TO:
NC Public School Principals
FROM: State Superintendent June Atkinson
DATE: Feb. 5, 2015
The 2013-14 North Carolina School Report Cards went live today at
www.ncpublicschools.org/src. For the first time, the Report Cards reflect School
Performance Grades as required by state law. At the State Board meeting and with
news media afterward, I expressed my continued support for a School Performance
Grade model that provides a letter grade for both student achievement and growth as
opposed to one grade that incorporates both. Growth is the most important indicator of
a school’s impact on students’ learning. I encourage you when you have a moment to
take a look at the 2013-14 School Performance Grade Executive Summary as it
contains a number of analyses that show the influence of factors such as student
poverty and teacher impact on student achievement and growth. This report is included
as a link on the press release available online at www.ncpublicschools.org under
“News.”
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Principals’ Message:
1. State Board of Education Meeting Highlights
2. PowerSchool Upgrade
3. 2014-15 AP/IB Exam Fee Information
4. NCVPS and Student Contact Info
5. Comment Now on Proposed Amendments to Policies Governing Services for
Children with Disabilities, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act-Part B
6. Severe Weather Preparedness Week March 1-7
7. 2015 Regional Principals of the Year Announced
8. Feb. 1-7 is National School Counseling Week
9. Summer Nutrition Programs Help Meet Critical Need for Students
10. Two School Districts are Latest “Green Ribbon” Award Recipients
11. Summer Leadership Conference 2015
1. State Board of Education Meeting Highlights - At this morning’s State Board
meeting, members approved Teacher Observation Requirements, the 2013-14 School
Performance Grades, the 2014-16 State School Technology Plan, and the Virtual
Charter School Pilot recommendations. A complete list of Board actions is posted online
at http://stateboard.ncpublicschools.gov/minutes-actions/sbe-actions/2015-actions.
2. PowerSchool Upgrade - Pearson will deploy PowerSchool 8.1.1 software into all
NC PowerSchool instances during our next scheduled maintenance weekend, Feb. 6-8.
This upgrade will entail major updates and remedies to the currently used PowerSchool
application. In-depth upgrade details will be provided in the PowerSchool Release
Notes.
3. 2014-15 AP/IB Exam Fee Information - One part of the 2013 legislation, Broaden
Access and Successful Participation in Advanced Courses (115C-83.4A), was to
enhance access and encourage participation in AP and IB courses by appropriating
funds to pay for all AP and IB exams for traditional public school and charter school
students beginning in 2014-15. Procedures have been sent out to various staff in LEAs
and charter schools, including LEA finance officers and curriculum and instruction
leaders. No funding for AP and IB test/registration fees should be collected from
students/families for this year’s exams. Please contact Sneha Shah Coltrane at
sneha.shahcoltrane@dpi.nc.gov for more information.
4. NCVPS and Student Contact Info - Please be aware that the North Carolina Virtual
Public School is not yet integrated into PowerSchool. As such, it is critical for your
school e-learning advisors when registering students for online courses to include all
student contact information. Our teachers must have phone and email contact
information for each enrolled student. If this information is not included, NCVPS
teachers would have to contact your schools to retrieve that data. We would appreciate
your assistance in informing your e-learning advisors of this critical need.
5. Comment Now on Proposed Amendments to Policies Governing Services for
Children with Disabilities, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement
Act-Part B - The NCDPI Exceptional Children Division is accepting comments from
interested persons regarding the Department’s proposed amendments to specific
sections of Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities (Policies) pursuant
to Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA).
The amendments to the North Carolina policies are available for public review and
comment Feb. 4 – March 6. The amendments may be reviewed at the NCDPI
Exceptional Children Division office (Education Building, Raleigh), and on the web at
http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov.
Interested citizens are invited to comment on the proposed amendment to the
policies. In making comments, please give the citation for the section(s) on which you
are commenting (e.g., NC 1504-2.9); and provide comments in the form of statements.
Comments may be submitted via email to ecpolicies2015@dpi.nc.gov or mailed to the
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Exceptional Children Division, ATTN:
Carol Ann Hudgens or Lynne Loeser, 6356 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 276996356.
