We Love Durham NC

School Photos

I was surprised at the boy’s school last year that they didn’t use Strawbridge. I mean, lots and lots of schools across the region (country?) use Strawbridge for school photos. They’ve been around, in Durham, since 1923. I can’t remember the name of the not-local company they did use, but the photos were horrible. He was grimacing as in pain, and they didn’t bother to crop the viewfinder to avoid the muddy shoes from earlier playgrounding. (Honey, if you read this, know that your mama thinks you are beautiful even when you are grimacing and have muddy shoes.)

Strawbridge took our photos in high school. I still remember walking to Oval Park to stand on the hill for the group photo. It was a good group photo.

I was therefore relieved that they were hired to take the boy’s grade pictures this year, and what a fabulous job they did. We delivered a copy to one of the grands today, and she was very pleased.

Spanish Speakers in School

Every communication we receive from the Boy’s school comes in both English and Spanish. Flyers are printed one side English, the other side Spanish. Brochures only in English are clearly labeled (in Spanish), “There is a Spanish version of this, and you can get it at the office” (or wherever). When we receive phone calls reminding us of school events and schedule changes, the first thing after “Hello, this is your principal” is (in Spanish), “Press 1 for the Spanish version of this message.”

So I was surprised at the PTA meeting that there were no apparent accommodations made for people who did not speak English. The 4 PTA officers who spoke and the principal are all native English speakers, so I was curious how their message was to get to the native Spanish speakers. I mentioned it to a friend who had seen a bunch of people listening to the same brand of headphones. We assume there was a live translation of the presentation being piped through the headsets. Clever! I’ll look more closely next time.

Military Recruiters in Schools

Military recruiters are available in Durham high schools to advise students on careers in the armed services. For example, at Jordan High School, recruiters are available at lunchtime on a regular schedule: Monday and Friday, Marines; Tuesday and Thursday, Navy; Wednesday, Army.

No Child Left Behind legislation requires that schools provide directory information (name, address, phone number) of high school students to military recruiters. If you do not want your child’s information to be released to the military recruiters (or if you are already 18 and do not want your own information released), fill out the military recruiter opt-out form [PDF] and return it to the school office within 20 days of the first day of school. Note that this form must be submitted yearly.

Another opportunity for recruitment is the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). This test, which provides career (not just military career) planning diagnostics, is given in the fall. Department of Defense civilian employees are available to schools to proctor or advise school counseling staff on using the test, and schools choose whether or not to provide recruiters with the results of the ASVAB. While the test does not require a signed parental release before administration, students in Durham must register ahead of time if they wish to take the test.

Durham Public Schools PTAs

School Parent Teacher (Student) Associations are active at the beginning of the year, introducing new officers and leading Back to School Nights.

If your school has a PTA, do join! The cost is $5 per family and the benefits are many. PTAs often fund special items or programs that don’t have a place in the school budget, like special music and art supplies, playground equipment, field day, math and science competitions, and teacher appreciation celebrations. Funds come from other sources throughout the year, like the book fair, car washes, bake sales, and raffles… all volunteer-powered.

More information on mission, goals, etc. is available at the North Carolina PTA website.

Here are some PTAs and PTSAs that have an online presence. Many of the missing schools have strong PTAs that just don’t have a website, and some of the links here show last year’s information, pending update for the 2008-2009 school year.

Elementary School PTAs

Bethesda Elementary School
C.C. Spaulding Elementary School
Club Boulevard Magnet Elementary School
Creekside Elementary School
Easley Year-Round Elementary School
Forest View Elementary School
George Watts Montessori School
Holt Elementary School
Hope Valley Elementary School
Little River Elementary School
Mangum Elementary School
Merrick-Moore Elementary School
Oak Grove Elementary School
Parkwood Elementary School
Pearsontown Elementary School
Southwest Elementary School
W.G. Pearson Elementary School
Y.E. Smith Elementary School

Middle School PTAs
Brogden Middle School
Githens Middle School
Lowe’s Grove Middle School

High School PTSAs

City of Medicine Academy
Clement Early College High School
Hillside High School
Hillside New Tech High School
Jordan High School
Northern High School
Southern High School

Hush

The Boy reports today that the bus driver doesn’t let them talk on the bus when it is raining.

Having driven a bus in Durham* with young passengers and having driven in the rain with squealing kids, I understand completely.

*Ask me if I think it’s a good idea that high school students can no longer drive school buses in North Carolina.

Is Your Child’s Teacher Happy at Work?

Thanks to Steve for the heads-up to results from the 2008 Teacher Working Conditions Survey.

You can see how Durham Public Schools teachers rated their work environments here and how teachers at individual Durham schools rated the same here.

Milk

The Boy reports you can choose strawberry milk (or chocolate or white) with your school lunch. He hasn’t chosen strawberry, but holds the option open for the future.

Ready or Not

Everything’s organized, sorted, and labeled with a Sharpie. Lunch money counted out. Favorite shorts in the dryer now. Clean shoes; breakfast planned down to the vitamins. The Boy’s ready for the first day of school in the morning.

If there are not tears at the bus stop, it’s because I’m biting my inner cheek raw.

