North Carolina School Report Cards

Earlier this week, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released school report cards for all public schools in the state. Data for 2016-17 can be found at NC School Report Cards, a completely redesigned (and more user-friendly) website.

North Carolina’s school report cards are an important resource for parents, educators, state leaders, researchers, and others, providing information about school- and district-level data in a number of areas. These include student performance and academic growth, school and student characteristics, and many other details.

The new website allows for side-by-side school comparisons. However, since schools are structured differently from one another in terms of size, grade levels, student populations, and programs offered, the report cards should not be used to rank schools.

Researchers and others who want more detailed data may visit the school report card analytical site at https://ncreportcards.ondemand.sas.com/landing.html. Data downloads are available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/src/researchers/. 

The North Carolina School Report Cards have been produced annually since 2001 to provide information about local schools, districts and overall state data. More information, including answers to frequently asked questions about the report cards, is available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/src/.

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National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Thirty-nine seniors from Carrboro High, Chapel Hill High and East Chapel Hill High are among the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
     

This year the academically talented students will be competing for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in spring 2018. The scholarship awards are worth more than $32 million. Nearly 90 percent of the Semifinalists attain Finalist standing, and of those, approximately half will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the title Merit Scholar.
       
In order to advance to the next round of scholarship competition, students must fulfill several requirements, including the submission of a detailed application which includes information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in extracurricular activities, honors and awards received and demonstrated leadership skills. Students must also write an application essay and submit a letter of recommendation from a high school official.
       
The Semifinalists are selected from the 1.6 million high school juniors who took the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). This group of Semifinalists comprises fewer than one percent of high school seniors in the U.S. The award winners will be announced in four national news releases between April and July. More than 330,000 other high-achieving seniors have earned the Merit Scholar title since the program was established in 1955.
       
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholars are selected without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.

CHCCS Semifinalists are:

CARRBORO HIGH
Hope B. Anderson
Jackson L.  Asaro
Katherine F. Brownstein
Andre F. Javan
Elena K. Peot
Arjun Shankar
Sophia D. Therber

CHAPEL HILL HIGH
Silas R. Buckner
Andrew M. Campbell
Garrett F. Chappell
Lena A. Cohen
Anne Crabill
Sayali Gove
Douglas Heine
Jerry W. Ji
Benjamin D. Rampel
John Rich
Maggie Weber
Li-Anne W. Wright
Eric Xu
Tyler D. Yandrofski

EAST CHAPEL HILL HIGH
Thomas A. Brodey
Yixuan Cao
Katherine H. Characklis
Dawn E. Culton
Kevin Day
Joie Y. Dong
Vincent Y. Du
Martin A. Hito
Alexander Hoerler
Finley S. James
Kelly D. Lin
Frances O’Grady
Jack C. Phillips
Jennifer H. Qian
Mian A. Qin
Sarah E. Stevens
Albert Tsui
Victor Q. Zhao

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CHCCS Appoints Interim Principal and New Administrators

The CHCCS Board of Education approved an interim principal and two new administrators at their July 21 meeting.

Stephon Goode was named the Interim Principal at Smith Middle School.  Goode has served as the school's assistant principal since May 2014, where he also served as the school's administrative internship for a year.  Goode was also 5th grade teacher at Estes Hills Elementary for seven years, where he was its Teacher of the Year in 2011-12.  He has also taught in Warren County Schools.  Goode holds both a bachelor of arts degree in Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Science and a master of School Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Goode replaces Principal Philip Holmes.

Stephon Goode, Interim Principal, Smith Middle School

Philip Holmes was named as the Interim Executive Director of Professional Learning and Project ADVANCE.  Holmes was the principal at Smith Middle School since 2010.  Previously, Holmes was the principal and assistant principal at Ephesus Elementary, and was an assistant principal intern at Estes Hills Elementary.  Holmes also was a principal at Burton IB Magnet Elementary in Durham Public Schools.  Holmes holds a bachelor of arts degree in Elementary Education from Hobart College in Geneva, New York and a master of education degree in School Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Holmes replaces Rydell Harrison, who was named the district's Interim Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services earlier this month.

