The 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.

April 13, 2005


BOARD APPROVES 2005 GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Wake County Board of Education approved the 2005 growth management plan at its meeting Tuesday (April 5) filling four new schools opening next year.

The growth management plan responds to dramatic growth in student enrollment while moving one of the smallest number of students in the last 10 years. Current enrollment for 2004-05 is 114,068. The Wake County Planning Department projects enrollment will reach 118,041 next year.

The proposed plan reassigns 2,246 students and caps enrollment at four elementary schools. The assignments will fill four new schools: Cedar Fork Elementary, Harris Creek Elementary, Forest Pines Drive Elementary and Wakelon Elementary. Enrollment is capped at Brassfield, Creech Road, Pleasant Union and Root elementary schools.

The proposal helps to fill the new Cedar Fork Elementary School, which was completed two years ago. The school campus has served as the temporary site for Northwoods Elementary this year and Kingswood Elementary last year, while the schools' permanent campuses underwent major renovations.

The proposal assigns students to three modular elementary school campuses opening to meet the dramatic growth in student enrollment.

The Harris Creek Elementary temporary site adjacent to the East Millbrook Middle School campus will be located on Spring Forest Road in North Raleigh and the permanent site will open in 2006 at Forestville Road and Mitchell Mill Road.

The Forest Pines Drive Elementary temporary site will be located on the Dubois Campus on East Cary Avenue in Wake Forest and the permanent site will open in 2007 at Forest Pines Drive in the Wakefield community.

The Wakelon Elementary temporary site will be located at Wendell Blvd. and Highway 97 in Wendell and the permanent site will open in 2007 at Pippin Road and Highway 96 in Zebulon.

Caps were approved to help crowded schools in fast growing parts of the county. The cap means families who move in after May 1 will be required to attend schools that are farther away until space opens up for them.

Brassfield was capped at 675 students with Lacy, Leadmine and Lynn Road serving as overflow schools. Pleasant Union was capped at 720 with Forest Pines Drive serving as overflow school. Creech Road was capped at 905 with Aversboro serving as overflow school. Root was capped at 509 with Lacy serving as overflow school.

The board's actions followed a lengthy community discussion that included a board work session and public hearing in March, two-week public comment period on a draft proposal in January and a series of 12 community engagement meetings held across the county last fall.

BOARD APPROVES 2005-06 BELL SCHEDULE
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education approved the 2005-06 bell schedule. The new bell schedule means a change for one school and adds the five new schools opening in 2005-06. Zebulon Elementary will change to a schedule of 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. from its current schedule of 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. New schools opening in 2005-06, Cedar Fork Elementary, Forest Pines Drive Elementary, Harris Creek Elementary, and Wakelon Elementary will operate 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The bell schedule for Hedingham Middle, a special school for at risk students, will be 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

BOARD APPROVES CHARACTER EDUCATION POLICY
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education put into policy what has been practice in the classroom for more than 10 years. The board gave final approval to Character Education Policy 5130, which formalizes practices and beliefs related to the importance of character education and a positive learning environment in the Wake County Public School System. This policy reflects the eight character traits adopted by WCPSS in 1993 and focuses on curriculum, climate and community involvement as core components of the Character Education Program. The character traits include courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility and discipline. Educators' efforts to model the traits and weave them into instruction have led to national recognition. WCPSS was named a National School District of Character in 1993. Combs Elementary was honored as a National School of Character in 2003. Davis Drive Middle School social studies teacher Cindi Baker was named the 2003 National Character Education Middle School Teacher of the Year

PRELIMINARY APPROVAL GIVEN GANG-RELATED ACTIVITY POLICY
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education gave First Reading approval to a policy on gang and gang-related activity. The purpose of this policy is to address gang and gang-related activities. School administrators said the policy will assist in maintaining order, safety and discipline, and protecting students and staff in the school. Administrators said they would work closely with local law enforcement to provide the most current information to school staff in training for this policy. The draft policy must receive a second vote of approval from the school board to be adopted. The draft policy is at http://www.wcpss.net/draft-policy/

BOARD RECEIVES EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE REPORT
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education received the report of the Emergency Management Task Force led by Bev White, the WCPSS Chief Technology Officer. The report provides twelve recommendations to improve WCPSS emergency response including

The Task Force Recommendations were presented to the Board for information. The recommendations are an important follow-up to the Jan. 19 snow event. The Emergency Management Task Force was created to assess options for improving the district's response to future system wide emergencies.

