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1/7/2010

I hope everyone enjoyed the short break and had the opportunity to reflect on our first semester in preparation for the remainder of the academic year. First semester End of Course (EOC) exams are here once again for high school students. Hopefully, this portion of our annual accountability model can occur without delays due to inclement weather. Thank you to each student, teacher, administrator and support personnel for your efforts to adequately prepare for this very important process. I feel confident we are going to see extraordinary gains in all academic areas this semester.

School cancellations, delays and calendar changes are often required due to weather conditions and unsafe travel throughout the county. These decisions are some of the most difficult decisions a superintendent is charged with making. In addition to 52 buses, we have more than 400 young student drivers in Macon County traveling our rural highways. Preserving the safety of our staff and students is the ultimate rationale behind each of these decisions. When conditions are uncertain, a two-hour delay is typically expedited in a timely manner in order to make informed decisions about conducting school or closing for the day.

In the event inclement weather occurs and school is delayed or cancelled, a ConnectEd recording will be deployed prior to 6:00 AM. In addition, local and regional TV and radio stations are contacted for the announcement.

With us now entering the most severe winter months, I anticipate more days will very likely be missed between now and April 1 due to inclement weather. For information pertaining to our school calendar restrictions, I encourage you to visit the following website: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/accounting/calendar/.

I welcome your feedback.

Posted at 5:02 PM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/5/2009

Macon County Board of Education District 1 Vacancy to be Filled

Since the recent resignation of a member of our Board of Education, questions have emerged from various stakeholders regarding the process for selecting a replacement to assume this vacant seat. In accordance with North Carolina General Statute 115C-37(f), “All vacancies in the membership of the boards of education whose members are elected pursuant to the provision of subsection (a) of this section by death, resignation, or other causes shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the board, of a person to serve until the next election of members of such board, at which time the remaining unexpired term of the office in which the vacancy occurs shall be filled by election.”

Therefore, on Monday, November 9, 2009, the remaining members of the Macon County Board of Education will hold a special called meeting to select an individual to fill the vacancy in District 1. The individual selected by the Board will serve until the next election in 2010. Following the outcome of the election, the individual who wins District 1 will remain in office for a period of two years-the remaining duration of the District 1 term through 2012.

Posted at 5:42 PM by Dan Brigman | Category: General Postings | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/23/2009

North Carolina Graduation Summit

On Thursday of this week, I had the pleasure of joining more than 450 statewide participants for the North Carolina Graduation Summit held at the McKimmon Center, NC State University. In partnership with Communities In Schools of NC, the NC Department of Education and America’s Promise, members issued a “Call to Arms” during this Summit to ensure students in North Carolina’s public schools graduate. Supported by America’s Promise and corporate sponsors AT&T, GlaxoSmithKline, State Farm Insurance, and Wal-Mart, the goal of the NC Graduation Summit was to generate solutions to address the dropout crisis and improve the graduation rate in our state. This week’s Summit is one of 100 such events nationwide in which local leaders develop practical solutions to prepare our youth for success in college, work and life – starting with a high school diploma.

The Summit brought together representatives from each county in North Carolina. After hearing from encouraging speakers such as Ms. Cynthia Marshall, President of AT&T NC, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton, State Superintendent Dr. June Atkinson and Communities In Schools founder Mr. Bill Milliken, attendees were charged with participating in Community Action Workgroups focused on establishing action plans for improving graduation rates in their county/region. In addition, participants were given the opportunity to visit 50 information stations highlighting programs, initiatives and organizations from NC that provide replicable, proven, research-based strategies and solutions. Station representatives included Action for Children NC, All Kinds of Minds, the NC New Schools Project and the NC Center for Afterschool Programs.

Keynote speakers Bill Milliken and Shelley Stewart provided very powerful and moving addresses at the Summit. During Milliken’s speech, he highlighted five recommendations (5 Ps) for educators and adults to offer ALL children:

1. Passion – working with children/students is a calling and we must be here for the kids.

2. Perspective – we can not effectively address and solve the issues regarding our current graduation barriers unless we have a concept of the history –how did we get into this situation and how can we change it?

3. Performance – If you create the “community” focused on supporting our youth, results will come.

4. Persistence – Love is not a one-time thing. Work together and establish a rewards system for working together. Milliken also stated that it takes up to four years to see results.

