, Jackie Pace and Eugenia Johnson.

2003-2004

Christina Lighthall, WCPSS senior director of Facilities Planning and Construction, was named president of the North Carolina Council of Educational Facility Planners (NCEFP) for 2004.

2003-2004

Board of Education members congratulated Superintendent Bill McNeal on being named the 2004 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators last week. Board members presented McNeal with a framed copy of a newspaper article heralding the honor He has worked in Wake County for 29 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and associate superintendent. Board members praised him for his hard work, leadership and ability to keep a continued focus on student achievement.

2003-2004

Forbes Magazine has named the Wake County School System third in the nation on its Top Ten List for The Best Education In The Biggest Cities."

2003-2004

Bobby Guthrie, Wake County School Public School System Senior Administrator for Athletics has been named the Southern District Athletic Director of the Year by the National Council for Secondary School Athletic Directors (NCSSAD). The council names six district winners across the U.S. and one of them will be named the National Athletic Director of the Year April 2 at the NASPE Hall of Fame Banquet.

2003-2004

Lead Mine Elementary Principal Greg Decker has been recognized by Technology & Learning Magazine as a semi-finalists in the 2003 Education Technology Leader of the Year. Decker and Lead Mine were recognized for the school's data-driven approach to building high student performance.

2003-2004

Artie Kamiya has been awarded the 2004 Channing Mann Award for National Physical Education Administrator of the Year. This is the highest recognition bestowed by the Council for School Leadership in Physical Education. The award honors those individuals who have dedicated themselves to excellence as administrators or supervisors, in contributions to their profession, and in service to the mission of CSLPE. These individuals exemplify the highest standards in accomplishment and innovation, in strong and vigorous leadership and in significant scholarship within the field.

2003-2004

WCPSS Athletic Director Bobby Guthrie has been named the North Carolina Athletic Director of the Year. Guthrie was selected for the honor by the North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

2003-2004

Superintendent Bill McNeal has been named Superintendent of the Year by the Central Carolina Regional Education Service Alliance's 16 school superintendents. McNeal was recognized for the academic achievement of Wake students seeking to meet Goal 2003 and as a result, the narrowing of racial achievement gaps. Another factor in McNeal's success was Wake's efforts in building partnerships between schools and businesses. More than 500 businesses have long term ties to WCPSS schools helping teachers and students connect learning to the real world. From the regional winners, the NC Association of School Administrators name the state's Superintendent of the Year.

2003-2004

Lloyd Gardner, principal of Enloe High School, was named Principal of the Year. Camille Miller, assistant principal of Willow Springs Elementary was named Assistant Principal of the Year. Gardner has been principal of Enloe High School since 1997. He also served as the school's assistant principal for six years and was a teacher at Fuquay-Varina High for five years. While Gardner has been principal Enloe High has been recognized as the best magnet school in the nation by the Magnet Schools of America, ranked 42 among the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation by Newsweek magazine and named a Hallmark School of Excellence. Miller, assistant principal at Willow Springs Elementary, has also worked as assistant principal at Root Elementary and as a teacher at Brooks Elementary.

2003-2004

Dr. Alice Garrett, principal of Carroll Middle School is the recipient of North Carolina's highest award, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The award cited Garrett's long history of community service, extensive work in education and the recent publication of her first book titled: We Fly Away. The award was presented to Dr. Garrett at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and Phi Beta Sigma Inc. Annual Leadership Conference held at the Sheraton Imperial in Research Triangle Park.

2002-2003

At the June 6 meeting of the Board of Education, Associate Superintendent Del Burns was presented with the State Treasurer's Award for Excellence in Accounting and Financial Management by Ren Wiles of the NC Department of State Treasurer and Ruth Bartholomew of the NC Association of Certified Public Accountants. Burns and the school system's finance managers were recognized for their innovative approach to responsible fiscal management and improvements to operations. The finance team's implementation of a privatized alternative to the 12-month optional installment pay plan project involved 10-month employees making arrangements to deposit a portion of their monthly pay into a special individual account with the State Employees Credit Union or other financial institution.

