School Connection
March 12, 2004
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.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN FOR 2004-2005
The proposed growth management plan that will fill seven new
schools opening next year was presented to the Wake County
Board of Education March 2. After listening to community input
from a two-week comment period, WCPSS staff presented a proposed
plan to the board that included 550 fewer students.
"We continue to listen to suggestions we receive from parents as we refine plans for opening new schools next year," said Superintendent Bill McNeal. "This proposed plan is the latest step in a long conversation we're having with the community to fill the new schools our growing county requires."
The Board of Education will hold public hearings on this proposal March 17 to receive public comments. There are 70 persons signed up to speak at Green Hope High and 33 persons signed up to speak at East Wake High. More than 120 have left comments by Internet with the school system.
The proposed plan will continue to be shaped by public input as the Board of Education receives comments, holds public hearings March 17 and a work session March 23. The board is expected to approve a plan in late March.
THREE WCPSS STUDENTS NAMED MOREHEAD SCHOLARS
Three WCPSS high school seniors have been named Morehead Scholars
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Morehead pays all expenses for four years of undergraduate study, including costs of a laptop computer and four summer enrichment programs. The value of the Morehead is approximately $75,000 for each in-state student.
The WCPSS students include Katherine Anne Evans of Broughton High School, Roby Chatterji of Sanderson High School, and Erin O'Quinn of Enloe High School.
The three WCPSS students were among 40 winners selected through a nomination and interview process that began last fall, when approximately 1,500 high school seniors nationwide and in Great Britain were nominated by their high schools or applied for the Morehead.
Selection criteria are leadership, academic achievement, moral force of character and physical vigor. Morehead recipients are chosen by merit and accomplishments, not financial need. The winners have until April 15 to accept the Morehead.
WAKE STUDENTS NAMED PARK SCHOLARS
Two Wake County Public School System students, Katherine Anne
Evans and Warren Maurice Perry II, have earned North Carolina
State University's prestigious Park Scholarship.
The Park scholarships pay all expenses for four years of study at NC State and include a stipend for each student to purchase a personal computer. In addition, there are unique program components focusing on leadership development and community service. The scholarships are valued at $55,000 for North Carolina residents.
Evans, a senior at Broughton High School, is a leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a co-captain of the varsity basketball team, and the treasurer for Young Women for Women International. She also has been active in overseas missions at Providence Baptist Church as well as English tutoring at HOSTS.
Perry, a senior at Southeast Raleigh High School, is chairman of the Senior Mentor Program, committee head of Special Events in his school's National Achiever's Society, and has been voted "Mr. Southeast Raleigh High School". He also is a volunteer for the main office and "Students With Disabilities" at his school, and he volunteers for the Riley Hill Family Life Center in his community. He plans to major in biology.
Selection criteria for the merit-based Park Scholarships include academic achievement, character, and potential for leadership and service. The scholarships are renewed each year based on a student's academic achievement and personal conduct.
Evans and Perry are two of 47 students to be named Park Scholars for fall 2004. The scholarship winners were selected from among 96 finalists, all top-ranked students from North Carolina and other states.
GATLIN NAMED NC NORTH CENTRAL REGION TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Johnny Gatlin, an environmental sciences teacher at Middle
Creek High School, was today named the 2003-2004 North Central
Region Teacher of the Year. Gatlin is one of the eight regional
winners from across North Carolina who will now compete for
the North Carolina State of the Year.
Dan Holloman of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, WCPSS Superintendent Bill McNeal and Wake County Board of Education chair Susan Parry recognized Gatlin at Middle Creek High this morning.
"At a time when we have committed ourselves to help all students achieve, Johnny has made that a personal mission. He passes his love of learning on to all of his students," Superintendent McNeal said. "Johnny exemplifies the high quality teacher that we want to inspire each of our students to achieve academic success."
Gatlin will receive a $5,000 award from the state for duties he will be asked to perform during the 2004-2005 school year. In addition, Gatlin is now a member of the 2004-2005 State Teacher of the Year Team that serves on various state and regional committees including State
The state winner is announced at a formal awards ceremony on May 4.
WCPSS DANCE EDUCATOR REPRESENTS STATE AT NATIONAL CONVENTION
Moore Square Middle teacher Cindy Hoban has been named the
2004 Southern District Dance Educator of the Year.
Hoban, who has been teaching for more than 25 years, is currently the dance educator and arts department chair with Moore Square Museum Magnet Middle School. Before starting the dance program at Moore Square, Hoban was the dance educator at Martin Middle School in Raleigh for 11 years. She pioneered the use of computer technology in dance education and live performance. She is a leading innovator and strong advocate for integrating dance and the other arts with the core disciplines.