5. Perseverance – Adults and students must adopt the “I don’t quit!” mentality.

Milliken and Stewart also shared their personal experiences and the importance a relationship with one caring adult had in their life while attending school. Each commented about how we often seek solutions to keeping students engaged in their school experience by purchasing a new program, adopting a new policy or redefining partnerships. According to Milliken and Stewart, the most important thing we can do as educators is to ensure every child has the opportunity to build a personal, caring relationship with at least one adult at some point during their journey through school, preferable prior to 6^th grade. In addition, Stewart emphasized his ability to read in elementary school as his “armor” and key to his success.

Our state and school district have made steady gains in the graduation rate since 2006; however, we still have a lot of work to do in many areas, particularly engaging community leaders and other stakeholders in the educational process. Locally, we are continuing these discussions and strenthening processes to keep students engaged in their K-12 experience We can no longer sort and select who we serve and accept the common occurance of students walking out of our schools without providing non-traditional opportunities for students to successfully attain their high school diploma. Macon Early College, Union Academy, Credit Recovery and the 21 Track Diploma are just a few of many strategies we have deployed in our county to ensure all students can access other opportunities for successfully graduating from school. We are very proud of our strong partnerships with Southwestern Community College, NC Virtual Public Schools, and NC Learn & Earn. Through these and other partnerships, we will continue to work together as a caring, passionate community to create new opportunities for students to be successful and remain on track for attaining their high school diploma.

Posted at 11:12 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/14/2009

Nantahala School Celebrates 100% Graduation Rate

One of our district goals is to ensure every student entering our school system graduates from high school within four years with a sound, basic education. Mr. Chris Baldwin, Principal of Nantahala School and I had the privilege of traveling to Raleigh this past Monday, October 12 to be recognized for having a school in our system with one of the highest rates of high school graduation in North Carolina. Nantahala School celebrates their second consecutive year of having a 100% graduation rate. Nantahala is one of only seven schools in the state to attain this recognition. North Carolina has a statewide graduation rate of 71.7 percent for 2008-09. In Macon County, our graduation rate as a district has remained slightly higher than the state average with a 77 percent rate for 2008-09. Although we exceed the state average, we still have work to do in our county to successfully meet our annual benchmark as we approach our goal of 100 percent. Improvement in this and all other areas of accountability will take a strong commitment from students, teachers, parents and the community to make education a top priority, including a stronger focus on student attendance in all grades K-12. I feel very confident our school district will join the list of “top ten” school districts for graduation rates this year as we strive to keep students engaged in public education. Congratulations to the students, faculty, staff, administration and community of Nantahala School for the strong commitment to educating every child and for once again acquiring a 100 percent graduation rate!

Posted at 9:00 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/23/2009

H1N1 & Seasonal Flu

Although we do not have any confirmed cases of H1N1 in our school system at this time, we have experienced an increase in school absences among our student body. This increase appears to be due to influenza-like illnesses. State and county school and public health officials are working together to monitor the current situation in our community. We have increased surveillance of school absenteeism and school nurses are involved in weekly influenza meetings with local public health leaders.

Public health officials want to remind everyone what you should do if you or your child develops symptoms of influenza (fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting). Most cases of influenza are mild to moderate illnesses that do not require visits to the doctor and can be effectively treated at home with plenty of rest and fluids.

According to Jim Bruckner, Macon County Health Director, there are some situations where a call or visit to the doctor may be needed. Parents need to call their child’s doctor if the child develops an influenza-like illness and he or she:

· is under 5 years of age,

· has asthma,

· has cancer,

· has diabetes,

· has heart disease, or

· has cerebral palsy or other neurological condition.

Parents of children with influenza-like illnesses should also watch their children for these emergency warning signs and call their doctor immediately if any occur:

· fast breathing or trouble breathing

· bluish skin color,

· not drinking enough fluids,

· not waking up or interacting,

· being so irritable that the child does not want to be held,

· flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough, or

· fever with a rash.

You should call your doctor for advice if you are an adult with influenza-like illness or who lives in a house with someone with influenza-like illness and you:

· are pregnant,

· are over the age of 65,

· have heart disease,

· have asthma,

· have emphysema,

· have diabetes, or

· have other chronic disease.

For more information, please call your health care provider or the Macon County Public Health Center at 349-2081. You may also visit www.maconnc.org or www.flu.nc.gov.

Posted at 9:00 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/4/2009

QZAB & QSCB?

