School Connection
Goal 2008: WCPSS is committed to academic excellence. By 2008, 95 percent of students in grades 3 through 12 will be at or above grade level as measured by the State of North Carolina End-of-Grade or Course tests, and all student groups will demonstrate high growth.Feb. 16, 2005
MAGNET APPLICATION TIME UNDERWAY
The deadline is Friday for parents who want to apply for their children
to attend a magnet school for 2005-06. Applications on-line or by mail must
be post marked Feb. 7-18. The applications are accepted any time during
the 11 days. Applications will be available online at www.wcpss.net or forms
can be picked up at schools or the WCPSS Customer Service Center at 3600
Wake Forest Road.
Information on WCPSS magnet schools is available at the Magnet school office at 501-7900 or visit http://www.wcpss.net/magnet
GROWTH MANAGEMENT PREPARING 2005-06 PROPOSAL FOR BOARD
WCPSS Growth Management staff is working to prepare the 2005-06 proposal
to present to the Board of Education at its March 1 meeting.
Growth Management staff held a series of 12 community engagement meetings in the fall to discuss assignment of students to new schools that open to serve the growing Wake County population.
With feedback from the meetings, a proposal was published Jan. 21 for public comment. More than 500 people contacted the Growth Management Office by e-mail, phone and mail with comments on the proposal. Most of the comments focused on the assignment of students to the Forest Pines Drive Elementary School proposed to open as a temporary modular school at the Dubois Center in Wake Forest. Growth Management staff are using the comments they received to update the proposal for presentation to the board. The board will hold work sessions and a public hearing on the proposal in March. Board approval of a growth management plan for 2005-06 is expected in late March.
NEW SAT PREPARATION TOOL AVAILABLE
The College Board SAT Readiness Program rolls out this month to all WCPSS
high school students. This new online program can be used as part of a school's
existing SAT preparation classes or as a resource for independent study.
The new SAT includes a writing section with an essay and this program provides
an online essay-scoring feature designed specifically by the test maker.
The fact that this program can be used online or in print and can be customized
to meet the needs of the individual student or an SAT class provides maximum
flexibility to students and teachers to increase performance. The program
offers sample writing prompts, which are new to the SAT, as well as hundreds
of traditional test questions and answer explanations that build student
confidence and allow teachers and administrators to identify remediation
opportunities. More information on the new program is available at http://www.wcpss.net/sat_help
TASK FORCE WORKS TO IMPROVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE
At its Feb. 1 meeting, Superintendent Bill McNeal told the Board of Education
that a school administration task force is looking at the Jan. 19 snow event.
McNeal said Bev White, WCPSS Chief Technology Officer, will lead the task
force which will look at a wide range of issues. McNeal praised the efforts
of school system staff and the community for their help in meeting the challenges
that led to gridlock on the roads and resulted in 3,000 students spending
the night at more than 50 schools. The Emergency Management Task Force has
been created to assess options for improving the district's response to
future system-wide emergencies.
EAST WAKE SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCE
At the Feb. 1 Board of Education meeting, East Wake High Principal Herman
Norman talked with the board about a New Schools Planning Grant the school
has used to design a Health Science School in their existing facility. Dr.
Norman said East Wake High will now seek an implementation grant from the
New Schools Project to support the design initiatives. The proposed School
of Health Science would create a small learning environment with 400 students
and 25 teachers providing for more personalized instruction. Students will
complete the state's standard course of study. Instruction would be enriched
with visits from professionals in the health science field and students
would be required to complete a course sequence in the health science pathway.
Dr. Norman said East Wake hopes enroll students in the program for 2005-06.
The board approved the school's request to seek the New Schools Project
implementation grant.
WCPSS, STATE DROP OUT RATES RISE
The rate of students dropping out of school in the Wake County increased
in 2003-04, a change the state and other metropolitan school districts also
experienced. A report issued Tuesday (Feb. 2) by the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction showed that Wake County's 2003-04 dropout rate increased
to 2.35 percent for students in grades 7-12 and 3.45 percent in grades 9-12.
The 2002-03 drop out rate was 1.74 percent for grades 7-12 and 2.59 for
grades 9-12. For North Carolina, the 2003-04 dropout rate increased to 3.29
percent of students in grades 7-12 and 4.86 percent in grades 9-12. The
2002-03 drop out rate was 3.23 percent for grades 7-12 and 4.78 for grades
9-12.
BLOCK SCHEDULING EVALUATION
In 2003-04, 11 Wake County Public School System high schools moved from
a traditional student schedule of six full-year courses to a block schedule
of four courses each semester (4x4). Implementation went fairly smoothly,
with 90 percent of teachers trained prior to the change. Academic course
opportunities and course enrollment numbers increased substantially (by
24 percent and 46 percent respectively) compared to 2002-03, key desired
outcomes. Academic success was marked by increases in credits earned, grade
promotion rates, and 12th grade graduation rates as desired. Maintenance
of prior status was desired for other outcomes this first year. End-of-course
performance and grade point averages of 3.0 or higher actually increased
slightly, while Advanced Placement (AP) scores of 3 and greater decreased
slightly. Student attendance and suspension rates remained the same. Generally,
most of those surveyed and interviewed expressed satisfaction with the change.
