Principal's Corner
Volume IV - November 5, 2017
Congratulations to the October Teacher of the Month - Mr. Ken Brown!!
Notes from the RHS Administrative Team
- To celebrate a short week, and all of the GREAT work going on in classrooms, you may dress casually all week. Enjoy!
- The re-imaging of computers has been a challenge for all of us. Mrs. Wolfe will be holding planning period meetings in room 107 on Tuesday to get the copiers set back up on your Tier 1 laptops.
Tuesday -
Planning period meetings in 107; Board of Education Meeting - 6:30pm - Blue Creek Elem. (Recognizing music/arts students)
Wednesday - Department Chair Meeting - Hut 4 - 2:30pm
Thursday - ERPD; ACT prep students take practice ACT
Friday - NO SCHOOL - Varsity Football playoff game - @ West Craven - 7:30pm
RELAY FOR LIFE - Mrs. Tucker
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing on behalf of our Relay for Life team- Wildcat Warriors.
We will be holding a silent auction to raise donations for Relay for Life.
Please consider this service project for your club. We are looking for donations of gift baskets or items.
The silent auction will take place during concerts and the musical. The last day will be on Sunday, March 25th.
Since this is right before Easter (April 1) we would love to see donations of gift baskets with a theme that could be gifted for Easter or even Mother's Day.
Any items or baskets are greatly appreciated! If you collect themed items- I would be glad to arrange and wrap them into a basket.
Ideally, we would like the donated items by December 1 to display at the Winter Concerts, but anything will be accepted before the Musical. Thank you so much!!
Here is a list of possible basket themes:
Star Wars
Super Heroes
Spa Day
Movie Night
Disney Princesses (or Anything Disney)
Ninja Turtles
Paw Patrol
Toddler Basket- Boy or girl
New Baby Basket
Wedding Day Gift Basket
Culinary - for the Chef
Grill Master Gift
Make-up
Lularoe - Leggings- all one size or TC
Patriotic- Red White Blue- or any color scheme really
Candy Basket
Gardener
Books for The reader
Coffee- a-holic
Gift cards for anything
Chocoholic
Cars/Motorcycles/Things that go
Sticker
Stuffed Animals
Art Supplies
Kids Crafting
Technology Basket - earbuds
Hairbows
Sports- general or pick a specific one
Gift for the Hunter
Nature-Lovers
Bird- Lovers
etc.
Sincerely,
Cyndi
DLT News - Mr. Simpson
- Due to security measures, only local Techs (Leigh) will be able to install software on computers going forward. This includes teacher specific software that is not already located in Microsoft System Center (aka Software Center). I'll be sending out some screenshots of how to get into it later today.
- At some point in the near future, USB ports will be disabled for thumb-drive use. So if you need access to your files, please upload them to OneDrive.
- Teacher specific software will have to have proper licensing going forward if it is to be installed on OCS computers.
- OCS computer and network security is the main focus for IT until the virus problem is fixed. That initiative supersedes all other tech requests.
Graduation Project - Mrs. Williams
Graduation Project Presentations will be held on December 5th and December 7th. Registration starts at 5:00 with a small meal. Presentations will start at 6:00. Please use the link to sign up for one of the days or both.
United Way Update - Mr. Fuller
We only have two and a half weeks left in the United Way Campaign. Currently less than 60% of our staff have given. Please give so we can make 100%. See Jeff Fuller for any questions.
IT Update - Mrs. Wolfe
Now that everyone has their Tier I back I need for you to PLEASE fill out an IT Request form so I can finish configuring the printer and copiers. The sooner you fill these out the sooner I can get your printing issues resolved. In order for this to be completed I will need you there to login.
FFA News - Mrs. Ford
AVID News - Mrs. Salas
10th grade AVID Students have or are completing their Mock TEDtalks. Thanks to Ms. Dransoff we've utilized the stage for performance.
9th grade AVID students are putting together community service projects. They'll propose them to the SITE team in November.
EC Department News - Ms. Lanier
Several of you have asked our teacher assistants to test your students that have accommodations. I understand that there are periods that very few on your hall have planning, but unfortunately our teacher assistants can no longer test your students when they are in scheduled classes. Our TA's are required by law to remain in the room with us as we must have two adults in the room at all times with our EC students. Please coordinate with teachers around you to set up testing days or use power-hour to provide accommodations to students. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
STEM News - Mrs. Hackett
Athletic Department News
- Varsity football first round state playoffs, at west craven Friday night at 7:30
- Winter gate duty sign ups was circulated at the faculty meeting. Let coach Kelly know if you didn't see it and need to sign up.
- Thanks for everyone's support with the golf team's tourney on Saturday! It was definitely a success!
Sign up below for the Un-Thanksgiving Potluck
November 16 is National Parent Involvement Day
Shout-out to Mrs. Justine Smith - Leading Odyssey of the Mind Training for Onslow County
School Data - 2017 SAT Performance
From Onslow County Schools
November 3, 2017
Many of you have concerns over the news that was generated from the School Board meeting with Onslow County Commissioners Wednesday morning regarding the impacts of upcoming legislative class size restrictions.