September 4, 2009

In any school system, building improvements and other capital priorities seldom end due to growth in the student population, extreme wear and tear as a result of hundreds of individuals occupying each space year after year, and the limited life expectancy of mechanical systems. For many years Macon County has made school capital projects a priority to ensure our students and staff have access to safe, efficient facilities. Thankfully, as a result of many visionary leaders here in Macon County, our students, staff, and communities have access to South Macon Elementary School, the newer Cartoogechaye Elementary School and recently completed renovations and additions at East Franklin Elementary School. Next summer, Mountain View Intermediate will welcome students, faculty and staff to a new, attractive learning environment. Federal and state governments recognize the importance of ongoing building improvements and the impact dated, less efficient buildings have on student health and learning. To assist school districts with addressing facility priorities, two interest-free lending programs are available to county governments—Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) and Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCB). QZAB is available for internal renovations of existing structures while the new QSCB program has been developed to support new school construction as well as renovations to exisiting buildings.

There has been some chatter in the community regarding the placement of more portable classrooms on the Cowee Campus. Additional portable units have been relocated from East Franklin to the Cowee campus in preparation for the fifth grade transition to Mountain View Intermediate next summer and temporarily accommodating students and staff from Iotla School to Cowee Elementary School. Rather than paying a moving company to relocate portable units two times during the school year, we have attempted to plan ahead and save approximately $20,000 in moving expenses with placing portable units at Cowee at this time. This temporary accommodation will allow construction of the new North Macon Elementary School to begin as soon as funding for the new school is secured by our county. Once the new Iotla/Cowee School is completed on the current Iotla site, the goal of our Board of Education and County Commissioners is to turn over the historic Cowee School to the Cowee Community for future community use. Efforts are now underway to beautify the portable units at Cowee and make other cosmetic improvements during the interim. We greatly appreciate the patience and support of members in the Cowee and Iotla Communities as we strive to improve all schools throughout the district. Please feel free to provide feedback.

Posted at 4:01 PM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/6/2009

Preparations for 2009-10

August 6, 2009

Since the departure of students last June, members of our professional staff have been working diligently to prepare for the new academic year. Teams comprised of teachers and administrators from each school devoted many hours towards curriculum planning with tremendous outcomes aimed to improve student learning and boost school improvement efforts. After receiving training on de-constructing the standard course of study, we had 26 middle and high school teachers and 31 teachers from the elementary level working collaboratively for three days. There were several outcomes including the identification of essential standards to be taught in each grade and core subject area. In grades K-5, teachers identified the essential standards to support English/Language Arts (ELA). K-2 teachers also completed literacy assessment schedules and revised the K-2 literacy assessment card to match the K-2 assessment revisions. In grades 6-8, teachers completed the same for Mathematics and English. In grades 9-12, the same was done in Social Studies (Civics and U.S. History), Science (Biology, Earth Science, and Physical Science), English 9, and Mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II).

In addition to identifying the essentials needed for students to be successful at each grade level, teachers developed student-friendly “I-can” statements to be displayed in all classrooms each day, directly connecting the activities to learning targets. Teachers also developed predictive assessments for all of the above mentioned subject areas. Predictive assessments will serve as our leading indicator to measure student learning from day one rather than waiting on the state-mandated assessment to occur at the end of the semester or end of the year.

A tremendous “thank you” goes out to Mrs. Nancy Cantrell, Director of Secondary Education, Mrs. Carol Waldroop, Director of Federal Programs, Mrs. Paula Ledford, Director of Exceptional Children, our school principals, and each of our tremendous employees who have taken time out of their summer break to focus intense efforts on improving instructional processes and student learning throughout our district.

As we welcome a new academic year, capital improvements continue throughout the county including construction of a new soccer field, interior renovations, and other improvements at Highlands School. Completion of Mountain View Intermediate to accommodate all fifth and sixth grade students in the Franklin area is fast approaching as contractors paint interior walls, install communication and fire systems, and tile floors. Occupancy of the facility will occur next summer. Staff and students at East Franklin Elementary School will begin the new academic year in celebration of a new building including three kindergarten classrooms, access to a regulation size gymnasium, and major interior renovations to existing spaces. At Cowee Elementary School, additional portable units have been relocated to the campus in preparation for the fifth grade transition to Mountain View Intermediate next summer and movement of Iotla School to Cowee Elementary School. This temporary accommodation will allow construction of the new North Macon Elementary School to begin once funding is obtained by our county. Once the new Iotla/Cowee School is completed on the current Iotla site, the goal of our Board of Education and County Commissioners is to turn over the historic Cowee School to the Cowee Community for future community use. Our sincere appreciation goes out to the tax payers of Macon County and our County Commissioners for their support as we strive to improve the conditions of our schools throughout the district.

As superintendent of the Macon County School System, I look forward to the upcoming academic year and continued progress toward the established academic goals. This will clearly be a year of celebrating the past as we prepare for the future. Best wishes to each student, staff member, administrator, parent/guardian and community members as we welcome the new academic year!

