"It's going to be very exciting. We have 600 penguins arriving," said Laurel Park Elementary Principal, Gail Turner. "It has just some beautiful wide open spaces and sky-lights and it's really quite unique and we're really excited about how we can use some of these open spaces for learning."

All the books and computer inside the school are also new, as well as some of the teachers.

"I'm new to Wake County, so it's a brand new curriculum, brand new area, trying to get a feel for everything," said Julie Murphy, a fourth-grade teacher.

Murphy isn't new to the job, just to the area. She's was a teacher for 10 years in Pennsylvania and she's still nervous about the first day.

"Working with a brand new team, although I have a great team I'm working with so far, I'm very excited about that. That helps in calming my nerves a little bit," she said.

Down the hall it's a new school and a new career for Anna Dimeo, fresh out of college. She's excited about all the resources that come with the brand-new school

"A classroom library's given to me, math manipulative, and just all this space and such as small class size, I just feel that I was given a gift to be able to help children," said Dimeo.

And she can't wait to start teaching her fifth-grade students.

"I like to be very active with my class, when it gets a little crazy, do some yoga to settle everyone down and I think just having that young energy, it really excited the children,"

Final event activities will take place 10-11 a.m., Friday, May 16, at Historic Oak View County Park , 4028 Carya Drive ; and 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, May 17, at NC State University's McKimmon Center , 1101 Gorman Street .

One of the most exciting components of the high school program is the student design and construction of a street-legal electric vehicle, which will be entered into a series of range and autocross events throughout the weekend. Students also compete in community initiatives, web-site design and public speaking.

Middle school students also apply a multi-disciplinary approach to their design and construction of model solar race cars for competition. The middle school program is based on the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) program, developed and sponsored by the US Department of Energy.

"Let's figure out how to make it work safely and address curriculum piece so that it is covered" said Danny Barnes, chief area superintendent.

According to Ann Majestic, school attorney, "Safety questions came up in context of a tournament that a student at East Wake High school was prohibited from attending. It can reasonably be assumed tournaments have safety parameters in place. The greater concern should be activities that lead up to this. There are no guidelines in place."

In March, Robert Lumley, an East Wake high school student, was prevented from participating in a statewide tournament sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Lumley's principal, with support from Barnes, stopped the team from participating.

Staff did a review of current curriculum and found the required 10 hours of safety classes is given during a level two environmental science class. This means that participants of extra-curricular clubs were most likely not having the safety classes they needed.

Additional concerns included insurance needs for the students. "We are in the process of getting insurance carrier in place to get their parameters to provide insurance for this," said Majestic. "It's important that we not be informal about settings for practice, supervision, and trainings. Up until now it's been an informal process."

"Fortunately, we haven't had any accidents and need to move forward to see how it can be allowed," said Patti Head, school board member.

The group will learn more about insurance possibilities and curriculum aspects at the next policy meeting that will be held on June 10.

"During Tuesday's facilities committee, staff reported that the number of companies competing for the partnership was down to one," said Mike Burris, assistant superintendent for facilities.

Balfour Beatty, the remaining development team under consideration, proposed a transaction substantially different from the earlier one that includes shifting greater risks to the board for the contraction and payment for buildings.

Those discussions and delays bumped legal fees from the previously agreed amount of $25-50 thousand to the $230,000

"Other districts including Cumberland county and Charlotte/Mecklenburg have halted discussions on public/private partnerships," said Mike Burris, facilities assistant superintendent. "Legal fees in Charlotte/Mech reached $1 million."

Staff requested action to stop pursuing the partnership and incurring legal fees.

"In all the meetings we have attended, no one has told us that this is a money saving proposition," Horace Tart, facilities committee chair.

Under recent General Assembly authorization, the board was pursuing private/public partnerships with the understanding that money could be saved.

The board agreed to have Rosa Gill, board chair, and Beverly Clark, vice chair, to meet with Kilpatrick Stockton to review legal fees.

The board determined that they can't officially halt the private/public partnership without discussion with commissioners. This item is being added to the joint meeting with commissioners on May 21.

Most schools will use Reynolds Coliseum located at 2411 Dunn Avenue on NCSU campus for their graduation ceremony.