2002-2003

Kathryn Watson Quigg, chair of the Wake County Board of Education, is one of 40 education leaders chosen to participate in the seventh annual Oxford Round Table in England. Quigg is only one of nine people selected to make a formal presentation to the international group. The Round Table will be held Aug 3-8, at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, England. Quigg's participation in the prestigious event has been entirely underwritten by Golden Corral Family Restaurants. Quigg plans to describe the Wake County Public School System's 'Road to Excellence.' She will discuss the success the school system has achieved by establishing a goal, aligning programs and resources and building community support to boost student achievement. During the past four years, student test scores have increased from 81 percent to almost 90 percent at or above grade level.

2002-2003

WCPSS Superintendent Bill McNeal has been appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to the Southern Regional Education Board. McNeal is one of five North Carolina representatives on the board that represents 16 states. The board, created in 1948 by Southern states, helps government and education leaders work cooperatively to advance education and, in doing so, improve the social and economic life of the region.

2002-2003

On Monday, Oct. 7, the U.S. Department of Energy recognized the Wake County Public School System for its success in saving energy. "We achieve energy savings of $1.2 million annually through a combination of energy-efficient designs, building improvements and a far-reaching EnergySavers program that involves students, teachers, administrators, and maintenance staff," said Mike Burriss, assistant superintendent of facilities. "It takes everyone working together."

2002-2003

Wake County's Business Education Leadership Council (BELC) was recognized with the Governor's Business Partner Award today at the statewide Meet in the Middle Conference. The public/private partnership was noted as an innovative practice for large school districts. BELC is a leadership team that is made up of business leaders and school system staff. It guides the development and work of 34 school-based business alliances. Alliance membership is 484. 2001-2002 school year results show that over 10,000 Wake County students were impacted by business alliance activities such as job shadow days or career fairs.

2002-2003

Dr. Deborah Rose Manzo, WCPSS Senior Director of the Office of Continuous Improvement and Professional Development, will serve along with 400 other national experts from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations, and government on the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

2001-2002

Diane Kent-Parker, WCPSS Senior Director for Recruitment, was recently honored by the Visiting International Faculty Program with the Excellence in Cultural Education Award. Due to Kent-Parker's efforts, WCPSS has employed 68 international faculty this year in critical needs areas. She continues to be a great ambassador for us and brings us quality teachers. Wake County is the largest employer of VIF teachers in the state.

2001-2002

Each year, the School Evaluation Division of the American Educational Research Association has a national report competition. There are 12 categories, such as Innovative Reporting and School Profiles. WCPSS Evaluation and Research Department won three first-place awards this year. In the category of Summary Reports, they had two reports tie for first place: 'The Class Size Reduction Report Summary' authored by David Scudder, and 'State of the System Summary' authored by Carol Speas and Glenda Burch. In the category of Training Materials, they earned first place with the (School Building) 'Test Coordinator's Notebook' authored by Edie Pierce.

2001-2002

The Association of Business Officials (ASBO) International has awarded a meritorious budget award for excellence in the preparation and issuance of a school system annual budget to the Wake County Public School System for the third consecutive year. The Government Finance Officers Association has also awarded the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the school system. This is an unprecedented ninth consecutive year the school system has earned the state award. The Budget Office team includes Budget Director Terry Kimzey, Meg Farris, Yadira Vasquez, Cherie Wiggs, and Suzan Johnson.

2001-2002

The United Arts Council has presented the Wake County Schools a 2002 Business Support of the Arts Award. WCPSS employees' giving earned the school system recognition as a Special Friend of the Council. WCPSS employees were recognized as top workplace campaign donors for the 2001 campaign.

