This is your regular source for a look at the people, places, and behind-the-scenes workings of the Wake County Public School System.

Two-hour delay on Election Day

For students at WCPSS Multi-track, year-round schools on tracks 1, 2 and 4 and Modified calendar schools, school is in session Nov. 3 and 4 . On Nov. 4, school will start on a two-hour delay. The school system anticipates heavy traffic during the morning rush hour around schools that are used as polling places.

For students at WCPSS Traditional-calendar schools, Nov. 3 and 4 are scheduled as teacher workdays. There will be no classes for students, but teachers will be completing their end-of-quarter paperwork and taking part in professional development.

For students at the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences, school is in session Nov. 3 and 4.

WCPSS employees and students on all school calendars will be off Nov. 11, marking Veterans Day and Nov. 26-28, marking Thanksgiving.

Posted by Bill Poston at 03:03 PM on October 28, 2008 | Leave Feedback

School Lunch Program Receives National Recognition

Our Child Nutrition Services Department recently won a best practice award for increasing participation in school lunch. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) presented the award during the annual Conference for Child Nutrition Administrators in October.

Last year, lunch participation almost doubled in high schools. One of the main factors helping to increase school lunch participation among older students has been the idea of moving specialty entrées from the a la carte price structure to the center of the plate entrée in high schools. The center of the plate entrée presentation encourages students to select fruit, vegetable and milk choices to be included in the meal price of $2.00, with the theme "it's all good." This also encourages students to adopt better eating habits by offering them well-balanced meals with fruits and vegetables.

School districts were recognized on Wednesday, October 22 by the USDA's Southeast Regional Office for the fifteenth annual Best Practice Awards in the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Food Distribution Program. The purpose of this awards program is to encourage and recognize outstanding practices in schools and School Food Authorities in the Southeast Region.

Posted by Ashley Smith at 03:02 PM on October 28, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Computers being donated to students

When Enloe High math teacher Alan Letarte responded as a reference for a student who was working with a Durham non-profit to receive a computer, Letarte was contacted by the group to see if other students at his school may need computers. He's been working to make that happen.

Click here to listen to Computers being donated to students

This is a 4.5 minute mp3 file.

Posted by Bill Poston at 01:46 PM on October 28, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Increased Physical Activity Recommended

Increased physical activity for students, avoiding the use of unhealthy foods for rewards in school and plans for nutrition labeling in some school cafeterias were a few of the topics the Board of Education heard from an advisory panel.

Carol Mitchell, chair of the Student Health Advisory Council, provided the council's annual report to the school board at the board's Oct. 21 committee of the whole meeting

Click here to listen to Increased Student Physical Activity Recommended

This is a 7.5 minute mp3 file.

Continue reading "Increased Physical Activity Recommended"

Posted by Bill Poston at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2008 | Leave Feedback

ParentVision: Multi-Year Assignment Planning is Back

Recent media coverage highlighted the economic downturn's impact on our school construction plans and, consequently, our efforts to provide the first-ever multi-year assignment plan for Wake County's schools. When the credit market contracted, Wake County was unable to sell voter-approved bonds to finance school construction at a favorable rate. School construction timetables were in jeopardy, which made the prospects for implementing an assignment plan that looked two or three years into the future uncertain as well.

However, county leadership was able to put together short-term financing for school construction that keeps the timetable moving forward. A multi-year student assignment plan will be brought to our community for review -- just a couple of weeks later than intended.

Find out more in today's ParentVision video podcast featuring Assistant Superintendent for Growth and Planning Chuck Dulaney.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 03:10 PM on October 27, 2008 | Leave Feedback

WCPSS on Stage

Students are staging a variety of theatre productions at WCPSS schools in the coming weeks.

Ligon Middle presents The Odd Couple by Neil Simon 2:30 p.m., Oct. 29, and 7 p.m., Oct. 30 and Nov. 1. Phone 856-7929.
Apex High presents The Foreigner Nov. 6-8. Phone 387-3016
Wakefield High presents See How They Run Nov. 20-21. Pools Paradise will play November 22. Phone 562-3659.
Green Hope High presents Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw at 7 p.m., Nov. 20-21. Phone 380-3700.
Middle Creek High presents Web of Murder. Nov. 20, 21, and 22nd. Phone 773-3838.
Middle Creek High presents Theatre I Showcase at 7 p.m., Dec 16. Phone 773-3838.
Middle Creek High presents Quik Witz Improv Show at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 18. Phone 773-3838.