She initiated the annual "Day of Dance" in Wake County. She has mentored eight student teachers, primarily from Meredith College where she also teaches dance education courses. She has been working as a guest choreographer for musicals at NC State University and Meredith College.
Earlier this year, Hoban was named the Dance Educator of the Year by the North Carolina Association of Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance .
She will attend the national AAHPERD Convention in New Orleans March 30 to April 3 and compete for the National Dance Teacher of the Year Award along with five other regional winners. All district winners undergo a formal selection process, including providing written belief statements about dance education, an interview, and a video submission of their teaching.
BOARD NAMES BROUGHTON HIGH FIELD IN MEMORY OF COACH WARREN
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education named the Broughton
High baseball field the Wiley A. Warren Memorial Field in
honor of Wiley A. Warren who passed away on October 3, 2003.
Warren's contributions to Raleigh as well as Broughton High
are immeasurable. Coach Warren was responsible for initiating
Babe Ruth baseball in Raleigh and Wake County and was involved
in starting and continuing many of the existing youth summer
and fall baseball programs in the Raleigh area. In 1976, Wiley
Warren, along with Ernest Helms and Principal, Dr. Richard
Jewell founded the Broughton High School Athletic Booster
Club. He raised money, and supplied much of the labor to build
the dugouts, storage facilities, press box, three batting
cages, and the tree lined exterior of the field. In the early
eighties, Warren was diagnosed with cancer and retired from
his position with the state. He took the beautification and
the improvement of the Broughton baseball field facility as
his personal project in order to get through his illness.
Since the eighties, Warren volunteered as the groundskeeper
and assistant coach to Broughton's baseball team. He worked
with Broughton athletics throughout the spring, summer, and
fall for those many years.
BOARD APPROVES PURCHASE OF SCHOOL BUSES
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved the
purchase of 20 school buses, three maintenance service trucks,
and 10 activity buses to accommodate growth. Higher than anticipated
growth has generated a need for more buses than the number
currently available and on order. Having only one bus maintenance
facility dictates purchase of maintenance service vehicles
so mechanics can be dispersed to several bus parking lots
throughout the county to perform required maintenance. Activity
buses are needed to implement a plan to start replacing high-mileage
and outdated activity buses that are rapidly becoming safety
concerns. The total $1,968,261 are funded through the current
budget.
BOARD APPROVES REVISIONS FOR SPECIAL/OPTIONAL SCHOOL
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved a
revised funding plan that addresses a new special/optional
middle school and renovations/additions at Longview. The original
PLAN 2000 program included a new special/optional middle school
and new Longview building at a total cost of $11,988,586.
On October 8, 2002, the board approved an additional $5,566,217
for a new K-12 optional school (to replace Longview) with
additional capacity. Due to the difficulty in acquiring a
new site for this school, the board approved staff recommendations
that the additional capacity be added to Longview and a special/optional
middle school be built on a smaller site - all within the
previously-approved total budget of $17,554,803.
BOARD APPROVES NORTH GARNER MIDDLE SCHEMATIC DESIGN
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved
the schematic design documents prepared by Skinner Lamm &
Highsmith, P.A. for the construction of renovations and site
improvements at North Garner Middle. The $9,425,907 project
is funded by PLAN 2000 and PLAN 2004 funds.
BOARD APPROVES CHANGES FOR "E-11" ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved
an increase in the capacity of elementary school "E11,"
to be located at Forestville and Mitchell Mill roads, from
677 students and 40 teaching spaces, to a capacity of 792
students and 46 teaching spaces. The site purchased for "E11"
on Forestville Road will accommodate a larger school and possibly
a public park, and make better use of the 26-acre site.
At the February 10, 2004 meeting of the Board of Education Facilities Committee, the concept was reviewed for advancing construction of "E11" as one of the larger elementary schools (792 student capacity) versus the original scope (677 student capacity). In addition to the increase in the number of teaching spaces, the media center and the dining room will also be proportionally increased in size. Changes to the site will include longer driveway for car drop-off/pick-up and additional parking spaces.
The capacity and budget for one of the other new elementary schools will be reduced from 792 to 677 to offset the budget increase at "E11".