2001-2002

At the meeting of the Board of Education Tuesday (Jan. 8), Rusty Lacy, Oracle Corporation regional vice president for state and local government, praised the Wake County Public School System for its success in implementing its computerized database system for managing payroll, human resources, and other key functions. Lacy said Wake's system is the largest financial applications, human resources, and payroll database system Oracle has in operation in a school system in the eastern U.S "Overall, Wake is the best one we have," Lacy said. "It was on time and operating." He said the project was a huge success and worked because of its support from administration and staff. He noted the state's Uniform Education Reporting System is the most complicated system Oracle had seen when it came to meeting standards required for a management database system.

2001-2002

Mazie Swindell Smith, Director of Organizational Development, and Jeri Preddy, Energy Educator, presented a paper entitled "Putting Money Back in your Schools" at the 2001 World Energy Engineering Congress in Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 26. They shared the goals, strategies and successes of the school system's energy awareness and conservation plan.

2000-2001

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the Wake County Public School System for the district's comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). The certificate is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and this is the 11th consecutive year that Wake has been recognized. The organization has also announced that WCPSS Senior Director of Accounting/Finance Officer Mark Winters has earned an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement. The award is given to the individual, department, or agency primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning CAFR.

2000-2001

Christina Lighthall, Wake County Schools senior director of facilities planning and construction, was named the Southeast Regional U.S. Planner of the Year. The Council of Educational Facility Planners International recognized Lighthall at their conference in Charleston, SC, April 18. She is one of only two women to ever achieve the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) award since the award's inception in 1967.

2000-2001

The Association of School Business Officials International has presented the Wake County Schools budget office a Meritorious Budget Award for excellence in the preparation and issuance of a school system annual budget. The 90-year-old organization provides programs and services to promote the highest standards of school business management practices, professional growth, and the effective use of educational resources.

2000-2001

Denise Bowling, WCPSS Senior Director for Middle School Programs, received the 2001 Outstanding Administrator in Gifted Education awarded by the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented (NCAGT) and the Parents for the Advancement of Gifted Education (PAGE) at the state conference in Winston Salem March 16.

1999-2000

WCPSS ranked first in North Carolina in average teacher salary supplements, and in average principal salary supplements.

1999-2000

SchoolMatch named Wake County Public Schools a winner in the 2000 Ninth Annual What Parents Want Award for its accountability and meeting the needs of students. About 15 percent of the nation's 15,620 public school systems qualified.

1999-2000

WCPSS earned a three-year, $2.7 million Safe Schools/Healthy Students federal grant.

1999-2000

Frank Koontz, director of the WCPSS Environmental Management Department, named president-elect for the North Carolina Chapter of the Environmental Information Association.

1999-2000

Dr. Mary Penta of WCPSS Evaluation and Research named president-elect of the North Carolina Association for Research in Education (NCARE)

1999-2000

Dr. Karen Banks assistant superintendent for WCPSS Evaluation and Research elected a divisional vice president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

1999-2000

WCPSS was awarded a $1 million 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant by the Department of Education to provide summer and after-school services at seven Wake County schools and provide literacy training, health, and parenting skills to more than 3,500 Wake County adults. WCPSS was one of four N.C. districts to receive a grant and received the largest amount.

1999-2000

WCPSS was the only school district in the country to win a national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) award for $1 million in energy savings, becoming a 1999 ENERGY STAR Buildings Education Partner of the Year. Other honorees were Boeing, Polaroid, 3M, and Staples.

1999-2000

WCPSS was one of only 10 school systems in the country to earn a 2000 Gold Medallion Award from the National School Public Relations Association. WCPSS was honored for coordinating a student-initiated assistance drive to help northeastern N.C. counties, schools, and students who suffered losses during Hurricane Floyd.

1999-2000

Wake County Schools ’ Finance Department is the winner of the N.C. State Treasurer ’s Governmental Accounting/Financial Management Award.

1998-1999

In 1998, WCPSS became the first school system in the state to earn the highly prestigious Advancement Award from the North Carolina Quality Leadership Council, following months of self-examination and development of a comprehensive, 50-page, written application. The district was evaluated on leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource development and management, process management, and performance results

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