News-Record.com

This goes to show how well communication is around here.

Who knew before last night which schools had won and were being celebrated? This would have been nice to have known ahead of time.

"Eight thousand dollars to a lot of people isn't that much," said Lisa Cooke, principal at Eastern High. "But to a school, it's just awesome."

"The celebration is funded by Action Greensboro's Commitment to Excellence Fund, which basically is millions of dollars donated by businesses to support education."

Imagine how big the celebration would be if Action Greensboro had donated the $500,000 to Eastern for educational improvement (changing the reality), rather than on running commercials on MSNBC to promote the "image" of the schools.

Just a thought for consideration.

Stormy, it's testing my memory from 2 years ago but I think she is the very person who was part of the bungling of the failed multi-million dollar grant application for the old HP Choice Plan. Seems like I remember her getting a promotion.

No doubt her comment goes back to those administrator days where $8,000 is not a lot of money to those in the home office.

please clarify

was that the magnet coordinator at Central IB Program?

Cooke has been at Eastern for two years.

Right Frank,

Lisa Cooke was demoted to that Principalship, from her Administrative position, back in 2004 after she was involved with the Grant Application fumble for that world-class plan called the High Point Choice Plan.

After the unfortunate mistake made in filling out the Grant application, Cooke was swiftly and quietly removed from her position. What she was I can't remember, possibly "Magnet Coordinator"? I can't remember for sure but it seems that she took the blame for the failure to get the grant. Of course it should have been the Superintendent but he never does anything, therefore can never be blamed for anything. He does work at the "pleasure of the board." I wonder if they ever get the feeling of pleasure from his work?

Anyway, congratulations to the schools and teacher that received recognition. But in the spirit of Guilford county's "feel good" system, they should be recognizing ALL schools that do well. To point out just a few is going against their policy to make everyone "feel good." No one should be left behind.

Was that the grant application where they asked for too much money?

I believe that Lisa was the magnet coordinator for the exclusive Central IB program. The reason I remember this is that certain Central PTA parents were really HOT when she was removed that that position. An outspoken PTA Emorywood parent who had sung the praises of the famous "Choice plan" suddenly changed her tune when she lost the IB coordinator for her son's curriculum. She flipped flopped what she said about the Choice plan several times in the local papers.

Great point "NSLB". It would be great to see some more big "Hoorahs" for all the schools that try. Our teachers work really hard. They all want to feel appreciated.

Congratulations to those that go above and beyond.

Sharon Haynes is the IB Coordinator now. Dotty and Grier must LOVE her!

reason #1) A kid was thinking about applying for the Central IB program instead of being redistricted to Andrews. The parents were worried that this kid might not be IB material. Ms. Haynes assured them that if they changed their mind, they would NOT be moved out of Central.

reason #2) A Junior thinking of getting OUT of the IB program and taking AP courses instead, was told by Ms. Haynes that since they didn't live in the "district" they could be forced to go back to their "assigned" school.

IB,

Lisa Cooke was the district's director of magnet schools at the time you are describing. The employee list I have from 2002-03 lists her as being hired in Jan. 2003 as director of magnet schools and I know she held that position until she became Eastern's principal, which I believe was in 2004-05.

You must be thinking of someone else.

Back to the Page IB program.

Judge Manning has focused last year on high schools that failed to pass 60% of their students.

This year Judge Manning will shift his focus to high schools failing to pass 70% of their students. He is raising the bar.

Last year Page missed the 70% mark and if they miss it again this year, it'll meet the 2 consecutive years and Judge Manning will put them on his list.

By making Page an IB program, they'll bring back just enough high performing students to raise themselves above 70%.

Make sense?

Thanks Numbersgame....

Now I get it.

Numbersgame,

Makes perfect sense, at least it is a rational explanation as to why they need to establish another IB program at Page. It washes better than the board's explanation, especially given the fact that the board has talked about "overcrowding" at Pag in the past. It seems that "overcrowding" is always the problem that is used to justify actions that they desire to take, i.e., the choice plan at Southwest as a prime example. Nothing that this crowd does, nor that it says, is transparent.

Question is when the new lines for Northern are drawn
and Page is relieved of students to the North will the Rankin students that have been requesting for years to attend the school be re-districted to Page or will they continue to be bused to Gibsonville?

They were told there was no room...what is the excuse now..you can only come if you are in the top 10% of your class!!!

Rankin,

The other odd that will get you to Page is if you're white. Remember, it's all about diversty and if they need an "IB program" at Page then it means they really need white bodies.