Philip Holmes, Interim Executive Director of Professional Learning and Project ADVANCE

Scott Fearrington was named the Director of Community Schools.  Fearrington had been the program supervisor for Community Schools for six years.  He has also served the district as director of transportation, an after-school site director and a bus driver.  Fearrington has a bachelor of arts degree in History from North Carolina Central University.

Fearrington replaces Mary Roberts who retired in June 2016.

Scott Fearrington, Director of Community Schools

"All three of these educators have built long-standing relationships with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, its students and its staff," said Superintendent Tom Forcella.  "When it came time to select administrators for these positions, we were able to hire these leaders from within, making for a smooth transition for everyone.  I know the excellent level of service expected at Smith Middle, Instructional Services and Community Schools will continue in their capable hands."

Fearrington starts his position effective immediately and Holmes and Good will start their new positions on August 2.

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Rydell Harrison Named Interim Assistant Superintendent

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has named Dr. Rydell Harrison as Interim Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services for the 2016-17 school year. His appointment was approved at a special called meeting of the Board of Education on Wednesday, July 13. Harrison will replace Dr. Magda Parvey, who has accepted a position with the City School District of New Rochelle (New York).

“Dr. Harrison is absolutely the right person for this important job,” said James Barrett, Chair of the Board of Education. “He is a skilled leader with proven results in the area of instruction, has great relationships with the principals and teachers, and brings a clear understanding of the challenges we will face in the coming year.”

Harrison began his career as a music teacher in New Jersey, and has 19 years in education. Harrison currently serves as Executive Director of Professional Development and Project ADVANCE. He also served as principal of Phillips Middle School.

Prior to joining Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, Harrison served as a principal at both an elementary and middle school, as well as a middle school assistant principal in Guilford County Schools.

Harrison holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Rutgers University and a Master of Divinity from Duke University. He also holds a Master of School Administration, Specialist in Education and Doctor of Education in School Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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CHCCS Read2Me Tailgate Stories Program Wins Award

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' Read2Me Tailgate Stories program received the Laurie Horne Family Engagement Award on March 11 at the National Family Engagement Summit in Richmond, VA.  The award, in the amount of $2,500, was presented to Mary Andrews, a retired CHCCS educator, and Roslyn Moffitt, director of elementary education and Title I.

"The district will use the money from this award to purchase additional books and resources for the program," said Moffitt.

The Read2Me Tailgate Stories program, created by Andrews, engages children and families during the summer months.  Teachers go into neighborhoods to read aloud with students and families.  The program introduces children to a variety of literary styles and builds a communication bridge between the community and the school, while also increasing the children's personal book collection.

The National Family Engagement Summit is held each year for educators to highlight effective practices and techniques to engage families.  School districts from across the nation share innovative ideas to support parental involvement and promote family and school relationships.  The Laurie Horne Family Engagement Award is named for Laurie Horne, an esteemed North Carolina family engagement specialist, who epitomized connecting with families in a respectful and caring manner.

Mary Andrews (left) and Roslyn Moffitt (right) with award and check received at Summit

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Innovative Instruction: The Augmented Reality Sandbox

Would you like a quick glimpse at the kind of innovative lessons taking place in classrooms throughout Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools? Well check out this short video (one minute, twenty-two seconds):

A team of four engineering students from East Chapel Hill High School have constructed an Augmented Reality Sandbox (ARS) to be used by East science teachers to provide a dynamic interactive 3D color topographic modeling environment. The team's project idea was first suggested by East Chapel Hill science teacher and team's project "client", Dr. Stephen Snyder. This idea was inspired by a similar machine constructed at East Carolina University by colleagues of Dr. Snyder. The team of first-year engineering students, consisting of seniors James Jennings and Victor Ding along with sophomores Sam Castleberry and Ryan Pecaut, constructed their functioning version of the ARS on a slim budget of less than $300. These students creatively financed their project through a combination of teacher directed PTA funds, donations, and CTE instructional funding. They received guidance and encouragement from their client, Dr. Snyder, East engineering instructors, Patrick Pudlo and Bill Vincent, and local and district level support staff including Bill Groves, Anita Benton and Brian Wood. 

