Finance Office Earns Top Award for Financial Reporting

The Association of School Business Officials International recently announced that Chapel Hill–Carrboro City Schools has received the Certificate of Excellence award based on the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the fiscal year ending 2013.

As the only award program specifically designed for school district financial reporting, the Certificate of Excellence represents a significant achievement by the school district and finance department in meeting the highest standards of school financial reporting.  To receive the award, the district must satisfy specific guidelines for effective, high-quality financial reporting recognized by school business officials.

Sponsored by VALIC, the Certificate of Excellence award confirms the school business office’s commitment to financial accountability and transparency.  Recognition through this program can help strengthen a district’s presentation for bond issuance statements and promotes a high level of financial reporting.

Congratulations to Ruby Pittman, Executive Director of Budget and Finance, and her team for a job well done.

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Ruth Morgan Wins a 2014 Lara Jane Parker Award for Excellence

Ruth Morgan, a speech-language pathologist at Ephesus Elementary School, has been selected as a winner of a 2014 Lara Jane Parker Award for Excellence by the board of directors of New Voices Foundation.

These awards are given to outstanding individuals, within the public schools of Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake counties and the Chapel Hill–Carrboro City Schools, who directly serve or advocate for children with both physical and communication challenges. Individuals selected for this honor have improved the lives of children who use alternate ways of communication and serve as an inspiration to others who work with such children.

Morgan has worked as a speech-language pathologist for CHCCS since 1992. She has special expertise in assistive technology, autism, and language.

Jamezetta Beford, chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, said Morgan helped to pioneer the use of assistive technology at Ephesus Elementary.

“Ruth Morgan has worked with students with disabilities at Ephesus Elementary and during the extended school year since the early 1990s. From as early as 1993, she was into assistive technology,” she said.  “Touch screens were new then, and she immediately began helping non-verbal students and those with low motor skills to use them, so they could learn from educational software.  She was the first user of a MessageMate with my daughter around 1994. We recorded our voices into the machine and overlaid pictures to match the words and phrases. This was the very beginning that would lead to iPads with sophisticated word banks in this decade!” 

Morgan will be honored during the Lara Jane Parker Awards ceremony scheduled for Thursday, April 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.  She will receive a trophy along with a cash award of $500.

New Voices Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to help children with severe communication and physical challenges maximize their learning potential.

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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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Focused Dialogue Rescheduled for April 8

The Focused Dialogue, for purposes of discussing the 2014-15 school district budget, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place in the Cafe Commons at Carrboro High. The public is invited to observe this in-depth conversation.

The focused dialogue was originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, but was postponed due to icy roads.

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Focused Dialogue for Tuesday, March 18 - Postponed

The focused dialogue centered on the 2014-15 budget, and scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, has been postponed.

This is an important and necessary community conversation. The inclement weather, coupled with the potential for a decreased turnout, led to the decision to reschedule to a date when participation will be more feasible. A new date will be determined and posted soon.

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STATE CHAMPS!!!

The Chapel Hill Tigers Girl's Basketball team was crowned 2013-14 North Carolina 3A Champions. After finishing as runners up last year, the Tigers completed a perfect 32-0 season by defeating Hickory 69-56 on Saturday at the Dean Smith Center.

Raziyah Farrington was named game MVP after recording 22 points, three rebounds and two steals. She hit three shots from beyond the three-point line and also sunk nine of ten from the free throw line.

Congratulations to Coach Norris and all of our Chapel Hill Tigers.

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CHCCS Hosts Focused Dialogue on Budget

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is holding its second Focused Dialogue on Tuesday, March 18 at Carrboro High in the Cafe Commons at 6:30 p.m.  District leaders will meet with representatives to gather input for the creation of the district's 2014-15 Budget.

The purpose of the focused parent dialogues is to give parents a more represented voice in the decision-making process and not keep people out.  Members of each school's School Improvement Teams (SIT), PTA and school community have been selected to participate in this focused dialogue, but all members of the community are invited to attend and observe.

from the December 2 Focused Dialogue Night

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Make Up Dates

Last Thursday, the Board approved a calendar change to make up the instructional time when school was closed on Tuesday, March 4. The three remaining delayed openings, scheduled for March 13, April 10, and May 8, have now been changed to regular school days. Again, the three remaining delayed opening days are now regular (full) school days. Students will report to school at the regular time on Thursday, March 13.

As a reminder, previous inclement weather resulted in March 28, April 18, and May 26 being changed to regular school days.

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NCPTA Reflections - State Level Honorees

Three CHCCS students have been named NCPTA Reflections state level honorees!

Jenny Liu, of East Chapel Hill High School, won 1st Place in Dance for the high school level. 

Nicole Murashima, of Ephesus Elementary, won 2nd Place in Literature at the intermediate level.

Krish Ghandi, of Morris Grove Elementary, won 3rd Place in Visual Arts at the primary level.

Congratulations to Jenny, Nicole and Krish!

By being named as state level winners, the honorees are invited to a special Reflections celebration in Raleigh in April. The full announcement of winners, as well as additional information about the celebration can be found at the NCPTA website.

 

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CHCCS Hires New Principal for the UNC Hospital School

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Nancy Yoder as principal of the UNC Hospital School. Yoder began her career as an exceptional children’s teacher in Rockford, IL and then served as an elementary classroom teacher and behavior specialist with the Department of Defense Schools in Germany.  She was principal of elementary schools in Beloit, Sun Prairie and Madison, WI.

Currently, Yoder is Executive Director of Student Services and Alternative Education with the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison.  In that role, she oversees the educational program at American Family Children's Hospital.

“We are very pleased to have Dr. Yoder joining our school district,” said Superintendent Tom Forcella. “Her extensive professional experience, coupled with her compassionate approach to student success, makes her uniquely suited for this important role.”

Yoder will join CHCCS in July 2014.

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