Every GC problem ALWAYS boils down to race. In my experience, a few white kids can fix anything. I'm wondering if these kids will be able to put that on their resumes. Imagine your college application when you can claim that you lifted up the scores of a failing school!

Wait a minute...2006 enrollment numbers report that as a group county high schools are now 57% non-white, and only four high schools have a majority white enrollment. In addition, this is a trend that will continue with a diminishing number of white students, at least on a % basis, if not in real numbers. Now, the question is in a few years, where will the school board find enough white students to "fix" the problems? With the possible exception of Northwest, and possibly Northern, there won't be any traditional high schools to take from one school to use to racially balance other schools. Given that we've been told that busing students from one end of the county to the other isn't feasible, how long can the school board continue with these tactics? Will they actually have to start educating students rather than using the old student shell game to disguise the problems?

You're exactly right Jennifer, I could not think of Ms. Cooke's title in 2004.

That makes sense then as Magnet Coordinator that she was integral in completing the grant application for the HP Magnet Programs (there were a couple of other small items as well). Regardless her incorrectly completed application was signed by Dr. Grier and a rejection from Washington D.C. soon followed.

Combine this with the boondoggle over the 3 or 4 schools with structural issues and the millions wasted, the recently acquired Smith academy where no did there homework from start to finish and you have millions of dollars that are wasted on an annual basis. Yet no one seems to mind.

I mind Buck and that's why I will lobby hard against ANY bond proposed by the school system.

has anyone taken any time to look into the Freshaman academies that are out in our system? I question progress???

One of the "most improved schools" was Brooks, which has been atop the rankings locally for years. Yet, the former principal felt so embattled by aggressive parents, she resigned.

If parents are so smart, why aren't they all PhDs?

Freddy,

If you have a point to your last post, it is not obvious or apparent. Do parents have to be PhD's to express some concerns about their childrens' educations? The last thing parents should do is turn their childrens' educations over to someone else, whether they have a PhD, or not.

PHD---push here dummy!

It sounds to me Freddy that the "embattled" principal couldn't hack the job. That is another of the problems of this system. Grier brings in brand-new, newbie principals and puts them in our neediest schools! Does that make sense? A PhD has done little for our system. Supposedly our superintendent has one. Sometimes I wonder. You can get those on the internet, ya know.

"Push Here Dummy"--are you talking about an EASY button? Funny! I sure wish we had one!!

I am new to the "Chalkboard" and I have learned more than I can write about over the last two days. My child is a Freshman at SEHS. We are suffering through being the guinea pigs for the new movement of Freshman Academies. I am eager to read the opinions of other parents in this system. I am far from sold on the issue...Any comments out there?

Freshman acadamies were a new program introduced about 3 years ago. Not all schools have them. The purpose was to ease in freshman with extra counseling, a closed (closer) environment etc. Ninth grade is where we see the most drop outs and this was suppose to help. I think it was going fairly well at Central, but now they have moved it. NWHS doesn't have one, nor does Grimsley. What are your problems with the program? Please share!

We have a Freshman Academy at Eastern Guilford for most of the ninth graders and so far the experience has been a positive one for most of them.

Our principal put some great teachers in charge of our Academy and they break the mold when it comes to teacher quality, but I want brag on that too much because we want them to stay put.

They are learning high school level organizational skills, study skills, note taking skills and they are also incorporating fun team building activities.

My kid is enjoying the class and appears to be responding well to the teaching technique. I know a lot of time and energy is going into it by the teachers and their enthusiasm is contagious. Most of the students that I have talked to look forward to the class and are establishing a good relationsip with the teachers.

On the negative side:

The only problem that we appear to have is that it
has affected the scheduling of some of our Honors and AP classes, especially English, because these
teachers were recruited to teach the class. It does not appear that we have the number of electives that we have had in the past either.

We were not given any additional space or staff to
incorporate this academy so we had to rob peter to pay paul. I'm not sure if the benefit outweighs the scheduling of the AP/Honors classes which is affecting the whole school, but it seems to be benefiting the 9th graders.

I think the Freshman academy concepts could have been taught during the Journeys time which is an in school tutorial program for students that are not in the EOC tutorial classes, then we would have not given up the flexibility to offer the electives that we have had in the past for all the students.

by the way God must work in mysterious ways,
because Dr. Cooke is right where she belongs..
with the students at Eastern Guilford!!!!!!!!!!

xxxx,

I know this doesn't help you this year but if you have younger children, just hang on. This superintendent we have drops programs like they were yesterday's underwear. He doesn't even worry about the mess he leaves behind. Somebody else will clean it up while he is out shopping for new ones --- with our money!

I am Fed Up with Terry Grier!!!

