Classroom Connection - August 30, 2011
Information Meetings Scheduled to Update Student Assignment Proposal
Members of the Wake County Public School System’s Student Assignment Task Force will lead a series of community information meetings this week to provide the community an update on the progress of the development of the draft student assignment proposal.
The community information meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Aug. 31 at East Wake High and Middle Creek High
- Thursday, Sept. 1 at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High and Wakefield High
- Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Apex High
Task force members will share information about the proposal with the community and collect feedback at each meeting. These meetings are similar to the sessions the task force held in June to solicit community feedback. This is not a public forum.
The task force will accept comments on the proposal through Sept. 15 via the website http://assignment.wcpss.net. Superintendent Tata and members of the task force will review comments/feedback and make modifications as appropriate
2011-12 School Year Off to Good Start
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With the opening of our traditional schools on Aug. 25, the start of the new school year is officially underway for all students and staff. Our year-rounds schools were the first to start the new year on July 11, followed by our modified calendar schools on July 25, track 4 students on the year-round calendar began on Aug. 1, and the Wake Early Colleges’ first day was Aug. 8.
WCPSS remains the largest school district in the state. We are expecting to have 146,657 students in 165 schools this year (104 elementary, 32 middle, 25 high, and four special/optional schools). More than 11,700 kindergartners will be entering our elementary schools as the Class of 2024 this year.
Two new schools are opening their doors for the first time – the Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School and Walnut Creek Elementary.
We are expecting 75,000 students to ride 935 school buses to and from school each day.
View the 2011 First Day of Traditional Calendar School Slideshow: Walnut Creek ES, Wendell Magnet ES, Forestville Road ES, and Sanderson HS Senior Parade.
2011 National Pawnbroker of the Year Donates Band Instruments to Middle Schools
Bob Moulton, owner of National Pawn and the 2011 National Pawnbroker of the Year, will visit North Garner Middle School on Aug. 31 to donate band instruments to the Wake County Public School System.North Garner Principal Gregory Butler, North Garner Band Director Timothy Kohring and North Garner students will be on hand to accept the donation of musical instruments that will benefit North Garner, East Wake, Wake Forest, West Millbrook, Fuquay-Varina, Apex and Zebulon middle schools.
Elizabeth Droessler, WCPSS senior administrator for Arts Education, said the instruments will make the arts accessible to students who otherwise would not be able to afford to participate.
Moulton operates eight National Pawn stores in Raleigh, Durham and Wilmington and is known for supporting the communities where he does business. He has endowed annual scholarships for Triangle students and provided musical instruments to area middle school band programs.
2011 WCPSS School Counselor of the Year Honored
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Mary Engerer |
Mary Engerer, a school counselor at Wake Forest Elementary School, was named the 2011 School Counselor of the Year for the Wake County Public School System during a ceremony held Aug. 22 at Panther Creek High School.
The 2011-12 school year marks Engerer’s sixth year as a counselor at Wake Forest Elementary where she works with students during classroom guidance lessons, in small groups, and during individual sessions.
Counselors were honored for elementary, middle and high schools. Phillip Echols, a school counselor at Davis Drive Middle, and Pat Moore, a school counselor at Fuquay-Varina High School, were honored as School Counselor of the Year finalists during the event.
“These school counselors demonstrate the best qualities of WCPSS school counselors and implement an outstanding comprehensive school counseling program at their schools,” said Portia Lambright, senior administrator of Counseling and Student Services.
Packets are being submitted for these school counselors to the NC School Counselor Association and the American School Counselor Association for consideration for the state and national award processes.
2010 Teacher of the Year Talks about Building Strong Relationships with Parents
Parents and teachers work together to support student success. 2010 Wake County Teacher of the Year Elizabeth Plotkin says teachers and parents can build relationships at the start of the school that will help children grow academically.
Click to listen to 2010 Teacher of the Year Talks about Building Strong Relationships with Parents
This is a 18.5-minute mp3 file.
Sanderson’s JROTC Cadets Earn Distinguished Unit Award
The Sanderson High Air Force JROTC corps of cadets earned the 2010-11 Air Force Junior ROTC Distinguished Unit Award. Sanderson’s cadets have won the distinguished unit award every year since it was created nine years ago.
The award recognizes AFJROTC units that have performed above and beyond normal expectations and have distinguished themselves through outstanding service to their school and community while meeting the AFJROTC mission of developing citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.
The objectives of the Junior ROTC program are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship and life skills; promote community service; instill responsibility, character, and self-discipline through character education; and to provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. This award is based on the accomplishment of Cadet Goals established at the beginning of the school year.
Book Bag Donations Help Washington Prepare for Start of School Year
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Students smiled when handed book bags in the counselor’s office during Meet the Teacher day at Washington Magnet Elementary.
The school received a donation of 100 book bags filled with school supplies from the AT&T Pioneers. Robert Doreauk, vice-president of the AT&T Pioneers in North Carolina, said the group also donated book bags to Barwell Road Elementary and Fox Road Elementary.
Athens Drive FCCLA Students Recognized at National Competition
Four Athens Drive High students attended the National Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Leadership Conference in Anaheim, California, and participated in STAR Events (Students Taking Action with Recognition). The students were awarded medals for outstanding skills in the following categories:
Gold Medal - Chapter Service Project Display: a team event recognizing chapters that develop and implement an in-depth service project that makes a worthwhile contribution to families, schools, and communities. Students must use Family and Consumer Sciences content and skills to address and take action on a community need. The students prepared a display that represented one of FCCLA’s service projects and described the project in detail to a panel of judges.