6. Severe Weather Preparedness Week March 1-7 - Spring is peak tornado season
in North Carolina. North Carolina Emergency Management and the National Weather
Service want your school community and you to know how to be safe when severe
weather threatens. The statewide tornado drill will take place on Wednesday, March 4,
at 9:30 a.m. Most NOAA weather radios will NOT sound an audible alert to mark the
beginning of the drill. As such, schools are encouraged to self-initiate their tornado drills
at 9:30 a.m. as if an alert had been broadcast. The drill will conclude when participants
complete their drill activities. No all-clear message will be issued. If this time is not
convenient for your school’s instructional program, principals may reschedule the
tornado drill on another day close to March 4. For more information about tornado and
storm safety, go to www.ReadyNC.org or download the free ReadyNC mobile app.
7. 2015 Regional Principals of the Year Announced - Congratulations to the
following eight outstanding public school principals who were recently selected as
regional Wells Fargo North Carolina Principals of the Year:
- Region I: Steve Lassiter, Pactolus Elementary (Pitt County Schools);
- Region II: Robin Hamilton, Parsley Elementary (New Hanover County Schools);
- Region III: Tonya Williams, Sherwood Githens Middle (Durham Public Schools);
- Region IV: Kim Robertson, Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary (Cumberland County
Schools);
- Region V: Christopher Poston, Pittsboro Elementary (Chatham County Schools);
- Region VI: Adam Auerbach, Wolf Meadow Elementary (Carbarrus County Schools);
- Region VII: Shane Mace, East Burke Middle (Burke County Schools); and
- Region VIII: Scott Rhodes, East Henderson High (Henderson County Schools).
These individuals will now compete for the state title of 2015 Wells Fargo North Carolina
Principal of the Year. The winner, who will succeed the 2014 recipient, Carrie Tulbert,
principal of Mooresville Middle (Mooresville Graded School District), will be announced
May 1.
8. Feb. 1-7 is National School Counseling Week - This week is National School
Counseling week; and the first annual White House School Counselor of the Year
Award ceremony was held at the White House last Friday. Three of the semifinalists
representing K-12 school counseling are from North Carolina and Wake County Public
Schools: Lisbeth Fillard, Kerri Bridges and Laura Inscoe. You can view a video of the
First Ladies remarks at the ceremony at http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-andvideo/video/2015/01/30/first-lady-presents-school-counselor-year-award-0. The
American School Counselor Association has been hosting this event for years, but this
is the first time it has been recognized by and held at the White House.
9. Summer Nutrition Programs Help Meet Critical Need for Students - Last year in
North Carolina, 826,000 students were eligible to receive free or reduced priced meals
at school through the National School Lunch Program. Of that number, a mere 140,854
received meals during the summer months through the Summer Nutrition Programs. In
other words, 83 percent of economically disadvantaged, school-age children may have
experienced hunger during the summer months. To read more about this serious issue
and what the NC Department of Public Instruction is doing to address it, please visit
www.ncpublicschools.org and look under “News.”
10. Two School Districts are Latest “Green Ribbon” Award Recipients Congratulations to Cherokee County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools for
recently being awarded Green Ribbons from the North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction’s Safe and Healthy Schools Support Division. These districts will now
represent the state in national competition. The Green Ribbon Schools Award is the first
comprehensive federal policy for schools related to environment, health and education.
11. Summer Leadership Conference 2015 - The Summer Leadership Conference
2015 will be held June 28-July 1 at the Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville. Conference
information, including hotels and online registration, tentative agenda, and speaker bios
can be found at www.wresa.org. The NCSSA Superintendents' Retreat also will be a
part of the conference and will begin on Sunday, June 28. The theme this year is global
education. The keynote speakers will be Pasi Sahlberg (Finnish educator and scholar),
Milton Chen (Edutopia, Sesame Street, The Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact),
Rushton Hurley (Next Vista for Learning, Discovery Education), James Johnson Jr.
(Urban Investment Strategies Center), and Andres Ruzo (National Geographic
Explorer). There also will be a legal update, legislative update and updates from the
NCDPI. A tentative agenda and keynote speaker information can be found at
www.wresa.org. If you have questions, contact Jan Webster, (jwebster@wresa.org or
828.418.0011, ext. 21) or Vicki Wilson, (vwilson@wresa.org, or 828.418.0011, ext. 22).