Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
9/21/15 2:33 PM
Weekly Message + State Superintendent June Atkinson
North Carolina Public Schools <NCPublicSchools@public.govdelivery.com>
Mon 9/21/2015 2:14 PM
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To: Lynda
Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>;
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Sept. 21, 2015
Congratulations to Guilford County Schools’ Superintendent Mo
Green and to the students and families of Guilford County.
Last week, in a special event at Ragsdale High School, Guilford
County officially became the next community partner of the
pioneering national scholarship and student-support program
Say Yes to Education. At an event at Ragsdale High School in
Jamestown, Say Yes to Education founder and CEO George Weiss
made the announcement to a crowd of cheering students, parents,
educators and community partners.
Under the program, county students accepted to and enrolled in a
one-, two-, or four-year degree public university or certificate
program would be provided with scholarship funding from the local
endowment to cover tuition that isn’t covered by other grants and
scholarships. Click here to see the video shared at the event. To
learn more about Say Yes, visit the Say Yes to Education website.
Say Yes' selection of Guilford County brings the total number of students eligible for Say Yes
scholarships and support services to nearly 140,000 across North Carolina and New York. Local
officials have raised $32.5 million toward the local scholarship endowment, surpassing the required
threshold of $28 million to be selected as a Say Yes community. The community plans to raise an
additional $37.5 million toward the goal of bringing total scholarship endowment dollars to $70 million
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
9/21/15 2:33 PM
within the next 15 months.
I was thrilled to be at this announcement event on Thursday and to see the excitement in the
community. We will include Superintendent Green on an upcoming superintendents’ quarterly agenda
so that you can learn more about this program first-hand.
Local Benchmark Study Participants Needed
One of the outcomes from the State Board’s Summative Assessment Task Force is to conduct a study
comparing student performance on locally administered benchmarks/interims to performance on the
end-of-grade tests.
The study requires districts to share their data with NCDPI for analysis. If you are interested in
participating in this study or, if you would like to learn more prior to making a decision, please contact
Accountability Services Director Tammy Howard.
Low-Performing Schools and Districts
The General Assembly has approved a new definition of low-performing schools and has added a new
designation of low-performing districts:
G.S. 115C-105.37(a) Identification of Low-Performing Schools - The State Board of Education shall
identify low-performing schools on an annual basis. Low-performing schools are those that receive a
school performance grade of D or F and a school growth score of “met expected growth” or “not met
expected growth” as defined by G.S. 115C-83.15.
G.S. 115C-105.39A(a) Identification of Low-Performing Local School Administrative Units - The
State Board of Education shall identify low-performing local school administrative units on an annual
basis. A low-performing local school administrative unit is a unit in which the majority of the schools in
that unit that received a school performance grade and school growth score as provided in G.S. 115C83.15 have been identified as low-performing schools, as provided in G.S. 115C-105.37.
The final lists for both of these designations will be presented at the Oct. 1 State Board of Education
meeting for approval. Following the Board’s decision, you will receive specific information regarding the
requirements and next steps for schools and districts. We are working on structures to support your
district and schools through the Statewide System of Support and District and School Transformation.
Multi-Tiered System of Support Update
The NC MTSS Cohort 1 will soon begin the blended learning course. The course is intended to
strengthen skills of the district or charter school team for supporting schools with implementation.
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
9/21/15 2:33 PM
Last week, six districts attended the course introduction session in
Asheville. This week, and in upcoming weeks, additional districts,
charter schools and state operated programs will attend the course
introduction session. This initial session allows teams to reflect on
historical milestones of academic and behavior instruction in the
district, in preparation for casting a vision for the future work of
building a Multi-Tiered System of Support.
A list of all participants by cohort for the 2015-16 school year is available online.
Deadline Extended for U.S. Presidential Scholars
Program Nominations
The deadline to submit nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program competition has been
extended to Monday, Sept. 28.
Each superintendent is invited to nominate one student who has achieved high academic success while
overcoming obstacles to represent his/her school district for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. In
addition, each superintendent is invited to nominate one student to compete in the Career Technical
Education portion of the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
Information and nomination forms were sent to you via email on Aug. 21. If you cannot locate this email
or have questions, please contact Special Assistant to the State Superintendent Monique Wertis at
monique.wertis@dpi.nc.gov or 919.807.3436. Nominations may be emailed.
Students@Work 2016 Contacts Needed
The Students@Work (S@W) initiative is a partnership with the North Carolina Business Committee for
Education (NCBCE) and NCDPI. The program’s goal is to expose middle school students to the
workplace. Over the past four years, approximately 20,000 students per year have participated in job
shadowing and career exposure opportunities.
We are excited about Students@Work 2016. Your assistance is needed to ensure each middle school
student in your LEA has the opportunity to participate. Please share the S@W googledoc contact
information link with your LEA’s S@W contact and ask them to make sure that their contact information
is included. If you are the point of contact, add your name to the googledoc if it isn’t listed.
There will be only one S@W contact person listed on the NCBCE website. Completion of the
googledoc will ensure that all contacts receive timely communication. Please identify the NCBCE S@W
contact with a * at the end of your LEA’s name.
The deadline to submit this information is Friday, Sept. 25. If you have any questions, please contact
Marchelle Horner.
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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NCDPI Provides EdTech Platform for
Teachers
How effective are the instructional technology tools teachers will
use this school year? How do teachers know which technology products are best for their classrooms?
Thanks to a partnership with LearnTrials.com, NCDPI is providing a time-saving way for teachers to
connect with their professional learning communities, see what teachers in their school or across the
state are using to get results, share their thoughts and questions, and discover the products that are
best for their classroom.
NCDPI values every teacher's expertise, so please encourage your teachers to share their real
experience with any digital learning tool online. Their insights will not only help their professional
learning communities and other educators, but will help NCDPI staff make better decisions about the
tools and resources we provide to NC educators.
LearnTrials.com is a research-backed, online platform that combines verified educator insights with
multiple data sources to help educators make informed decisions when they try, buy and use education
technology. We hope you will encourage your teachers to visit the Education Technology Management
Platform website and share their feedback, find thousands of useful insights from verified educators,
connect with fellow educators to share products and best practices, and discover the digital tools that
are best for their classrooms.
A+ Schools Program Fall Informational Meetings
The A+ Schools Program, the nation’s longest-running, most successful arts-based whole school reform
model, is hosting three informational meetings for schools interested in joining the A+ Network.
The meetings will take place from 5-7 p.m. as follows:
• Tuesday, Oct. 20, Community Council for the Arts, Kinston
• Wednesday, Oct. 21, N.C. Arts Council, Raleigh
• Thursday, Oct. 22, United Arts Council of Catawba County, Hickory
These free regional meetings will offer information to school and district representatives about the A+
Schools Program and the process for becoming a part of this highly successful, nationally recognized
network of creative schools.
To learn more about the program, please visit the A+ website. To RSVP to attend one of the meetings or
for more information, please contact A+ Schools Program Director Michelle Burrows.
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
9/21/15 2:33 PM
Sept. 17, 2015 Home Base Biweekly Update
Sept. 18, 2015 Principals’ Biweekly Message
Sept. 18, 2015 Finance Officers’ Newsletter
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