Reynolds Coliseum Schedule:

Apex Saturday, June 14, 2008 5:00 p.m.
Cary Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:00 p.m.
Enloe Saturday, June 14, 2008 11:30 a.m.
Garner Saturday, June 14, 2008 8:30 a.m.
Green Hope Saturday, June 14, 2008 2:00 p.m.
Leesville Road Wednesday, June 11, 2008 5:00 p.m.
Millbrook Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:00 p.m.
Southeast Raleigh Saturday, May 31, 2008 10:00 a.m.
Wake Forest-Rolesville Thursday, June 12, 2008 5:00 p.m.
Wakefield Friday, June 13, 2008 5:00 p.m.

School officials said to prepare for hot weather conditions and dress accordingly. Reynolds is not air conditioned and often the later ceremony times in the facility can be very hot.

Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts (Memorial Auditorium) 500 Fayetteville Street Mall

Athens Wednesday, June 11, 2008 2:00 p.m.
East Wake Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:00 p.m.
Fuquay Varina Wednesday, June 11, 2008 11:00 a.m.
Knightdale Wednesday, June 11, 2008 5:00 p.m.
Sanderson Tuesday, June 10, 2008 8:00 p.m.

Meymandi Hall, 2 E South St, Raleigh, NC 27601-2337

Phillips High Tuesday, June 10, 2008 7:00 p.m.

Holiday Gymnasium, Broughton High School,723 St. Mary's Street Raleigh,

Broughton High Wednesday, June 11 2008 10:00 a.m.
Middle Creek High Thursday, June 12, 2008. 10:00 a.m.

Schools are holding practices for their graduation ceremonies the week before the graduation event so students will be familiar with plans for their event.

Students will receive tickets for their guests at that time. Guests are not permitted without a ticket. 

The 2009 graduation ceremonies are planned to be held in the Raleigh Convention Center that is scheduled to open in the fall.

Participants must be currently enrolled (Grades 7-11) in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and attending a WCPSS school during the 2008-2009 school year (Grades 8-12).

Students must be available for auditions, rehearsals, performances & strike. Check the schedule under links section below. Conflicts must be listed at the time of audition.

Registration is available online through May 16. Walk-on auditions may be permitted if time permits.

Officials said "Wear dance attire and be prepared to sing 16 bars of a Broadway show tune that best represents your range and vocal quality."

Terrence Mann will direct A Chorus Line. Mann is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, has extensive Broadway, Film and Television credits and worked with our young people last year to produce an exceptional production of Les Miserables. He is a distinguished professor in musical theater at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Since 1996, he has been married to performer Charlotte d'Amboise, with whom he has two daughters. Charlotte, currently playing Cassie on Broadway, will collaborate with Terry on this project along with musical director Tammy Holder. These incredible professionals will be assisted by WCPSS Arts Educators and area artists.

The original Broadway production was an unprecedented box office and critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history up to that time. The show has enjoyed many successful productions worldwide and was revived on Broadway in 2006. The show gives a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.

"This amount is not to replace the budget request of $355 million that county commissioners will review on May 15," said Eleanor Goettee, board member. The higher amount could eliminate achievement gaps. The additional $24 million will provide evaluation and assessment tools as well as funding for more literacy coaches and more alternative school options.

During today's committee of the whole meeting, the group voted on the amount as they discussed the possibility to move forward with a decision of accepting the agreement proposed during last month's joint session meeting with commissioners.

Before the group could move forward with acceptance of the proposal, they asked to hear the legal implications of an agreement. The group expressed concern that future boards may not want to honor an agreement a previous board had contracted.

"Does this get to root problem being solved? Reduce friction between the boards? A best solution?" asked Rosa Gill, chair of the school board.

"Problems with commissioners come from both sides. We should look for ways to overcome some of these problems" countered Ron Margiotta, school board member.

County commissioners have already indicated their desire to pursue an agreement. During the May 5 meeting, the group discussed the proposal and wants to move forward despite enforceability concerns.

"An agreement between the Wake school board and commissioners may be legal, but would most likely not be enforceable" said Ann Majestic, legal counsel for the board.

"It's important to not be loose about agreement. Commissioners are looking at an accountability model that says if the school achieves outcomes, and then the district receives the money based on the agreement." said Majestic.

Ann Delinger, Wake Education Partnership President said "The agreement would be one of goodwill."

Gill led the group in a discussion of reasons to accept a proposal and reasons to not accept the proposal.

At stake are the jobs of 900 employees who manage facility needs for the school system. If an agreement is reached between the boards, those employees may be shifted to Wake County commissioner's staff.

Of the reasons to accept the proposal, the group felt it would increase funding and student performance.

Of the reasons not to accept the proposal, the group felt the commissioners may postpone renovations and may allow the building of schools to be built around economic criteria only.

