Number 10

District Highlight: Davie County Schools - "Perspective | A High School Teacher’s Pen Pal Project Garners National Attention"

"Emails from around the country have been pouring into Ashley Snider’s inbox.

Snider, an English teacher at Davie County High School, implemented a class project in February that would unknowingly garner national media attention.

'This was powerful and beyond my wildest expectations,' said Snider, describing the Senior2Senior pen pal program, which received multiple media interviews, including one with USA Today. Since then, other people across the country have reached out to learn more about the program.

Snider was inspired by a project from the previous semester, 'Letters from Santa.' Her senior students created a letter-writing program to send to kids on Santa’s nice list. It was so successful that she wanted to replicate it in a different way during her spring semester.

In January, she connected with the local Davie County Senior Services, to discuss the possibility of a pen pal program between her seniors and the senior citizens in the community. Snider’s 48 students were randomly partnered with local senior citizens to write letters throughout the semester, culminating with a meet-up in May to collect the final letter in person."

Read the full story here. 

Number 9

PIO Quarterly Call September 11

Public Information Officers and Charter School Communications Leaders are invited to join the next quarterly PIO call on Wednesday, September 11.

Please reach out to communications@dpi.nc.gov if you did not receive the meeting information and Zoom link. 

Number 8

Low-Performing Designation Support Resources

2024 Low-Performing Designation Webinars Registration
After the release of the Low-Performing State Designation lists for schools and districts, the Office of School Improvement provides a webinar for leaders in these schools and/or districts, whether newly designated or continuing in the designation. The webinars will provide information for leaders concerning the policies, expectations and deadlines for the comprehensive plan required for schools designated as low-performing and districts designated as low-performing, respectively as outlined in S.L 115C-105.37 and 115C.39A. Find webinar details here. 

2024 LP Timeline At-A-Glance
This visual shares all submission dates outlined in session law for schools and districts designated-low performing. An in-depth explanation of timeline will be shared during low-performing designation webinars.

2024 NCStar Fall Trainings
NCStar is the platform districts will use to submit their low-performing designated school plans or low-performing designated district plans. The Office of School Improvement will offer face-to-face professional development session in each region to support users. Fall NCStar Trainings Map

Number 7

NCSIS Video Walkthrough of Parent and Student Portal

Walkthrough videos of the NCSIS parent and student portal are now available at ncsis.gov. Feel free to share these with anyone in your PSU! 

• Parent & Student Portal Walkthrough - 3 mins
• Parent & Student Portal Walkthrough - 10 mins

As a reminder, a variety of virtual trainings are still available for district- and school-level staff. View the professional development plan to learn more and register. 

Number 6

Rethink Education "Cultivating Excellence" Webinar Series

Remote, online and hybrid educators, mark your calendars for Rethink Education's upcoming "Cultivating Excellence" webinar series. The webinar topics include:

• Effective online course design
• Keeping students engaged
• Collaboration online
• Cultivating a learner mindset
• Building student autonomy online
• Adaptability: meeting the needs of all learners

The webinar series will span the 2024-25 school year, from September 17-April 15. Learn more and register for the webinars here. 

Number 5

NCDPI Master Data Calendar for 2024-25

The Master Data Calendar for the 2024-25 school year is a valuable resource to have on hand, as the calendar outlines all data due dates for the 2024-25 school year.

NCDPI Master Data Calendar for 2024-25

Number 4

NCSIS Implementation Check-In Calls

Regular check-in calls are instrumental in resolving issues and providing timely support to PSUs. Superintendents, leadership teams, technical leads and SIS coordinators are strongly encouraged to participate. Moving forward, these calls will transition to a bi-weekly schedule. To ensure your questions are addressed, please submit them in advance.

Use this link to register and submit questions.

Number 3

Office of Digital Teaching and Learning AI in Education Webinar Series

This webinar series is designed to help guide the responsible implementation of AI and AI literacy into North Carolina's public schools. All NC educators and education leaders are welcome to attend.

All webinars will be recorded and posted on NCDPI's website for on-demand viewing. Those who participate live will receive a certificate of attendance from NCDPI. While NCDPI won't be able to award certificates for on-demand viewing, you may request credit through your PSU.

Find more details on the webinar series and additional AI resources here. 

Number 2

EdNC: "The Role of Public Schools in Early Childhood Education"

"Learning doesn’t start at age five, and it doesn’t start in school. ... 

While learning doesn’t begin at age five, formal public education typically does. But in North Carolina, public schools provide essential services to children and families well before they enter a kindergarten classroom."

Read the full article here. 

Number 1

Video: 2024 NC Teacher of the Year Cohort Reflects on Why They Teach

Welcome back to the 2024-25 school year! The new year is always an exciting time for students and teachers! To celebrate, our Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Teacher of the Year cohort for 2024 reflects on their "why" for becoming educators.

We hope that school and district staff, students and families across the state have a great school year! 

Watch the video from our incredible 2024 Teacher of the Year cohort.