News-Record.com

See:
http://erikhuey.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/grier-to-make-early-exit-ozment-becoats-named-co-interim-superintendents/

Becoats does come with baggage.

And we should trust Becoats???????? Darlene and Garth knew better. It's time for changes on the board

Garth has some issues with Ozment as well. She has frustrated him buy not making financial information, such as the budget, readily available to him. Now, is that an issue with Ms. Ozment or because of Terry Grier's control over the financials.

oh what a find mess we are in Ollie

Dr Fleming and 2 others were hired to take over Anne Barr's position. Does anyone know what their salaries are in comparsion to Anne Barr's? With so many complaints about the Al program being watered down this year- I think that would be interesting. Also ,does anyone know what this AL audit is going to consist of?

Maybe someone should checck to see if either of these new appointees have any AL certification or gradulate level AL courses. This information could yield a surprise. Garth / Darlene do you know?

Maybe now we can get a certified audit of the schools' finances. How many years has it been since the last one?

I am very skeptical of this tag team approach.

One half of the team brings quite a bit of baggage with him from Charlotte, just "Google" his name.

I believe the other half of this team may be an attempt to woo the voting public in May to vote for the bonds. What better strategy than to say "look the head beancounter will be in charge of the bonds..."

Well really she wouldn't be.

And really it would be the same misguided 6 votes squandering more bond money. So my opinion is still the same to these bonds.. NO.

Anon,

Re: "AL Audit" - My understanding is that the AL staff is planning to 'audit' each school to insure that the AL program is implemented according to the AL Plan approved by the BOE (http://www.gcsnc.com/al/index.html).

I guess that they would welcome comments regarding any perceived deficiencies in any school's implementation of said AL Plan.

Mr. Becoats does bring baggage, unfortunately when you show a lack of trust and fiscal responsibility as a result of his previous years in CMS, then of course we have to examine selections from within more wisely (probably why the board has decided on interim co-sups. b/c they do not trust Becoats with the $$$).

Secondly, there may be some nepotism going on as Mrs. Becoats entered in 2006 having been out of work as a principal (CMS) for a year or more to becoming an IIO of middle schools (may explain the lack of progress in the middle).

Another concern, Mr. Becoats brought in his friend, Ms. March hired in Jan. 2007 as IIO of High Schools from CMS where she served as principal producing low achievement scores. Ms. March supervises Dudley and Smith - why bring in a failing principal to lead low achieving high schools???

When you research the other choices (McCary, Hare, Morris, and Roper) you find that they were all fired or asked to leave as superintendents. So that leaves only a few choices....of those, Beth Folger would be the best pick from inside...she appears to be the only one truly focused on what's best for all children and GCS..

One more thing....does anyone know what happed to Catherine Brooks, IIO of Middle Colleges? She just arrived in Sept. 2007 and resigned abruptly in Jan. Barry Williams, highly respected educator previously held the position and he retired in August...someone needs to do some fact checking....b/c we are losing a lot of good folk in GCS....we can no longer allow the mediocre leaders to chase off good talent so that they can make life miserable for those who are truly trying to make positive and significant difference...meanwhile we settle for less and achieve less while they enjoy six figure salaries

What is an "IIO"

Speaking of not trusting people with money.....did I read in the newspaper that the Smith Academy costs were estimated to be 5.7million for about 210 students? How much is that to educate 210 students???? You do the math. We could give each of these students a nice private school education for that money.

This weekend is the magnet fair. Let's see what programs stay and what programs get the ax.

We will be watching.

I understand that the Forsyth county school system has an ex-GCS club. Each time a new member joins ( i.e., resigns from GCS and is hired by W-S F S), they schedule a welcome meeting. I hear that most of the administration over there is originally from GCS.

IIOs supervise the principals. IIO stands for Instructional Improvement Officer.

Sounds like the Becoats are running the schools already. Didn't they also bring the new AL director to GCS? It is my understanding that she is also getting a free education (doctorate) at the expense of GCS. I had heard that neither she nor the director have any graduate level courses or certifications in AL and now GCS is paying for them to learn what AL is about. Why wasn't this looked into before they were hired? Garth/Darlene any comments or thoughts?
GCS is famous for package deals. I think that is how Jane Fleming got the executive directorship of the AL program. Isn't her husband principal of Grimsley?
What is happening when good leadership is running for other counties?

