SCHOOL CONNECTION

September 6, 2002

2003 Goal: By 2003, 95 percent of students tested will be at or above grade level as measured by NC End-of-Grade testing at grades 3 and 8.

WAKE SAT SCORES HIGHEST EVER
Chuck Dulaney of WCPSS Evaluation and Research told the Board of Education at its Tuesday (Sept 3) meeting that WCPSS students averaged a 1067 score on the SAT, the highest scores ever by Wake students. Wake's students' scores were 13 points higher than the previous year. Wake students' average score of 1067 is far above the national average of 1020 and the North Carolina average of 998. Dulaney said 79 percent of Wake students took the SAT, compared with 67 percent of North Carolina students and 46 percent of U.S. students. He said Garner High and Leesville Road High students increased their average scores by more than 30 points. Dulaney emphasized that Wake students' scores were continuing to steadily improve over time and the rate of participation among Wake students remains high.

VOICES AND CHOICES LEADERS REPORT PROGRESS
Voices and Choices co-chairs Orage Quarles, III, and Lynne Garrison told the Board of Education at its Tuesday (Sept 3) meeting that the community effort is underway to help identify the Wake County public School System's next goal after Goal 2003. They played a short videotape that will be used in a series of meetings that will be held around the county. Garrison said trained volunteers leading the meetings will survey participants about their pressing priorities, changes they would like to see, and suggested goals after 2003. She said after providing written responses to the three questions, there would be a group discussion on the issues. Quarles is the president and publisher of The News and Observer. Garrison is vice president of corporate communications for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Board Chair Kathryn Watson Quigg thanked them for leading the community study.

SUPERINTENDENT MCNEAL TALKS WITH BOARD ABOUT UNDERUTILIZED SCHOOLS
At the Tuesday (Sept. 3) meeting of the Board of Education, Superintendent Bill McNeal told the board he wanted to clear up confusion about the policy on underutilized schools. McNeal said six schools were designated as underutilized schools during last year's assignment process. The six elementary schools - Brooks, Conn, Creech Road, Dillard Drive, Rand Road, and Swift Creek - were facing under enrollment that threatened the future health of the schools. He said designating the schools as underutilized and limiting the magnet and year-round application process from those schools' attendance areas was never intended to be a permanent solution, but a stopgap measure while other strategies were put in place. He said the administration and board had allowed some transfers out of these areas.

"Our task is to keep all of our schools strong," McNeal said. "Our community demands that we keep our traditional schools healthy while offering additional options for Wake County families. We will not designate these schools as underutilized in next year's student assignment planning process, and we will continue to look at all available ways of ensuring that we have a healthy balance of traditional and magnet schools."

McNeal said that all Wake schools - traditional, magnet, and year-round - must continue to be the envy of the state, and that magnet schools must continue to be viable, attractive options that strengthen the school system as a whole.

WAKE BEGINS USING NEW STATE STUDENT RECORD SOFTWARE
WCPSS NCWISE Product Manager Cynthia Kennedy told the Board of Education at its Tuesday (Sept 3) meeting that all Wake elementary schools are using the new state software student information system NCWISE (Window of Information for Student Education). Kennedy said Wake piloted use of the software that replaces an outdated system that is 17 years old. She said the NCWISE system is easy to use, provides more comprehensive data, better data sharing and more effective communication of data. Data conversion for the secondary schools will take place between Sept.11 and Nov. 12 and the old software system will not be used after Jan. 1. Kennedy said data managers from each school have received 12 days of training in the use of NCWISE and a second round of training will make sure there is a back-up for the data manager at each school.

BOARD COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE LOOKS AT BLOCK SCHEDULING
Meeting as a Committee of the Whole to study issues, the Board of Education heard from school officials who are considering the use of block scheduling in high schools. New state graduation requirements call for 20 credits, or courses. The current six period schedule allows students to take 24 courses. A switch to block scheduling would allow students to take 32 courses. A report from a task force of high school principals and teachers recommended block scheduling for non-magnet high schools. Block scheduling would allow students to take four 90-minute classes each semester, or eight courses during the year. Students now take six 45-minute classes for a year. The change to block scheduling would allow students more learning opportunities, helping students who take courses such as band to also take other electives like foreign language, or helping students who fail a class to still graduate on time. Teachers would have fewer classes and would have time to better meet the individual needs of students.

PARENTS VOTING ON CALENDAR AT TWO SCHOOLS
Ballots will be mailed to parents of students at Hodge Road Elementary and Olive Chapel Elementary Sept. 20 asking if they will support converting the schools to the year-round calendar. Parents must return the forms by Oct. 4 to be counted. If 70 percent of all households approve, the mutli-track year-round calendar will be used for the next year. Crowding caused by the growing student population at the two schools led school system staff to cap enrollment at the schools last school year. Staff said they will have to reassign a number of students for 2003-2004 or parents could choose to convert the school to a multi-track year-round school. Switching to a multi-track year-round school would allow the school to handle another 20 to 30 percent more students.

CARNAGE MIDDLE REDESIGN PROJECT EARNS NATIONAL AWARD
WCPSS Assistant Superintendent Mike Burriss recognized the school system team that received the 2002 Education Design Showcase Award from School Planning and Management magazine at the Tuesday (Sept. 3) meeting of the Board of Education. Burriss congratulated Carnage Middle principal Leonard King, architect Keith Giamportone, and WCPSS Facility Planning staffers Larry Sherrill and William Hartley for earning the award for outstanding architecture and design in education. . The additions and renovation of Carnage Middle were designed by Brown Jurkowski Architectural Collaborative (BJAC).

