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Number 10
Fall 2024 NCStar & School Improvement Planning Professional Development
The Office of School Improvement is excited to announce the fall 2024 NCStar & School Improvement Planning Professional Development!
This one-day training will be offered in eight different locations across the state September through November. These sessions will cover content similar to what was shared during the spring 2024 NCStar training and will offer collaborative work time for each school improvement planning component.
In this training, participants will learn how to use NCStar for school improvement, including navigating the platform to assess, create and monitor school-based practices. They will explore the Set Direction components in NCStar and use Performance Measures to track progress. The training will focus on the Continuous Improvement Cycle to develop robust school improvement plans. Participants will also learn best practices for school improvement teams, effective SIT meetings, distributive leadership, and the critical roles of SIT leaders and committees.
Click here to register.
Note: This training focuses on the current NCStar Platform and does not teach the NCStar SBE Strategic Plan Platform. Schools that chose the new NCStar SBE Strategic Plan Platform will receive a special invitation to a one-day training tailored to learning the new system.
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Number 9
NCSIS Back-to-School Training & Resources for Phase I
As the new school year approaches, we wanted to share the latest resources for PSUs participating in Phase I of the new NCSIS implementation. We appreciate your help sharing these opportunities and resources!
- PIO Call - NCDPI and Infinite Campus are hosting a Zoom call for PIOs and charter communication leaders on Thursday, August 15 at 8:30 a.m. An Infinite Campus training specialist will walk through the parent- and student-facing side of the new NCSIS. Then, NCDPI will share resources that have been created to help PSUs communicate about the new platform (available now at ncsis.gov). The webinar will end with a Q&A to address questions or concerns. Please reach out to communications@dpi.nc.gov if you are in Phase I and did not receive the meeting information.
- Student & Family Webinars - The below webinars are available for families to learn more about the Campus Parent and Campus Student apps. A recording of the previous webinar is available on the NC Public Schools YouTube page. Social media graphics related to the apps are available to download on the Communications page of the NCSIS website.
- PSU trainings & support
- As a reminder, you can find the full professional development plan and a toolkit of communications resources at ncsis.gov. Please email us at communications@dpi.nc.gov if you have any additional communications needs or questions.
Read details about the above resources here.
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Number 8
WUNC: "NC School Districts Win Federal Grant to Cut Energy Use in Aging Schools"
"U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made a trip to Reidsville Senior High School in Rockingham County this week to announce a grant awarded to two North Carolina school districts to make their buildings more energy efficient.
Hoke County Schools and Rockingham County Schools will each receive $300,000 to use toward energy audits and repairs. Rockingham County Schools will move onto a second phase of the Renew America’s Schools grant program and receive an additional $7.5 million dollars to make facility upgrades.
Reidsville Senior High School is one of 12 schools in Rockingham County that will benefit.
'In the hallways where we had the actual announcement, it's not air conditioned,' said Rockingham County Schools’ energy specialist Gene Kelley.
The school was built in 1960. About 20 of the cooling units on the school’s rooftop are nearly 30 years old and approaching expiration. Part of the school is heated by a boiler system that runs on natural gas. Some of the windows are the original single pane glass and others have thin plexiglass panes."
Read the full story here.
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Number 7
Thank You NC BOLD Attendees!
In the month of July, NC BOLD brought together educators from 115 PSUs at eight regional conferences to talk all things digital teaching and learning! Thank you to all who attended this professional development opportunity!
You can find all the resources from the conference here.
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Number 6
EdNC: "STEM East Hosts Second Annual Workshop Series for North Carolina Teachers"
"Agriculture is a key part of everyday life. STEM East wants to make sure students know that.
A workshop at James Sprunt Community College this week gave teachers professional development and a look inside the agriculture business. The training is one of many events offered by the STEM East Network to help build a workforce pipeline into key industries in eastern North Carolina.
The workshop, titled Smart Agriculture Institute, was organized by three lead K-12 teachers. They led the 20 participating K-12 teachers through agriculture-related lesson plans that they could do with their students.
One example was sorting pictures of food and objects into buckets based on where they are sourced from — farm, factory, store, or natural processes? — while another was playing a game of true or false with students using farm-related questions."
Read the full story here.