 

This team of four engineering students were part of a total of 134 taking the Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) course at East Chapel Hill High School.  For the course final project, these students self-assembled into more than 60 teams and attempted almost 30 authentic projects. Teams bid on authentic projects submitted by members of the East community including East teachers and the athletic booster club. The person submitting the idea for an engineered solution served as the "client" for the students who operated as engineering firms.  Through the project, the engineering teams were responsible for maintaining communication with their clients, managing overall project time lines and budgets, creating comprehensive design briefs, constructing 3D CAD models and creating physical models of their designs before presenting their final products to their clients. Many of these students will continue their study of engineering next year at East in the second level engineering course, Principles of Engineering (POE).  Learn more about engineering at East by visiting 

https://sites.google.com/a/chccs.k12.nc.us/echhs-engineering/.

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Ten-Point Grading Scale

The State Board of Education recently voted to adopt a ten-point grading scale for all high school students beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. The ten-point scale will replace the current seven-point grading scale. Additionally, our school district has decided to implement the ten-point grading scale for all middle schools as well.

Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, the district’s grading scale will be as follows:

90-100 = A  

80-89= B

70-79 = C

60-69 = D

< 59 = F

Grades earned prior to the 2015-2016 school year will not be changed or modified to reflect the new grading scale. Elementary grades will not be impacted by this change.

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Honor and Remembrance

Submitted by Robin McMahon
French Teacher/ Belgian Exchange Organizer
Smith Middle School
Seventy-one years ago,  U.S. Navy World War II veteran Ed Chappell beached his Landing Craft Tank (LCT 587) six times on Omaha Beach on D-Day 1944...

With her journal tucked in her arm, eighth-grade student LeAnne Ding kneels quietly where Mr. Chappell landed, reflecting on historical events that included this brave man she had met a year earlier.  Except for the quiet slapping of waves on a peaceful beach, silence reigned as words of reverence, honor and pride were recorded in thirty-one students’ journals.  They will always remember.

When they reached the look-out point of Omaha Beach and gazed over the unremitting rows of white crosses and Stars of David at the American Cemetery, eighth- and ninth-grade students gave thanks to Mr. Chappell and Mr. Sumner (WWII veteran who fought at the Battle of the Bulge) as well as to all veterans whose bravery brought us freedom. Just a few months ago these students participated in Smith Middle School’s fifteen-year Belgian Exchange program and traveled to Belgium to stay with their pen pals and Normandy to learn more about WWII.

Eighth-grade student Zoe Volmer reflects:

Normandy was a tidal wave of emotions. I’ve never felt that conflicted emotionally in my life. Going to Omaha Beach, the cemetery and the D-Day museum in one day, was almost too much. But just almost. Normandy was where I found out the most about myself. When I walked onto Omaha Beach, that’s where it started. As I was walking on the beach, I realized that life was too short. You have one life, and as far as you know, it could end tomorrow. The sacrifices that those men laid out on those beaches is unbelievable. I couldn’t look at the water without thinking of the red ocean and hundreds of thousands of men, boats and tanks. The devastation didn’t seem real until I set foot on those beaches. And the feelings were confirmed when we were in the cemetery. Seeing the length of the rows of graves really hit me.

On May 2, 2015, Ed Chappell passed - just hours after the CHCCS students (who had taken him back to Normandy for the 70th Commemoration Ceremony last June) had visited him at the Durham Veterans Hospital.  Mr. Chappell’s legacy will live on in the stories recorded by the CHCCS teens in a future NC-to-Normandy documentary to be shared with the public this fall. Through their words and actions, it is evident our young people do honor those who sacrifice for our liberty.

Ed Chappell

Mark Sumner

 
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Nyree Sullivan to Lead Title I

Nyree Sullivan will be transitioning into a new position. She currently serves as the Elementary English Language Arts Coordinator K-6 and will be assuming a new role as the district's new Director of Title I. Nyree has been a valuable asset to the district's English Language Arts program and to the Instructional Services Division (ISD). Her hard work is greatly appreciated, and we look to her leadership in this new role.