For more information about these student productions, call or click on the link for school websites.

Posted by Bill Poston at 02:49 PM on October 27, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Davis Drive Middle School Musicians Perform

The Davis Drive Middle School Honors String Quartet will perform Friday night, Oct. 24 as part of the Ovations Series sponsored by the North Carolina Symphony. Eighth graders Amy Guo, Stephanie Chien, Amber Wang and Chelsey Lin will be performing in the lobby of Meymandi Hall prior to the NC Symphony Concert. Be sure to offer your congratulations to these students.

The Davis Drive Middle School Band and Orchestra will perform its Fall Pops Concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct 23 The student musiciains will perform music from Star Wars, The Pink Panther and James Bond, as well as music from video games, like Halo, Super Mario Brothers and Final Fantasy. The concert is in the school gym and admission is free.

Posted by Bill Poston at 02:46 PM on October 27, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Curriculum Management Policies Approved

At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to two policies for curriculum management, the first policy changes to result from the curriculum management audit.

Donna Hargens, WCPSS Chief Academic Officer, talked with the board about the latest work by WCPSS administrators on audit recommendations and how its helping teachers.

Click here to listen to Curriculum Management Policies Approved

This is a 5:45 minute mp3 file.

You can find more information on the Currciulum Management Audit here.

Posted by Bill Poston at 03:11 PM on October 23, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Three WCPSS Teachers Selected as NC Art Educators of the Year

Three of our WCPSS art teachers have been selected as art educators of the year by the North Carolina Art Education Association (NCAEA) and will receive the state's highest honor for their accomplishments in the classroom and community.

Wiley Elementary art teacher Vicky Powers has been selected as the Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Vicky has served on the NCAEA Board of Directors for two terms as the Elementary Division Chair. She has been an active member in NCAEA for close to 16 years. During her service, Vicky has had the opportunity to present at the National Board for Professional Teaching standards process at the state conference each year since 2002.

East Wake Middle art teacher Alexa Molden has been selected as the Middle School Art Educator of the Year. Alexa has been teaching at East Wake Middle School for 9 years and specializes in sculpture and painting. As an art teacher, Alexa participates each year with the Raleigh Street Painting Festival. During the festival last year, East Wake Middle won Honorable Mention out of 15 middle schools. Alexa leads an active art club which meets each month. The club is able to attend several outside events and field trips along with her 8th grade students.

Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School art teacher Jodi Aker has been selected as the Special Needs Art Educator of the Year. Jodi began teaching at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School to address the needs of students who were not naturally leaders. She used her Art Therapy background to design a Visual Art 1 - Expressive Art class. Students learn art skills and also have the opportunity to use art as an outlet for self-expression, with the goal of a more intense focus on school, success and leadership. All of the students Jodi works with have special needs. Although not all have an IEP, some need extra time to complete artwork, some need physical or emotional support, and some need an outlet for academic pressure.

Congratulations to this year's recipients! The awards will be presented at the annual NCAEA Professional Development Conference in Asheville during an awards luncheon on November 7.

Posted by Ashley Smith at 09:45 AM on October 23, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Board discusses magnet schools

At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Board of Education heard the themes for two new magnet schools. Earlier the board discussed the school system's four magnet high schools during its committee of the whole meeting. David Ansbacher who directs the WCPSS magnet program, discusses magnet schools.

Click here to listen to Board discusses magnet schools

This is an 8:45 minute mp3 file

Posted by Bill Poston at 07:03 PM on October 21, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Superintendent Burns: WCPSS Podcast

Superintendent Del Burns told the Wake County Board of Education October 21 that the school system recently held its Principal of the Year celebration where Matt Wight was honored and the school system has partnered with Shaw University to open a pre school on the college campus.

Click here to listen to Dr. Burns Reports

This is a 6:45 minute mp3 file.

Posted by Bill Poston at 05:58 PM on October 21, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Learning art and exploring the world

At Broughton High, teacher Nancy Carty works with students in visual art classes.

Carty discusses the complexity of portrait painting. She says her art classes have put their portrait skills to work on an international service project. As part of its magnet theme as an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme, the school has provided students the opportunity to make trips to Guatemala. Carty's art project tied into the school's service learning trip to Antigua.

Click here to listen to Learning art and exploring the world

This is a 14 minute mp3 file

Posted by Bill Poston at 02:48 PM on October 20, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Using Scrabble for Math Enrichment

At Aversboro Elementary, teacher Cynthia Martin works with students who are identified as academically gifted.

