PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2007

NOVEMBER 2, 2007 - Principals' Biweekly Message

Learn and Earn Online offers high school students the opportunity to complete college courses while they are still in high school and at no cost to the student or his or her family. Currently 277 high schools are participating in this program, but I hope that this number will increase as additional schools establish their technology infrastructure. If your high school is not yet participating, but you would like to consider participating, please go to the Learn and Earn Online Web site at www.ncpublicschools.org/learnandearnonline and click on the Online Directory. Registration is open now for students at both the UNCGi and at participating community colleges. To access the registration, click on the appropriate links on the Web. Please encourage students to take advantage of this great opportunity. If you are the principal in a middle school, please take any opportunity to remind your students that it pays to be prepared for advanced work. Once they reach the high school level, there are a number of opportunities to receive college credit before high school graduation.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. NCVPS Mid-Term Grades Available Today
3. NCVPS Spring Registration
4. North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards
5. Safe Schools/Character Education Conference
6. Holocaust Workshops Scheduled for 2007-08
7. NCDOT Announces Safe Routes to School Program Call for Proposals
8. North Carolina American Indian Heritage Month Celebration
9. 2008 Young Aviation Artist Contest

State Board Meeting Highlights

At their meeting this week, Board members approved replacing the current "Procedures Governing Programs and Services for Children with Disabilities" with "Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities" to meet federal requirements; recommended final cut scores for Algebra I, Geometry and English I end-of-course assessments; and changes to the 2006-07 ABCs/AYP results. Board members discussed revising the National Board Certification Promissory Note, and the licensure policy to facilitate the licensing of administrators and instructional support personnel as teachers. Complete Board highlights will be posted later next week at www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights.

NCVPS Mid-Term Grades Available Today

NCVPS will distribute fall mid-term grades for the NCVPS courses (not the external providers) today to local school Distance Learning Advisors. Please remember that student grades, available to DLAs by accessing the grade book, are not always a true reflection of the student's work at the moment they are viewed. Some assignments may be omitted or not graded at the time of access. Please do not use the grades viewed as a recorded grade on a student's transcript or official grade report. NCVPS reports official grades twice during the term - once at mid-term (nine weeks) and a final grade at the end of the term. For more information, please contact NCVPS Interim Director Jim Barber at barberj@email.unc.edu.

NCVPS Spring Registration

The NC Virtual Public School's spring course catalog will be available Nov. 7 on the NCVPS Web site, www.ncvps.org. Registration will open Nov. 19. Spring semester starts Jan. 22. There will be several training opportunities in November for your local Distance Learning Advisors and we encourage you to support their participation. For more information, please contact NCVPS Interim Director Jim Barber at barberj@email.unc.edu.

North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards

Copies of "The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards" will soon be in the mail to all public school principals. The package contains enough copies for each licensed staff member. If you need additional copies, please contact the NC Professional Teaching Standards Commission at 919.807.3423. The Standards, which reflect the mission and goals of the State Board of Education, are an excellent resource for discussing 21st century teaching and learning. Further information may be obtained from the NC Professional Teaching Standards Commission Web site at www.ncptsc.org.

Safe Schools/Character Education Conference

Mark your calendars for Feb. 6-8 and plan to attend the NCDPI's Safe Schools and Character Education Conference to be held at the Koury Convention Center/Sheraton Four Seasons, Greensboro. Educators, parents and community members interested in and/or responsible for developing and maintaining a safe, orderly and caring learning environment in the schools and community should plan on attending. The registration fee is $130. There will be no onsite registration. Persons attending the conference will receive a Certificate of Attendance for 10 contact hours. For more information, including registration, please go to www.ncpublicschools.org/safeschools/conferences.

Holocaust Workshops Scheduled for 2007-08

Middle and high school social studies and English/Language Arts teachers may want to consider attending a one-day, multi-county Holocaust workshop. Dr. Karl Schleunes, an historian and Holocaust scholar, and Gizella Abramson, a Holocaust survivor of the Majdanek death camp, will present at the workshops. Participants will receive a copy of "The Holocaust: a North Carolina Teacher's Resource," a guide for teaching about the Holocaust at the middle and high school levels. The workshop is particularly useful for teachers of World History or American History as well as teachers at the sixth-grade level teaching Eastern European history. It also is recommended for middle school language arts teachers teaching Anne Frank's Diary or high school English teachers studying Elie Wiesel's Night and other Holocaust literature at the upper grades. Substitute pay is provided for teachers attending, but space is limited and teachers are encouraged to make early contact with Linda Scher, Holocaust Teacher Workshop Coordinator. Workshop dates and locations are as follows: Nov. 15, Hillsborough; Nov. 28, Concord; Dec. 7, Edenton; Jan. 28, Hamlet; Feb. 29, Kenansville; and March 12, Warrenton. For additional information, including registration, please email Linda Scher at Brisket234@aol.com.

NCDOT Announces Safe Routes to School Program Call for Proposals

NCDOT's Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation is accepting applications for two Safe Routes to School (SRTS) competitive award programs: Action Plan Service Award and Non-Infrastructure Grant Reimbursement Program. The Action Plan Service Award encourages schools or communities to begin a SRTS program by providing recipients assistance in developing a SRTS Action Plan. Action Plans provide a framework for identifying projects, programs and activities that will make walking and bicycling to school safer and more appealing. Additional information is available online at http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/saferoutes/funding/actionplans.html. The Non-Infrastructure Grant Reimbursement Program encourages schools to create and implement education, encouragement and/or enforcement programs and activities that aim to shift community behavior, attitudes and social norms to support increased safety and convenience for children to walk and bicycle to school. Additional information is available online at http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/saferoutes/funding/noninfrastructure.html. The deadline to apply for both programs is Jan. 14.

North Carolina American Indian Heritage Month Celebration

The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Month Celebration will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., at the NC Museum of History, Raleigh. Performances, crafts, games, demonstrations and foods will highlight the day's celebration. An event flyer is available online at www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/aihc07/index.html.

2008 Young Aviation Artist Contest

The Brewer Trophy Aviation Education Association in partnership with the American Society of Aviation Artists is sponsoring its 2008 United States Young Aviation Artist Contest. The theme for this year's contest is to design an aviation stamp celebrating the aviation experience. For complete rules, please go online to www.brewertrophy.org. Entries must be received by Feb. 29.

 

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