Classroom Connection - July 14, 2010
School Year Starts for Year-Round Students
 |
Approximately 40,000 students began the 2010-11 school year on July 9 as the Wake County Public School System’s 49 year-round elementary and middle schools opened their doors for the start of the new school year.
Wake County’s two newest year-round schools, Alston Ridge Elementary and Holly Grove Middle schools, both experienced smooth openings after months of planning.
Alston Ridge Elementary is a 103,806 square-foot school located in Cary that is expected to serve more than 400 students this year. Holly Grove Middle is in Holly Springs and is expected to serve approximately 975 students this year in 197,071 square feet.
“The opening of Holly Grove was smooth sailing,” said Principal Ken Proulx. “After many months of planning and establishing our opening day procedures, the staff did a great job of acclimating the students to the new building. We welcomed over 600 students on Tracks 1, 2, and 3. From carpool to dismissal, the day went without a hitch.”
Proulx arrived at Holly Grove Middle before sunrise to greet Interim Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens who visited the new school along with news crews from the local television stations who arrived to do live remotes for their morning newscasts.
At 8:45 a.m., Alston Ridge Elementary opened its doors to parents and students who had lined up outside, eager to check out their brand new school and find their new teachers and classrooms. Members of the school’s safety patrol were on-hand to open car doors and greet their fellow classmates while parents of kindergartners chose to park their vehicles and walk their children to their classrooms hand-in-hand.
Principal Fran Venezia said after months of hard work, she was excited to see the first day of school finally arrive.
“We prepared for weeks – actually months – and the opening was smooth,” she said. “The bell rang at 9:15, and instruction began right on time.”
Venezia welcomed the school’s new “alligators” and thanked the students who voted on the school’s colors of green and blue.
At Pleasant Union Elementary, students in the safety patrol carefully unfolded the U.S. flag and raised it on the flagpole as their new school year began. After raising the flag, they went to work opening the car doors and greeting parents and fellow students dropped off in the car pool.
Some parents were parking and walking their children into school. Often these were parents of the school system’s newest students, kindergartners arriving for their first day. There was a sign in table for parents in the school entry and Principal Kevin Biles was in the hallway greeting families and steering them to the kindergarten hall. Teachers were waiting to greet them, explaining where students would put their backpacks and getting parents to fill out contact information. Then teachers took family photos and put students to work coloring. Parents encouraged their children, talked with other parents and asked the teacher questions.
There were small groups of students in the kindergarten classrooms because schools have staggered entry for assessment. Teachers meet with small groups of their students in the first few days of school to acquaint them to school, get to know them better and get a first look at the skills they bring to school.
At Durant Road Middle School, older students were more independent. Principal Ian Solomon circled the hallways as students made their way to class. Some students were in the hallway stowing items in their new lockers. At 8 a.m., the seventh grade went to the auditorium. Mr. Solomon welcomed students and told them academics were a priority. He introduced Assistant Principal Patti Clinton who recognized honor roll students and called on students to work together for academic success. Solomon held up a copy of the school’s student handbook and encouraged students to study over the weekend and know the rules. He and other key leaders then discussed the importance of bus safety, positive behavior and rules for student use of electronic devices like cell phones. Solomon and the school leaders spent time with each grade level during the morning sharing the importance of following school rules.
Bus transportation is always a little challenging at the start of a new school year, but Bob Snidemiller, senior director of transportation for WCPSS, said everything went as expected for the first day today.
“The first day of year-round schools was very successful for transportation,” he said. “History repeated itself with heavy carpool traffic and lower ridership on buses.”
Transportation planners create routes for the new year by looking at the students who were transported the prior year and obtaining new information from WCPSS Growth Management on students enrolled for this school year. New routes are created based on their expectation of student ridership. As families make decisions about their use of buses the first few weeks of school, the transportation department adapts routes to meet the riders' needs and finalizes bus routes.
“We encourage parents to get their students on the bus,” Snidemiller said. “This will help us make adjustments to routes early, so all riders will know what to expect as far as the time the bus will arrive at their stop. Also, parents of kindergarteners and first-graders need to make certain that their children continue to use their name tags for the first 20 days of school to help the bus driver get familiar with their child’s stop. The transportation department wishes all Wake County students a rewarding and successful year!”
First Day of School Photos
A slide show of photos taken on the first day of year-round school can be viewed on our website at www.wcpss.net. The slide show features scenes from Alston Ridge, Pleasant Union and Turner Creek elementary schools and Durant Road Middle School.
 |
Back to School Guide Online
The WCPSS Communications Department has created a Back-to-School Guide, full of all the information you will need to start the 2010-2011 school year off right.Year-round schools began the new school year on Friday, July 9. Modified calendar schools start Monday, July 26. Wake Early College of Health and Sciences starts Monday, August 9, and traditional calendar schools begin Wednesday, August 25.