No wonder there are so many AL complaints.

I too would like to know if 3 people who replaced Anne Barr have any AL certifications as well as the salaries they are being paid. Hopefully a board member can get that information. It sounds like the staff at GSC is a real Peyton Place. Also what good is an Al audit if the board does not spell out the requirements for the audit. Let's see if the board truly whats to support a strong AL program as they have stated.

Does anyone have the actual facts about Becoats?
Can we get a response from GCS or school board?

I thought I read in the newspaper that Deena wants to hire the superintendent from within. This needs to be watched this very closely. Isn't Deena's husband the one who works for the minority contractor who's awarded millions of dollars in minority jobs for Guilford County Schools? Is this a conflict of interest under the BOE's bylaws?

Maybe Terry could blab some little secrets about this and similar items on this blog now that he's leaving very soon. He has nothing to lose and the schools could have much to gain.

This would be a perfect time to clean house.

Re: Deena, hire from within.

Of course she would preer that. It maintains the status quo. These people are already under her and her 'mans' influence. Why risk upsetting the apple cart?

Her husband works for CoMor. They have been awarded millions of this Counties tax payer's money.

Of course its a conflict of interest that Alan Duncan is too afraid to call her on. But then again what's up with Duncan? How does his company let him spend so much time on school business? Isnt Alan Duncan himself a conflict of interest?

Darlene or Garth,

Could you help to find the answers to some of these questions? I know that many people would be very grateful.

Morgan, Have you ever thought of asking Alan Duncans law firm why they let him have so much time away from his real duties? I mean, what are they getting out of it?

Closings attorneys for new housing developments maybe?
Just a thought.

Didn't his law firm represent Sedexo Janitorial and Food Services that was let out of their contract with Guilford County Schools? I think Duncan did refrain from any votes that had to do with Sedexo.

Does Deena refrain from voting on contracts with CoMor? If she does refrain from voting, doe she state WHY she is refraining? Does the board even vote on this or is that just determined by Central Office staff?
Does someone know the rules in the GCS bylaws about conflict of interest? Can you post these

Wow!
Becoates vs Becoates, the Board is responsible for the conflict of interest not the Becoates. Hold us accountable! Note that Darlene was only one not buying in besides myself. Darlene has represented Guilford in the most honest, open and taxpayer oriented way that I have seen. She is often cornered in the politics yet represents the taxpayers, children and staff in the most admirable way.

Alan Duncan's been very open and honest on his conflicts of interest. He may control and manipulate the Board better than any, yet his tireless service is unquestionable.

AL a shambles or Sham? Yes, and anyone thinking otherwise should see what we call a proper AL program. Even if program were followed as we define it, there would be little stimulus to academic excellence. We are directing our funds and resources to achieving a minimum standard for all. We do not even aim for average anymore and our SAT scores show it.

Discipline and classroom environment, you are in the wrong county! While most elementary schools are acceptable, the rest, with little exception are in dire straights.

The roasting of Terrina bothers me most of all, she tried to work within to make a difference. Deena did take over the committee behind the scenes making any findings from this committee questionable, but there was the potential for a lot of good. My thanks to Terrina for trying.

The real problem is voter apathy and the continued press support of our administration. This blog shows some of many issues that should strike fear into every taxpayer. When many complained about the Arts issue the administration swung back with a baseball bat. Alan complained why did they not go to the commissioners for more money for us. We really were not cutting arts was the response. Hogwash and malarkey was fed back. Time for the voters to rise up and speak.

E.C. has more of it right than many think! Now how many are willing to stand up with E.C. and run for office. Now is the time to register to run, go to County Offices downtown and DO IT NOW!

FYI: Since 2000, the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by GCS students increased from 2,864 to 8,393. At the same time, the percentage of GCS students scoring 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam only decreased from 53 to 46.2 percent.

