GCS News Briefs

June 20, 2008

Scheduled Network Downtime

Technology Services is working with AT&T to perform upgrades on the district’s internet connection and firmware changes to the network infrastructure.  To accomplish the needed maintenance routines and upgrades, the district’s internet connection will be taken off-line today, June 20, from 2:30 pm until 7 pm.  Staff and departments are advised to plan their work day accordingly since the down time will affect internet access and e-mail. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Terrence Young, chief information officer, at 370-8323.

Keep Reading

Want to make summer reading fun and productive for your elementary or rising middle school student? GCS can help with summer reading lists. See how many books your children can read – make it a challenge and ask them to read at least three books off the list over the summer. Here are the lists for pre-K – eighth grade:

June End-of-Month Pay Date

In order to meet the June 2008 payroll processing deadlines and the end of fiscal year reporting requirements set forth by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), we will pay employees on Thursday, June 26 instead of June 30. The payroll and financial software will be close on Friday, June 27 and Monday, June 30 in order to close out the 2007-08 school year and Tuesday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 2 to open the 2008-09 school year.  For more information, please contact Steve Friddle, director of payroll, at 370-8164.

Personnel Changes Effective July 1

The following changes have been made:

• Dr. Mack McCary becomes the new Instructional Improvement Officer for Education Alliances. In this role, Dr. McCary will supervise the Middle and Early College High Schools, as well as the Early College Academies. As a result, the Academic Instructional Improvement officers will report to Dr. Beth Folger, chief curriculum and organizational development officer, and the Advanced Learner Department will report directly to Dr. Eric J. Becoats, co-interim superintendent.

• Dr. David Roper becomes a School Support Officer. He will provide support to principals in managing parent and community school-related issues, while also supporting principals in the managerial and technical challenges facing them. 

• One position will address the need for support services for the Early College Academies. Johnette McCain will serve as the Early College Academy Coordinator at Andrews, Dudley, Smith, High Point Central and Southwest High Schools, as well as for seniors at The Academy at Smith and The Academy at Central. Jennifer Griffin will serve as the coordinator of the Aviation Academy at Andrews High.

We will update the current organizational chart to reflect all changes that will be effective July 1. For more information, please contact Peggy Thompson, chief human resources officer, at thompsp@gcsnc.com or 370-8340.

The Academy at Lincoln Students Achieve High Ranks in First in Math Competition

During an awards program on May 29 held at The Academy at Lincoln, students who competed in the “First in Math” online competition were recognized for their achievements.  “First In Math“ is an online curriculum supplement proven to increase student success in math. The Web site offers broad content, with an open-ended, self-pacing design. The program includes a competition component, which offers sustained, positive motivation. As students play, they earn award stickers that accrue to their personal and classroom scores.  Although the game continues online until July 31, Tyco, the major local financial sponsor of the event, used April 30 as its cut-off date to establish the awards for this school year. 

Before presenting the awards, Barbara Asteak, Vice President of First in Math, explained that the elementary and middle school students at The Academy at Lincoln earned more than 90,000 stickers as they competed with more than 250,000 students nationwide.  Mr. Willis’ class was the first-place elementary team in the county with students Jeffery Li and Suzanne Zhou taking home silver medals for their individual efforts.  Ms. Lawhorn’s seventh-grade class placed first among all Tyco middle school teams with two students in her class receiving silver medals: third place-Yimo Chen, second place-Jeremy Chang. Gold medal winner Timothy Chang not only placed first within the Tyco teams, he is also the number one top ranking student among all the students in North Carolina! 

Principal Rodney Boone accepted a plaque to recognize The Academy at Lincoln as the highest ranking school in the competition, and both Mr. Willis and Ms. Lawhorn received plaques for their class teams. 

We also wish to recognize and thank the following teachers who encouraged their students to participate in this extremely worthwhile activity: Jennifer Caviness, Guilford Middle; Enjoli Lawhorn, The Academy at Lincoln; Mark McGregor and Louis Strabec, Brown Summit Middle; Kenneth Melton, Kiser Middle; Rodney Morgan, Aycock Middle; and Robert-Todd Rich, Northeast Middle. For more information, please contact Shirley Smith, math curriculum specialist, at 370-3273, or Jocelyn Becoats, middle school curriculum officer, at 336-2311.