Along with her many skills, Nyree brings her experience as a Title I Interventionist for grades 2-5, nine years teaching experience in a district wide Title I school in Indianapolis, and serving as a Director of Instruction for grades 6-8. In this role, she managed the Title I budget, purchased materials and used data to drive decisions about students served by Title I funds.

Please join us in congratulating Nyree on her new role in ISD!

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New Assessment: Performance Series

In an effort to keep our community up-to-date on student achievement measures used by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, we want to introduce an exciting new assessment for students in grades 3-8, as well as high school Math 1. It is called "Performance Series", and you can learn more about it here.

Never hesitate to call on us to answer any questions.

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Sheldon Lanier - Director of Equity Leadership

Sheldon Lanier

Please join us in extending a warm CHCCS welcome to Mr. Sheldon Lanier.

Sheldon is the district's new Director of Equity Leadership. He comes to us from the Wake County Public School System, where he most recently served as an assistant principal at Leesville Road Middle School. Prior to that, Sheldon was a principal intern at Brassfield Road Elementary School and also a math teacher at Durant Road Middle School.

Having been designated as both a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and a North Carolina Principal Fellow, Sheldon earned his Bachelor's degree at North Carolina State University and his Master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Welcome aboard, Sheldon - we are glad to have you!

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Welcome - Camille House

At its March 20 meeting, the Board of Education approved the hire of Camille House to fill the role of Gifted/STEM Coordinator.

Ms. House brings an array of educational experience dating back to 1989. She spent 15 years as a classroom teacher in Lee County Schools. She then served three years as a lead teacher for academically and intellectually gifted and two years as a beginning teacher coordinator in the same district. After a year as executive intern at Sandhills Leadership Academy High in Southern Pines, House began work in Harnett County Schools in 2012 as director of elementary education where she serves currently.

She will begin with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in May.

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Middle and High School Courses for 2014-15 Student Registration

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is pleased to announce the launch of online course registration information for middle school and high school students on Monday, February 3, 2014.  Courses at CHCCS is a new, public website that places course listings and other relevant information online for easy access by parents, students, and CHCCS employees.  Students and parents will now be able to review course offerings and important program information from their computers and other devices.  Families can translate the documents using online translation resources.  Course booklets will no longer be published, but all documents on the site can be easily printed.

The site is located at courses.chccs.k12.nc.us and will also be accessible through the district website (www.chccs.k12.nc.us).  When using the district website, click on Academics>Courses to get to the information.

Information on the website will always reflect the most accurate course information available.

To access course lists, navigate to the appropriate academic level (Middle School or High School) from the home page of the site.  Course listings are broken down by grade level for middle school and by subject for high school.  General information is located on the left of the page.  

Course listings and information documents can be printed by going to the “Printable Course Listings” page for each academic level.  Navigate to the “Print course lists” link underneath the course listing.  Open the document you wish to print and click the printer icon on the document.  (Note: If you are having trouble printing directly from the document, change the printing “Destination” to “Save as PDF” and click Save. A PDF file will be saved to your computer.  Open the PDF file on your computer and print the document from the PDF application menu (Adobe Reader or Preview on a Mac).

We hope you will find this resource helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s counselor.
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NC Receives Grant to Cover AP Test Fees for Low-Income Students

On August 8, 2012, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) notified school districts across the state that every eligible North Carolina high school student taking an Advanced Placement (AP) exam this year will have his/her test fees covered.

NCDPI will receive more than $800,000 to cover the cost of exams during the 2012-13 school year as part of the Federal AP Test Fee Program, which is authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I Part G.

Dr. Rodney Trice, associate superintendent for student and school services and equity oversight, stated his office would work to share this information with students, families and high school guidance counselors once the state releases more information about how to apply for the federal funds.

In 2011, 30 percent of the state's high school seniors took at least one AP exam.  A total of 15,496 students or 18.4 percent of the class of 2011 earned a 3 or better on an AP exam.

Students and parents are encouraged to visit the College Board website for more information about the AP program.

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