Could someone tell me what happen to Barbara Potts? After Joan Bishop left, she was selected to be in charge of counseling at the staff level. She is gone. Why?

Reference the freshman academy....my concern is that the A/B schedule that our freshman are dealing with is much more confusing than the traditional schedule where you see the same teachers each day throughout a semester. It effects the amount of homework, retention of information and is much more like a "college" schedule than a high school schedule-which does not lend a hand to making the transition easier at all.

The students are segregated from 22 students that took Geometry in the 8th grade, leaving an elite status in the minds of those 22. They ultimately end up having higher GPA's than the Academy students, and I'm just not sold on the idea that b/c they completed Geometry in 8th grade, that they are more motivated to come to school, less likely to drop out and are smarter than the majority of the kids that were required to be in the academy.

Morale among students is at an all time low and we all know that morale effects performance! I could go on and on and on, but those are my concerns after just a few weeks of school. Word has it that Mr. Kremer wants to institute a Sophomore Academy. I thought the idea was to help the transition into high school? I'm not sure why that would continue into the 2nd year and I cannot get an answer from administration!

No need to look for an answer XXXX,

I can assure you that the answer will have "diversity" in it. Now I might be wrong, but usually all decisions made in Guilford co. have to do with diversity. On the rare ocassion that it's not about diversity, it's about money$$$$$$$$$..

But NEVER about education.

XXXX, DON'T wait for them, do what you need to do for your child NOW. This is a fend-for-yourself system. I suggest you start now.

xxxx,
Your concerns were addressed by Dr. Cooke at
Eastern. There are a few ninth grade students
that are not in the Freshmen Academy, by request. My son will be taking Honors Algebra II this year, but he is benefiting from the Freshmen Academy along with many of his friends that were formal AL, A/AB honor roll students. Segregating all A/AB students was not working. Some students that are academic elitist are desparately lacking leadership and team building social skills and could benefit from these classes.

The elitist individuals will eventually become the ones that sit in the cubicle in the corner and never advance past the technical expert because they never learned how to play well with others.

It may also make you feel better to know that colleges look at more than the highest GPA and
number of AP courses you take. I know several
of these Valedictorian elitist that were turned
down from the same schools that my mainstream student was accepted to. Why? He was a well-rounded individaul with outside interests, volunteer activities, and he also had a part-time job while mainting an A/B average.

xxxx,
The Eastern Freshmen Academy is just a one
time elective course and they are able to select from any of the other courses honors or AP with upper classman to fill their schedule.

How is the Southeast Freshman Acedemy set up?

We supposedly have one county school system. Why is every high school set up so differently?

It just adds to the confusion. Maybe that is the purpose to keep everyone in a state of perpetual confusion.

xxxx,

Is SE following the Talent Development High School model? It is a high school reform model that has freshmen separated into an academy where they learn notetaking, organizational and other skills to help them transition. Then in their sophomore through senior years they are broken down into teams/houses that usually are in themes, such as engineering, health, communications, etc. Core courses would incorporate the theme (ie, you might create a "radio" broadcast as part of an English class.) One of the keys is breaking down larger high schools into smaller units in some way.
Try this link for more information.

xxxx,

Let's face it. New programs in this school system are usually implemented because there is grant money available to fund it, or at least part of it. GCS rushs to develop a program, get the grant, and rapidly implement the program, without any real planning. Once the money is gone, the program withers away and dies. GCS is off to the next program and the next grant.

A good example is what has happened at Central High over the last few years. How many new programs have been implemented there? They had the 9th grade academy in the Tomlinson Building last year which was implemented to get the grant money. Now, it is being shoved aside for the cooking academy. Tomlinson has had about three makeovers in the last several years to accomodate the newest and greatest program. I wonder what will be there next yeat?

I guess my answer is that this is a fad, not a program. Be patient. As with all things with this organizaton, it, too, will pass. Don;t fall for what Freddy tried to peddle earlier here..someone with a PhD doesn't have a better idea of what is right for your child than you do.

EG Parent,

At SE our kids have (1) elective per semester-that's it! The Academy is not such that you can opt out.

I am confused on the plans for implementing next years Sophomore Academy simply because we were told that the Academy was for transition into High School. According to the principal that is the year in which students have the most discipline referrals (we wouldnt want the school system to note those-it's makes them look bad). Freshman year is supposed to be the year where students academic performance is the lowest. Is he now saying that Sophomores are facing those same problems? I'm beginning to wonder what is truth and what is fiction? What will their Junior and Senior year hold?