"We've identified issues we will be working on with teachers and staff to make improvement in academic learning" said Beverley Clark. "No matter what happens as we go forward, this is a good step."

It was during the April 16 joint meeting between the groups that an agreement was discussed.

The Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Wake Education Partnership recommended the groups create an agreement that establishes a multi-year plan to provide funding that could increase taxes at a steady rate for the next five to six years.

The group plans to continue discussions on whether or not to approve an agreement during a work session on May 13.

MyLunchMoney.com is an automated lunch prepayment program that gives parents the flexibility to manage their child's lunch accounts at a time that's convenient for them. The system notifies parents by email when the accounts are low as well as give parents the option to see what meals their child is selecting.

In the past, cafeteria staff members have placed stickers on students' shirts indicating lunch funds were low. Other methods include putting notes in children's backpacks and phone calls home.

Parents said those methods were not as effective as the new one will be.

"It's hard to know when you are out of money when you don't receive any type of notice other than a sticker that is put on their chest," said Renee White, mother of two students.

The new system will not cost the district any money to purchase and is less expensive than School-Link Technologies, Inc., the software program currently being used.

The old system will be terminated at the end of this school year. The board is expected to approve the new lunch funds program during the regular session of the May 6 meeting.

Gill sited growth, lack of funding for programs as some of the problems that challenge the school board.

The poll surveyed 596 Wake County voters on April 24. According to Dean Debnam, Public Polling Policy president, the voters were ones who had voted in at least one school board election in the last two elections.

"This is an issue of importance to the community. Oftentimes, politicians are making uninformed decisions and jump the gun on decisions when they listen to a vocal minority" said Debnam.

Joe Bryan, Wake county commissioner chair, said the number who felt the current method is fine was low.

"Is that all? These are people who are actively involved and they want to vote for more school board members," said Bryan.

Other items on the poll included 42 percent of respondents who said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported going to at large elections.

During Tuesday's facilities committee meeting, board members discussed the options available that could lead to fewer new schools opening on a year-round calendar.

If the board were to change some of the planning assumptions, the schools that open under the next Capital Improvement Program (CIP) may be on a traditional calendar, year-round calendar, or on a mix of calendars.

Depending on what assumptions the board chooses, including school calendar, square footage of buildings, curriculum offerings and utilization of buildings, could affect the next bond amount by as much as $350 million for each decision option.

Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for planning and growth, presented to the group the assumption scenarios on reducing costs from the last CIP that led to mandatory year-round calendar schools.

"We have identified the mix of schools we can easily populate with those who choose year round. I think we should look at proposal that keeps the current percentage. I don't think we want to increase percentages until we see a dynamic change," said Lori Millberg, school board member.

The group asked staff to come back to the next facilities meeting with the costs for opening new schools on the different calendars as well as efforts to reduce the number of students in mobile classrooms.

Currently Wake County schools' building and assignment decisions are based on four assumptions.

Assumption 17 is on year-round calendar schools: This assumption drew the most heat from the community and a lawsuit. The board wanted to reduce building costs by opening all new schools on a year-round calendar. Converting additional existing traditional calendar schools to year-round calendar could reduce the next CIP by as much as $317 million. On the other hand, if current schools are converted from year-round to a traditional calendar and if future elementary and middle schools open on traditional calendar, the next CIP would cost as much as $317 million more.

Assumption 7 is on student accommodations: The board wants to reduce the number of students housed in mobile or modular classrooms to 8 percent by 2015. Some schools currently have 19 percent of their students in non-traditional classrooms. To reduce those numbers, would require building more schools at a cost of $350 million. If 2015 is the target year to reduce the numbers, the school system would need to build seven more elementary, one middle and one high school.

The group also has an effort to reduce utilization of elementary and middle schools to 95 percent and high school utilization to 97.5 percent. If schools are at less than 100 percent utilization of space, it allows room for growth and requires less assignment changes. Current utilization in some schools is over 115 percent.

Assumption 11relates to school capacity models: This assumption changes as the needs for special curriculum needs change. For example, additional space for foreign language instruction classes would be needed if that type of program is added to the curriculum. The same is true for ESL, technology, art and music classes.

Assumption 12 is on new school size and space standards: This assumption led to the square footage to be cut for some instructional spaces in schools. For example, new elementary schools are generally built with a multipurpose room that is used for gym classes, auditorium needs and at times, overflow for the cafeteria.

Beverley Clark, school board member offered a recap of the scenarios and assumptions by saying you would need "x" number of schools for growth, y for reduction in mobile classrooms, and w for utilization target.