What you fail to mention above in regards to AP exams, is that these typically are the same groups of students taking like 3-5 exams each year and if you produced the hard facts of "who" is actually taking these tests, the public would know, just as the College Board produces their annual report each year that it's the same typical sub groups and the fact that schools that were not offering AP or only a few courses have now been forced to add more offerings so that this number increases and looks good. Perfect example, at Southeast H.S. the former principal was called directly by the Superintendent and told to offer a particular AP course or else...even if only 5 kids were enrolled and it upsets your entire school schedule and you don't have a teacher to teach it!

Garth, you may not be responsible for the personal affairs of the Becoats, but when this is a clear conflict of interest, you are responsible as a board member who has been informed. Becoats and Ozment should have to release their resumes for the public to see. It has been said that Becoats was never a teacher or asst. principal/principal before, as a matter of fact education is a second or third career for him. Now, we do not need the board to make the same mistakes all over again especially when you have the opportunity to do what is in the best interest of the children, families and educators in GCS!

Think about it, CMS (largest district in NC) fires Becoats and he doesn't join another school district until at least 2 years later and Grier hires him as the #2 man in charge...you would have to know his role was to be a puppet and be loyal to Grier at whatever cost, with some assurance that one day he may have a chance at a rise to the top again by grooming him for Superintendent of GCS. You see, if Becoats can spend some time as Superintendent in GCS, then he can rebuild his resume and move on without so much focus on his baggage in CMS. Keep in mind that the former superintendent in CMS, Pughsley was Becoats friend and brought him to CMS from Maryland. The baggage was indeed worst than what was released, however Pughsley tried to put Becoats in a position where he could at least get another job.

This "good ole boys club" is starting to fade, just watch the political race for president. It's time GCS and other school districts start getting on the band wagon of change. The American people are tired and when it starts showing up in a weak, dismal economy, more people start to be better informed and require excellence instead of mediocrity.

Garth/Morgan can we see the resumes???

GCS FYI, I am not at all impressed by either a 46% or 53% "passing" rate for AP students. Our brightest students deserve a better success rate.

It is also shameful that we are not demanding the highest character from Guilford County Schools officials whose decisions have such a huge stake in the futures of our children!

GCS FYI:
A 13 percent decrease in passing rate is supposed to impress? Less than 1/2 of our AP (supposedly our best) can pass the minimum standard for course credit and we have increased not only the percentage of failure but the number failing. Must we brag about an increase of over 250% in the number of failure to pass? These exams are paid for by taxpayer dollars (I am now curious as to how many dollars?) and we now brag that more take the exam and less are able to pass it. It is this kind of logic that has worked to destroy credibility and erode our schools and school safety. I listened to how many of our Universities do not like our AP program and it's grading scale. They would prefer an A in honors over a B in AP any day. Parents and Taxpayers might not be impressed by the AP hoax being perpetrated upon us. Forcing kids to take AP is horrific and unforgivable in my book, so try not to get me too worked up.

AL has now been destroyed, nepotism abounds in our leadership and I am being led around by a nose ring trying to get information that seems to move or disappear. If you want a warning here it is. I have bit my tongue about finances and money games, I have tried to improve quality of education and Board direction in holding staff and Board accountable for academics, I have bit my tongue off on discipline and safety, for next 2 and a half years I can make life miserable for all of us. I am aware of what my voice with the county commissioners can do and am very careful about it.

We took arts and music out and replaced it with a few minutes a week of foreign language and I am supposed to be impressed? A few minutes of art or music every 6 days is supposed to make me feel better? At least once a week kids could look forward to some relief in the Salt Mines. Now we bargain with the Board and say give us more class time and a longer school year and we can teach John and Sally to read before they finish High School. In fact we might give a few minutes more time for bathroom breaks, that is those who are not so scared of going to the bathroom that they hold it all day! We have taken electives almost totally out of middle schools as well and I am supposed to be impressed. PE and recess are swear words in GCS Schools. We have gang members being called good guys in our schools because they offer some kids protection and I am to be impressed? Teachers are scared of their students and principals are too scared of administration to discipline and I am impressed? I know I am a hard man to impress, but I am much easier than these PTA Mom's that put their heart into our schools on the hope to improve, these taxpayers who keep giving.

Just in case I was not plain in word, I AM UNIMPRESSED!