While some of the information reported about the meeting is factual, the reports also provided some inaccurate and misleading information. What is most disturbing is misleading/distorted headlines cause harm and unnecessary fear.
It is very important to Onslow County Schools that our internal and external stakeholders are educated and have accurate information. We rely on our employees to represent OCS factually when they speak to our parents and community members.
The purpose of the special Board meeting was to begin a dialog with County Commissioners about how class size changes coming in 2018-19 could impact staffing and facilities. Our partnership with Commissioners and the Joint Education Funding Policy has been valuable. To maintain that relationship, it is crucial we keep them informed and include them in the conversation.
The controversy began last year when the General Assembly inserted a clause into the budget mandating greatly reduced K-3 class sizes starting in the 2017-18 school year. They dropped maximum individual K-3 classroom sizes from 24 students to between 19 and 21 students, depending on grade level. There were no provisions in the budget for the additional funding school districts would need for additional classrooms or teachers.
Here is where there is much confusion concerning House Bill 13. HB13 is not the instrument mandating class size restrictions, the mandate came through the budget in GS 115C-301 (C), as previously mentioned.
Following GS 115C-301 (C), certain legislators saw that the mandate had unintended consequences. School districts could not quickly adjust to the change and it threatened funding for art, music and physical education teachers, and those without certification to teach K-3 classes were at risk of losing their jobs. As a result, HB13 was introduced as a compromise. School systems across the state wholly supported HB13, which would reduce K-3 class sizes to as little as 22 students. The House unanimously approved the bill last February, but it stalled in the Senate.
After more than two months delay, the N.C. Senate approved a revised version of HB13 in late April. The revised version gave school districts one year of flexibility in determining class sizes. It also gave districts flexibility to use allotted teacher positions in grades 4-12, which meant upper grade teachers could be moved to earlier grades and schools could increase upper grade level class sizes.
The relief that HB13 provided expires June of 2018. All LEA’s will be required to adhere to the lowest class size maximums in K-3 history. This is not a problem isolated to Onslow County Schools, but is a problem impacting school systems across the state.
Without the class size restrictions our schools are already at or over capacity and there is a need for additional classrooms. We have historical data that clearly indicates a 300 student per year increase. Projections, which have been very accurate to date, support this amount of growth will continue. Mobile units were intended to be a temporary solution.
The flexibility HB13 provided this year still impacted elementary schools. During the Special Board Meeting Oct. 30th, staff recommended the Board approve a waiver recently established by NC Superintendent Mark Johnson — “Waiver Form B: Enhancement Curricular Area Class Size Waiver Request — which would provide some flexibility the remainder of this school year. By unanimous vote the Board approved the application, which requests class size waivers for classes of K-3 students taught by program enhancement teachers in the areas of arts discipline, including dance, music, theater, and the visual arts; physical education and health programs; or world languages for the remainder of the school year.
Everyone in our community needs to understand the constraints we will be under next year if state legislators do not provide any kind of waivers, flexibility, or funding to cover the costs of lowering class sizes. Onslow County Schools will need community involvement and support as we move forward to plan for what is to come. State legislators are not back in session until March 2018. We will have already begun work on the 2018-19 budget. We need everyone to talk to our state legislators and we need to educate our families and community about these crucial issues.
Just as importantly, please know and convey that each and every Board member and County Commissioner is committed to the arts and physical education. Eliminating any enhancement programs would be the very, very last resort. They do not want any opportunities taken away from our students. They are against moving art and music on a cart, because they believe these teachers should have your own classrooms to do their best work.
Both boards agreed to draft resolutions to legislators requesting class sizes be kept at the levels established by HB13 and that there be separate allotments for enhancement teachers. They also agree there needs to be conversations with local legislators and with legislators in Raleigh.
We hope this information motivates you to reach out to your legislators to express your concerns. No one is opposed to smaller class sizes, but the reality of the situation is we do not have enough classrooms and staff. We also hope having this factual information helps you feel more comfortable explaining a very complex issue to parents and people in your community.
Sincerely,
Brent Anderson
Onslow County Schools
Director of Community Affairs
(910) 455-2211 x20228
brent.anderson@onslow.k12.nc.us
Suzie Ulbrich
Onslow County Schools
Public Information Officer
910 455-2211 ext. 20302
Need some $$$$$?
Jeep Giveaway - OCS District Fundraiser
- National Dodge has donated a jeep to OCS!
- Please see the flyer for details.
- All schools have been issued tickets to sell.
- Tickets are $20.00, and the school keeps ALL funds from ticket sales.
- We will sell tickets at EVERY school event, sporting events, etc.
- I will meet with staff members that host events to work out the plan.
- Our goal is to sell 1200 tickets.
Teacher of the Month
Teachers, please announce this to your students, and post the link in your classroom.