October 9, 2009

Top News

New Members Elected to Wake County Board of Education

Four new members will join the Wake County Board of Education with three candidates winning election in October 6 voting and a fourth seat going into a run off.

The new board members will be Chris Malone in District 1, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9.

There will be a run off in District 2 with John Todesco and Cathy Truitt, the two candidates who received the most votes. The runoff election will be Nov. 3.

The new members will take the oath of office at the board meeting on December 1.

You can see the election results here.

WCPSS 20-day count: 139,599

Wake County Public School System student enrollment increased to 139,599 on the 20th day of the 2009-10 school year, 1,893 students more than last year.

The 20th day enrollment is a snapshot of one day's school enrollment that is annually reported to the state.

The 20th day of traditional calendar school was on September 22nd. On that day, WCPSS schools were serving 140,234 students, an increase of 2,528 more than the 2008-09 official 20th day count. Most of the increase occurred in year-round schools which reach their 20th day earlier than traditional calendar schools.

ISSUE:  Board receives report on Teacher Advancement Program Wilburn Elementary principal Jennifer Carnes talked with the Board of Education Oct. 6 about the school’s use of the Teacher Advancement Program, or TAP, over the past year. Carnes talked with the board about TAP in the committee of the whole and the full board meeting. More information The System for Teacher and Student Advancement Wilburn Elementary Wilburn Elementary Succeeds with TAP “TAP is the system for Teacher and Student Advancement,” said Carnes. “It looks to help improve student achievement by improving teacher effectiveness.” TAP consists of four elements: Multiple Career Paths for Career, Mentor and Master Teachers, On-going applied professional growth, Instructionally focused accountability, and Performance based compensation. Cluster groups meet for one to two hours weekly in grade-alike or subject-alike groups. Clusters are led by expert instructors in the school – the master and/or mentor teachers. TAP has developed a comprehensive system for evaluating teachers and rewards them for how well they teacher their students. Teachers are held accountable for meeting the TAP Teaching Skills, Knowledge and Responsibility Standards, as well as for the academic growth of their students. The TAP model is funded by the school through the school’s Title I funds. Carnes said Wilburn teachers voted to implement TAP and the school had Title I funding that allowed them to implement the program. “We saw student growth. We saw our children more focused on academics. We saw the teachers more focused on their effectiveness with teaching,” said Carnes. “We met expected growth according to the ABC model. We made AYP. We made 21 of 21 goals. And we came out of Title I school improvement for two years. This helped bring us out of school improvement.” In the committee of the whole, board members asked school administrators to identify additional schools that had sufficient teacher support and funding to implement the program. They discussed the district applying for federal grant funds to support schools that were interested in implementing TAP and would have the support and resources to continue it after the grant.

More News

Mentor Pay Plan for 2009-10

WCPSS received a 15% reduction in state funding for mentor pay for 2009-10.  Prior to 2009-10, WCPSS staff paid for mentoring exceeded state minimum requirements. The reduction in state funding will be met by maintaining the same rate of mentor pay ($100/month) for only mentors meeting state minimum requirements. The 2009-10 mentor pay plan will maintain our focus on classroom teachers.

All WCPSS High Schools Students Can Send Electronic Transcripts

Students at all Wake County Public School System high schools now have the ability to request their official high school transcript be securely sent electronically to any of the 110 North Carolina public, private, and community colleges and universities through the College Foundation of North Carolina's college access web portal, CFNC.org.

Eric Sparks who heads up WCPSS Counseling and Student Services says high school guidance offices have been working with CFNC.org to make this service available.

"Wake County high school counselors and registrars are excited that students can now request their transcripts electronically,” said Sparks. “The CFNC website makes this part of the college admissions process easy and efficient with no cost to our students."

In May 2009, eight pilot schools were added to the CFNC Transcript System and over 1,100 electronic transcripts were securely delivered since that time.

With all Wake County Public High Schools having electronic transcript capabilities on CFNC.org, it is anticipated that over 10,000 transcripts will be delivered to colleges throughout North Carolina for the WCPSS Class of 2010.

Millbrook Teachers Selected for Best Teaching Practices

Millbrook Magnet Elementary will become an online example of the International Baccalaureate Organization's Primary Years Programme. Millbrook Magnet Elementary Principal Paula Trantham and her school were visited this week by an International Baccalaureate Organization film crew from Cardiff, Wales.

Millbrook Magnet Elementary was selected to be profiled in web resources and videos on the International Baccalaureate Organization's global website as a model of implementation of the whole-school IB Primary Years Programme. The students and staff have a well-designed system of units of inquiry leading towards the 5th grade exhibition each year, and we look forward to their models being shown to the global community.

Millbrook Magnet Elementary received its International Baccalaureate Organization authorization for the Primary Years Programme in 2004.

WCPSS students take part in 2009 Walk to School Day

Students from schools across Wake County took part in the national Walk to School celebration on Oct. 7. The purpose of the project is to enhance the health of our students and their families by providing an opportunity to increase physical activity, draw greater community awareness to safe walking and biking routes to school and demonstrate community strategies to improve air quality. Walk to School day is just one example of a lifestyle change that could help curb our nation's obesity and Type II Diabetes epidemic. WCPSS elementary schools that took part in the walk included Baucom, Brooks, Davis Drive, Highcroft, Leesville Road, Lynn Road, Northwoods, Olive Chapel, Penny Road, Stough, Wake Forest and Wakefield.

Disability History and Awareness Month

The State of North Carolina serves more than 190,000 students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). WCPSS serves 18,690 of those students. In 2007, the NC General Assembly passed Senate Bill 753 proclaiming the month of October as Disability History and Awareness Month. The intent is to increase public awareness and respect for people with disabilities by providing meaningful learning opportunities. To assist schools, Special Education Services has developed and provided information/resources for school staff to use.

Board reviews policy updates

At its meeting Oct. 6, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to

Policy 7145 – Activity Buses - The proposed policy was reviewed by the Facilities and Operations Committee on Sept. 2, 2009 and by the Committee of the Whole on Sept. 15, 2009. The Transportation Advisory Committee has reviewed and supports adoption of this policy. The provisions of this policy will not increase transportation cost.

The review of board policies is based on a recommendation from the curriculum management audit.