Partners for Mathematics Learning

Twenty-four teachers representing GCS are working with Partners for Mathematics on a project that supports school districts throughout North Carolina to introduce the 2008 Mathematics Curriculum Standards to teachers. This supports the state’s effort to prepare North Carolina’s students for 21st Century living and working. These teacher-leaders will engage in professional development during the week of July 14-18 in preparation to deliver training and to lead professional learning communities for other teachers on their grade level across the county. Classroom teachers can look forward to learning about the revised curriculum revisions in the fall through these teacher leaders and ongoing dialogue.  For more information, please contact Lee Ann Segalla, elementary school curriculum officer, at 574-2657

Retired Teachers Returning to Work Exempt from the Earnings Cap

Staff from the Human Resource Department recently conducted a meeting with retired teachers currently employed with the district to advise them of changes for the upcoming school year. The following major issues were discussed:

• Current legislation requires that effective April 1, 2008; LEAs are to contribute 11.7 percent of all covered salaries paid to a retiree who is reemployed exempt from the earnings cap. We will continue to pay the entire 11.7 percent and absorb the additional cost for the remainder of this fiscal year (June 30, 2008).
• If we continue to pay the entire 11.7 percent contribution, we calculate that it will cost us approximately $6,800 additional per year per retiree re-employed. Currently, we have 91 teachers employed in this manner, so this would cost us approximately $618,800 for funding year 08-09.
• The majority of LEAs across the state reduce the amount paid to retired teachers in order to be able to make the required 11.7 percent retirement contribution on the employees’ behalf.
• Effective beginning fiscal year 2008-09 (July 1, 2008), we will create separate salary schedules for retired teachers returning to work exempt from the retirement earnings cap. These salary schedules will be 88.3 percent of our current teacher salary schedules (both base and supplement amounts).
• Any retired teacher re-employed exempt from the cap will be placed on the appropriate Retired Teachers’ Salary Schedule based on their license degree and experience. This would allow us to contribute the required 11.7 percent to retirement without affecting our budget.
• Any additional pay received by a retired teacher re-employed exempt from the cap would not be reduced (i.e. mentor, coaching, Mission Possible, ABC bonuses, etc.).
  

Click here to view the Power Point presentation and a retiree reemployment information chart. If you have questions regarding this information, please contact Alison Yates, director of staffing at yatesa@gcsnc.com or 370-8094 or Stephen Foster, director of HR operations, at fosters@gcsnc.com or 370-8822.

GCS Principals and Instructional Improvement Officers to Receive Principal Evaluation Training

This summer, the Department of Public Instruction is providing training for principals and their evaluators on the new principal evaluation instrument.   This training will be provided at sites throughout the state.  The new evaluation instrument is aligned to the new North Carolina Standards for School Executive adopted by the State Board of Education on December 7, 2006.  The Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) has developed and piloted the instrument with school systems across North Carolina. 

On June 25 and 26, GCS will host one state-wide training.  For more information, please contact Amy Holcombe, executive director of talent development, at holcoma@gcsnc.com or 335-3294.

Don’t Throw it Away – Donate it!

As you clean out closets and prepare classrooms and offices for the new school year, don’t throw away items no longer needed; donate them to the Teacher Supply Warehouse. The Teacher Supply Warehouse takes your old but still useable books, notebooks, classroom decorations, office supplies and many more items. Teachers in GCS schools that have a 50 percent or more free or reduced lunch population take what they need from the warehouse, and it’s all free. GCS is thankful for our partners - Guilford Education Alliance, Welfare Reform Liaison Project and Leadership Greensboro - that work together to make the warehouse available to our teachers.

Area businesses are doing their part to stock the warehouse. Since opening in November of 2007, the Teacher Supply Warehouse has logged 900 teacher visits and recycled approximately $225,000 worth of supplies back into our classrooms. So please join us in our effort to recycle and give back to the schools and students that need it most. For more information, visit the Teacher Supply Warehouse Web site or contact Cecilia Adams, manager of community partnerships, at 370-8355.

Tutoring Help Needed

Greensboro Housing Authority is looking for teachers with full hearts and excellent skills to provide tutoring services on an as-needed basis to Greensboro Housing Authority youth in selected communities.  For information, please contact Tiffany Dunlap, ROSS-RSDM/neighborhood networks coordinator at 303-3009, tdunlap@gha-nc.org or Cecilia Adams, manager of community partnerships, at 370-8355.

DonorsChoose

Get a head start on projects for the next school year by putting them online. At DonorsChoose.org, teachers request items needed for various educational projects and donors for Guilford County or around the world fulfill all or part of the request. Teachers ask, donors invest and the GCS students benefit.
Click here to list your project. If you would like to help fund a GCS classroom project, click here. For more information on DonorsChoose, contact the Guilford Education Alliance at 841-4332 or Cecilia Adams, manager of community partnerships, at 370-8355.

