Newbery Award Winning Author Worked with BRMA Students

The most prestigious prizes in American children's books were recently awarded, including the John Newbery Medal for literature.

Matt de la Peña became the first Hispanic author to win the Newbery, for his book Last Stop on Market Street, illustrated by Christian Robinson. It's the story of a young boy riding the city bus with his grandmother, and wondering why their family doesn't have a car. Last Stop was also awarded a 2016 Caldecott Honor and a 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book.

Matt has been a guest of the CHCCS Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocates’ Summer Writing Institute twice in recent years – 2012 and 2014. He shared with students his amazing literary skills along with his passion for writing. We are fortunate to have great guests like Matt investing our students.

"Working with Matt de la Peña opened my creative horizons to an extent that has even impacted my scholar writing,” said Gabby Dimate. “Matt remind me once again why I love writing.”

A native Californian, Matt attended college on a basketball scholarship and now resides in Brooklyn. He teaches creative writing courses at New York University.

Winter Sports Awards

The winter sports season recently concluded and our CHCCS high schools had tremendous success. Below is a list of awards for students and teams at each school.

Congratulations to all of our student athletes and their coaches!


Carrboro High

Women's Swimming State Runner-up

Leah Abrams State Swim Meet Sportsmanship Award Winner

William Macmillan Swimming State Champion in 200 Yard Freestyle (broke all classification record), Men 100 Yard Butterfly ( broke 1A/2A State Record), Named Most Outstanding Swimmer for the third consecutive year

Men's Swimming 200 Yard Medley Relay State Champions: Will Macmillan, Simon Deshusses, Myles Miller, Jack Dozier

Men's Swimming 400 Yard Freestyle Relay State Champions: Will Macmillan, Caleb Bollenbacher, Jack Dozier, Simon Deshusses

Magnus Herweyer Men's Indoor Track and Field Shot Put State Champion (broke indoor record)


Chapel Hill High

Men's Swim Team - State Champions

Women's Indoor Track Team - State Champions

Women's Swim Team - State Runner-Up

Claire DeSelm - State Swim Champion 100 Yard Butterfly

CJ Eron, Ang Li, Jordan Ren & Eli Rose - State Swim Champions 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Anna Passannante - State Indoor Champion 1000 Meter Run

Claire DeSelm - State Swim Meet Sportsmanship Award Winner

Eli Rose - State Swim Meet Sportsmanship Award Winner

Marija Crook - State Indoor Track Championship Sportsmanship Award Winner

Women's Basketball - Co-regular season champions

Women's Basketball - "Big Eight" conference tournament champions

Cam Bergey - state runner-up 170 weight class, NCHSAA Individual Wrestling Championship


East Chapel Hill High

Men’s Swim Team – Conference champions in the PAC-6 Swim & Dive Championship Meet

Joal Broun Appointed to Board of Education

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint Joal Broun as its newest member during its meeting on Thursday, February 18.

Ms. Broun will be sworn in on March 3 to serve the remainder of a term vacated by the resignation of Michelle Brownstein. The term expires December 7, 2017.

School Make-Up Days Scheduled / Calendario para reponer los días de no escuela por clima inclemente

The following adjustments to the CHCCS 2015-16 Calendar have been made:

Students

• January 22 made up on February 15
• January 25 made up on March 25
• January 26 made up on April 4
• February 15 made up by canceling three Delayed Opening dates (1/28, 4/21, 5/19)

Staff

• January 22, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• January 25, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• January 26, optional workday
• Make-Up Options
• work on April 4
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• February 15, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay

Staff may refer to the CHCCS Employee Handbook on the VINE for more details.

The remaining Inclement Weather Days are:

1. June 9
2. June 10
3. May 30

Calendario para reponer los días de no escuela por clima inclemente

Se han realizado los ajustes siguientes al calendario del 2015-2016 de CHCCS:

• 22 de enero se repone el 15 de febrero
• 25 de enero se repone el 25 de marzo
• 26 de enero se repone el 4 de abril
• 15 de febrero se repone cancelando tres fechas de apertura demorada  (28/enero, 21/abril, 19/mayo)

Los día de clima inclemente restantes son:

1. 9 de junio

2. 10 de junio

3. 30 de mayo

Delayed Opening, Feb. 18 / Fechas para apertura demorada de las escuelas, 18 de febrero

Delayed Opening Scheduled for February 18

The district has approved a plan for schools to operate on a Delayed Opening schedule eight Thursdays during the 2015-16 school year.  Schools will open two hours late, allowing teachers to use the time for collaborative planning or professional development.

On these days, buses will run two hours later than the normal schedule and schools will open to students two hours later than usual. Schools will dismiss at their normally scheduled time.

• Elementary Schools begin at 9:50 a.m.
• Middle Schools begin at 10:20 a.m.
• High Schools begin at 10:45 a.m.

Fechas para apertura demorada de las escuelas, 18 de febrero

Las escuelas públicas de Chapel Hill-Carrboro han aprobado las fechas para apertura demorada de las escuelas, correspondientes a ocho (8) jueves durante el año escolar 2015-2016.  Las escuelas abrirán 2 horas más tarde, para darle a los maestros tiempo para preparar y planificar las clases, así como tiempo para educación continuada.

Esos días los buses recogerán a los niños 2 horas más tarde de lo acostumbrado y las escuelas abrirán sus puertas a los estudiantes 2 horas más tarde de lo acostumbrado. Las clases terminarán a la hora regular.