"We are asking the board to make decisions regarding scenarios to develop plans for the next CIP," said Dulaney

The group asked for scenarios of schools opening on different schools and costs associated with them to be presented at the next facilities committee meeting on May 13.

In the last facility meeting held on April 15, the group considered a timeline for the next CIP event. That timeline showed a bond on the ballot as early as May 2009.

The assumptions and plans for the next bond need to be approved by the Wake County commissioners who also have the power to approve tax increases, something that may result from a larger than normal bond event.

If you want to learn more about camps in the area, Summershine is a good resource for parents and also contains information about before and after school care as well as track-out camps. This resource produced by Wake County schools is available online here.

National Physical Education Week

May 1 through the May 7 is National Physical Education and sport week. This year's theme is "Moving is a Learning Experience." Schools across the triangle are holding contest and events to encourage students to move and get active. Five schools in the nation could win a prize pack that includes a starter technology package.

Keeping with the fitness theme, Cary's Kids Together playground located at 111 Thurston Drive, is having a fitness walk on Saturday, May 3. Registration for the event begins at 8:30 a.m. and the walk steps off at 9 a.m. Registration for a family costs $15 or $5 per individual.

This is a 1.4 mile walk with refreshments, medals and awards. Rain date is set for May 4. Registration will then be at 1:30 p.m. followed by the walk at 2:00 p.m. For more information contact Marla Dorrell at KidsTogether@nc.rr.com or 481-3180.

Wake PTA Council Unit Celebration

The Wake PTA Council is holding their end of the year celebration event that will be held on Wednesday, April 30 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cary's Reedy Creek Middle school.

The 2008-09 Wake PTA officers will be installed during a special ceremony. The following PTA volunteers will lead the council's efforts next year:

President - Sarah Martin
VP Programs - Julie Henry
VP Leadership - Terra Brown
VP Communications - Rachel Harris Monteverdi
VP Advocacy - Freda O'Neil
Recording Secretary - Reggie Williams
Corresponding Secretary - Leigh Menconi
Treasurer - Dorothy Gann

A special vendor fair opens at 5 p.m. PTA leaders from the more than 150 schools in Wake County are encouraged to attend to learn more about fundraising opportunities and cultural arts events that are available for the schools.

Other upcoming Wake PTA Council events include:

New Officer Training for year-round schools will be held on Tuesday, May 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Dogwood Room at Bond Park Community Center located on 150 Metro Park Drive in Cary. The workshop costs $12 per attendee for schools with one or two attendees; $10 per attendee for schools with three or more attendees

New Officer Training for traditional and modified calendar schools will be held on Tuesday, June 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in room 1320 at Crossroads II Building, 110 Corning Road, Cary. This event costs $12 per attendee for schools with one or two attendees; $10 per attendee for schools with three or more attendees

Building Leaders Today: Summer Leadership Training 2008 is a workshop appropriate for elected officers and committee chairs from all local units, regardless of calendar. The workshop will be held on Saturday, July 26. This will be a full day meeting. More details will be available soon.

During its meeting Tuesday, the board approved designations of traditional schools for those who opted out of year-round.

Traditional calendar Options

The decision affects some of the free-and-reduced lunch numbers at schools in Garner. For example, Smith Elementary could reach 76 percent of students coming from low-income families.

This will result from potentially 110 to 120 non-consenting students who are assigned to East Garner as their base and currently attend Vandora Springs as their traditional calendar school option.

"This will make the numbers unacceptably high next year at Smith," said Chuck Dulaney, growth and management assistant superintendent for Wake County Schools.

Aside from that, most of the traditional school designations remain the same as last year. Some exceptions are students assigned to Barwell Road Elementary, who were able to attend Forestville. Those students who have not previously selected Forestville will now be given the option to attend Swift Creek. There is a potential of 40 to 50 students who may currently be attending Forestville that may now be moved to Swift Creek.

Highcroft Elementary students routed to Weatherstone could now be headed to Reedy Creek. Weatherstone currently has 181 students with parents who did not consent to having their child in a year-round school. Of those, 40 to 50 are expected to not give consent for year-round calendar school. If they do not consent this year, will have their students attend Reedy Creek.

Laurel Park has the potential of 120 to 180 non-consenting assignments. This is the largest group of students who have parents who did not want them to attend a year-round school last year that may be moving from Briarcliff to Joyner.

Parents who choose to send their child to a traditional calendar school rather than the assigned year round calendar school will also need to sign a form indicating that they do not consent to having their child attend a year round calendar school.

