TO:
NC Public School Principals
FROM: State Superintendent June Atkinson
DATE: Jan. 16, 2014
Last week, I sent memoranda to local school superintendents to advise them about two
items that also affect you. First, in response to some concerns expressed about the
challenge of finding ample numbers of testing proctors to meet your needs, local school
districts that submit a letter to me regarding this problem will be able to waive the
proctor requirement as a hardship. Also, in response to some concerns expressed
about the General Assembly’s Read to Achieve law, we sent a memo out to clarify
some points around the readability of the portfolio items, the option for local districts to
submit their own locally-developed alternative assessment to the State Board of
Education for approval and the convening of an advisory group to review the processes
that have been followed to date to comply with the General Assembly’s Read to Achieve
law. These memos are available to view online in their entirety at
www.ncpublicschools.org/superintendents.
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Principals’ Message:
1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2. Public Hearings Scheduled to Receive Comments on State’s Carl Perkins Career
and Technical Education Act
3. Evaluation Resources Reminder for the New Year
4. Regional Teachers of the Year Announced
5. Nominations Open for Jay Robinson Leadership Awards
6. National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest
7. 2014 Arbor Day Photo Contest Deadline Approaching
8. Stop Rx Abuse PSA Competition
9. 10K For Solving Real-World Problems
10. 2014 Siemens Summer of Learning Opportunities
1. State Board Meeting Highlights - At the State Board of Education meeting last
week, members approved staff recommendations for program approval requests under
the Innovative Education Initiatives Act, 26 charter schools for opening in August,
Career and Technical Education revisions to Essential Standards, districts’ and charter
schools’ requests for Standard Six flexibility, and a plan for digital learning in public
schools. Among the Board’s discussion items were renewal recommendations for
charter schools with charters expiring in 2014, grading scales, and the Board’s FY
2014-15 supplemental budget. The Board also recognized the 2013-14 National Title I
Distinguished Schools Calvin Wiley Elementary (Guilford County Schools) and
Jonathan Valley Elementary (Haywood County Schools). For a complete list of Board
actions, visit http://stateboard.ncpublicschools.gov/minutes-actions/sbe-actions/2014.
2. Public Hearings Scheduled to Receive Comments on State’s Carl Perkins
Career and Technical Education Act - The North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction’s Career and Technical Education Division has scheduled three public
hearings and one webinar to receive comments on possible changes to the state’s Carl
Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The Perkins Act provides
increased focus on the academic achievement of career and technical education
students and strengthens the connections between secondary and postsecondary
education. For more information, including hearing dates, times and locations as well as
other avenues to submit comments, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org and click on
the appropriate link under “News.”
3. Evaluation Resources Reminder for the New Year - Resources for supporting all
educator evaluation processes including upcoming webinars, archived presentations,
and evaluation process manuals are available online at
http://ncees.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/NCEES+Wiki. Please visit often and contact the
professional development leads (also listed on this site) if you have questions.
Questions also may be directed to NCDPI’s Educator Evaluation Consultant Kimberly
Simmons at kimberly.simmons@dpi.nc.gov.
4. Regional Teachers of the Year Announced - Congratulations to the following nine
teachers who were selected to represent their regions and charter schools as the state’s
regional Teachers of the Year:
• North Central Region: Rhonda Holmes, Conway Middle (Northampton County
Schools);
• Northeast Region: Charlene Evans, Plymouth High (Washington County Schools);
• Northwest Region: Alex Reynolds, Jesse Carson High (Rowan-Salisbury Schools);
• Southeast Region: Melissa Gillespie, Laney High (New Hanover County Schools);
• Southwest Region: James Ford, Garinger High (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools);
• Sandhills/South Central Region: Everlene Davis, South Columbus High (Columbus
County Schools);
• Piedmont-Triad/Central Region: Kathy Saunders, Asheboro High (Asheboro City
Schools);
• West Region: Melissa Faetz, South Macon Elementary (Macon County Schools); and
• Charter Schools: Chris Weaver, Evergreen Charter (Buncombe County).
The 2014-15 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year will be
announced April 3 during a luncheon ceremony in Cary.
5. Nominations Open for Jay Robinson Leadership Awards - Nominations for the
Jay Robinson Leadership Awards are now being accepted. The original award was
established by the Public School Forum Board of Directors and the NC School Boards
Association in honor of Dr. Jay Robinson, former superintendent Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools, UNC vice president and chair of the State Board of Education. In 2011, the
award was expanded to two awards: Exemplary Educator with statewide impact in K-12
education and Exemplary Leadership in Public Service with statewide impact in K-12
education. The awards may be given to anyone who has displayed innovative, creative
and effective leadership for the public schools of North Carolina. The nominations
MUST be postmarked by March 3. The honor includes a cash award sponsored by
BB&T. To obtain a nomination form, contact Debra Jordan at djordan@ncforum.org.
6. National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest - Rules for the 2014 National
School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest have been posted on the School Bus Safety
Web site at www.ncbussafety.org/Poster. The contest is open to students in grades K-
8. The deadline for submission to the state (through your transportation department) is
May 23.
7. 2014 Arbor Day Photo Contest Deadline Approaching - The 2014 Arbor Day
Photo contest, which is sponsored by the North Carolina Forest Service, is open to all
students in the 5th through 12th grades. Students are encouraged to submit photographs
of trees in or around urban areas, depicting this year’s contest theme, “Young and
Old.” The contest is designed to engage students’ critical thinking skills by having them
submit a photographer’s statement discussing the contest theme and their interpretation
of how their photo relates to the theme. The deadline for entries is Feb. 28. Prizes will
be awarded to the top three photos. For more information or to download an entry form,
please visit www.ncforestservice.gov/Urban/arbor_day_photo_contest.htm, or contact
Jennifer Rall, photo contest coordinator, at Jennifer.rall@ncagr.gov.
8. Stop Rx Abuse PSA Competition - Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office will be
holding its Stop Rx Abuse competition for the third year to increase awareness about
the dangers of youth prescription drug abuse. All students enrolled in grades nine
through 12 are eligible to enter by creating a short public service announcement. The
competition will run from March 1-April 15 and winners will receive prizes. In the coming
weeks, each high school will receive detailed rules and guidelines about the
competition, as well as a promotional poster to display via U.S. mail. To learn more, visit
www.ncdoj.gov or e-mail questions to StopRxAbuse@ncdoj.gov.
9. 10K For Solving Real-World Problems - The InvenTeam initiative, created by the
Lemelson-MIT Program, offers an unparalleled opportunity for high school students to
cultivate their creativity and experience invention. InvenTeams are teams of high school
students, teachers and mentors that receive grants of up to $10,000 each to invent
technological solutions to real-world problems. Each InvenTeam chooses its own
problem to solve. Invention Ideas and InvenTeam projects span many fields from
assistive devices to environmental technologies and consumer goods. Applicants are
encouraged to consider needs of the world's poorest people (those earning $2/day)
when brainstorming invention ideas. The initial application deadline is Feb. 28. More
information is available online at http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/apply.html.
10. 2014 Siemens Summer of Learning - Siemens STEM Academy offers two, oneof-a-kind, all-expenses-paid professional development opportunities that provide unique
experiences to middle and high school teachers from across the country looking to
bolster STEM learning and gain pragmatic skills that they can translate back into the
classroom. For all the details, please visit
http://www.siemensstemacademy.com/index.cfm?event=showSTEMApplication&landin
g=1.