Save with Employee Express

As prices keep going up, we’re proud to offer GCS employees ways to save through our Employee Express program. Several local businesses have partnered with us to offer special discounts. Click here to view the list. For more information, please contact Jennifer Landes, program administrator – communications, at 370-8353.

GCS Calendar of Events

Click here to view the district’s upcoming calendar of events.

Central Office Summer Schedule

GCS central offices will operate on a summer schedule from Monday, June 16 through Friday, August 15. Summer office hours are:

• 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday
• 7:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Friday
  

Normal office hours (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) resume on Monday, August 18. We will revert back to normal office hours during the first week of July (June 30 – July 4) due to the July 4 holiday.

GCSTV2

Washington Elementary 

Recently featured in a statewide television documentary for its progress, Washington Elementary continues to make strides towards academic success. That progress, however, could be undermined if GCS’ proposed 2008-09 budget is not fully funded. This program runs Tuesday through Thursday at 8:42 a.m. and 2:12 p.m. and Friday through Monday at 8:32 a.m.

Budget Discussion

The proposed 2008-09 budget represents the financial plan for GCS. Our community is keenly aware of the continuing financial challenges the district faces. If you have questions about the budget, our co-interim superintendents Sharon Ozment and Dr. Eric Becoats have the answers you need in this conversation with GCSTV 2’s Leonard Simpson. This program runs Tuesday through Thursday at 8:01 a.m., 2:01 p.m. and 7:47 p.m.  It also runs Friday through Monday at 9:46 a.m., 5:48 p.m. and 10:01 p.m.

“Taking Initiative:  A Look Inside Guilford County Schools”

GCSTV 2 is showing this UNC-TV documentary on the innovative approaches and educational accomplishments of GCS.  The program explores how initiatives like GCS’ Mission Possible, Home Field Advantage and Newcomers School are leading the way to better opportunities for our students.  This documentary is made possible thanks to the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, the Cemala Foundation and the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation and runs daily at 9:01 a.m. and 10:01 p.m.

Rappers’ Tribute

It’s an original composition and a tribute to the late Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  High Point Central High seniors Amos Mobley and Kenneth Ledbetter’s rap is attracting attention within the music industry. GCSTV 2 has produced a music video for the song featuring these two members of their school’s Men of Valor Excelling (MOVE) chapter. This video runs Tuesday through Thursday at 12:15 p.m. and 8:55 p.m. and Friday through Monday 11:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Music Showcase-Middle School All County Band

Music plays a big role in the arts education offered within GCS. The All-County Band Concert gives students a chance to showcase their talents, and GCSTV 2 provides you a seat in the audience. This program runs daily at 9:01 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. 

Music Showcase-High School All County Band   

This performance features the best of the best of Guilford County Schools’ high school band talent taped at their spring performance at Grimsley High. This program runs daily at 10:01 a.m., 6:01 p.m. and 10:01 p.m.

Eat Smart-Move More

GCS offers some healthy advice on choosing the right foods and portion sizes to cut down on the extra fat and calories that may be lurking in our diets. Join Registered Dietitian Amanda Hester and Ashley Mathis for our series “Eat Smart.” Your “Guide to Healthier Eating” runs daily at 6:57 a.m., 7:56 a.m., Tuesday through Thursday at 9:52 p.m. and Friday through Monday at 9:55 p.m.

Driver’s Edge-Driver’s Education Special

Take this in-depth driver’s education course that gives real world examples and advice on how to handle a car safely. Some of the drivers who should know best - Indy Series racers - hand out the advice generously. This program runs Friday through Monday at 5:59 a.m. and 4:59 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday at 4:59 a.m. and 5:59 p.m.

GCSTV 2 & ABC-45

GCS continues its partnership with ABC-45 television to share the following current news and feature stories about our district. The segments air on ABC-45 (Cable Channel 7) during “Good Morning America” each Wednesday and Friday at 7:25 a.m. and 8:25 a.m.

High School Ahead
GCS is known nationally for its innovative programs that are models for academic success.  The High School Ahead program is one of those that could be adversely affected should the proposed GCS 2008-09 budget request not be fully funded. This program airs Friday, June 25.

A Thank You for Caring
The students at Monticello-Brown Summit Elementary school corresponded with the troops in Iraq all year.  They collected candy, toiletries and other supplies and sent them overseas at Christmas.  The members of the 396th Medical Company say thank you with a special visit to the school. This Newsbreak airs Wednesday, June 27. 

For more information, please contact Leonard Simpson, broadcast production manager, at 370-8167.