There are approximately 33,667 students currently assigned to year-round or modified calendar schools who did not apply to a traditional calendar school.

Last year, all the students in that group received a consent letter. This year, only 6,439 students will receive the form.

During the Wake County School Board committee of the whole meeting, board member Ron Margiotta left the meeting and said, "Not sending the consent forms again is disrespectful to parents."

Some parents might have been expecting a consent form again this year to indicate whether or not their child wants to attend a year-round school or a traditional calendar school.

"Consent form stands. This is a legal premise. Once you have consented to all those things, it stands until you withdraw that consent," said Lori Milberg, school board member.

The consent forms are required as part of an April 2007 ruling by Judge Howard Manning of Wake County Superior Court to require the board to obtain parent consent for assignment to year-round and modified calendar school.

A little more than 4,000 students will receive a personalized consent form. These students are pre-registered and currently assigned to a year-round calendar school. These are students who are new to the system and have not previously signed a consent form. Most of these students are kindergartners.

Another 1,373 students opted out of a year-round calendar school last year and are currently assigned to a traditional school. These students did not apply for a school during the application process and are now assigned to a year-round or modified calendar school.

These students will also receive a consent letter. If the letters are not returned, growth and planning will call the families by phone to determine intention. If the parents do not consent to have their child attend a year round school, they will attend a designated traditional school.

The bulk of the students will receive a one page information sheet indicating that they can change their consent for the 08-09 school year. Those parents would need to submit a request in writing to the school system if they do not want to have their child attend a year-round calendar school.

With those assumptions, Chuck Dulaney, associate superintendent for growth and planning, determined a timeline for informed consent letters and assignments to year-round and modified calendar schools.

"The principals are asking for condensed timeline to allow for hiring of teachers," said Patti Head, school board member.

Dulaney said the timeline was about three weeks earlier than last year. He felt with the smaller numbers of consent forms going on, it won't take as long for traditional assignment plan to be determined. .

The group did approve to wait to send the letters until after the possible ruling on the Supreme Court decision that is set for April 29. Later is was determined that decision may not be heard until May 6.

"If you get a court ruling in your favor, you would need to come back to how you want to move forward," said Dulaney. Some things to consider at that point would include flexibility in transfer process.

In contrast, Dulaney also said "If the court upholds the earlier ruling, the assignment process is still good for next year." He added that it will have dramatic impact on multi-year assignment plan.

During the group's general meeting, the timeline and changes were approved at 5:15 p.m.

Timeline for consent letters and assignment to traditional calendar options:

April 29: Mail 6,439 letters to families in groups 2, 3, and 4
May 2: Package with 27,000 information sheets for students currently enrolled with consent to be included with assignment letter materials
April 28 - May 9: Schools attempt to contact groups 3 and 4
May 15: Schools send official assignment notification to all students
May 15 - June 1: Annual transfer request process begins
May 23: Deadline for consent prior to default assignment to designated traditional calendar school.
May 28: Growth and planning mails official traditional calendar assignments to those families who have not consented to year-round or modified calendar assignments.
May 29-June 13: Families receiving traditional calendars may apply for transfers
July 7: Tracks 1, 2, and 3 begin the 2007-08 school year begins
July 9: Track 4 school year begins
August 25: Traditional calendar school year begins

A revenue neutral budget request is determined to be at $318 million. The increase budget request means that funds would need to be found to cover the shortfall, which would most likely come from a tax increase.

During the group's earlier Committee of the Whole meeting, Patti Head, school board member, said "These are the additions the school board are requesting. These are dependent on the county commissioners' approval on May 16."

Ron Margiotta, school board member said "This exercise we went through today is a good one. However, parents should not consider this to not be a done deal or to the taxpayers holding on to their wallet." He went on to say "This is a bit cruel in not considering presentations from Raleigh chamber and Wake Education partnership. This budget request is unrealistic."

Additions to the budget include more staff for gang prevention, academically gifted programs, and literacy coaches.

Increase Gang Prevention and School Security Initiatives

This additional $494,395 to the budget includes hiring a gang program administrator and puts an additional school resource officer in 9 high schools.

"Gang program administrator will have biggest impact on system," said Russ Smith, director of security.

The administration will coordinate programs and focus on long range plans for system. The administrator will collaborate on a full-time basis with community agencies and comprehensive statistics as well as develop and deliver curriculum.

The funding for this would be off-set somewhat by the increase of parking fees for high school students. Currently students pay $125 to park. The fee would increase to $150, bringing in an additional $141,000 to the school.