The downloadable guide is located on the WCPSS Back-to-School web page where you can find the latest information and news about events connected to the start of school.
Transportation Patterns Change with the Opening of New Schools
Drivers should be prepared for changing transportation patterns caused by the opening of new schools and the return of school buses to the roadways transporting students to our schools beginning with year-round schools on July 9 through the start of traditional schools on Aug. 25. |
In many cases, schools will be slightly shifting schedules to start the new school year. School schedules have been adjusted, by about 10 minutes in most cases, as schools are scheduling time for professional learning teams instead of building it into the school system schedule.
Parents are encouraged to visit our Transportation website at www.wcpss.net/transportation to find answers to questions regarding services due to the high volume of calls the department receives in the first weeks of school. Should you still have questions, the department can be reached at (919) 856-8050. Additional operators will be available during the start of the school year to take and return calls. Should you need to leave a message; the department will return your call within 24 hours.
Bus routes for the 49 year-round schools can be found online at www.wcpss.net/school-directory/bus-routes/. Bus routes for traditional calendar schools will be updated online in mid-August. Other information regarding transportation services can be found on the Transportation website, such as how to request services, forms and board policies related to transportation services.
By the end of August when all schools are in session, Wake County Public School System drivers will be behind the wheels of 925 buses transporting approximately 75,000 students safely each day.
Preparing New Bus Riders
Kindergartners and first-graders who ride the bus will be given name tags for the first 20 days of school. Schools will place name tags on students before boarding the afternoon bus. Tags will include student name, school name and phone number, bus route number and bus stop location. Parents are encouraged to teach children to know their home address, phone number and bus route name. Help prepare children for the new experience of riding the bus to school. Parents can review bus safety with their children and develop a family plan for leaving for school in the morning and returning home in the afternoon.Combined Classes and Collapsed Tracks: How principals respond to enrollment changes
Every year, principals hire teachers and staff for their schools based on projected student enrollment. These projections are usually fairly accurate, but sometimes more or fewer students arrive at their school than expected. That leaves our principals with difficult choices in organizing their schools and assigning students to classes. WCPSS principals work to find the best, most supportive classroom environment for every child within some difficult constraints.For example, the state has strict requirements for class sizes from kindergarten through third grade. An older school facility may not provide enough classroom space to serve larger classes. Or the school may not have high enough enrollment to permit the hiring of additional staff. Principals weigh many of these issues when they have to react to situations such as imbalances on year-round tracks or over-enrollment at a particular grade level.
When these situations arise, principals restructure the school. If there are enough resources in the budget – schools are allotted positions based on enrollment – and the facility supports it, principals can create new classes. Otherwise, solutions might include:
- providing team-teachers, where students are assigned to two teachers that may share the same location;
- multi-grade classes such as a combined first- and second-grade class;
- collapsing year-round tracks or moving students to a different track;
- or losing positions and consolidating classes through the budget reconciliation process.
None of these situations is ideal, although changes such as team-teaching or combined-grade classes can provide strong academic environments through greater opportunities for differentiated instruction.
Especially in a time of tight budgets, WCPSS principals have the responsibility to be careful stewards of their funding while assuring strong academic support for every child. As in previous years, we anticipate that some year-round and traditional principals will have to restructure their schools in response to enrollment changes. WCPSS Central Services staff will support them in every way we can. If you have any questions, please contact your school's principal.
Holly Grove Ribbon Cutting
 |
"As we celebrate the years of hard work that got us to this occasion, and look to the future possibilities, I am confident that Principal Proulx will bring the leadership and vision to help make Holly Grove a wonderful place of learning for all students," said Interim Superintendent Donna Hargens.
With a full array of academic services and a staff comprised of 68 classroom teachers during the first year, Principal Ken Proulx says the school will be a place where all students will succeed.
"We all realize the awesome responsibility and opportunity that we have and we are focused on creating a great legacy here at Holly Grove that will carry through the many generations that follow," said Proulx.
Holly Grove Middle School was the first middle school to open with a new architectural prototype designed by Skinner, Lamm & Highsmith. D.H. Griffin Construction Co. LLC managed the construction of this state of the art facility built to house 1,500 students.