• Escuelas de Primaria empezarán a las 9:50 de la mañana
• Escuelas de Secundaria Media empezarán a las 10:20 de la mañana
• Escuelas de Secundarias Superior empezarán a las 10:45 de la mañana

School Make-Up Days Scheduled / Calendario para reponer los días de no escuela por clima inclemente

The following adjustments to the CHCCS 2015-16 Calendar have been made:

Students

• January 22 made up on February 15
• January 25 made up on March 25
• January 26 made up on April 4
• February 15 made up by canceling three Delayed Opening dates (1/28, 4/21, 5/19)

Staff

• January 22, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• January 25, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• January 26, optional workday
• Make-Up Options
• work on April 4
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay
• February 15, closed for staff
• Make-Up Options
• use of leave
• make-up the time
• leave without pay

Staff may refer to the CHCCS Employee Handbook on the VINE for more details.

The remaining Inclement Weather Days are:

1. June 9
2. June 10
3. May 30

Calendario para reponer los días de no escuela por clima inclemente

Se han realizado los ajustes siguientes al calendario del 2015-2016 de CHCCS:

22 de enero se repone el 15 de febrero

• 25 de enero se repone el 25 de marzo
• 26 de enero se repone el 4 de abril
• 15 de febrero se repone cancelando tres fechas de apertura demorada  (28/enero, 21/abril, 19/mayo)

Los día de clima inclemente restantes son:

1. 9 de junio

2. 10 de junio

3. 30 de mayo

CHCCS Closed for Students and Staff on February 15

Due to hazardous travel conditions, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are now closed for both students and staff on Monday, February 15. Operational staff are asked to come in as soon as travel conditions allow.

Make-up dates will be announced.

Schools Closed for Students on Monday, February 15; Optional Workday for Staff

Due to inclement weather conditions, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will be closed for students on Monday, February 15. It will be an optional teacher workday for staff, but all buildings will open on a three-hour delay.

Operational staff are asked to report to work as soon as it is safely possible.

Make-up dates will be announced on February 15.

District Monitoring Weather Conditions for Monday, February 15.

We are currently monitoring the weather. If a decision is made to close or delay school, the announcement will be posted here, along with Facebook and Twitter, sent to all local media outlets, and sent out as both a phone call and email to all CHCCS families and staff.

CHCCS Celebrates School Bus Driver Appreciation Week

Love the Bus Week is being celebrated across North Carolina February 8-12 and Gov. Pat McCrory has proclaimed the week as "School Bus Driver Appreciation Week."

"Our bus drivers are some of the most important people in CHCCS," said Dr. Todd LoFrese, assistant superintendent of support services.  "Each morning, families across the district entrust their children to our drivers to get them to-and-from school safely.  And each day our drivers make sure they live up to that expectation.  You just have to see the smiles on the faces of our students to know how important their bus driver is to them, making sure they have a great start and end to their school day."

The average bus ride for CHCCS students is 15 minutes, while the average time across the state is 23 minutes, making the district one of three in the state with this average ride time.  CHCCS students also average later pick-up times than others across NC.  For CHCCS, the earliest pick-up time is 6:40 a.m. and the state average is 5:48 a.m.

The 2015-16 Classified Employee of the Year, Mark Foushee, is one of the district's 68 bus drivers.  Every day, over 4,500 students are riding CHCCS buses.  The Transportation Department has over 90 staff members, including bus monitors and drivers.  CHCCS operates 50 regular buses and 16 mini buses for morning and afternoon routes.  There are an additional 19 activity buses used for special events, athletic competitions and field trips.

CEOY Mark Foushee, greets every student with a smile and a high five every time they board his bus.

On the last day of school for 2015 (June 12), students from his bus presented Foushee with a congratulatory picture they made him for being named CEOY.

CHCCS Hires New Administrators for Human Resources and Transportation

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education approved two new administrators at recent Board of Education meetings.

CHCCS has hired Erika Newkirk as the district’s Coordinator of Teacher Recruitment, Staffing and Retention.  Newkirk is currently working as the regional education facilitator for the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI).  She has also been an elementary teacher, with experience as a dual language teacher, in Durham Public Schools (DPS), Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools and Pender County Schools.  Newkirk was also a teacher mentor for DPS.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from North Carolina Central University, where she was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow, and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Winston-Salem State University.  She also earned her National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification.  Newkirk also has an Academically and Intellectually Gifted certification from North Carolina Central University.

CHCCS has also hired Thomas “Bradley” Johnson as the district’s new Director of Transportation.  Johnson is the van pool manager for the City of Charlotte.  Previously, Johnson was the director of transportation for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District (CMS).  He also worked as the CMS transportation recruitment, safety and training specialist.  Johnson has also worked at Charlotte’s North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as a driver education specialist and as a driver license examiner.  Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Newkirk is set to join the district on February 15.  A start date for Johnson has not been finalized.

Rashkis ES Students Have Surprise Guest Readers

Students from Rashkis Elementary had some very special visitors recently. UNC star basketball player Marcus Paige dropped by the school to read with third-graders. Accompanying Paige was North Carolina President of Duke Energy David Fountain and Rameses - the beloved UNC mascot.

Together, they read "Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream" by Deloris Jordan.

Upon finishing the story, Paige shared with students how his own mother is an English teacher and how reading is the foundation for his family's education. For the past three seasons, Paige has made the Academic ACC Honor Roll and is majoring in both Media/Journalism and History.