BOARD NAMES DESIGNER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education named Small
Kane Architects, PA for the design of the PLAN 2004 Elementary
"E10". The project will be a re-use of the Cedar
Fork Elementary prototype. This prototype is an efficient
design ready to be site adapted which will shorten design
time, reduce cost, and help expedite the project.
BOARD APPROVES BROUGHTON HIGH CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved
construction documents for the Broughton High Holliday Gym
renovations. The $6,120,466 project is funded through PLAN
2000 and PLAN 2004 funds.
BOARD APPROVES BIDS: FOX ROAD ELEMENTARY DINING BUILDING
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved
a modular dining building needed to relieve crowding in the
existing dining room at Fox Road Elementary due to the high
membership in the school. The $400,000 project is funded through
PLAN 2004 funds.
BOARD APPROVES BID FOR WILLOW SPRINGS ELEMENTARY MODULAR
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education approved
bids for a new modular classroom building to be installed
at Willow Springs Elementary to replace existing mobile units
and expand capacity. The $400,000 project is funded through
PLAN 2004 funds.
SOUTHEAST RALEIGH HIGH WINS REGIONAL ROBOT COMPETITION
The Southeast Raleigh High School FIRST Team won the Chairman's
Award and Leadership in Control Award at the NASA Langley/VCU
Regional in Richmond, Virginia. The students work with engineers
from Cisco, IBM, NC State University and they attended the
competition with parents, former team members and their families
The Robodogs earned the FIRST competition's highest honor, the Chairman's Award, and the Leadership in Control award. The Chairman's Award honors the team that embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST and represents a model for other teams to emulate. The Leadership in Control award celebrates an innovative control system or application of control components to provide unique machine functions.
The student drivers and the robot did an outstanding job, finishing the qualifying rounds third in a field of 63 teams. The robot was one of the two best at the competition and the most consistent in performance.
Photos from the competition can be found at http://www.toebes.com/robodogs/Robodogs.html
WCPSS STUDENTS TO COMPETE IN GEOGRAPHY BEE
WCPSS had 6 North Carolina State Qualifiers from students
who won their respective Geography Bees at their schools.
The Geography Bees are sponsored and promoted by National
Geographic. About 18-20 WCPSS middle schools participated
in the Geography Bee program this year. WCPSS state qualifiers
include:
-Chuck Fisher, grade 7, Reedy Creek MS
-Rhys Scarlett, grade 7, Wakefield MS
-Mitchell James, grade 8, Holly Ridge MS
-Vivek Bhattacharya, grade 8, Ligon MS
-Matthew Davidson, grade 8 Wake Forest/Rolesville MS
-Riley Morris, grade 8, Centennial Campus MS
BOARD HONORS STUDENTS
At its March 2 meeting, the Board of Education recognized
15 students with the Spotlight on Students Awards. Each school
recommends a student from their school to be honored for outstanding
achievements and accomplishments. Students are recognized
and receive a plaque. Honored students included Kendall Dawson
of Hilburn Road Elementary, Monica Lewer of East Wake Middle,
Nastalgia Powe of Green Elementary, Leah Osae of Dillard Drive
Elementary, Kacie Taylor McFadden of Green Hope Elementary,
Da'Shaun Getter of Underwood Elementary, Kendall Johnson of
Leadmine Elementary, Johny Garcia of Morrisville Elementary,
Bill Foreman of Davis Drive Elementary, Shelby Spoone of Salem
Elementary, Michael Thomas of East Millbrook Middle, Megan
Marie Beadle of Wake Forest Elementary, Larry Bolden of Mt.
Vernon School, Bre'Asia Jeffreys of Wake Forest Rolesville
Middle and Terrill Harrington of Ballentine Elementary.
CHARACTER COUNTS: Lufkin Road Middle School and the proverbial
llama
A llama was delivered to a Central American village recently
thanks to the hard work of students at Lufkin Road Middle
School. Students purchased the llama through the Heifer Project
with money they raised selling proverb cards. Teachers Mirka
Christensen and Tonya Jarrett helped eighth graders design
colorful post cards with proverbs tied to WCPSS's eight character
traits. For the trait 'kindness,' a student picked the proverb
'He who plants kindness gathers joy.' Students voted for the
best 15 cards and then students, teachers and parents sold
cards, just enough to make a donation for a llama. WCPSS teachers
with a story about their character education projects should
contact Bill Poston at bposton@wcpss.net
"XTREME BEGINNINGS" CAREER FAIR HELD AT SOUTHEAST
RALEIGH HIGH
350 Wake County high school students will took a giant leap
into their future with the fourth annual "Xtreme Beginnings,"
a career fair held today at Southeast Raleigh High School.