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Number 5
District Highlight: Dare County Schools - "Innovative Teaching: Walk to Read"
"This summer, Dare County Schools hosted a Summer Reading Camp to provide additional literacy support and practice for elementary students across the district. Rhys Lamberg, an Early Literacy Specialist from the NC Department of Public Instruction, was instrumental in leading this program and assisting teachers with their reading instruction.
One of the innovative teaching methods that was piloted at this camp is 'Walk to Read.' It is a teaching strategy where students are placed in groups based on their reading skill levels and needs rather than grade level. These groups then met in hour-long sessions to focus on the specific areas where the group needed additional support.
Teachers and students had great success practicing this method and look forward to implementing it next school year across our elementary schools.
Check out the video to learn more about Walk to Read and the innovative early literacy programs happening at Dare County Schools."
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Number 4
"North Carolina Financial Aid Agency Provides FAFSA Help as Priority Deadline Looms"
"Time is running out for college-bound students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), with the Aug. 15 priority date looming for those who may qualify for the state’s Next NC Scholarship. That’s why the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority — the state’s education financial aid agency — has hired 89 school counselors and college advisors to provide FAFSA support for North Carolinians this summer.
At least 3,740 students have so far benefited from the program.
The federal government’s “Better FAFSA” launched earlier this year amid multiple glitches and delays, causing enormous stress for students and families who need help paying for college. North Carolina’s current FAFSA completion rate stands at 49% for high school seniors. In all, that’s nearly 11% — 6,000 students — short of the state’s 2023 completion rate."
Read more and find FAFSA resources for students and families here.
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Number 3
Eligibility for Free or Reduced Price Meals in the National School Lunch Program
"The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction today announced the 2024-2025 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy for free and reduced-price meals for children enrolled in North Carolina’s schools. The Federally assisted school nutrition programs help ensure all students have access to wholesome, nutritious, appealing meals at school.
'Research shows us that access to healthful meals at school can enhance students’ overall health and academic performance,' said State Superintendent, Catherine Truitt. 'Children who are hungry or poorly nourished have difficulty learning and do not perform as well in the classroom as students who are well-nourished. Meals and snacks at school are healthier and more appealing than ever before.'
Healthy meals at school, coupled with a safe, student-focused learning environment, are top priorities in North Carolina because they help prepare students for success."
Read the full press release here.
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Number 2
WHQR: "NC Center for Safer Schools Says Bullying is a Top Concern"
"Last week, district representatives across the state attended the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s RISE Conference. RISE stands for Resiliency, Information, Support, and Empowerment, an initiative DPI’s Center for Safer Schools (CSS) sponsored. The Center was created shortly after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and its focus is on school climate, discipline, and emergency preparedness.
Several politicians gave opening remarks at the Monday, June 29 conference in Wilmington, including New Hanover County Commission Chair Bill Rivenbark, House Representative Charlie Miller, and NHC school board member Stephanie Kraybill.
Rivenbark told the crowded room of school officials, “'We try to find every kid that's got a mental health problem, and it’s hard to find them all, but you gotta try, and we've got to look to be vigilant every single day.'”
Read the full story here.
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Number 1
WRAL: "NC Retrains 44,000 Teachers on How to Teach Reading, Ahead of 2024-25 School Year"
Tens of thousands of North Carolina elementary school teachers have now been retrained in how to teach young children how to read, the state's top education official announced Tuesday.
Schools have long struggled with getting all children proficient at reading, in North Carolina and nationwide. Literacy issues significantly worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. And while test scores have bounced back more recently, they're still not back to pre-pandemic levels, WRAL reported last year.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said the state put 44,000 teachers through the new course as of June, revamping how they teach reading in grades K-5. She made the announcement Tuesday at the monthly Council of State meeting of all the state's top executive branch leaders.
By the time they get to high school, Truitt said, most students in North Carolina can't read proficiently. The new elementary-level tactics aim to fix that problem.
"The way that we've been teaching reading for the past few decades in this country does not align with how what the research tells us about how the brain learns to read," she said Tuesday. "We are hardwired, as humans, to speak. We are not hardwired to learn to read. It's actually a very difficult task to learn how to read, and when you're teaching it incorrectly to students, it becomes insurmountable for many students — leaving us with the startling statistic that prior to the pandemic, 67% of students in North Carolina were starting ninth grade not reading proficiently."
Read the full story here.
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