Number 10

Important Survey: School Performance Grades

NC DPI is engaged in creating new School Performance Grades (SPG) for North Carolina schools. Stakeholder meetings have provided feedback around new indicators/measures for SPGs and a survey has been developed for additional stakeholder feedback across the state.

Please consider completing the survey and feel free to share it with various communities. This survey will close at 5 p.m. on Monday, October 10. All results will be used anonymously in aggregate.

The survey can be found here. To support the communication of this work, a new webpage with additional information has been created on the DPI website which can be found here.

Number 9

Take the #NCCrunch Challenge

October is Farm to School and Early Care and Education Month in North Carolina! The NC Crunch is an opportunity for youth and adults to taste and learn about NC-grown fruits and vegetables with their schools, early care and education centers, agencies, organizations, and families. It is also an opportunity to thank our #farmtoschoolheroes for feeding our youth and communities.

Help us reach all 100 counties and at least 500,000 participants to make it a crunch heard across the state! Share photos of your #NCCrunch activities on social media and tag @NCSchoolMeals, @F2SCoalitionNC and @NCFarmtoPreschool.

Sign up for the 2022 NC Crunch to receive a free guide with tips, templates, and links to resources here.

Number 8

Understanding Environmental Education in Schools: NC Teachers and Administrators - Make Your Voice Heard!

The Environmental Educators of North Carolina and its partners with the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance are excited to announce the launch of Phase 2 of the landscape analysis of environmental education efforts in eight southeastern states.

The survey should take less than 20 minutes to complete and assess the scope, strategies, and resources being used in schools across the southeast to build environmental literacy in students. 

Learn more and take the survey here.

Number 7

District Highlight: Alamance-Burlington School System - Difference Makers Broadview Middle Bike Tech Class

A group of Broadview Middle School students is making a difference in our community by taking old bikes and refurbishing them. Check out their story in this edition of the ABSS Difference Makers series!

Watch the video here.

Number 6

Needs-Based Grants Bring Building Funds for Nine Districts

"At a ceremony Monday, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recognized the nine districts receiving collectively more than $300 million in funds for school construction, improvement, and repair.

Lisa Jackson, superintendent of Pamlico County Schools, said the money is ultimately about the students.

'For Pamlico County, it’s about finally getting our middle school students out of a flood plain,' she said at the ceremony. 'These students have been seeing devastation twice in recent years thanks to Hurricane Irene and Florence.'

The money, awarded from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, is in addition to more than $100 million going to 18 school districts awarded grants last year. Those 18 districts had received most of their original requests, but the additional funds are the remainder of those requests, according to DPI."

Read the full story here. We are so excited to see the incredible things these districts will do with this funding!

Number 5

Inclement Weather Remote Instruction Reminders

With inclement weather approaching, DPI wanted to share a reminder about the opportunity to utilize remote instruction days.

To assist in this decision making, please see this memo which outlines when remote instruction days can be used.

Number 4

Perspective Piece from Asheboro City Schools Superintendent: Embracing Science of Reading in Asheboro City Schools

"Literacy efforts in North Carolina have garnered national attention over the past year, especially related to the rollout of the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) professional learning across our state.

Here in Asheboro City Schools, we could see from the beginning that LETRS had the capacity to be transformative for our teachers and in turn for our students, therefore we wanted to plan for the greatest impact.

As members of LETRS Cohort 3, we decided to use the 2021-2022 school year to plan and be proactive for our start this fall. We began with our own research, learning all we could about LETRS and solidifying our understanding of the science of reading."

Read the full perspective piece from Dr. Aaron Woody, Asheboro City Schools Superintendent, here.

Number 3

World Languages All Stakeholders Standard-by-Standard Survey

The purpose of this survey is to obtain input from educators and stakeholders familiar with the World Languages Standard Course of Study in order to inform revision decisions, which may include changes, clarifications, additions, deletions, or replacements to the current standards.

The World Languages team requests thoughtful input and comments on the current academic standards for World Languages to inform the review and revision process.

Your feedback is extremely valuable to the World Languages standards revision process. In addition to this survey, there will be several opportunities to provide feedback on the standards throughout the revision process.

The survey is open now until November 17. Learn more and take the survey here.

Number 2

Superintendent Truitt Visits Perquimans County Schools

This week Superintendent Truitt spent some time in Eastern North Carolina at Perquimans County Schools! 

The DPI team got to see the Science of Reading in action, some exciting CTE courses, and got a front row seat to some incredible work going on inside the classrooms. 

Thank you to Perquimans County Schools for such a great trip! See photos here.

Number 1

Literacy Coaches Reflect on Year One with LETRS Professional Learning

Literacy coaches Ginny Ambrose and Shonette Lewis from Cohort 1 school districts Washington County Schools and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools share that teachers are excited to see the changes in literacy instruction as result of the LETRS professional learning. Students are growing and educators are learning new ways to teach reading as they come together to practice activities and share experiences and ideas for implementation.

Watch the video here.