BOARD APPROVES DESIGN FOR SCHOOL RENOVATION
At its Tuesday (Sept. 3) meeting, the Board of Education approved schematic designs for the PLAN 2000 addition and renovations at Kingswood Elementary. The facility planning staff presented the plans, which were prepared by Davis Kane Architects, P.A.

ENLOE HIGH STUDENT ELECTED PRESIDENT OF BOYS NATION
Enloe High student Bradford Johnson was elected president of Boys Nation in July. Johnson is the first North Carolina delegate to be elected president. He was one of 48 delegates sponsored by Raleigh Post 1 to attend Boys State and one of two students to represent North Carolina at Boys Nation in Washington. The Enloe High School senior is president of the high school's art club and debate team.

SOUTHEAST RALEIGH HIGH TEACHER NAMED TO STATE BOARD
Southeast Raleigh High teacher Cara Faulkner of Raleigh has been appointed by Gov. Mike Easley as the public member of the state Board of Athletic Trainer Examiners. Faulkner teaches U.S. History and is a varsity boys tennis coach. She is a volunteer for the American Heart Association Heart Walk and serves on the event planning committee for Prevent Blindness North Carolina.

DOUGLAS ELEMENTARY RECOGNIZED
Douglas Elementary has received the Creative Ticket - Schools of Excellence Award from the Arts Education Coalition and the N.C. Alliance for Arts Education. The award recognizes schools that have done an outstanding job of making arts an essential part of their curriculum. Douglas earned the award with its school-wide initiative, "The da Vinci Project: Discovering Science Through the Arts."

WAKE COUNTY COLLEGE FAIR
The Wake County College Fair is Sunday, Sept 8, 2-4:30 p.m. at the McKimmon Center. The fair is an annual event where representatives from over 150 colleges and universities from across the nation are on hand to answer questions related to the college admissions process. Students and parents are invited to attend workshops on Financial Aid and Preparing for College. The fair is free to the general public and students from Wake County and surrounding areas are invited to attend. For more information, please contact the NC State Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 515-2434.

WAKE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP ANNUAL MEETING
The Wake Education Partnership's annual meeting will be held October 17, 7:30-9:15 a.m. at the McKimmon Center. The meeting is titled Building Futures: Leadership for Excellence in Public Education and it will engage parents, teachers, representatives of business, government and universities in renewing a shared commitment to public education in Wake County. Dr. Howard Gardner, known for his research into intelligence, will be the featured speaker. Register by contacting Linsey Dyson at the Wake Education Partnership at 821-7609.

PARTNERSHIP SEEKING INVOLVED PARENT LEADERS FOR THE 2002-2003 PTA LIAISON PROGRAM
Wake Education Partnership is seeking enthusiastic and involved parents to serve as PTA Parent Liaisons at their child's school. The position job description includes:
*Serving as liaison between Wake Education Partnership and the school;
*Keeping the school's parents, teachers and administrators informed about the work and mission of Wake Education Partnership;
*Attending informational meetings at the Partnership on a bi-monthly basis during the school year;
*Scheduling a Wake Education Partnership representative to speak at a PTA meeting; and if applicable,
*Serving as Captain at the school for the Partnership's Annual Parent Campaign.
Community leadership plays a pivotal role in affecting change in Wake County's public schools. Make a difference at your child's school by serving as the Wake Education Partnership PTA Parent Liaison. To sign up or for additional information about the Parent Initiative contact Amanda Haynes at (919) 821-7609, extension 35, or ahaynes@wakeedpartnership.org.

IN THE NEWS

The U.S. Department of Education reports "Paige Offers Suggestions for Educators to Mark Anniversary of Sept. 11"; "President Proclaims Sept. 11 Patriot Day"; and "Radio Address of the President to the Nation"

The NC Department of Public Instruction reports "North Carolina SAT Score Increases Six Points, Moving Above Southeast Average; Nation Stays the Same"

Education Week reports "Educators Split Over What To Teach Come Sept. 11"; "L.A. Preschool Plan Draws Attention"; and "Officials Tie Entrance-Score Dips To Curriculum"

The Beacon of LEARN NC reports on education

CNN reports on education

The National School Board Association reports the School Board News

CALENDAR

Sept. 10

11 a.m., Human Resources Committee; 12:30 p.m., Policy Committee; 2 p.m., Community Relations Committee; 3:30 p.m., Finance Committee

Sept. 17

2 p.m., Board Committee of the Whole; 4 p.m., Board Meeting

Sept. 18

12 p.m., County Commissioners Lunch, Board Conference Room, 3600 Wake Forest Road; 2 p.m., Facilities Committee; 3:30 p.m., Program Committee

Oct 1

5-9 p.m. The Wake PTA Council will conduct PTA Leadership Training at Daniels Middle

You can find more calendar information at http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/index.html

ASNWERMAN: MAGNET SCHOOL INFORMATION
Question: Where can I obtain information about the magnet schools to see if any of the programs match my child's interests?
Answer: First, mark your calendar for Saturday, November 2nd. That is the date of this year's annual Magnet Fair. It will be held at Southeast Raleigh High School from 1-4 p.m. You can call the district office, 850-1600, to get directions if needed. The Magnet Fair is a great place to get a lot of information at one time. You can meet principals and see displays from each of the magnet schools. Second, plan a trip to our Magnet Resource Center. It is located on the campus of Millbrook Elementary School at 1520 E. Millbrook Road. Again, call us for directions if needed. The Center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 p.m. In addition to the attractive displays, you will find the staff to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable.
The Answer Man is Jeff Nash, who directs the Wake County Schools Customer Service Center. If you have questions about the school system, call the Customer Service Center at 850-1600.

School Connection is published electronically every other week for everyone interested in the Wake County Public Schools. 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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