Students: Deema Al-Ghandour and Danielle Frider
Silver Medal - Chapter Service Project Manual: a team event using the same criteria as above with their final project being in the form of a scrapbook which they presented to a panel of judges.
Students: Michelle Anaya-Martinez and Yusor Aabu-Salha
The students received their medals during a recognition session held in the Anaheim Convention Center in July.
Southeast Raleigh High Students Sample TruMoo Milk
Students at Southeast Raleigh High had a chance to sample the new TruMoo milk Child Nutrition Services may offer in middle and high school lunchrooms.
The TruMoo milk will be available for a la carte sales for one dollar and comes in pint plastic bottles. It is also available in half pints for 50 cents.
Marilyn Moody of WCPSS Child Nutrition Services says the new TruMoo milk for K-12 lunches is in lunchrooms now. It is skim milk and comes in reduced-sugar flavors: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla as well as unflavored white. None of the TruMoo milk products contains high fructose corn syrup.
Brentwood Magnet Elementary Receives Verizon Foundation Thinkfinity Grant
Brentwood Magnet Elementary School of Engineering won a $5,000 Thinkfinity STEM Grant from the Verizon Foundation. The grant will provide teachers professional development in the STEM areas of science, technology, engineering and math including Verizon and Thinkfinity’s resources of lesson plans and materials that all Brentwood teachers can use to provide STEM activities in their classrooms. The grant application was prepared by Jamie Hall and Emily Hardee of Brentwood Magnet Elementary, Tasha Haynes Cardenas of WCPSS Magnet Programs and Roger Regan of WCPSS Evaluation & Research.
Athens Drive High School Yearbook 2011 Receives Accolades
Congratulations to Athens Drive Printing & Graphics Teacher Elizabeth Phelps and the entire 2010-11 ADHS Yearbook Staff for earning the following awards:
Walsworth Publishing Company
- Gallery of Excellence Award
North Carolina Scholastic Association
- Second Place Theme Design (School of Distinction)
- Honorable Mention Cover Design
- 1st Place Sports Photography for Large Schools (Corey Jenkins)
- 3rd Place Theme Spreads for Large Schools (Kate Leidheiser)
Update Your Phone Contact List
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Crossroads I Building |
Phone numbers for many Wake County Public School System Central Services departments have changed.
Phone numbers changed for WCPSS Central Services departments consolidated this month in new offices at the Crossroads Office Park in Cary.
Callers dialing the old numbers will hear a message directing them to the new phone numbers for 30 days after the move.
If you are unsure of a phone number, please contact WCPSS Customer Service for assistance at 919-431-7400.
- Customer Service 431-7400
- Child Nutrition Services 856-2918
- MyLunchMoney.com 1-800-479-3531
- Center for International Enrollment 431-7404
- Central Records 431-7388
- Growth and Planning 431-7333
- Jobline 431-7444
- Magnet Resource Center 431-7355
- Project Enlightenment 856-7774
- Special Education 858-3151
- Testing (General) 856-3788
- Testing (Hearing) 858-1665
- Transportation 856-8050
Principal of the Year Finalists Named
The Wake County Public School System has named finalists for the 2011-12 Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year.
The Principal of the Year finalists are Gary Baird of Lead Mine Elementary, Pamela Kinsey-Barker of Brassfield Elementary, Kevin Biles of Pleasant Union Elementary, Wade Martin of Martin Magnet Middle and Drew Cook of Garner Magnet High.
The Assistant Principal of the Year finalists are Cheryl Fenner of Hilburn Drive Elementary, Ruth Ann Freeman of Bugg Magnet Elementary, Syreeta Smith of North Forest Pines Elementary, Richard Williams of Davis Drive Middle and Greg Welsh of Panther Creek High.
The finalists are nominated by the principals and assistant principals of the Wake County Public School System. The Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year celebration is scheduled for Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.
Wake County College Fair Sept. 18
The Wake County College and Post Secondary Opportunities Fair will be held 2-4:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 18 at the McKimmon Center at NC State University.
High School students and their parents can talk with representatives from over 100 colleges, universities, community colleges and all branches of the military. The college fair will offer free sessions on financial aid and college planning.
The McKimmon Center is located on Gorman Street at the intersection with Western Boulevard.
This is a popular event that draws large crowds, so provide time in your schedule for parking and then visiting with the representatives of the colleges and universities that are your top choices.
The fair is sponsored by Wake County Public School System Counseling and Student Services, Carolina Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and NC State University.
Board Names Administrator, Interim Principals
At its Aug. 16 meeting, the Board of Education named Lisa Grillo assistant superintendent for Special Education Services and two interim principals.
Grillo has served as principal of the Mamie D. Lee School in the Washington DC Public Schools since 2009. She has worked as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Howard University and Trinity University and at Prince George’s Community College. Prior to that, she was a high school administrator in Prince George’s County, Maryland, an assistant professor in the College of Education at University of New Mexico, an inclusion specialist at the Kennedy Institute and a high school special education teacher in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
The board named as interim principals Thomas Dixon at Wake Forest-Rolesville High and Charles Langley at Dillard Drive Elementary. Both Dixon and Langley are retired WCPSS principals.
The board named as assistant principals Altonia Bransome at East Millbrook Magnet Middle, Glenn Dansky at Millbrook Magnet High, Molly Moore at West Millbrook Middle, Anson Robinson at Wakefield High and Abbey Weispfenning at Southeast Raleigh High. Patricia Abel was named a part time assistant principal at Athens Drive High. Michelle Bell was named a 50 percent assistant principal and 50 percent teacher at Carnage Magnet Middle.