"Holly Grove Middle School is a valuable addition to the Holly Springs community and surrounding areas." said Wake County Board of Education Chair Ron Margiotta. “The building of this 197,000 square foot facility provides the capacity needed to absorb growth in one of the highest growing parts of the county. It also fulfills the vision for this site by having a complete school campus that now houses an elementary, middle and high school close together.”
Holly Grove Middle is one of four new schools to open for the 2010-11 school year. The school was built as part of the Capital Improvement Program approved by voters in November 2006.
Alston Ridge Ribbon Cutting
 |
"This is an exciting day for Alston Ridge Elementary and the start of many wonderful days ahead," said Principal Fran Venezia. "Here at Alston Ridge, we believe in the new three R's: Relationships, Rigor and Relevance."
Constructed by Barnhill Contracting Company, this 103,806 square-foot elementary facility is a reuse of a Pearce Brinkley Cease & Lee prototype and has been equipped with several environmentally-friendly design features to reduce energy and water consumption.
"It should be of no surprise to anyone that the same innovation that has been used to construct Alston Ridge will also be applied to the learning that goes on inside each and every classroom here," said Interim Superintendent Donna Hargens. "Principal Venezia has taken great care in putting together a knowledgeable and charismatic staff that will help guide this very first 'pod of Alligators' - and the ones that follow in their footsteps - to being successful 21st century leaders."
Following the event was "Meet the Teacher" night for families with students in Tracks 1,2, and 3 as they prepare for the first day of school on July 9. Alston Ridge expects to welcome approximately 450 students for the 2010-11 school year.
The school was built as part of the $970 million Capital Improvement Program approved by Wake County voters in 2006.
Elementary Educators Honored
Two WCPSS employees have been honored by the WCPSS Advisory Committee for Programs and Services for Children with Special Needs and WCPSS Special Education Services with Special Needs Awards.The awards went to Leadmine Elementary teacher assistant Brenda Currin and Fox Road Elementary kindergarten teacher Kennetha C. Warren.
Currin was honored with the Friend of an Exceptional Student Award for her exceptional progress with a student's language development because of her outstanding ability to personally connect. The award annually is used to recognize a WCPSS employee who works or interacts with exceptional students on a regular basis, and goes above and beyond the normal responsibilities for the benefit of the student and family.
Warren was honored with the Inclusive Person Award for the manner in which she modeled friendship to her students, and her unique ability to challenge all her students to improve while employing a dynamic approach to meeting the emotional and sensory needs of her special needs students. The award annually is used to recognize a WCPSS employee who works or interacts with exceptional children in an inclusive setting, is an exemplary role model to others in how to include exceptional students along with typically developing students, has shown an innovative approach to include exceptional students along with typically developing students.
Both the Friend of an Exceptional Student Award and the Inclusive Person Award were presented to this year's recipients at schoolwide end-of-the-year staff meetings by the WCPSS Advisory Committee Chair, members of the WCPSS Special Education Services staff and school principals.
The WCPSS Advisory Committee for Programs and Services for Children with Special Needs are parents of Wake County Public School children with special needs who are affiliated with a parent organization or community agency whose interest or expertise resides in some area of disability and have shown interest in special education, or representatives of community agencies that provide services to the students with special educational needs in the Wake County Public School System.
WCPSS on TV
Tune in to the school system's monthly television program, Full Circle, for information on Back to School! School lunches, buses, and much more information will help you start the year off right. Guests are child nutrition director Marilyn Moody, transportation operations director Alvin McNeill, Harris Creek Elementary assistant principal Kathy Godfrey, and Wake County PTA Council president Diane Delaney.2010-11 Student/Parent Handbooks Now Available
The 2010-11 Student/Parent Handbooks are now available for download in Adobe Reader format.
Annual Meeting of the Wake County Board of Education
During the board’s annual meeting this summer, the Wake County Board of Education re-elected Ron Margiotta as board chair. Margiotta, who has represented District 6 for seven years, was first elected board chair on December 1, 2009.The school board also re-elected Debra Goldman to continue as vice-chair. Goldman, representing District 9, was first elected vice-chair on December 1, 2009.
WCPSS Preliminary Test Scores Show Across-the-Board Improvement
Preliminary North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) test scores for 2009-10 show improvement in virtually every subgroup of students in the Wake County Public School System, and also show a closing of the achievement gaps between white, African-American, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students at several grade levels. Additionally, 85 percent of students taking EOC tests passed those exams."These improvements are a clear indication that our efforts since the 2007 Curriculum Management Audit of better alignment and focus of resources and efforts are paying important dividends," said Dr. Donna Hargens, interim superintendent and chief academic officer. "The teacher collaboration made possible by our Professional Learning Teams and their focus on data are showing results with these test score gains." Read more...