Valerie Collins, the principal of Brown Summit Middle, died Friday.

No other information was immediately available from Guilford County Schools.

Collins had been principal of the school since March 2007. Previously she worked as the district's chief organizational and professional development officer after moving here from Florida.

The Collins family will receive guests at 6 p.m. today at Love and Faith Christian Fellowship Church, 4344 Blackberry Road, Greensboro, N.C. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations go to Brown Summit PTSA in memory of Valerie Collins. Sympathy cards may be sent to The Collins Family, c/o GCS District Relations, 712 N. Eugene St., Greensboro, N.C. 27401.

Garth,

You under estimate what one individual can do if you put your mind to it. You and Darlene need to make motions to your head swims. You need to make your cohorts face up to what is not getting done. On AP courses, we know overall pass rates but we do not know pass rates by school and by subject. Also, we need to know plans for Seniors graduating from High School. Then we need to know whether they are on their plans, one year later. Very few of our children are going to the best colleges in the country. Remember Duke did not have one person in Guilford Co. that wanted to go to Duke and needed help paying for it. Obviously, noone was applying. The SAT's went down 9 points last year. That is a big amount and noone says anything. I have seen the BOE congratulate themselves and everyone else with an increase of two points. We use to be ahead of Charlotte-Meck. and we are about 25 point below them. HOW LONG TO HAVE TO WAIT FOR IMPROVEMENT TO BEGIN?

Joe,

You should seriously consider running for the school board. In which district do you live?

Go Joe!

Morgan,

Can you find out the following info for us all:

1. How much does Sharon Ozment make (in total) today?

2. How much will Sharon Ozment make (in total) beginning March 14?

3. How much does Eric Becoats make (in total) today?

4. How much will Eric Becoats make (in total) beginning March 14?

5. The fact that Mrs. Becoats reports to Mr. Becoats - isn't that a blatant conflict of interest?

Thank you for telling it like it is Mr. Hebert! You are right to be unimpressed. The cuts in my child's arts education classes this year have forced me to pull my head out of the sand and carefully scrutinize our school system. I don't like what I see.

Several members of the Board have verbally expressed support for arts education, yet the staff is still ramming this 6-day elementary rotation schedule which now also cuts back PE down our throats. Now there is talk of allowing smaller and medium-sized schools to have a 4 or 5 day rotation while larger schools will be forced to have the 6-day rotation. That again creates an inequality of education across the county that my child has suffered through this entire school year. Isn't that illegal? If it's not, it should be. Google Leandro vs. the State of NC and see what you think.

You're right Garth...hell hath no fury like a disheartened PTA mom!

Quote" Since 2000, the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by GCS students increased from 2,864 to 8,393. At the same time, the percentage of GCS students scoring 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam decreased from 53 to 46.2 percent".

If you look at it another way, that means that 1517 AP credits for college were given out in 2000. Last year 3800 credits were given out!

Thats money folks! Thats time taken off college!!

Dont knock it! my daughter is a Junior this year and she is taking 4 AP classes. Last year she took two and scored two fours. Her teacher told me tonight that the way she is going she could start college in her sophomore year because of these credits.

When we came here in 1999 she made friends with a girl whose parents took her out of public education and sent her to Wesleyan. This girl is taking her first AP class this year! Think about that. They are paying for her education and she is getting less out of it.

In my experience it has been mine and my daughters choice only as to which courses she took. Nobody has forced her to take AP classes.

I am not a Grier fan but I am very grateful for this opportunity for my daughter.

Joe,

I don't know where you get some of your information. Some of it makes sense but you are blatently wrong about our students not wanting to go to Duke or getting into Duke. Southwest High School had 3 students last year who were accepted into Duke University. I have known all three of these fine students since elementary school. One is my daughter who received a scholarship of $30,000 a year and was in the pool for the Trinity Scholarship. She turned down Duke for a scholarship at Wake Forest and loves it there. The other young lady from SW received a full ride by receiving the Trinity Scholarship. The young gentleman from SWH is also attending Duke and we had one or possibly more on the waiting list. SWH had one of their 2007 grads receive an appointment to Annapolis. This year, we have a quite remarkable young lady from the Early College (also happens to be in the SWH school zone) receiving an appointment to the Air Force Academy to fly jets. We have a 2008 female student who was accepted into The Citadel. We had other students accepted into UVA, Elon and some other top colleges. Many 2007 SW students went to UNC, Chapel Hill and I recognized many names of students on the
Dean's List for UNC listed in the News and Record; one Early College student, class of 2007 on the Dean's List at Duke that is "with distinction"; my daugher on the Dean's List at Wake and several other students from High Point and Greensboro also at Wake. I don't think the others all came from private schools.

