PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2005

FEBRUARY 3, 2005

The General Assembly's 2005 session is nearly a week underway, and education is at the top of the agenda, as noted by legislative leaders. I hope that as the session unfolds, you will take the time to let your legislators know about the success of your schools and what it will take for you to build on that success. Please stay up-to-date on legislative activities through DPI's Legislative Web page at www.ncpublicschools.org under What's New, and let your legislators know how their actions will affect your schools and students. Your point of view as a local principal is especially valuable to your legislators as they debate ways to support public schools in North Carolina.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. Heats up for the NC WISE Team
3. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Newsletter
4. DPI Launches Professional Development Web Site
5. Jay Robinson Award Nominations
6. National Youth Science Camp
7. "ALL Aboard*to the Future"
8. 2005 College Tech Prep Conference Scheduled for March
9. Shakespeare Festival Launches new Artist in the Schools Program

State Board Meeting Highlights

State Board Meeting Highlights - This month, the State Board approved waivers to the calendar law, approved the report and recommendations from its Task Force on Teacher Retention and received the 2003-04 dropout data report. Press releases and full reports are available on DPI's Web site under "In the News." Complete highlights of the Board's activities will be online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights/ by Tuesday.

January Heats Up for the NC WISE Team

January was a busy month for NC WISE as teams traveled across the state converting numerous Wave 1 LEAs and charter schools as well as hosting workshops to introduce district administrators and educators to NC WISE and how to use it. The NC WISE team welcomes the following newly converted LEAs to the NC WISE family: Caldwell County, Granville County, Iredell-Statesville, Mooresville City, Success Institute, Elkin City, Wilkes County and Yadkin County. Winston Salem-Forsyth is scheduled to go live with NC WISE on Jan. 28. A number of LEAs and charter schools got their first look at NC WISE last week as they began their Getting Started Workshops. Those LEAs and charter schools include: A Child's Garden, Franklin Academy, Franklin County, Haliwa-Saponi Tribal, Healthy Start Academy, Hope Elementary, Magellan Charter, Roanoke Rapids City, Quest Academy, Torchlight Academy and Weldon City. To date, 27 LEAs and charter schools have converted to NC WISE during Wave 1 deployment. The ambitious task of converting 40 schools a week continues through the Wave 1 deployment, and concludes in March 2005. Schools will be converted at the rate of 40 a week through Waves 2 and 3 until all 115 LEAs and 100 charter schools are converted by 2007.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Newsletter

The 2005 administration of NAEP is taking place from Jan. 24 - March 4. The subject areas being assessed are mathematics, reading and science. The state-level results for grades 4 and 8 will be released in fall 2005. You can access the current NAEP newsletter at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/ by clicking on the appropriate link. In this newsletter, you will see how North Carolina students performed on the 2003 NAEP assessments in reading and mathematics. If you have any questions or concerns regarding NAEP, please contact Marcie Hickman, NAEP Coordinator, NC DPI, 919/807-3768, or by email, mhickman@dpi.state.nc.us.

DPI Launches Professional Development Web Site

DPI is pleased to announce its new professional development Web site at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/ to provide information related to the North Carolina Professional Development Standards, best practices, and resources. This site reflects the fact that quality teaching is directly linked to the quality of student learning. We hope that you will use this site as your source for critical information to support planning, implementation, follow-up and evaluation of high quality professional development for every teacher and administrator.

Jay Robinson Award Nominations

The Jay Robinson Leadership Award was established by the Public School Forum Board to recognize outstanding leaders in the public education field. The award may be given to anyone who has displayed innovative, creative, and effective leadership for North Carolina public schools. Nominations for the 2005 award are being accepted through March 1. The recipient will receive a $5,000 award sponsored by Wachovia Corporation. To request an application, please contact Shana Fryar, Public School Forum, 919/781-6833, or by email, sfryar@ncforum.org.

National Youth Science Camp

North Carolina public school students can now apply to be the state's representatives at the National Youth Science Camp (NYSC), which will take place June 30-July 25 in Charleston, W.Va. Two high school seniors will receive a full scholarship to exchange ideas with scientists and other professionals from the academic and corporate worlds. The four-week experience includes lectures and hands-on research projects, three overnight expeditions into the National Forest, and a visit to Washington, DC. The selected delegates must not only demonstrate academic achievement in science, but also show potential for thoughtful scientific leadership. NYSC is offered at no cost to participants so that selected delegates may attend regardless of their financial status. The application deadline is Feb. 18. Additional information, including an application, is available on the NYSC Web site at www.nysc.org by clicking on the appropriate link. Applications are to be submitted to Eleanor Enthoven Hasse, Science Consultant, Instructional Services, NC DPI, 6352 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6352. For more information, contact Hasse at 919/807-3845, or by email, eehasse@dpi.state.nc.us

"ALL Aboard *to the Future"

DPI's Exceptional Children Division is partnering with the Exceptional Children Assistance Center to sponsor the "ALL Aboard * to the Future" conference for parents, families, educators, and youth. The conference will be held Saturday, Feb. 26, from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., at the Adam's Mark, Winston-Salem. A pre-conference workshop, "Person Centered Planning: A Gateway to the Future," has been scheduled for Friday, Feb. 25. The purpose of the conference is to bring communities together to learn about effective practices as well as state and federal regulations. The focus this year is on Positive Behavior Support. There is a $20 registration fee for families and youth and a $30 registration fee for professionals. Seating is limited and the registration must be postmarked by Feb. 14. For more information, including registration, please contact Jana Kranz or Rita Stokes, 800/962-6817, extensions 19 and 39 respectively.

2005 College Tech Prep Conference Scheduled for March

The 2005 College Tech Prep Conference will be held March 21-23 at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel, Koury Convention Center, Greensboro. The State Board of Education, Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina Community College System and the Public School Forum's New Schools Project are sponsoring this conference. Dr. Willard Daggett will be the featured speaker. In addition, the New Schools Project plans to release their next round of RFPs during this conference. To access the conference announcement, agenda and registration, please go online to www.ctenc.org.

Shakespeare Festival Launches new Artist in the Schools Program

The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival announced the inauguration of ShakeSpirit: The Artist in the School, a program designed to bring artists and students together to explore various topics in the study of William Shakespeare. ShakeSpirit will allow teachers to arrange for an artist to guide their students through a vivid, hands-on experience with Shakespeare. Teachers at all grade levels will be able to choose topics and consult with artists on areas that should be emphasized. The artist can then visit the students prepared to go into a well-crafted classroom experience. There is a modest fee for ShakeSpirit based on the length and number of artist visits to a school. For more information, teachers may contact NCSF's Outreach Education Director Allan Edwards at 336/841-2273, ext. 227, or by email, allan@ncshakes.org.