PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2007

JANUARY 8, 2007 - Principals' Biweekly Message

Happy New Year! I know that your regularly scheduled newsletter is not due out for another week and a half, but there were too many items we wanted to share with you to wait that long. Count this as a special edition! I hope that the holidays were a good opportunity for you to rest and recharge your energy for the new year. A special emphasis of 2007 will be on implementing the 21st century goals of the State Board of Education, including the new core framework for high school. The core framework will raise expectations for many high school students who may have been enrolled in the career or college tech prep courses of study. All students who begin the ninth grade in the fall of 2008 and later (this year's seventh graders and below) will now prepare for graduation by completing the same 21-unit core courses. The new core includes: four units of English, four units of mathematics, three units of science, three units of social studies, two units of a second language, one unit of health/physical education and an endorsement of at least four units in one of the following areas: Career-Technical, Arts education, Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC), Advanced Placement/ International Baccalaureate, second language or other. Other state graduation requirements will continue to be in place. The new core will not affect students with disabilities who qualify for the occupational course of study. A series of regional meetings will be held beginning in mid-January in order to gather local ideas about how to best implement these new requirements. Check the Web at www.ncpublicschools.org over the next day or so for the schedule. We also will email it to you once all site schedules are finalized.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. Buxton Named Deputy State Superintendent
3. Rigor Committee Meeting Summary
4. Final Regional Town Hall Meeting to be Held Thursday
5. Education: Everybody's Business Coalition to Hold Public Forums on School Facility Need
6. Kindergarten Teacher Leader Initiative: The Power of K
7. NC WISE Web Site Redesigned
8. Words to the Wise Newsletter Online
9. Holocaust Workshops Announced
10. NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program
11. Apply Now for NC Biotechnology's Mini-Grant Program

State Board Meeting Highlights

At last week's Board meeting, members approved recommended final cut scores for the NCCLAS Alternate Assessment and the social studies end-of-course tests, proposed revisions to the requirements for an International Faculty License and a proposal to facilitate the licensing of More at Four teachers through the Office of School Readiness. Members also discussed updates to its science laboratory safety policy, and received a presentation evaluating Learn and Earn Early College High Schools and a progress report on its Healthy Active Children Policy. Complete Board highlights will be available online toward the end of this week at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights by clicking on the appropriate link.

Buxton Named Deputy State Superintendent

The State Board of Education approved J.B. Buxton as the new Deputy State Superintendent, effective Feb. 1. He will succeed Janice Davis who is retiring effective Jan. 31. To read more about his appointment, please go to the NCDPI Web site at www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under News.

Rigor Committee Meeting Summary

The Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Rigor, Relevance and Relationships met last week and discussed a number of issues including communication efforts related to the Board's core course of study framework and the grade limit for students taking Algebra I. Committee members also discussed the latest revisions to the State Board/DPI Literacy Plan and the Department's proposed science safety policy revisions. The meeting concluded with a presentation on the use of I-Pods or MP3 Players to supplement classroom instruction, particularly as it relates to second languages. The next committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 30.

Final Regional Town Hall Meeting to be Held Thursday

As a reminder, the last of the eight regional town hall-style meetings being held across the state to raise awareness of the State Board of Education's new Future Ready/21st Century mission and goals will be held this Thursday, Jan. 11, from 6:30 - 8 p.m., at Vance High School, 7600 IBM Drive, Charlotte. The meetings are being held to gather input from the school community regarding how to measure schools' success in meeting the goals and challenges of 21st century learning. For more information, please contact the State Superintendent's office at 919.807.3432.

Education: Everybody's Business Coalition to Hold Public Forums on School Facility Needs

The Education: Everybody's Business Coalition is inviting the state's governmental, business and education leaders to a series of public forums in January to learn more about a real and immediate crisis regarding public school facilities. The most recent estimate of public school facility needs, which was revised this summer and made public in October, identified $9.7 billion in school facility needs statewide over the next five years. The assessment, conducted by the Department of Public Instruction with the cooperation of school boards and county governments across the state, also showed that every county has at least $1 million in needs for school facility construction, renovations or additions. To learn more, please plan on attending one of the following meetings: Jan. 8 - Bonnie Cone Center, McKnight Auditorium, UNC-Charlotte; Jan. 10 - Harvey Haynes Conference Center, AB Tech Community College Enka Campus, Enka; Jan. 10 - Boyette Building, Room 113, James Sprunt Community College, Kenansville; Jan. 11 - High Point Chamber of Commerce, High Point; Jan. 11 - Holiday Inn Express, North Wilkesboro; Jan. 16 - Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education, Nashville; Jan. 18 - John Holmes High School, Edenton; and Jan. 22 - Cumberland County Education Resource Center, Fayetteville. All meetings will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Jo Ann Norris, Public School Form, 919.781.6833 ext. 106, or by email jnorris@ncforum.org.