If you look at the $$$$$ in scholarship money, this was one of the highest years in dollar amounts that Guilford County students ever received. Having attended many of the recognition ceremonies last year for our top students (one of which was "Cool to be Smart"), I witnessed many high achievers who were going on to some of the top colleges in our country.

I believe that one of the female Grimsley grads was going onto Harvard.

In conclusion, I beg to differ with your statement about our students not getting into some of the top colleges. GCS has a long way to go to bring our average student up higher and to keep our top scholars from becoming bored and wanting to achieve even higher levels.

Well said, AP Fan!

I am an AP fan also. My daughter started Wake with 14 AP credits under her belt. Wake and Duke only accept 4s and 5s and not for all courses. Duke does not accept AP World History with a 5; Wake does. Also at Duke, you do not receive actual credit for the course, but the "privilege" of take the next level higher course. If she had chosen to go to State or UNC on those scholarships, she would have had many more credits transfer as they accept 3s. At Wake she is now a freshman/sophomore because of AP.

Garth, I have to disagree with you about colleges rather seeing an A in Honors vs a B in an AP course. From our experience of filling out MANY college scholarship applications, going to several collge presentations, and from the many scholarship interviews my daughter attended, we found everyone one of these schools: Duke, Wake, UNC and the Parks Scholarship at State asked about AP courses. They all wanted the top achievers to be stretching and reaching, and to be well rounded. On the college applications, you have do fill in a block which asks, "How many AP courses are offered at your school?". The guidance counsel's office also sends in similar data. On the scholarship forms and college applications, you have to list each AP course and Honors course and the grade you made in each course.

I believe that any student should never be forced to take an AP class but they should be encouraged to reach high if they have this potential. I would love to see Guilford County offer more AP classes, but I would also like to see many more students pass the tests. There are many students who do not take advantage of the year end/before AP tests weeks of tutoring that is offered at our schools. These are very helpful.

It would be nice to start at the beginning, in our elementary schools with a REAL AL program that is not watered down and to make sure ALL of our students are excellent readers, decent writers and are adequate in math before moving onto middle school. Sadly, this is not the case.

I do believe we need more emphasis on Math and Reading, more drills and actual learning than trying new programs every year or "playing" games on the computer to learn basics. But I am sad to see us losing the Arts. Our children need Art and Music for many reasons. For some, this is what keeps them interested in schools. For others, it just enhances their learning experience and expands their young minds.

I think that many of the peope that say they dislike AP do out of not knowing the true facts. Many people think its one of Griers schemes but the fact is is that its a College Board administered course. There can be no fooling around with the results so Grier could not manipulate the results or the course itself.

I would also recomend AP courses to parents. If you child is not the brightest then he/she does not need to take many. One or two a year might be called for in their strongest subjects. As the previous posters said dont knock. Take advantage.

I want to make it clear that I don't disapprove of the AP program concept, just the disappointing percentage of students actually receiving college credit for those courses. Back in the day when I was a student I entered college with some AP credit. It really does help if students can do well enough on the tests to get credit.

In a meeting with college admissions officers and several school board members we received some very specific information about their evaluation for admissions based upon AP course grades and exams. Those with 4 on test and A’s do quite well, sadly they are in the minority of our AP students. Currently many are forced into AP situation that truly hurts their prospects for the future in several ways. Admissions officers said they prefer consistent high grades in honors over middle marks on AP. They also said they frequently discount the 5 and 6 grading scale.

True, in North Carolina AP does carry more weight, but even the UNC system discounts it on borderline admissions. Most schools said they reweigh core classes to the 4 point scale on many students.

