School Connection

January 30, 2007

BOARD REVIEWS 2007-08 GROWTH MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL
A public hearing has been set for 6:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 5 for families who live in nodes that are now under consideration for reassignment in the 2007-08 growth management proposal or who may be assigned to a different school based upon Friday’s eight hours of discussion in the Board of Education work session.

Letters were sent Monday to families who were affected by the board’s decisions in the work sessions. Families are able to sign up online at www.wcpss.net to take part in the Feb. 5 public hearing.

The proposal fills five new schools and 22 schools transitioning to the year-round calendar, which are needed as student enrollment continues to grow. Enrollment increased by 7,500 students for 2006-07 and is expected to increase by 8,000 students for 2007-08.

SUPERINTENDENT PRESENTS FIRST SCHOOL SYSTEM MIDTERM REPORT CARD
Superintendent Del Burns called for a comprehensive independent curriculum management audit of the Wake County Public School System as part of his first "midterm report" to the Wake County Board of Education.

Phi Delta Kappa Curriculum Management Audit

"We have seen our students’ success on the SAT, increasing number of students taking challenging high school courses and a graduation rate higher than the state and nation. The critical question before us is -- in light of significantly higher standards and expectations for all students, in light of the need to prepare children to not just live, but to thrive in a global economy in a global society -- are we doing enough?" Burns said.

The curriculum audit would be conducted by the International Curriculum Management Audit Center of Phi Delta Kappa International. The audit follows a business model developed by accounting firm Peat, Marwick, and Mitchell which has been used by a number of school districts across the nation.

The audit would investigate two fundamental instructional management questions: 
Does the Wake County Public School System have a properly managed instructional program or curriculum that is planned, executed, and assessed in accordance with generally accepted principles and standards?

Does the Wake County Public School System conform to the standards of quality in instructional organization which include the following:

"I think that we, as a community, should be at least as vigilant in monitoring, reviewing, and auditing our core business as we are our support systems," Burns said. "Our support systems maintain our schools. But 'what we teach' and 'how we teach it' are our reason for being."

"Volunteering for an independent audit of our educational programs shows a lot of courage. I commend our school system's administration for taking the initiative in requesting a curriculum audit," said Patti Head, chair of the Wake County Board of Education. "I anticipate that the audit will confirm the good work of our teachers, principals and staff while identifying ways our school system can better help them support our students. The school board and administration are accountable for the success of more than 128,000 students, so I welcome this audit."
The comprehensive independent curriculum audit is projected to cost $215,000. It will begin soon after the appropriation is authorized by the Wake County Board of Education and would last for 26 weeks. The appropriation will be an action item on the school board's Feb. 6 agenda.

"We are confident of three things," said Dr. Donna Hargens, chief academic officer for WCPSS. "We are confident that we are a good school system, that there are significant improvements still to be made, and that a comprehensive independent audit will help us realign our resources toward helping all of our students graduate on time, prepared for the future. We need to ensure that our curriculum is preparing our students for this century, not the last one," Hargens said.

BOARD APPROVES CALENDARS FOR 2008-09
At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Board of Education approved calendars for traditional and year-round calendar schools for 2008-09. The calendars follow all parameters of the state's calendar law.

For the traditional calendar, the first day for students is August 25, and the last day is June 10. Winter break is Dec. 22 - Jan. 2 and spring break is March 2-6. The second quarter ends Jan. 23. The traditional calendar contains 180 days of instruction for students, as well as 11 paid holidays and 10 paid vacation days. There will be a total of 14 teacher workdays. Nine are already scheduled another five will be based on recommendations by the Division of Principals and Assistant Principals.

For the year-round calendar, each of the four tracks has 180 days of instruction for students. Workdays for teachers occur during student breaks and are not shown on the calendar. The first day of school is July 7 for tracks 1-3. For track four, the first day will be July 28. For track 1, the last day of school will be June 2. For Tracks 2-4, the last day will be June 30. Winter break is Dec. 22 - Jan. 2, the same as traditional calendar schools. Students on the year-round calendar have the same number of holidays and vacation days as students on the traditional calendar---they just occur at different times during the year.

School administrators continue to work on a single-track year-round calendar which will be similar to the calendar used at Southeast Raleigh High, Centennial Campus Middle, Moore Square Middle, Carver Elementary and Partnership Elementary. This instructional calendar combines features of the traditional and year-round calendar. It will be presented to the board at a future meeting.

The 2007-08 calendar was adopted in 2005. You can find the school calendars at http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/

PRINCIPALS APPOINTED
At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Board of Education named Doug Thilman principal of Cary High, Tripplet Crayton principal of Wakefield Middle and Allison Everette principal of Carver Elementary.