BOARD RECOGNIZES ADMINISTRATORS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY AWARD
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education recognized WCPSS administrators who earned a Sustainable Energy Leadership Award at the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Conference. The State Energy Office honored WCPSS for the district's energy efficiency, sustainability and energy education efforts.

WCPSS involves students and staff in teaching and learning about energy and environmental conservation with hands-on experiences through the EnergySavers program. The school system has adopted High Performance Guidelines to help address sustainability issues in new and existing school buildings and to include, where possible, rainwater and gray water collection systems, water-efficient landscaping, energy management plans, solar and other renewable energy systems and practices, and the use of recycled construction materials.

BOARD NAMES TWO NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Education named James Argent principal of Swift Creek Elementary and Alison Hiltz principal of Partnership Elementary.
-Argent has served as assistant principal at Timber Drive Elementary since 2003. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal intern and curriculum integration coordinator at Centennial Campus Middle School. He was a teacher in other school districts at the elementary and high school level.
-Hiltz was assistant principal at Partnership Elementary since 2003. Prior to that, she was a charter school administrator for three years and owned a business for five years. Earlier, she had worked as a teacher at Athens Drive High and as a case manager/behavior specialist for WCPSS.

The board named Deborah Henry assistant principal at Southeast Raleigh High. Henry was a teacher at Southeast Raleigh High since 2004. Prior to that, she was an assistant principal intern at Southeast Raleigh. Earlier, she was a principal and guidance counselor for a Raleigh private school and a teacher in another school district.

SCHOOL CONNECTION TV VISITS THE CAPITAT HOUSE
Join Christy Hardee of WCPSS School Connection TV as she visits with Broughton High School teachers and students building a Habitat for Humanity house. You can see the story at http://www.wcpss.net/schooltv/

APEX MIDDLE SCHOOL RIBBON CUTTING AND OPEN HOUSE
The Wake County Public School System held a ribbon cutting and open house for the renovated Apex Middle School April 2. Faculty and students started the 2004-05 school year back home and decided this was the best time to celebrate their return. The major renovation and addition project, which was completed last summer, added approximately 300 classroom seats, bringing school capacity to 981 students. Apex Middle students and staff were housed at the new Salem Middle School during the 2003-04 school year, while Apex was renovated.

The project included master planning the entire campus; demolishing buildings 2, 3, 6 and 9; building new classrooms, auditorium/theater arts, administration and student support services; upgrading remaining existing classrooms; renovating existing visual arts, family and consumer sciences, business education, and physical education spaces; converting assembly room to new band and dance rooms; converting existing administration and student support spaces to classrooms; upgrading site; and addressing deferred maintenance and modernization needs.

Funding comes from the WCPSS PLAN 2000 School Building Program. The total project cost is approximately $14.8 million, and includes furniture, equipment and all fees.

WAKE PTA LEADER SPEAKS ON NARROWING THE GAP
Mia Greene, president-elect of the Wake County PTA Council, will be the speaker at the YWCA 2005 Day of Commitment. Greene will speak 7:45 a.m., Wednesday, April 27 on "Narrowing the Achievement Gap. " The Day of Commitment is held every April at YWCAs across the country to remember and celebrate a commitment to the elimination of racism. This is a free breakfast open to the community at large. The YWCA would like you to RSVP to 833-3883 x21. The YWCA is located at 1012 Oberlin Road, Raleigh.

CALENDAR

April 13 3:30 p.m., Community Relations Committee Meeting-Board Conference Room April 18 6:30 p.m., Joint Dinner of the Board of Education and the Mayor's Association- Board Conference Room
April 19 11 a.m., Facilities Committee meets in the Board Conference Room
April 19 1 p.m. Committee of the Whole Meeting - Board Conference Room and then at 3 p.m., Board of Education meeting - Board meeting room
April 20 9 a.m., Joint Work Session of the Board of County Commissioners and the Board of Education-Downtown - Wake County Office Building
April 22 Teacher workday at traditional calendar schools

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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