I am not against AP at all, I am against our current policy of pushing many into this environment with teachers unqualified to teach these courses at this level and inflate grades in AP classes but then these kids do not get better than 2 on exam. Colleges do track this information and in some cases even are aware of specific teachers grading and teaching methodology. One admissions officer said they could tell who the student had for math at a given school by the grade profile of an applicant.

Each university evaluates differently but one thing is clear, better students do perform better in challenging atmosphere and I am all for it! Many Universities, especially NC will allow college credit of some kind for AP courses with 3 or 4 on exam. This is not true nationally and many/most universities only evaluate transcript on the 4 point scale.

I tried to arrange a public symposium with admissions officers for the public to get the same information. I have called several University Dean of Admissions to get an idea of what they looked for in a successful candidate. I was surprised as well at how few clubs and honors societies are even considered in the admissions process.

Again, AP is a great idea, our implementation of it is in need of refinement. When more than ½ cannot obtain a passing score in the national grading it is indicative of a problem with our implementation. Most important thanks for holding me to task! It is fantastic to hear the success stories, many of them I am personally aware of and I am not out to get rid of AP. I would strengthen honors and AP and AL courses throughout the county. The best will always compete nationally, it is the rest that deserve better and even many of our best complain they were ill prepared for the college experience.

I could write much more on the issue and have purposefully redacted much so as not to discourage many, as much of what we heard from admissions officers was very disheartening. I was grateful for their candor and your candor, there are 2 sides to every coin and I left one side unsung in my criticism without realizing that I might send a wrong message.

This is not true nationally and many/most universities only evaluate transcript on the 4 point scale.

Garth,

That is simply not true.

http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp

Why are you anti opportunity for our kids?

Go and solve the problem that we have with kids that cant read. That is worth discussing, that is worthy of your actions!

Garth,

You understand the problem. Pls convince the other Board Members of the wisdom of your thoughts.

I agree with the poster above. Garth would be better off looking into why doesnt the AL program exist in middle school not taking away AP opportunities.

The reason is quite clear too. AP is not a Grier course. Its the College Board's curriculum and test. Our AL middle school curriculum is totally under control of Grier. Thats why it has ceased to exist and even average kids are not getting taught!!!

If kids had more middle school education then more kids would pass the AP exam. The positive thing is that even if they dont pass they get taught to a higher level which again is in contrast to whats happenning in middle school.

Like the other poster too I dispute the "forced" AP idea. If you dont want AP then dont take it.

I attended my child's block high school open house recently. While speaking with my child's 9th grade Honors science teacher, I was told that the kids enter high school knowing basically NO science. This teacher, who is young and originally from the north, stated that he/she had taken biology in 6th grade, chemistry in 7th grade, and physics in 8th grade - albeit basic courses.

Here this teacher was shocked when the kids come to high school only knowing the difference between a tornado and hurricane. He/she felt the only science being taught in middle school was the weather.

And, I agree - well - the weather and erosion.

Garth,

Thank you for expanding and explaining a little better. I agree that the implementation of the AP Program needs refined.

I know students who are quite capable, intellectually to take AP courses, but are too lazy to do the required work or get up early for the tutoring sessions in April/May. On the other hand, I have heard stories where students were kind of "forced" to take AP classes and were simply not qualified. That situation only discouraged these students and hurt their self-esteem. I would like to see the minimum requirement for number of students lowered in some schools. For example, we had heard in the past that this was a complaint by some of the Andrews parents: not enough students to take AP classes, so the class was dropped. In certain cases, you may need to start with a lower number of students at certain schools who can do the work and grow from there.

As one of the above posters mentioned, on the positive side for AP, even if the student does not pass the required test (which happens among even the brightest students), the student has still learned the rigor, time and discipline necessary for AP. It's more of a taste of real college and the many papers they will have to write. As we all know, "CP" is certainly not "college prep" in most cases. I know of high achieving students too (my daughter being one of these) with this strategy: challenge yourself; take as many AP classes as you can handle; if you know you won't do so great in one test and aren't going into that discipline, i.e. Calculus in my daughter's case, don't study for that; bust your butt in studying for English so you can get a 4 on that test and receive your English credits.