Kindergarten Teacher Leader Initiative:

The Power of K - NCDPI's Elementary Education Division is pleased to announce its North Carolina Kindergarten Teacher Leader Initiative; The Power of K. In response to the many challenges facing kindergarten teachers, NCDPI's Primary Team is launching a new project to enhance the leadership skills and content knowledge of a selected group of kindergarten teachers from each region of the state. The goal of this initiative is to establish a group of kindergarten teacher leaders for North Carolina. This group of teachers will participate in a three-year comprehensive professional development project that is designed to increase student achievement by implementing practices proven effective in addressing the educational needs of all kindergarten students. An application and directions are available online at http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/ec. All applications are due by noon, Feb. 15. For more information, please contact Eva Phillips at 919.807.3850 or ephillip@dpi.state.nc.us.

NC WISE Web Site Redesigned

The NC WISE Web site, www.ncwise.org, has been redesigned and introduces features that will make it easier for users to browse and search for NC WISE and SIMS information, including: - Streamlined navigation bars on the home page. - Quick links on the home page to allow users to access the latest NC WISE news. - A Technical Library will contain pages for specific topics. Users will be able to access the information they need in just a few clicks instead of scrolling through a list. - In the very near future, a site search will be available directly from the home page. Staff welcomes your feedback about the redesigned Web site. Please send your comments and suggestions through the NC WISE mailbox at ncwise@dpi.state.nc.us.

Words to the Wise Newsletter Online

The "Words to the Wise" newsletter is back with all the latest information about NC WISE. In this issue:

• Read about the SAS Ad Hoc Reporting tool.
• Find out what's new on the Reporting Hub and the NC WISE Web site.
• Learn what you need to do to register for our biggest event of the year - the NC WISE/SIMS Symposium.
• Meet the new faces on the team, as well as old faces that are in different places. The newsletter is available to read or at http://www.ncwise.org/documents/communications/newsletters/wise_newsletter_1 2_21_06.pdf.

Holocaust Workshops Announced

One-day, multi-county workshops for middle and high school teachers of social studies and language arts focusing on the holocaust have been scheduled for January - March. Present at the workshops will be Dr. Karl Schleunes, an historian and Holocaust scholar, and Gizella Abramson, a Holocaust survivor of the Majdanek death camp who will recount her experiences in a concentration camp. Participants will receive a copy of "The Holocaust: a North Carolina Teachers' Resource," a guide for teaching about the Holocaust at the middle and high school levels. This workshop is particularly useful for teachers teaching World History or American History as well as teachers at the sixth-grade level teaching Eastern European history. Substitute pay is provided for teachers attending, but space is limited. Scheduled workshop dates and locations are as follows: Jan. 31, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County; Feb. 14, Raleigh, Wake County; Feb. 21, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County; and March 23, Greenville, Pitt County. For additional information, please contact Holocaust Education Workshops Director Linda Scher at Brisket234@aol.com

NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program

K-16 teachers interested in gaining first-hand research experience on a government ocean research vessel are encouraged to explore the opportunities offered by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Teacher at Sea program, which is now accepting applications until Jan. 31. The mission of NOAA's Teacher at Sea program is to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet and a greater understanding of maritime work and studies, and to foster an interdisciplinary educational experience that provides a unique environment for learning and teaching. Teachers may select a cruise aboard one of NOAA's 18 ships, of which there are three main types. Fisheries research vessels perform biological and physical science studies in support of fisheries research. Oceanographic and coastal research vessels perform physical science studies in support of physical oceanography, atmospheric studies and bathymetric mapping. Hydrographic survey vessels scan the coastal sea floor with side-scan sonar and sophisticated bottom sounding systems to locate submerged obstructions and navigational hazards for the creation or update of the nation's nautical charts. Teachers can expect to be at sea anywhere from one week to a month. Most teachers take advantage of cruises offered during the summer, but cruises take place throughout year. The NOAA Teacher at Sea Program pays all necessary travel costs. For more information please go online to http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov.

Apply Now for NC Biotechnology's Mini-Grant Program

Teachers' there is still time to apply for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's 2006-07 Mini-Grant Program. The Biotechnology Education Mini-Grant Program offers awards of up to $6,000 to assist in the development and implementation of activities, programs and courses for biotechnology education and training at the K-12 level. All proposals, which must be submitted electronically using the Biotechnology Center's online submission process, must be received by 5 p.m., Jan. 24. For detailed information, or to apply for a Biotechnology Education Mini-Grant, please go to http://www.ncbiotech.org/services_and_programs/grants_and_loans/mini_grant/index.html.

 

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