Expand Academically Gifted Programs

Funding for academically gifted (AG) students would increase in the budget by $3.26 million. This provides a minimum of a full time AG position in every elementary and middle school.

"We need to look at student academic success and put forth some of the things we need in order to challenge all of our students. We know that this is an area where we are sorely lacking resources and money," said school board member Patti Head.

This also increases funding for AG teacher certification. The new budget approval provides additional funds to implement kindergarten through 2nd grade programs in 10 "high needs" elementary schools. The programs, Project Bright IDEA and Building Better Thinking Skills would help prepare students for the 3rd grade AG identification tests.

David Holdzkom, Assistant Superintendent of Evaluation and Research said, "For the most part, kids are identified as academically gifted students in the 3rd grade."

All students take cognitive tests. Students who score in the 75th percentile, take IOWA test. From the combination of two test scores along with other evidence, students are identified as academically gifted.

Add Literacy Coaches

The board approved to boost funds for literacy coaches by more than $5 million. The first piece of this increase allows for expansion of kindergarten through 2nd grade literacy coaches to support intervention and coaching.

Other requests include $4.4 million in funds for foreign language teachers and $200,000 to have meetings video-streamed.

Jennifer Bartnik, Girl Scout leader, said "You can help the Girl Scouts be the winner of the contest - and receive $75,000 to support Girl Scouts." Some ways the community can help include voting through the Web site and to let others know about the contest.

According to the Million Step March Web site, Make Every Dance Step Count is a fun way for girls, volunteers, family and community members to step up their physical activity - as well as their flexibility, strength and endurance - through learning different kinds of dance.

This fall, the group is planning a year-long series of dance-a-thons, lessons and other group activities guaranteed to get your groove on - and get fit along the way.

Building on our Make Every Step Count program of walking and step-counting to help boost physical activity and build health, this program introduces the girls, volunteers and their family members to a variety of dances as well as the cultural significance behind each of them and bring different parts of the community together as they learn them.

Girl Scouts - North Carolina Coastal Pines, a merger of the Girl Scout Council of Coastal Carolina and Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council serves more than 32,000 girl members and nearly 10,000 adult members in 41 central and eastern North Carolina counties.

Girl Scouts - N.C. Coastal Pines counties are Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chatham, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pender, Person, Pitt, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne, and Wilson.

The event will be held at Panther Creek and Green Hope high schools.

Doors to the event open at 7 a.m. Teacher candidates will check in from 7:30 to 8:30. They will schedule interviews from 8:30 to 10. From 10:15 to 2:30 p.m., the teacher candidates will be able to interview with principals or school administrators representing each WCPSS school.

More than 2,000 teacher candidates from across the U.S. with many from North Carolina are expected to attend.

Elementary school candidates will go to Green Hope High School located at 2500 Carpenter Upchurch Road in Cary.

Middle and high school candidates will go to Panther Creek High School at 6770 McCrimmon Parkway in Cary.

The school system is looking to hire teachers for three new elementary schools: Laurel Park, Mills Park and Sycamore Creek opening for 2008-09; to meet the needs of the more than 6,000 new students expected next year; and to fill vacancies created by retirements.

Teachers in the Wake County Public School System are paid based on their years of service and level of education. Salary ranges include:

•BA/BS Degree Level Classroom Teacher - $33,691.90 - $60,543.00
•MA/MS Masters Degree Level Teacher - $37,230.40 - $66,886.10
•12 percent increase for National Board Certification

You can hear Joan Kister, WCPSS Senior Director for Teacher Recruitment and Retentiontalk about the job fair and employment in a WCPSS PodCast.

But overall, fewer students are scoring well on the test.

That so many students scored well is what Dr. June Atkinson, State Superintendent is calling the good news from the report.
"One point of concern for all - N.C. students who perform at highest percentiles did not maintain that level," Atkinson said.

Educators say the report presented during the state board of education's April meeting is the best way to compare how well students in North Carolina are learning in comparison to students across the nation.

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, also known as "The Nation's Report Card," is not given every year. The last time 8th graders took the writing test was in 2002.

Comparing the 2007 scores with the 2002 scores:

• Students with below average ability scored the same
• Students with average ability scored a little lower - 4 points less.
• Students in the advanced level scored much lower - 9 points less

Atkinson said she is also concerned that all students didn't make the same progress that was made from 1998 to 2002.

About 4,000 students across the state in 150 schools took the 2007 writing test. Students and schools are selected randomly. The selection process makes it impossible to do a district comparison of the scores.

