News-Record.com

Keep Kids CLOSE to HOME, AWAY from POLITICS.
Just SAY "NO" to GERRYMANDERING CHILDREN!!!!

Following is an article that I received that recounts how things are done in our neighborhing school district to the west. Read this article and make note of how many points of difference that you can count between this school district and GCS. Better yet and easier to do, count how many similarities that you see. Is there any wonder why so many GCS teachers are moving to that school district to teach? It kind of makes the public education process in Guilford County look dysfunctional, doesn't it?

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools:

To say that many North Carolina voters are skeptical of school bonds is definitely not an overstatement.

Just ask officials in Mecklenburg County, where, following a heated political battle, voters resoundingly rejected a $427 million bond for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in November.

And while voters in Wake County approved a $450 million school bond in 2003, school officials know that the planned 2006 bond referendum will be tough sell, considering the fact that they’ll probably ask for at least twice that amount.

Then there’s Forsyth County, where voters passed the last two school bonds, one for $94 million in 1994 and another for $150 million in 2001.Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools will ask voters to go the ballot box again this November to approve a bond that will range between $250 million and $290 million, according to superintendent Don Martin.

But Martin and many school board members are confident the bond will pass. If it does, it more than likely will have something to do with the system’s philosophy regarding school construction and renovation. The philosophy is this: Hold the line. Be specific. Once size and occupancy are set, resist wish lists and departmental lobbies that can drive up costs. Question everything.

Sticking to that philosophy has made WSFCS a model for using school bonds efficiently, finishing projects on time and on budget.

“Integrity with the public is critical,” Martin said. “Communication is always a challenge, always a key.”

“We learned real quickly that to be successful in the eyes of the public, you do what you say you’re going to do,” said WSFC school board member Buddy Collins. “There are people who didn’t vote for the last bond referendum who might vote for the next one because of what we did here.”

WSFCS has completed four major projects with money from the 2001 bond. Two high schools, Ronald Reagan and Simon G. Atkins, and one middle school, East Forsyth, opened for the 2005-2006 school year.

A major renovation was also recently completed at Carver High School, where a new performing arts space was built, windows were replaced, the entryway was redesigned and an integrated communications system was installed The total cost came to just over $8 million.

All three new school projects were clustered together to accommodate the increasing student population in Forsyth County. They came in on budget, with Reagan costing $23 million, Atkins costing $22 million and East Forsyth costing $11 million.

During a tour of Reagan High, principal Stan Elrod, a 30-year veteran of WSFCS, marveled at the school’s bang for the buck.

“It’s hard to believe they built this school for under $30 million,” Elrod said. “There was a great thought process here.”

While Reagan is a traditional high school and Atkins is a magnet school focusing on technology, the schools, physically speaking, are carbon copies of each other. The same architect designed both schools, a strategy that saves time and money.

They were constructed as simple rectangles with double –loaded corridors so students can move about with ease during class changes.

Building materials consisted of masonry work with steel partitions. Decorative features such as paint color were kept simple. Built-in casework was kept to minimum and contracted with a manufacturer who could furnish and install it in bulk quantities.

“We’re looking for functionality, not architectural significance,” Martin said. “Sometimes, architects want to build the Taj Mahal. But we’re looking to get from point A to point B. The building is nothing but a tool. We want kids to be comfortable in it, and we want them to feel like somebody cares about them, but we’re not looking for a lot of frills in the construction. You have to develop relationships with architects to make them understand the type of customer you are. We’re not out to win design awards.”

A major feature of both high schools and East Forsyth is movable walls so that the cafeteria, gym and auditorium can convert into one large commons area to accommodate larger crowds.

“Most high school auditoriums sit empty 90-95 percent of the time,” Jim Moorefield, WSFCS construction specialist.

WSFC oversees its own construction, meaning no bond money went to construction management firms. Moorefield and fellow construction specialist Bill Powell spent several years in the private sector before coming to work for the school system, so they not only know construction, but they know how to keep costs down. They had to, or they wouldn’t be able to keep jobs in the private sector, they said

They’re also sensitive to the fact that a good majority of Forsyth County’s population has no direct stake in the school system.

“We’re held accountable for we do,” Moorefield said. “I feel like I’m basically representing an 82-year-old woman on a fixed income. I’m spending her money.”

The line is held pretty well politically speaking, too. Collins says the school system’s solid relationship with Forsyth County commissioners helps things run smoothly.

“If we have certain needs, they are likely to come forth with them,” Collins said.

WSFCS also has one of the few remaining partisan school boards in the state. The partisan board has been in place since 1994, with Republicans holding the majority. The party now holds 7-2 majority, with every member facing reelection in 2006. The board also has a solid relationship with Martin, who has been superintendent since 1994.

“He’s very conservative in the ways that matter,” said school board member Jeannie Metcalf.