Posted at 7:45 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/9/2009

Accountability 2008-09

July 9, 2009

Another academic year has quickly passed by and our district now awaits confirmation of our performance results from state and federal agencies. “No Child Left Behind” is a federal act designed to ensure that 100% of all students are on grade level by the 2013-14 school year. NCLB measures student performance in reading and math on End of Grade tests (grades 3-8) in each of ten subgroups: all students, American Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Multi-racial, White, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and students with disabilities. At the secondary level (9-12), students participate in 10 End of Course (EOC) exams. In order for a subgroup to be counted in the school or district goals, there must be at least 40 students enrolled in the tested grades. Overall attendance percentages are also reported. To successfully make AYP, the district and each school must meet 100% of all targets in all academics, for each subgroup tested. Preliminary reviews reveal some improvements in most academic areas throughout grades 3-12, including continued improvement with the dropout rate in Macon County. This month, the state will be releasing each school and district’s AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) information.

Under our current state accountability model (NC ABCs), the percent of students on grade level and the amount of growth gained from one year to the next are used as indicators to determine if schools and the district meet or exceed expected growth. One major change to the state model this year is the retesting of students in grades 3-8 who did not successfully make a level III or IV on the mathematics or reading EOG. Retests will be included in the accountability model. Although early indications have Macon County attaining “high growth” status as a district, federal results indicate 8 out of 12 schools made AYP, or 66.7%. Test results are forthcoming and we predict multiple areas of celebration and the need for addressing areas of opportunity as we plan for the new academic year ahead. Parents and community members are encouraged to inquire about school and district performance results, particularly as we respond to dual accountability models. Specific information regarding state and federal (No Child Left Behind) testing requirements can be located at http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/sai/edlite-slide004.html. State and district test results (NC ABCs) may be located at http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/.

Posted at 4:23 PM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/3/2009

District Improvement Efforts

April 3, 2009

During the spring of 2008, I traveled with a team of building and district level administrators from our school system to the central part of our state to review an effective school improvement model. During this visit to the Iredell-Statesville School System, we spent the day visiting three schools, talking to students, and meeting with teams of teachers and administrators to gain insight of the processes they have implemented to improve student, school, and district performance. One process the visiting team repeatedly observed and heard about the positive impact in each school was the use of a professional educator to directly assist teams and teachers with planning daily objectives directly aligned with the state curriculum. Student performance data was constantly in the forefront of planning, supported by benchmark assessments targeting essential standards to be tested on the North Carolina End of Grade and End of Course exams. Immediately following this visit, the team returned to Macon County to report our findings. District leadership quickly reached a consensus regarding the impact a similar process would have in each school throughout our district to facilitate the following five questions:

1. What do students need to know?

2. How will they learn it?

3. How will we know they’ve learned it?

4. What will we do if they don’t learn it?

5. What will we do if they already know it?

Instructional Facilitators will teach professional teams how to do this. With the support of our Board of Education, this targeted support was placed in our 2008-09 Strategic Plan as an objective to improving student performance and ensuring highly qualified staff. However, the budget outcome we experienced last year required these eight positions to be put on hold. We have now completed our second round of Strategic Planning for 2009-10 with Instructional Facilitators identified once again as a key objective to assist our school system’s teachers and implement our Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) model. In attempt to capitalize on the federal stimulus dollars and address this objective in our district Strategic Plan, funding for these efforts and integration of Instructional Facilitators will initially come from the recent allocation of federal stimulus dollars targeting job stabilization within school districts. We will sustain these positions beyond the second year through targeted state and local funding. Our anticipated outcome from these efforts is improved student achievement. Training will begin for our Instructional Facilitators, Board of Education, and Leadership Team this coming summer. The Macon County School System must submit our plan to the state for expending these federal dollars by May 2009.

Let me know what you think.

Posted at 9:15 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/2/2009

New School Name

April 2, 2009

Construction of the new 5-6 school in Franklin continues. Our Board of Education chose to revisit the name of this facility and solicit suggestions from stakeholders through the survey process. During the month of February, feedback was collected though an electronic survey with the name "Mountain View School" emerging as the top vote getter. The outcome from the survey was provided to the 5-6 Planning Committee for their review and recommendation to our Board of Education. The committee submitted "Mountain View Intermediate" as their preference. The current choices under consideration for our new 5-6 school are:

Mountain View School
Mountain View Intermediate

Our Board of Education will review all public input regarding these two final choices for confirmation during the April 27, 2009 Board meeting.

Give us your feedback.

Posted at 9:20 AM by Dan Brigman | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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