PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2009

OCTOBER 1, 2009 - Principals' Biweekly Message

Most of us, if we daydream about being the wealthiest person in the world, tend to think about leisure time and the many ways we would indulge ourselves. So it sends an even stronger message about the importance of public schools that Bill and Melinda Gates spent part of last week touring public schools that are successful innovators. Principal Danny Gilfort of Durham Public Schools' Performance Learning Center said that students at his school were impressed when Bill Gates came to visit. According to the Raleigh "News and Observer," Gilfort said that students were "blown away because he was a regular guy who asked thoughtful questions and laughed at their jokes." The Gates Foundation has been thoughtful in its support of school innovation and North Carolina has greatly benefitted from that attention. The New Schools Project supported by the Gates Foundation has enabled North Carolina to open 105 innovative high schools since the first schools opened in 2005. I appreciate that someone of Gates' resources chooses to spend them in this way.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. ACRE Update
3. Madison County Elementary School Receives Blue Ribbon Award
4. NCDPI Partners with Sharpschool.com
5. Register Now for Exceptional Children Conference
6. LEARN NC has published Mandarin Chinese II
7. Online Climate Targets Climate Change
8. Eighth Annual Shelton Formula
9. Search Underway for Nation's Top Youth Volunteers

State Board Meeting Highlights

At today's Board meeting, members approved Honors Course policy revisions, considerations for English I being taken at the middle school level, a Supplemental Educational Services Evaluation Policy, the 2009 Textbook Adoption and Textbook Commission Report and changes to the 2008-09 ABCs/AYP results. Among the agenda items discussed were the state's proposed new accountability model, spring 2009 results for the American Diploma Project Algebra II, and revisions to definitions and reporting of reportable acts for school crime and violence. Highlights of the Board's October meeting will be posted online late next week at www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/highlights .

ACRE Update

As you all begin another school year, we'd like to update you on North Carolina's work on the ACRE project - the statewide revision of standards, assessments and the accountability system. In September, the State Board of Education approved the Essential Standards for Math, English II, Information and Technology Skills and some of the Occupational Course of Study courses. Last July, writing teams, which include LEA representatives from across the state, began to draft the Essential Standards for English Language Arts, Social Studies, Foreign Languages, the Arts and Health. The drafts will be completed in May 2010. Cross-agency workgroups have been designing strategies for inclusion of authentic tasks in summative assessments. An agency workgroup is designing and gathering feedback on a proposed new accountability system built on a robust k-12 growth model. Beyond focusing the standard course of study on Essential Standards and revising high-stakes assessments, the NCDPI is designing professional development and teacher tools for the new standards that will:

• outline what each standard means a child will know and be able to do and;
• provide teachers with tools to diagnose student need and use formative assessment practices and data to meet individual students' needs.

To view the approved Essential Standards and other ACRE related information, visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/. For more information, please contact NCDPI Deputy Chief Academic Officer Angela Quick at aquick@dpi.state.nc.us.

Madison County Elementary School Receives Blue Ribbon Award

Congratulations to Brush Creek Elementary (Madison County Schools) for recently being named a 2009 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School. Brush Creek Elementary is among 264 public and 50 private schools nationwide being recognized for helping all students achieve at high levels and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap. School representatives will receive a plaque and a flag during a recognition ceremony scheduled for Nov. 3 in Washington, D.C.

NCDPI Partners with Sharpschool.com

NCDPI's Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Division is pleased to announce that through a partnership with Sharpschool.com, its instructional resources and content-specific information will be transitioned from the LEARNNC.org site to the NCWISEOWL site. The new Sharpschool CMS-driven sites will provide real-time updates and calendars that will keep stakeholders informed of professional development opportunities and curriculum updates, as well as hyperlinks to online resources. The new division page, located at http://cit.ncwiseowl.org, goes live today. For more information, please contact Neill Kimrey, Instructional Technology, at nkimrey@dpi.state.nc.us or 919.807.3270.

Register Now for Exceptional Children Conference

Tentative instructional sessions information in addition to registration details, is available online for the 59th Conference on Exceptional Children, "Growing Our Own…Harvesting Results." The conference will be held Nov. 2-4 at the Koury Convention Center, Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons, Greensboro. Please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/ec/conference for all the details. Questions regarding the conference may be directed to the Exceptional Children division at 919.807.3969.

LEARN NC has published Mandarin Chinese II

LEARN NC has published Mandarin Chinese II, the second in a series of digital textbooks for Mandarin Chinese courses. Like the textbook for Mandarin Chinese I, which was published in December 2008, this textbook incorporates audio and video with instruction in grammar, language and culture. Mandarin Chinese II helps learners build on the skills they learned in Mandarin I. In addition to learning more complex grammar rules and sentence patterns - including how to use past and future tenses - the textbook focuses on differences in formal and informal language. View it online at http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/mandarin2 .

Online Conference Targets CIimate Change

On Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 1, Smithsonian experts will explore climate from the point of view of various science disciplines, as well as the disciplines of history, art, and culture through an online conference. Each of the live sessions will focus on a different researcher and his or her work, with opportunities for the audience to interact by asking their own questions or responding to ones posed by Smithsonian staff. Some sessions will feature student volunteer projects and inventions that are having a positive impact on our environment. Also included will be demonstrations of pre, during and post activities that were developed with help from Teachers of the Year in Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri and Michigan. The conference will not address policy issues, and all conference sessions will be archived for later viewing. To learn more about the conference, including registration, go to www.SmithsonianEducation.org/Climate .

Eighth Annual Shelton Forum

The General Hugh Shelton Leadership Center at NC State University will hold its Eighth Annual Shelton Forum on Friday, Nov. 6, at the McKimmon Center on the NC State Campus in Raleigh. The Shelton Leadership Forum is an annual seminar series that focuses attention on the importance of leadership development. This year's theme focuses on "Leadership, Ethics, & Accountability." Sherron Watkins, the keynote speaker, will address "Leaders hip Lessons from Enron: Bullet-proofing Your Integrity Shield." The K-12 speaker is West Virginia State Superintendent Dr. Steven Paine, who will be speaking on, "Partnerships in 21st Century Leadership and Skills." The early registration fee of $149 ends Oct. 9. After Oct. 9 the registration fee is $179. For more information go to: http://www.ncsu.edu/extension/sheltonleadership/shelton-forum/current-forumphp

Search Underway for Nation's Top Youth Volunteers

Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals is sponsoring its 15th annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. This Award's program recognizes outstanding community service by students in grades 5 though 12. The top middle and high school candidates in each state win $1,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C. Program information has been sent to all middle and high school principals and guidance counselors but also is available online at http://spirit.prudential.com or by calling 877.525.8491. Students must submit completed applications to his or her principal by Nov. 2. Schools will then select the top recipients and submit those names for state-level judging. The middle and high school recipients for each state will be named in February 2010. State honorees will travel with a parent to Washington, D.C. May 1-4 for national recognition events. Ten national honorees will be named and among other things, will receive an additional $5,000 in awards. Austin Shaw of Wake Forest and Sydney Pfaff of Morehead City were North Carolina's top youth volunteers for 2009.

 

If you'd like to review past Principals' Biweekly Messages sent to the listserv group, just go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/principalsarchive/.