Tenth- through 12th-grade students got a better understanding
of their career options and started on the road to actively
planning their careers at Xtreme Beginnings. Business professionals
and educators from across Wake County led mock interviews,
workshops and roundtable discussions. University, community
college and trade school representatives offered a number
of "next steps" for postgraduate education. Students
explored 13 career pathways, including agricultural and natural
resources, arts and sciences, biological and chemical technologies,
business, commercial and artistic production, construction,
engineering, health sciences, industrial technologies, three
categories of public service, and transport systems. They
also took part in workshops on the skills employers are currently
seeking; using internships and other work-based learning to
get ahead; getting the foot in the door; and avoiding careless
personal choices which may limit career and college choices
in the future. Xtreme Beginnings was cosponsored by the Wake
County Public School System, the Raleigh Wake Human Resource
Management Association, and School-to-Career of Wake County.
EDUCATION SUMMIT NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
The Wake Education Partnership needs 100 volunteers to help
lead its seventh annual Wake Education Summit in late April.
Facilitators help guide table discussions and report the feedback
from their tables. Volunteers are asked to participate in
one of three two-hour training sessions at the Wake Education
Partnership: 3 to 5 p.m. April 14, 8 to 10 a.m. April 16 or
8 to 10 a.m. April 26. The partnership, a nonprofit advocacy
group for public education, is at 706 Hillsborough St., Suite
A, Raleigh. If you are interested in serving as a facilitator
or want to sign up for one of the training sessions, contact
George Alwon, president of Raleigh Consulting Group Inc.,
at 781-1288 or alwon@ raleighconsulting.com, or Cyndi Soter
O'Neil at 821-7609 or coneil@wakeedpartnership.org.
Organizers say those who have volunteered in the past have gained insights into educational issues facing parents, businesses, the community and the Wake school system. This year's summit will be held from 7:30 to11:30 a.m. April 29 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Much of the discussion will likely focus on how to reach the school system's new goal of having 95 percent of third- through 12th-graders passing state tests by 2008.
SAVE THE DATE FOR QUALITY MATTERS 2004 RELEASE
Mark your calendars for the release of Quality Matters 2004:
A Wake Community Review of the Public's Schools on April 13,
2004, at 10 a.m. The information session, led by Gordon Brown,
chair of the School Finance Committee, will be held at the
Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. To RSVP or for additional
information, please contact Megan Andrews at 821-7609, extension
28, or mandrews@wakeedpartnership.org. To read Quality Matters
2003, visit http://wakeedpartnership.com/Pdfs/quality_matters_2003.pdf.
PROJECT GRADUATION 2004
Project Graduation 2004 2ill be held May 22 in Dorton Arena
at the NC State Fairgrounds. For 16 years, Project Graduation
has been sponsored by the Wake County PTA Council and coordinated
by volunteers throughout the community. It is a completely
alcohol-free, drug-free and tobacco-free late-night graduation
party for all graduating seniors in Wake County. The Wake
County Public School System, Wake County Human Services, Wake
County Sheriff's Department, SAAD, MAAD and the Raleigh Youth
Council as well as other community organizations have endorsed
and provided some of the resources for this project. For more
background, visit this link: http://www.wakeptacouncil.org/more/projectgrad/grad.html
If anyone would like to volunteer, please contact Jayne Tipton
jaynetipton@hotmail.com. Or call the WCPTA Council office
at 850-1635.
CALENDAR
|
March 16 |
4 p.m. Board meeting, Board Room, 3600 Wake Forest Road |
|
March 16 |
Board's Committee of the Whole meeting - CANCELLED |
|
March 17 |
Board's Finance and Program committee meetings - CANCELLED |
|
March 17 |
5 p.m. Board of Education Growth Management proposal public hearings at East Wake High and Green Hope High |
|
March 18 |
5:30 p.m. Board of Education and County Commissioners dinner at Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, 800 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh - Rescheduled from 3/17 |
|
March 18 |
Pieces of Gold, BTi Center for the Performing Arts. Purchase tickets in advance. |
|
March 30 |
2 p.m. Committee of the Whole meeting, Board Conference Room; 4 p.m. Board meeting, Board Room, 3600 Wake Forest Road |
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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