Martin says her fourth grade students have been working in class on graphing and in their AG sessions they are building on that instruction by creating graphs and analyzing data. She says they are looking at the letters in a game of Scrabble, comparing the number of tiles for each letter and how that relates to letter point values.

Click here to listen to Using Scrabble for Math Enrichment

This is an 8.5 minute mp3 file

Posted by Bill Poston at 02:20 PM on October 20, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wight Named Principal of the Year

Apex High Principal Matt Wight has been named the 2008 Wake County Principal of the Year.

When Superintendent Del Burns named Wight Principal of the Year, the crowd of principals, assistant principals and supporters gathered at Marbles Kids Museum broke into applause.

Click here to listen to Wight Named Principal of the Year

This is a 3 minute mp3 file

Posted by Bill Poston at 02:17 PM on October 20, 2008 | Leave Feedback

AP Test Results

Our Department of Evaluation and Research has released a new report gathering Advanced Placement test results for 2007-08. Results show that the number of AP tests being taken and the number of students taking them continues to climb at a rapid pace. As AP tests are being taken more often (and by a larger segment of the student population), scores over the past several years are dropping slightly. The results also show that AP passing rates in WCPSS continue to be higher than both the national and state passing rates.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 01:47 PM on October 17, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Two from Green Hope High

Green Hope Band Earns Honors: The Green Hope High School band's Falcon Regiment travelled to Western Carolina University on Saturday to compete in the Tournament of Champions. They received 2nd place in Class 2A in preliminary competition and moved onto finals, where they received 6th place overall for the day of 26 bands. They received the North Carolina Roll of Honour, the award for the highest scoring North Carolina band. Congratulations to these students! Their next competition is at J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, NC Saturday, October 18.

Cross Country in USA Today: Green Hope High School's cross country team has received some local media attention recently, and now this week, some national attention. In a story this week on large high school sports teams, USA Today profiled coach Michael Miragliuolo's 200+ member cross country team and what make it so unique. You can read the USA Today article here.

Posted by Bill Poston at 01:18 PM on October 17, 2008 | Leave Feedback

After School Program Teaches Character Education

At Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School, seventh grade counselor Mike Meyer has established the SOS afterschool program to engage students in a learning adventure to organize a school dance and learn character education along the way.

Click here to listen to After School Program Teaches Character Education

This is an 11 minute mp3 file

Posted by Bill Poston at 05:23 PM on October 16, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Conn Teacher named Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year

Belinda Best, a fifth-grade teacher at Conn Active Learning and Technology Magnet Elementary School, was recently named the local 2008 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year by Wal-Mart/Sams Club.

Wal-Mart contributed $1,000 to Conn in honor of Mrs. Best. She was presented with a certificate and a Wal-Mart gift card for her personal use.

Mrs. Best has been a teacher for more than 15 years - the last 11 at Conn. She was the Teacher of the Year at Conn in 2007 and a finalist for WCPSS Teacher of the Year. She is a member of the school's Leadership Team and Positive Behavior Support Team and serves as a mentor to beginning teachers, a student support team coordinator and a cooperating teacher for Meredith College student teachers. She has also served as grade level chair for eight years at Conn.

Continue reading "Conn Teacher named Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year"

Posted by Christy Barnett at 10:58 AM on October 16, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Enloe Student Publication Earns Award

The Enloe High Literary Organization student magazine Stone Soup won First Place in the 2008 Student Publication Awards competition (High School Division) held by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. The magazine itself, with its staff of student editors, is the product of the literary and visual arts talent at Enloe High School. English teacher Priscilla Chappell serves as the advisor. You can find more about Stone Soup here.

You can read more about the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association here.

Posted by Bill Poston at 05:40 PM on October 15, 2008 | Leave Feedback

WCPSS on Stage

Students are staging a variety of theatre productions at WCPSS high schools in the coming weeks.

Enloe High presents Romeo and Juliet Oct 16 - 18 and 22 - 25.
Holly Springs High presents A Night with William Shakespeare Oct. 23-25. Phone 577-1444
Apex High presents The Foreigner Nov. 6-8. Phone 387-3016
Wakefield High presents See How They Run Nov. 20-21. Pools Paradise will play November 22. Phone 562-3659

For more information about these student productions, click on the link for school websites.

Posted by Bill Poston at 05:40 PM on October 15, 2008 | Leave Feedback