-Thilman has served as principal of West Cary Middle since 2004. Prior to that, he was assistant principal at Millbrook High, and an administrative intern and teacher at Southeast Raleigh High.
-Crayton has served as assistant principal of Wakefield High since 2004. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal and teacher in the Durham, NC schools.
-Everette has served as assistant principal of Carver Elementary since 2002. Prior to that, she worked as a teacher in schools in eastern NC. While a teacher, she earned certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

The board named several assistant principals. Retired principal Samuel Greene has returned to serve as interim assistant principal at East Wake Middle School. Retired assistant principal James Hinton has returned as interim assistant principal at Millbrook High. The board named Dwight Womble interim assistant principal at Millbrook High and Teresa James assistant principal at Fuquay-Varina High.

MAGNET AND CALENDAR APPLICATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN FEBRUARY
Wake County Public School System’s magnet schools will host tours through Feb. 8. The public is invited to explore program offerings at all 36 magnet schools.

Elementary school programs offered tours Jan. 23 and will be open Jan. 31.  Magnet middle schools offered tours Jan. 25 and will be open Feb. 1. Magnet high schools will showcase their programs Jan. 29 – Feb. 8. Please visit www.wcpss.net/magnet for tour details.

The magnet application will only be available online this year. Parents may submit an application ANYTIME during the application period, Feb. 12 – 28. Applications will be available at www.wcpss.net  during the application period.

Interested families may also submit a calendar option application during this time. Families with students assigned to traditional calendar schools may apply for the year-round calendar. Families with students assigned to year-round calendar schools may apply for the traditional calendar.

For over 25 years, WCPSS’s award-winning magnet schools have enhanced the North Carolina Standard Course of Study with innovative approaches to learning that empower students. Magnets open doors of opportunity and spark the imagination of students, preparing them to become responsible citizens in a global society.

To find more information about WCPSS magnet schools and other magnet school events, visit www.wcpss.net/magnet, stop by the Magnet Resource Center located on the campus of Millbrook Elementary or call 919.501.7900.

BOARD HEARS ABOUT AVID USE IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS
At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Board of Education heard about Advancement Via Individual Determination. Catherine Norris, the WCPSS AVID coordinator told the board that AVID is an academic preparatory program for students typically under represented in the highest-level high school classes.

What is
AVID?

WCPSS has twenty-three AVID middle schools this year. Twenty-one of them began the AVID program with a cohort of sixth grade students in 2005-2006. AVID students take part in advanced math and other rigorous courses while receiving support through the AVID elective and the AVID curriculum. The AVID elective emphasizes college awareness and WIC-R (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, and Reading) strategies as well as direct tutorial days.

Norris said the program’s goal is to incorporate these students into the college going ranks though many may be first in their family to attend college.  The cost per AVID student is less than $1.50 per day per student.

BOARD APPROVES WAKEFIELD HIGH TRIP TO LONDON
At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Board of Education approved a trip by approximately 16 Wakefield High students and four chaperones to London, England over spring break. This is a cultural exchange program for theatre arts students who will be viewing plays, visiting the Globe Theatre and sightseeing in London and Stratford. The cost per student is $2200.00. This trip is enrichment only and not a required trip. Boosters will assist with some funding as well as using incentives toward lowering group costs.

BOARD GIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO POLICY UPDATES
At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to updates of three board policies.
-Policy 1323 was revised in order to provide guidelines and parameters regarding absentee voting by Board Members. The policy was revised with the guidance of legal counsel.  It was approved by the Policy Committee in December.
-Policy 3222 was revised in alignment with recent changes in legislation. As revised, the policy specifies that School Improvement Plans must include a plan to provide duty-free instructional planning for teachers. The policy was revised with the guidance of legal counsel.  It was approved by the Policy Committee in December.
-Policy 3224 was revised in alignment with recent changes in legislation. As revised, the policy specifies that School Improvement Plans must include a plan to provide all full-time assigned classroom teachers a duty free lunch period on a daily basis or as otherwise approved by the school improvement plan. The policy was revised with the guidance of legal counsel.  It was approved by the Policy Committee in December.

BOARD APPROVES CONTRACT WITH VISITING INTERNATIONAL FACULTY (VIF)
At its Jan. 23, meeting, the Board of Education approved the contract with Visiting International Faculty (VIF) to employ highly qualified international teachers in critical need areas for not longer than a three-year period. The VIF program is an additional recruitment strategy that our system has used for the past five years. The state has a formal agreement with VIF to supply qualified teachers to local school systems. The salaries and other costs for VIF teachers are paid by converting ADM allotted teacher positions. This process also enables WCPSS to provide $2,000 per teacher for supplies. No incremental local funds are being expended. Fiscal Implications: The fiscal implications will include the appropriate salary and benefit costs. Recommendation for Action: Please approve as presented.

CALENDAR

Jan. 30

7 p.m., Enloe HS magnet information session

Jan. 31

10 a.m. and 1 p.m., Elementary magnet school visits

Jan. 31

4 p.m., Citizens Facility Advisory Committee, Wake County Office Building - Ground Floor Conference Room, 337 South Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27602

Feb. 1

9 a.m. and 12 p.m., Middle magnet school visits

Feb. 5

6:30 p.m., Board of Education public hearing on 2007-08 growth management proposal
-wcpss-

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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