I appreciate all of the information that folks are providing. My intent is to have the principal of SE tell me WHY a Sophomore Academy will benefit ALL CHILDREN. Why is he so quick to promote another program when we are not even sure if the freshman academy will promote student success.

XXXX,

Please remember that your principal has a Nazi Boss breathing down his neck! I really feel for principals. They have a long list of things that they are NOT supposed to talk about so I'm sure it gets tricky how to handle parent questions. If I were you I'd go straight to the head honcho himself, Terry Grier.

He is the big innovator. He has all the answers. Good luck.

I personally have given up on Public schools. They work for a small minority of kids...ha!...take that as a pun if you wish!

It’s no wonder people are beginning to suspect wrongdoing! They are budgeting $82,500,000 (includes inflation allowance allocation)per High school to do what Forsythe did for 24 mil, a 344% cost overrun – oops isn’t that about the same as their overrun at the new - old building they are refurbishing? That's why they felt they got such a good deal paying only twice what the property was worth less than a year before. I guess maybe they are just planning on their typical screwups again. Based upon historical record, a new High School in our county will cost 100 million when they get through with the cost overruns. At that price I imagine even the wallpaper will be green.

No wonder renewing a million dollar contract with TG looked so reasonable! ($250,000 X 4 YRS)

Why has Doug Clarke's strand on High Schools in "Off the Record" blog not been explored by N&R in a more serious way? Fantastic comparison to Guilford’s money give away for underperforming schools. Not just give more money, but actually expect results and set goals for those results to be achieved and hold people accountable for the results. WOW what a great idea, can we trade supers? These kids at least have a hope that someone is accountable for their education. Go Mech!

That is the type of plan that Guilford educational alliance and Action Greensboro should be supporting!

FYI, here's a link to the draft proposal for Mission Possible, which is what Garth is referring to above, I believe. (The draft was posted on the district Web site for the April 19 Friday Notes.)

I will try to get and post a copy of an updated version. I think the schools and bonuses changed a bit, but I'm not sure if the expectations and consequences did.

EG PARENT

And what about the students with the high GPAs, numerous AP courses, high SAT scores, sports, outside interests, a part-time job, and who volunteers? Wouldn't their chances even be better?

xxxx,
It sounds like the SE Freshmen Academy model is
much more rigid than the Eastern Freshmen Seminar
that we have at Eastern. They have more options
and they should have in high school. Your principal is following one of the new school models and you should ask him where this is all going and
voice your concerns. They sound like very valid
ones.

It just depends,
You are right and you just described my son.
My point was that it doesn't and should not be
all about taking every AP class offered. Students should be exposed to different electives to help them discover where their interest lies.

My POINT was that many overly-pushy parents with agendas have made schools and the children in them suffer, by creating a churning of staff and teachers, sick of dealing with their holier-than-thou attitudes. And then they demand principals and teachers be accountable, and even when the school gets high distinction, they are unhappy. That's because these parents have an ax to grind way beyond supposed academic achievement.

Of course, parents have aright to speak up. But do they have a right to railroad good administrators and teachers?

Garth Vader,

Again you show your ignorance. GCS didn't just throw money at underperforming schools. There was and is accountability in those schools. A number of principals and teachers in those schools who were not getting results were re-assigned. New better qualified teachers were attracted to those schools by incentive money. Teachers will deny it but facts are facts and teachers migrated away from troubled schools to schools for a better environment. Many troubled schools had serious teacher shortages. This isn't unque to GCS, its happened nationwide. So bonus money was offered but teachers have to get results to stay there and continue to get the bonus. If you were truly informed you would know that. Instead of helping make our schools better you and your storm troopers do nothing but throw stones at our schools. You are going to hurt the children!

You are embarrassing! Withdraw now. Our children deserve better! As I said before your signs should say "Seperate and Unequal" Because you don't know what an Accountable School Board is.

The Real Truth!

Real Truth,

The kids that couldn't pass their EOG's/AYP's were moved to SW Middle and SW High School by your school board representative. At the same time, the teachers from SW Middle and SW High were sent to Andrews and Central.

How can you deny this?

Nice line Real Truth. No one has seen an accountable school board in Guilford County.

Don't worry help is on the way.

RT
It should be "Separate" and unequal. Did you take spelling in Guilford County? We don't know what an accountable school board is. Please tell us what that looks like. We haven't seen one in the past several years with the majority members who votes on wasted funds that is.

Good catch, Buckmtn. The truth comes out.

Accountability, Actually I attended school in Virginia; however, my poor spelling isn't a reflection of my education as much as it is my typing skill or lack thereof. I will concede that many of the posters here have better typing and spelling skills. So what.... You would make a better typist than I would. Good for you!

