District Students Named to Governor's School

CHCCS had 26 students selected to attend NC Governor's School this summer.

Students selected from Carrboro High and their subjects are:  Chloe Deshusses, Instrumental Music (flute/piccolo); Carina Guerra, Theater; Carl Hintz, Natural Science; Amber Johnson, French; Doreen-Edith Nalyazi, French; Kirsten Nyman, Choral Music (soprano II); William Pierson, Theater; Susannah Stewart, Choral Music (soprano I); Oliver Wang, Math; and Amon Williams, Natural Science.

Students selected from Chapel Hill High and their subjects are:  Kevin Chen, Instrumental Music (violin); Courtney Cho, English; Hannah Hodge, Social Science; Ayano Kakoki, Art; Yeonwoo Lee, Art; and Rachel van Aalst, Choral Music (soprano II).

Students selected from East Chapel Hill High and their subjects are:  Sarah Dwyer, Dance; Jonah Krolik, Instrumental Music (cello); Rahul Kathard, Math; Samuel Killenberg, Social Science; Vinay Kshirsagar, Instrumental Music (viola); Vincent Lai, Instrumental Music (violin); Corey Risinger, English; Tianyi Wang, Instrumental Music (clarinet); Emily Wu, Art; and Yusheng Zhang, Instrumental Music (flute/piccolo).

The Governor's School is the oldest statewide summer residential program for academically or intellectually gifted high school students in the nation.  The program, open to rising seniors only (with some exceptions made for rising juniors in the performing/visual arts area), is located on two college campuses, Salem College in Winston-Salem and Meredith College in Raleigh.  The sessions will run June 16 to July 20.

Over 800 students were selected to attend.  The Governor's School is administered by the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction through the Exceptional Children Division.  A Board of Governors is appointed by the State Board of Education to act as an advisory body.


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District Hosted Recognition Event on March 14

More than 200 students and staff from across the district were honored on March 14 at Chapel Hill HS at the first of two district recognition events.

Superintendent Tom Forcella welcomed everyone to the event and Board Vice Chair Jamezetta Bedford and Board Member Annetta Streater congratulated the honorees and handed out certificates.

CHCCS and the Board of Education honor students and staff who earn first or second place at the state or national level, as well as anyone who earns a state or national award.  There were 12 groups honored at this event.  They were:

• 14 schools for being named Banner Schools by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
• Green Ribbon Schools - Phillips MS and Carrboro HS
• Model PBIS Schools - FPG Elementary, Estes Hills Elementary and Rashkis Elementary
• Exemplar Schools - Carrboro Elementary, Ephesus Elementary, Glenwood Elementary, McDougle Elementary, Morris Grove Elementary, Scroggs Elementary, Seawell Elementary, McDougle MS and Smith MS 
• 12 National Board Certified Teachers for earning their National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
• Shawna Catlett, a French teacher at Ephesus Elementary, was named the Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC)
• Leanne Joyce, a seventh grader at Culbreth MS, earned the President's Volunteer Award
• Carrboro and Chapel Hill HS students who placed first and second at the NC Japanese Language Essay Contest
• the Carrboro HS Football Team for their second place finish in the 2A Championship
• the Carrboro HS Soccer Team for their second place finish in the 2A Championship
• the Carrboro HS Men's Swim Team for their second place finish in the 1A/2A Championship
• the Carrboro HS Women's Swim Tean for their second place finish in the 1A/2A Championship
• George Carpenter, a junior at Carrboro HS, for his Individual State Title at the 2A Wrestling Championship
• the East Chapel Hill HS Field Hockey Team for their fifth consecutive State Championship
• the Carrboro HS Women's Cross Country Team for their fourth consecutive 2A Championship
• 6 National Achiever Scholarship Finalists
• 48 National Merit Scholarship Finalists

The next recognition event will be Thursday, May 23 at Chapel Hill High from 6-8 p.m. in the auditorium.

Please see more pictures from the event in the album on the district's Facebook Page.

Dr. Forcella welcomes everyone

the Carrboro HS Football Team

the National Board Certified Teachers

the National Achiever Finalists and National Merit Finalists

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Honor Teachers and Staff With Breakfast and Roses

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation invites parents/guardians to kick off the 2013 Teacher Appreciation Week by honoring their children’s teachers and school staff at the 10^th Annual Teachers First Breakfast.  Let your teachers, administrators, counselors, media specialists, specials teachers, teaching assistants, clerical, custodian, food service, bus drivers and other staff know that they are appreciated by treating them to a fantastic breakfast and/or a rose.  Just fill out the form online or download the form from the website. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation will take care of everything else. Please submit all orders by April 16.

The breakfast, scheduled May 3, is $20. Each rose is $5, and the roses will be delivered on May 1. Every person that is honored with a breakfast and/or rose will receive a printed invitation and card with the name(s) of the donor honoring them and a brief note. Note: If teachers receive more than one breakfast ticket, they often share them with their colleagues.

But the breakfast and roses are more than that: they are a win-win. The breakfast is sponsored by The Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, the owner of Squid's Restaurant. So proceeds go to The Teachers First Fund to support teachers and staff. The fund provides grants for teachers pursuing national certification, professional development, classroom grants for student enrichment, support for the teacher supply store, grants to first-year novice teachers, materials for a local merchant discount program, and awards for exemplary staff performance.

For questions, or to order by telephone, call 919-968-8819, or fax the order to 919-968-7884. 

Orders can be also placed by completing the 2013 Teachers First Breakfast Order Form and sending it to the foundation office or by going online.

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Three New Principals

The Board of Education approved the hiring of three principals at its March 7 meeting. Jillian La Serna was named principal of Carrboro Elementary, Dr. Janice Croasmun was named principal of Rashkis Elementary and Sulura Jackson was named principal of Chapel Hill High.

Jillian La Serna

Jillian La Serna has served as Carrboro Elementary’s assistant principal since July 2011, and as an administrative intern for one year prior. She has also worked as a teacher in the San Diego Unified School District, a dual-language teacher in our district and as a program coordinator with Durham Public Schools. She earned her bachelor of arts degree from California State University, Sacramento, her master of school administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is currently working on her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an expected completion date of May 2014. La Serna will begin in her new role July 1, 2013.

Janice Croasmun

Dr. Janice Croasmun is currently serving as the interim principal at Rashkis Elementary and has been the assistant principal there since 2006. She also spent nine years as an assistant principal with Durham Public Schools. For part of that time, she also served in a dual capacity as a technology facilitator. Dr. Croasmun was an elementary teacher for 13 years in West Virginia, Florida and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. She earned her bachelor of science degree from West Virginia University and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Croasmun will begin as principal immediately.

Sulura Jackson

Sulura Jackson comes to Chapel Hill High from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was the 2011 Michigan High School Principal of the Year, and is currently serving as the founding principal of Skyline High, a role she has been in since 2006. Prior to that, she served four years as a principal in both Farmington and Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Jackson was also a teacher and assistant principal in Detroit for 16 years. She earned her associate degree from Grambling State University, her bachelor of science degree from Louisiana College and her master of education degree from Wayne State University. Jackson will begin at Chapel Hill High on July 8, 2013.





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