The writing test is given in two 25-minute segments and is graded as a first draft. Administrators argue that format is unfair.

Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education, said "I'm not overjoyed by the way writing is measured. How many of us sit down to write and tear what we write and then re-write?"

Atkinson calls it "on-demand writing."

"Most people don't write this way. Teachers go through the process of teaching writing as a draft, then another draft," she said. "There are better ways to assess writing ability."

The board discussed several ways to increase the scores for this test, which will be administered again in 2011.

James Bell, 2007 N.C. Teacher of the year, said to improve scores, teachers should be educated on what the test is and means.

Lee agreed, and said the State Board should take charge of that.

"We need to get back to using our hands," he said. "I have horrible handwriting - I can't even read it. Get back to basics of writing."

Some of the other suggestions the board made include:

• Focus on more real world writing across all content areas - not just in language arts classes.
• Continue the use of literacy coaches who know work with 200 schools to improve writing. 
• Continue efforts in working with university system to graduate teachers who can teach writing in all content areas and improve writing process.
• Ensure that efforts such as the graduation project give students an avenue for writing about something they are interested in.

Lee ended the discussion by saying, "There is nothing more important to do than lay the foundation on reading, writing, and the ability to communicate."

Raleigh's Ravenscroft Hosts Olympic Swimmer Josh Davis   This morning, Olympic Gold Medal winner Josh Davis spoke to three different groups of students at Ravenscroft School located on Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh.

Davis spoke first on Monday with Lower School students, then to Upper School students as a part of their Career Week program, and discussed his personal "pyramid of success." He ended his presentations with Middle School students.

Davis's presentation touched on the following topics:  

The power of attitude.
Davis said, "Every person should take a step back and think of something they are thankful for. Your thankfulness for that person or thing should reflect in your intensity and excellence in everything you do! That is what I call an attitude of gratitude."
The key to performing under pressure.
Davis said "Just ‘do your best' sounds like a simple overused cliché. But it really is powerful what happens when you always do your best. When you do your best every moment of every hour of every day it doesn't mean your life will be easy but you don't have to worry because you will be right where you're supposed to be in life."
The power of belief.
Davis said, "My life turned when my swim coach believed in me. When he believed in me I began to believe in myself. That's when my life turned. I believe every young person has greatness within in them."   In 1996, Davis made history by becoming the only man in any sport from any nation at the Atlanta Olympic Games to win three gold medals. Josh returned to the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 where he was elected captain of the United States Men's Swim Team. He went on to break the American record three times in the 200-meter freestyle and win two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Games.  

Since retiring from competitive swimming, Davis has launched a career as a motivational speaker, broadcaster and swim clinician.

Johnston County School Officials Hold Public Hearings 

April 1 at 7 p.m. at West Johnston High

April 3 at 7 p.m. at East Clayton Elementary

The Johnston County Board of Education  will hold two meetings to hear from parents about the proposed changes in assignment plans for West Johnston High as well as the plan to fill Powhatan Elementary that opens this fall.   

Tuesday's public hearing on the West Johnston High attendance area will review the feeder school assignments at Benson and Four Oaks Middle. The proposed plan may have some of the students assigned to South Johnston High. School officials said the proposed plan will move some students to the campus that is closer to their home.  

On Thursday, the public hearing at East Clayton Elementary will release the proposed new attendance area for Powhatan Elementary School, currently under construction on Vinson Road.  School officials say the new school will draw heavily on East Clayton Elementary students and includes pulling students from Wilson's Mills and River Dell.  The projected enrollment for Powhatan is 527 students. If the proposals go through, East Clayton's enrollment could drop from 1,060 this year to 500 next year.

Wake County Schools Sponsor Hispanic/Latino Parent Workshops   In an effort to reach out to Hispanic/Latino parents, Wake county school officials are hosting 17 parent workshops throughout the county.

MariaRosa Rangel, senior administrator for Hispanic/Latino outreach, said "We are trying to reach out to these families and teach them about our school system, parent involvement, their rights as parents, policies and school expectations, how to have a successful parent/teacher conference, gang awareness and resources in our community and within WCPSS."

On Monday, a workshop will be held at Knightdale Elementary. All of the workshops run from 6 to 9 p.m. The sessions do include childcare and dinner.