Exploring modified schedule options for some courses as well as continued
professional development are recommended. More information is available
at http://www.wcpss.net/evaluation-research/reports/2005/0417block_schedule.pdf
BOARD APPROVES CONTRACT FOR SAF-T-NET ALERTNOW
At its Feb. 1 meeting, the Board of Education approved a one-year contract
with Saf-T-Net for use of its telephone notification service to parents/guardians
when an emergency situation occurs at any school. Saf-T-Net will provide
customer support, 24x7x365 at a centralized call center. An Emergency Response
Grant paid the contract fee of $27,400. There is a charge of twelve cents
per 30-second call for each completed call when the service is used.
WCPSS PURCHASING DEPARTMENT HONORED
The WCPSS Purchasing Department will be honored with the Sustained Professional
Purchasing Award by the Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing.
The areas evaluated include professional development, vendor relations,
minority outreach, use of automation and electronic commerce. WCPSS Purchasing
Director Scott Doolittle thanked his staff for their hard work and congratulated
them for being recognized as one of the best in the Carolinas. Deputy Superintendent
Del Burns offered his thanks to the purchasing staff. "What a wonderful
recognition of the quality work your department does for Wake County public
schools!" said Burns. "Your efforts have a direct impact on teaching
and learning every day."
APPOINTMENTS
At its Feb. 1 meeting, the Board of Education named principals for three
schools. The board named Robert E. Smith principal at Durant Road Middle,
John Wall principal at North Garner Middle and Tammie Sexton principal at
E15.
-Smith has been assistant principal at Apex High since 1999. Prior to that,
he worked as a middle school teacher in Virginia.
-Wall has been principal of Zebulon Middle since 1998. Prior to that he
worked as assistant principal at Zebulon Middle and was a teacher at Carnage
Middle. He was a finalist for WCPSS Principal of the Year last year. He
has worked in Helping Hands and Peer Mediation programs.
-Sexton has been principal at Holly Springs Elementary since 1999. She was
an assistant principal at Swift Creek Elementary and a teacher at Rand Road
Elementary. She also taught elementary summer school.
CARY HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TEAM WINS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP
WCPSS Senior Administrator for Athletics Bobby Guthrie offered his congratulations
to Jerry Winterton, coach of the Cary High Wrestling team for winning the
4A Dual Team Wrestling State Championship. Guthrie said he was told it was
one of the most exciting wrestling matches with the Cary High team winning
in the last bout with a pin in front of a packed house. Guthrie said "You
are to be congratulated on the competitiveness, confidence, and sportsmanlike
manner in which they conduct themselves. It is impressive to watch."
GROUNDHOG JOB SHADOW DAY:
802 students participated in Groundhog Job Shadow Day this year. Businesses
hosting students this year included radio and TV stations such as 850 TheBuzz,
WLFL and WRAL, department stores, newspapers, police departments, fire departments,
veterinarians, judges, lawyers, Wake Tech, churches, large businesses such
as Nortel, GlaxoSmithKline, CISCO, and IBM, doctors, hospitals, hotels,
and even school teachers.
Job shadowing immerses each student in the world of work, where they can
get first-hand information about job skills and careers. By bringing students
into the workplace to see a marketing professional or a health care technician
at work, very real and tangible options come alive for them. Job shadowing
provides exciting reasons why students should stay in school. It creates
a critical link between education and success.
Wake County Public School System partners with Junior Achievement of Eastern
North Carolina each year to provide real-world experiences for our students
on Groundhog Job Shadow Day, which is held on Feb. 2 every year.
Although job shadowing occurs throughout the school year (1668 job shadows for 2003-2004 school year), WCPSS uses Groundhog Job Shadow day to remind the community of the incredible learning experience they are helping to provide to their potentially future employees.
CALENDAR
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Feb. 16 |
Board of Education Facilities Committee meeting rescheduled and Community Relations Committee meeting cancelled |
|
Feb. 16 |
3 p.m., County Commissioners and Board of Education meet on E9 at Wake County Commons Building, Carya Drive Raleigh, NC 27610 |
|
Feb. 18 |
1 p.m., Board of Education Facilities Committee meets in the Board Conference Room, 2nd floor, 3600 Wake Forest Rd., Raleigh |
|
Feb. 22-25 |
Elected Officials go to School |
|
Feb. 22 |
6 p.m., WCPSS Lights of Hope reception and ceremony at the North Raleigh Hilton |
|
Feb. 23 |
Enloe High School reception for visiting guests from middle school in Shandong Province, China |
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Feb. 28 |
9 a.m., Board of Education and County Commissioners meet in work session at the Webster Center, 4401 Atlantic Ave., Raliegh |
|
March 1 |
2 p.m., Board of Education Committee of the Whole meeting, Board Conference Room; 4 p.m., Board of Education meeting in Board Room, 2nd floor, 3600 Wake Forest Rd., Raleigh |
You can find more information on school events at http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars
School Connection is published electronically every other week for
everyone interested in the Wake County Public School System. Is what you
read in this edition helpful? What information would you like to see in
future editions? Contact me by calling 850-1829 or e-mailing bposton@wcpss.net.
Bill Poston
Wake County Public School System
Communications Department
3600 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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