Free Tutoring for Durham Students

Although the majority of Durham Schools met the state’s ABCs of Accountability standards for growth last year, several did not meet Federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards. If subgroups of students do not meet AYP standards, the school fails to meet the standards (subgroups include categories of race, income, and special needs). As at least one principal noted, one major challenge for schools with a large number of English as a Second Language students is preparing them well enough in their second language to take the tests. (Currently ESL students have 2 years to learn English before taking the tests.) If you’ve ever seen an example test, you know that a high level of English literacy is required, even for the math problems.

But that’s a reason, not an excuse, and the schools are forging ahead by offering free tutoring services for students in schools who (a) are in a Title I school not making AYP in the same subject for 3+ years and (b) receive free or reduced-price school lunch.

Eligible schools are Bethesda, Forest View, Oak Grove, Burton, Glenn, Parkwood, Club Boulevard, Hillandale, WG Pearson, Eastway, Holt, EK Powe, Eno Valley, Hope Valley, YE Smith, Fayetteville, Merrick-Moore, and George Watts. (Many of these schools are considered to be desirable schools, with strong PTAs and community support, and success on other yardsticks of academic excellence.)

An application is required for the program, and parents can pick their top three choices of the available tutoring services.

Tutoring services participating are:

Academic Achievers by S&L Consultants
Academics Plus, Inc.
Accelerated Achievement at Measurement, Inc.
Achieve Success Tutoring by University Instructors, Inc.
Brainfuse
Bright Futures Learning
Capitol Educational Support
Failure Free Reading
Glosso Educational Services, Inc.
Huntington Learning Centers, Inc.
KnowledgePoints of the Triangle
MasterMind Prep Learning Solutions
NCCU Academic Enrichment Academy
Salient Learning, Inc.
The Enrichment Centers of NCLB, Inc.

Transportation is not provided.

Tutoring Provider Fairs will be held September 9 (at Hillside, 6:30pm) and September 11 (Southern High, 6:30pm). Applications are due September 25th, and placements will be made by October 2nd, with tutoring beginning November 5th.

School Open House

Open House was held this evening for most of the Durham public elementary schools on the traditional schedule.

It was hard to find a parking space, but once inside, we found everything worked smoothly. The assignment letter had the room number on it, so we used that to find the classroom. We met the Boy’s new teacher, and she seems fabulous.

I confirmed that the teachers came back to work this past Monday. They had teacher in-service all day Tuesday, leaving very little time to get classrooms together and organized for Open House. That’s a tight schedule.

I filled out several forms while the Boy did a scavenger hunt to find his cubby, the in-class bathroom, the media center, etc. What a creative way for the kids to learn their way around. There were cookies and stickers.

On the way out, we picked up a t-shirt and Friday folder (homework and other materials go back and forth in the Friday folder).

This morning, he was fussy about starting a new school. As we left the Open House, he said he could hardly wait 4 days for school to start. Now that’s a successful evening.

Durham Public Schools Bus Schedules Online

The bus schedules are online:

Durham Bus Schedules 

Durham Teacher Assignments

Teacher assignments came in the mail today from our school. Check your mailbox!

New Science & Math Students Move In

or, New Science & Math Students Maius Opus Moveo In

Move-in started at 9am this morning at the School of Science and Math (a magnet boarding school for academically talented juniors and seniors from across North Carolina, located in the old Watts Hospital at the corner of Broad and Club).

I was an alumni volunteer, positioned at the Reynolds circle with teachers sporting yellow t-shirts, members of the student orientation committee, current seniors, and current parent volunteers. As soon as a car backed into the circle, new students and their moms and dads and siblings were met with a whoosh of volunteers ready to carry dorm-gear up stairs and elevators. Inside, smiling student greeters handed out packets, water, fruit snacks.

What room is this going to? Is that Reynolds C, D, or E? Okay, grab a hand-truck for the fridge. Let’s go. Hold the elevator! So where are you from? Oh, I know somebody from there. Here it is, what a great room you got. Okay, you’re set, have a great year!

So many things the new students brought! Coordinating bed linens, plastic baskets of toiletries, laptops, mini fridges, DVD collections, posters were common; but also a harp, a guitar and amp, a blender, a papasan chair. With so many more students, I saw many double rooms have been converted to triples, and the single on my old hall is now a double. It’ll be a tight fit for the chair, I think.

I wandered over to Bryan to see other alumni volunteers, but quickly hurried back to Reynolds. Bryan has changed so much, I wasn’t much use. I couldn’t even find my way out of the building from that side of campus! Before I left, I recognized Dr. Boarman driving gear across the lawn to the Bryan/Beall entrance in a golf cart (steel ramps covered the stairs).

I also saw the most charming scene, and regretted leaving my camera in the car. A family was helping their son move in, and the little sister–maybe 3 years old–led the way, carrying a lamp shade, excitement and determination on her face, not realizing her brother was leaving home for good but perhaps one day looking back with inspiration, his experience sparking her own little fire of interest in math and science. It was more touching than I can describe. The whole morning was pretty darn touching.

Happy adventures, juniors! Make the most of it.

State of Durham’s Children 2008 Features Jim Hunt

North Carolina’s Education Governor, Jim Hunt, will deliver the keynote at the State of Durham’s Children event on the morning of September 23rd.

Click here to download the State of Durham’s Children 2008 flyer (PDF). 

Harris Teeter School Donation Program

If you shop at Harris Teeter, don’t forget to re-link your VIC card to the Together in Education donation program for the new year starting August 1st.