Classes resume after spring break at the following school locations:

April 7, Knightdale Elementary

April 8, East Millbrook Middle

April 9, West Millbrook Middle

April 11, Wakefield Elementary

To register for a class or to learn more, contact Rangel at 858-3227.   For parents with kids on school break this week, visit the NBC17 Precision Parenting blog with tips on how to keep the kids from getting bored.

Rosa Gill, Board of Education chair said, "By May, the community will know if the new schools will open as traditional, year-round, or a combination."

Chuck Dulaney, Growth and Planning Assistant Superintendent, said his staff needs to know the schools' calendar before assignment plans can be made.

The impact of how many students affected will be known once the school calendars are determined. For example, if a middle school opens on a traditional calendar, it can house approximately 900 students. If that school opens as a year-round, 1300 students can be assigned to it.

Wake Superintendent Del Burns said, "The goal is to provide the community with as much certainty as possible that these are the schools our students will attend."

All of the plans unveiled at Tuesday's meeting are predicated on now accurately growth can be predicted for certain areas.

To help with the plan, Dulaney said they are working closely with SAS and new software that will more accurately predict growth for an area. The problem with a three year plan is that fluctuations in the housing market can not be predicted that accurately. This could impact how well the new assignment plan will work.

This is a daunting task, said Burns. It's complicated. The assignment plan will be aligned with the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and provide additional predictability and stability for parents.

"When you run out of space in a school, you have to use different measures including the ones that have new schools opening as year-round," said Burns.

Discussions on assignments for new schools and calendar schedules brought back the heartburn from the March 19 joint meeting with the count commissioners. At that meeting, Commissioner Chair Joe Bryan nit-picked over whether the commissioners knew about the plans to open new schools as year-round. Bryan indicated that the group should have been given the opportunity to approve that change to the CIP.

Gill asked for clarity on what the commissioners had approved in the year-round calendar school assignment plan. Staff clarified that an addendum to the CIP was adopted by the school board on May 16, 2006 and presented to the commissioners as a report on status, but the group was not asked to officially approve the change.

The board members will discuss more of the plans on calendars for new schools with the commissioners at their April 16 joint session.

Next month and in May, Wake schools' growth and planning staff will meet with Board Advisory groups and principals.

Dulaney said staff asked principals at schools that will most likely be impacted by the assignment plan to create a planning committee that includes a teacher, staff, and a parent. The planning committees will become a sounding board for staff in making the assignment plan.

For example, Mills Park Middle school's opening will most likely impact East Cary because of the location. Secondary schools affected could include Davis Drive, Salem and Apex Middle. 

Students at the secondary schools may not be assigned to Mills. Assignments from these schools could be used as backfill to East and West Cary Middle who will most likely be assigned to Mills Park.

"Work through with eye in mind on impact on existing schools important," Dulaney said. 

The draft of the three year assignment plan could be available as early as November.

Wake Schools Planned To Open Between 2009 and 2011

2009:

Banks Road Elementary Year-Round

Bryan Road Elementary Year-Round

Lake Myra Elementary Year-Round

Holly Grove Middle Year Road (to open in Herbert Akins Road Elementary site)

Mills Park Middle Year-round (To open in Alston Ridge Elementary site)

Wendell Middle moves to permanent site and no assignment changes are planned.

2010:

 Herbert Atkins Elementary year-Round

Alston Ridge Elementary Year-Round

Eastern Wake Elementary Year-Round

North East Elementary Year-Round

Holly Grove Middle Year-Round (Students moved from Herbert Atkins)

Mills Park Middle Year-Round (Students moved from Alston Ridge)

North East Middle Year-Round (Sixth grade only at Spring Forest Modular)

Heritage High (Grades 9 and 10 to share facility with North East Wake High)

North East High (Grades 9 and 10 to be placed at Heritage High)

2011:

 North East Wake Middle

Heritage High

North East High

At a Mar. 18 Board of Commissioners meeting, they voted to chip in $3,000 per acre for 36 acres off of Burlington Mill Road to try to make the site more affordable for Wake County to purchase it for a middle school.

In Sept., the Wake County Board of Commissioners blocked the purchase of 46 acres on the site, saying the price-- then $75,000 per acre-- was too high.

"Everyone felt it was a win-win deal," said Mayor Frank Eagles. Eagles said everyone on the board voted in favor of the resolution, except Commissioner Ronnie Curran, who was not in attendance.

"They saw a need for a school," Eagles said. "We've got kids going to various schools around here. It's nice to have a school in your town."

The mayor also hopes the town will be able to partner with the Wake County Public School System for use of athletic facilities.

WCPSS has yet to officially propose a purchase of the site to the county board of commissioners.