Martin said it would be later in the year before the exact amount of the bond proposal would be set. About half of those funds would go to renovation projects since the three new schools helped ease overcrowding, at least for the time being.

But whatever the amount comes to, he’s confident voters will be receptive. The information’s out there; the system’s Web site shows the progress of every project financed by bond money.

“When we start this bond campaign in 2006, we can say we completed every project we promised,” Martin said. “Meeting our promises since 1995 is good.”

My son is at our local middle ( I wont name the school) and he is complaining that in his English Arts class he is not learning. There are too many children not paying attention.
I E-mailed the teacher and she said. Yes, some days are better than others. She has spoken to the problem children, she has talked to their parents, gives them detention etc. She said I can transfer you son out of the class. But she promptly tells my son it will be a lower level.

My question is. How hard should I get? Demand to speak to the principal?

Any advice?

I'm not going to tell you "whatodo" but, if you don't advocate for your child, who will? My suggestion, follow the chain of command until you get what your child needs.

I posted the story above about Forsyth County Schools and how the district is being managed. In the story, it mentioned the opening of the new Atkins High. I am posting an article about the new Atkins school which appears on the district's website. It's about Atkins School in Winston Salem. Atkins is a new school built in the far east side of W-S in one of the poorest areas of the city. The school is beautiful, and the article tells how they will be opening what every magnet school should be. You'll note that Atkins will have three focuses; pre-engineering, biotechnology, and computer techonolgy. And guess what? That is exactly what GCS said that Andrews High was going to be, a world class school in those areas. This was to be the draw in the Choice Plan. Dot Kearns talked about how great this school would become. There is not one shread of evidence that any of that has transpired two years later.

Guilford County BOE does the talk. Forsyth County BOE does the walk.

June 24, 2005

WS/FCS Receives $900,000 Grant For New Atkins Academic And Technology High School

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has received a $900,000 grant from the New Schools Project to launch three schools at Atkins Academic and Technology High School.

The grant was announced by Gov. Mike Easley. WS/FCS was one of seven school systems in North Carolina to receive a grant.
The school systems received a total of $2.3 million in financial support and services to open eight health and life sciences high schools across the state this coming fall.

Atkins was built using money from a $150 million bond package that voters approved in 2001. It will open in August.

The school will house three separate schools under one roof: the schools of pre-engineering, biotechnology and computer technology.

“This award will help us tremendously,” said Superintendent Don Martin. “We will prepare students to go to college and join the growing health and life sciences industries in Forsyth County.”

The New Schools Project, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and other public and private partners have worked with local school systems to develop health and life science-themed high schools across the state. All students will have the opportunity to participate in internship programs and will have access to community college and university-level courses.

Coursework and other learning experiences will focus on the health and life science industries and will prepare students for both higher education and entrance into skilled fields such as health care and biotechnology. All students will participate in a college preparatory curriculum and have access to work-based experiences and community college and university-level courses. Locally, a curriculum advisory committee chaired by Len Preslar, the president and chief executive of N.C. Baptist Hospital, has worked with school-system staff for the past 18 months to ensure that the curriculum is relevant.

Each school will have no more than 100 students per grade for a maximum of 400 students per school.

The North Carolina New Schools Project was launched by Easley and his Education Cabinet in 2003. Grant funding for the New Schools Project, including the $2.3 million for health and life sciences-themed schools, comes from an $11 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The New Schools Project will create more than 100 new and redesigned high schools across the state.

Go here to take a virtual walk around this beautiful new school.

http://web2k.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/atkinshs/

Someone has to send it to the SB.

To whomever made the new "Welcome to High Point" sign:

It is hilarious! I was laughing so hard I thought I would have to pull over. There were three people that had stopped and were taking pictures with their cell phones. Let's just see how Becky, Susan and Dot like that!

Bruce,

I saw you on TV last night at the board meeting and I read your article this morning. Did you stay until after closed session? If so, can you please report if anything newsworthy was discussed?

Thanks!

Quest,

A couple of things happened, but nothing big:

- Smith High School has a new principal, Noah Rogers, who currently is a high school principal in Norfolk, Va. Current Smith principal Sam Misher will become principal of Northern Middle when it opens in 2007. I'm not sure what he'll do between now and then, though.

- The board decided it will meet Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. after all. Anyone who knows this school board and how much they enjoy meeting saw this coming.

- The board decided to postpone any decision on a health sciences and construction technology academy at Smith High until next month.

Bruce,

Just curious, do you know which high school Noah Rogers came from or can you find out? I lived in Virgnia Beach for 23 years and am quite familiar with the Tidewater area.

Also I thought I read a few weeks ago on one of the CB strands that Norfolk schools (they are all separates districts in Tidewater by the various cities) are doing very well.

This may be a great addition for Guilford County.

He was at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk. Do you know that school?

Yes I do. Thanks.