Number 10

Reminder: Parent’s Bill of Rights Reporting Due September 15

Per SB49, all public school units (PSUs) are required to report certain information related to the Parents’ Bill of Rights to the State Board of Education/NCDPI. NCDPI released a form requesting this information in May and has been in touch with Chief Academic Officers regarding this process.

Please make sure your CAO has completed this task by September 15 to meet the requirements of the law: PBOR Reporting Form - LEA.

Please email Sneha.ShahColtrane@dpi.nc.gov if you have questions. 

Number 9

EdNC: "Attention STEM Educators: Apply for Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s CAST Awards"

"The Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Career Award for STEM Teachers grants a STEM educator $175,000 over a period of five years for professional development, school-wide STEM projects, and more. The application will close on Sept. 30, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

Want to meet the four winners from the last CAST class? EdNC wrote about them and their pathway to science in a series entitled STEM Road Trip. Check out their stories and see how you too could be BWF Career Award for STEM Teacher."

Learn more about past winners, eligibility requirements and how to apply. 

Number 8

Free Digital Transition Professional Development Webinars

NC Virtual Public School (NCVPS) is offering free Digital Transition professional development webinars for educators during the month of September:

• September 18 at 5 p.m. - AI SERIES: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Your Daily Lessons
• September 19 at 4 p.m. - Science Labs in a Digital World
• September 24 at 7 p.m. - World Language: Building Cultural Competence in the World Language Classroom
• September 26 at 4 p.m. - Personalized Learning in Canvas
• September 30 at 5 p.m. - CTE Series: Behavior Management in Career & Technical Education

CEUs are available. Visit the NCVPS Digital Transitions website for registration links and archived recordings of sessions!

Number 7

Quarterly PIO Call Follow-Up

The Quarterly PIO Call was Wednesday, September 11. If you did not receive the meeting follow-up materials, including the slide deck and recording, please reach out to communications@dpi.nc.gov.

Number 6

United States Senate Youth Program Applications Now Open

Applications are open for the U.S. Senate Youth Program for high school juniors and seniors. Two student delegates and two alternates will be selected to represent North Carolina, meet high-ranking government officials and participate in education, leadership and public service activities during Washington Week, March 1-8, 2025. Each delegate will also receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship.

Learn more and apply for the United States Senate Youth Program. 

Number 5

NCCAT Upcoming Programs

NCCAT provides teachers with knowledge, skills, teaching methods, best practices and information to take back to their classrooms. The following upcoming programs have spots remaining:

Set Sail on a Journey of Inquiry: K-5 Social Studies
September 23-27 at NCCAT Ocracoke
Visit NCCAT to explore the components of the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) and create compelling inquiry opportunities for students. The program will focus on developing supporting questions, gathering and evaluating sources and using evidence to develop claims in the social studies classroom.

Success from the Start: How to Survive and Thrive Your First 3 Years October 28-31 at NCCAT Cullowhee
Open to teachers in their first, second or third year of teaching, this program supports motivated beginning teachers by strengthening their knowledge base and classroom expertise. Teachers will develop their craft by understanding how to teach to the depth of their standards and differentiating for multiple levels of learners. Beginning educators will also have the opportunity to refine their teaching philosophies and class expectations. Within this seminar, teachers will identify their most immediate needs for their classrooms and time will be spent exploring solutions to those needs.

Unlocking Math: The Power Base of 10 Blocks
December 9-11 at NCCAT Cullowhee
Do you have Base 10 blocks sitting on shelves in your classroom that you would love to use in a powerful way? Join this hands-on seminar and experience the power of this tool in building an understanding of our Base 10 number system. Sessions will include work with operations and work with how to use the blocks to represent decimal numbers.

Number 4

EdNC: "North Carolina Student Test Scores Continue to Increase After Pandemic Low, New Data Show"

"Data released by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) last week show that North Carolina public school students continue to improve on tests in most grades and subjects from record lows at the start of the pandemic.

The 2023-24 state test results, which were presented to the State Board of Education last Wednesday, show that 54.2% of students passed state exams last school year, up from 53.6% during the 2022-23 school year.

While overall performance is still down from pre-pandemic levels in 2018-19, students have seen gains each of the last three years. DPI is working to support schools to ensure improvements continue to be made, DPI Senior Director of Accountability and Testing Dr. Tammy Howard told the Board.

'The data is a place of looking to see where we are, what happened in 2024… (and then) to focus on the real purpose of testing and accountability, which is school improvement and increasing student achievement,' Howard said."

Read the full story. 

Number 3

Webinar: Intro to Digital Accessibility for Public Information Officers

NCDPI's Digital Accessibility Specialist, Donna Murray, will be hosting an Intro to Digital Accessibility Webinar for Public Information Officers on Wednesday, September 25, at 9 a.m. 

Register for the webinar here. 

Number 2

Be Pro Be Proud NC - Career Exploration Opportunity for Students

Be Pro Be Proud NC is an immersive, hands-on skilled trades environment for ALL middle school, high school students and young adults exploring career options - not just CTE students! The Be Pro Be Proud NC Tour takes a Mobile Workshop experience to schools and community centers across the state. 

Learn more about Be Pro Be Proud NC. Watch this video to see the program in action.

School leaders can Book a Tour Stop to provide this amazing experience to students. 

Number 1

NC College Connect Resources

The NC College Connect program simplifies the college application process for qualifying students to select North Carolina institutions, allowing students to bypass the traditional application process. We're thrilled to announce that the NC College Connect website and accompanying resources are now live!

An NC College Connect toolkit has been created to help school and district staff learn about this exciting new opportunity and share important information with students and their families. Find the toolkit and additional resources here.