For those of you who are anti AP, I look at it this way, Guilford County is spending thousands on students who in many cases will still drop out of school. This is happening nationwide much because of NCLB. Why not put your money into raising the scores of our average students who will always graduate but could reach higher and in driving our top achievers to the max. These are the future leaders in a global economy who will make a difference in our world.

Garth, as far as college requirements, I can share this, each college is a little different - some tell you what they expect some don't.

All of the schools and scholarship pools look at this:

GPA standing (regular and weighted)
SAT scores
Community Service and hours
Student Government and leadership positions
Sports and/or Music
Student having a job to help pay expenses
Number of Honor and AP courses taken
Past educational conferences/seminars attended
Past Awards and Achievements

Each college asks for the regular GPA and the weighted, so they do look at both.

This might help some of you who are starting the process. My best advice have your child start early in 9th grade or prior and keep records of all achievements. In junior/senior year (at least at SWH) they do a resume. It helps to keep all their certificates they received in some kind of order so they can write their resume.

When we were invited to a presentation by UNC for top students, that speaker said UNC really looked at Class Rank even over SATS.

Duke looked at 5 areas weighted equally - they were GPA, SAT scores, community service and two others I can't recall, but they stressed in their talks that each was weighted equally.

Hope this helps.

Garth, thanks for all you do and the many hours you put into this difficult job.

Barbara Ann

Joe,

One more thought I had last night on our students getting into top colleges or "not applying".

There are many of our students who do not only get into one top school, but four or more. I wish we had some statistical breakdown in GC as to the number of colleges and a listing of each college that students are accepted to. I have suggested this to Terry Grier and he liked the idea. But I don't know if it has gone anywhere since then.

For instance, if a student is accepted into Duke, they might also be accepted into Harvard or John Hopkins, but alas they can only choose one school at a time. Many students apply to more just to see if they would get in, but each one as an application fee so it depends on how many of these fees your parents want to dish out. We could have a listing of the number of students in GCS who were accepted into certain colleges.

Joe, now that Harvard wants students to graduate with zero debt and Duke is following that plan, I believe you will see more students applying who previouslycould never have afforded these schools. I believe the number for Harvard is $60,000 or less per family with a sliding scare above that - Duke is similar. Many schools are simply out of reach for some families. At Wake 25% of the students' families make over $225,000 a year. My daughter had to pull teeth to get this stat for a sociology paper she was writing. Many of the top schools student populations are similar.

The number of applications nationwide to Duke were way down this year because of the Lacrosse fiasco. They knew this. When my daughter had her alumni interview last Dec. with a Duke alumni, the question was sheepishly asked at the end of the meeting, if the Lacrosse situation would have any affect on her decision to choose Duke. There are also many schools, like Duke that have certain diversity quotas/goals they strive for. A white, straight male would have a much lesser chance say than a female Native American or a homosexual or pick any other minority, depending on their diversity quotas that particular year.

We have other students here too who choose not to go to Harvard or other top universities up north for various reasons: they don't like cold weather, want to be closer to home, want to remain in NC, etc. There are many reasons a student chooses a particular school, not just academics: locations, sports teams, sports scholarships offered, conservative vs liberal values. It's a tough decision for a student to make if they have many excellent choices. For my daughter, it got down to Wake and Duke.

Duke is an excellent school but when my daughter was invited to attend the scholars weekend, she learned a lot. She decided she didn't really like going to classes with student who wore their pajamas to a $50,000 per year college. In one of her panel interviews, she was asked to comment on something she had very strong convictions on. Being Catholic, she mentioned she was totally against abortion and followed with her reasons. One of the men on the panel looked at her as if she was from another planet. Regardless, if he agreed or not on her stance, it was obvious that my daughter's conservative view were quite different from many in that room.

I hope I haven't offended any Duke fans or alumni here. That was not my intention - just sharing some of our personl observations.

Anonymous,

Thats funny (sad really) what you said about science and the weather. I substitute teach in elementary school and I sure know all my clouds quite well, have learned about tornadoes and hurricanes and now fifth grader learning all this detail about air pressure, humidy and "fronts" - my head was spinning on that lesson. I thought, "Are we teaching them all to be weather reporters?"

Have a cumulus day.