What you people don't understand is that schools with lower socio-economic populations have less resources, less parent involvement and fewer qualified teachers. GCS is trying to balance that by balancing diversity. What is wrong with making things equal to give every child the same opportunity? What you are really mad about is that they took away your unfair advantage. You sdon't want to have to deal with issues that effect out city and county. You want to segregate yourselves and say it is someone elses problem. Put the blame elsewhere and take no responsibility. You are selfish despicable people. I guess I would rather be a poor speller than a racist, segregationist! None of you showed one bit of concern for GCS beyond Southwest Schools until the BOE made you face reality or should I say the prospect of having children of color in your school. Then all of a sudden you are education experts and reformers. What a bunch of punks you are! What is wrong with diversity?

The Real Truth

TRT,

Thanks to Title I, Equity $, Equity plus $, Equity plus 2 $, and now Mission Possible, the poor schools have MORE resources than the non-poor schools.

And, for your information (and lack of facts), Southwest high school was approximately a 40%/60% non-white/white population before redistricting.

Get your facts straight before you throw stones.

TRT,

What have you and your children done to help the lower socio-economic populations?

TRT,

I was waiting for the race card to come out! Let's dig deeper and require those parents in the lower socio-economic areas that you speak of to step up and make a difference in thier childrens lives.

Diversity started when our school board moved away from neighborhood schools. Back then the argument was the exact same as today........they were supposedly lower performing schools b/c of race and status. Today, we bus kids all over gods country for diversity and we still make the same arguments. Get real. Get involved. Quit allowing our school board members to come up with new programs that make no difference what so ever and quit using the race card. The board segerates-not parents. They even do it inside of schools. You have a school that is 70% black or white, the system comes up with an academy that splits students based on whether or not they took Geometry???????? If they did, no matter their color, they are less likely to drop out, they will transition into school better AND they must be much smarter than the regular population. Is it b/c of their color? NO WAY!

Segregation does not occur solely based on race. It does not occur only in low socio-economic areas.

Let the race card rest....teach our children.

Until Ms. Fernandez or Ms. Josey supplies us with numbers showing the overall budgets and resources, including donations, fundraised monies, not to mention in-kind gifts of supplies and time at both Title I and assorted non-Title I schools, we do not really know if the former are, as Numbers states, in possession of greater resources. In addition, the clear imbalance to the detriment of teacher competence and experience at the poorer schools versus the middle and upper-middle ones lessens the impact of whatever physical resources they may have.

TRT,

YOu are a piece of work. Go back and read your original post. I responded to that original post and now you accuse me of misinterpreting your definition of diversity?

Here's what you said, "None of you showed one bit of concern for GCS beyond Southwest schools until the BOE made you face reality or should I say the prospect of having children of color in your school...What is wrong with diversity?"

Right - I say the same thing - what is wrong with diversity? It's a good thing and as I previously responded to you - Southwest High was 60/40 white/nonwhite before the social engineering of the board.

Don't throw stones until you get your facts straight!

TRT,

I will only reply by saying that I am an American Indian female (always mistaken as hispanic) actually Navajo.

I do not feel like my children's education or success has anything to do with their race!

Socio-economic status does impact all areas of life. If you have children-please do us all a favor and lend them the "poor, poor me" legacy.

Smile-life is good.

Learning Curve

That previous comment was not The Real Truth but this is...

I am convinced that poor black kids can't learn unless there are enough smart white kids in their school.

Take my neighbor Xavier for example. Xavier can't learn at a school that is 70% black. Move him to a school that is 60% black and BAM!! Somehow, the lighter atmosphere wakes his brain cells up.

maybe the school that he moved to was further away from you and the negative vibes that you expel werent able to reach his brain! BAM

TRT,
I am confused. Are you for or against "diversity"? You seem to contradict every statement that you have previously made.

Race has no place in education. It's 2006 right?

TRT

So do you take the qualified teachers away from schools that are marginally succeeding and ruin those schools too? You can't force teachers to stay. There are other counties, other states with better daily school situations where they can make a difference.

People who have the means to provide an education for their children will. Parents who are involved will remain involved in their children's educations. They only get one shot at this. They do not have to feel guilty as you would like them to for raising their children. Are we to fail all of our children because others have a different background? You can't change society. Teachers can't be both social workers and teachers. We are continually losing volunteers who help these struggling children. Parents leave and volunteer at their new schools. How does this help any children if we keep losing involved parents?

And one more thing, just because parents do not want to send their children to one of the lowest performing schools in the state does not make them racists. As someone stated (and it has been said before) Southwest was and is a diverse school so what is your problem?