Knightdale High graduates 390

aspecht@newsobserver.com

RALEIGH - The ceremony: 6 p.m. Friday, Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh.
Accolades: More than 390 seniors graduated from Knightdale High School. In total, the class of 2012 won more than $5.8 million in scholarships – that’s about $685,000 more than the class of 2011 which included 378 students.

Notables: According to Bryan Sumner, President of the class of 2012, this year’s class included 106 honor graduates. Of those, 16 were recognized as “Outstanding Seniors,” who, according to their teachers, demonstrated leadership, integrity, and academic excellence.

They are Sara Awad, Bernard Bellamy, Sierra Coulter, Jessica Crandell, Julian Gilyard, Bright Gyamfi, Khaled Jaouhari, Alexandra Minori, Khalid Powell, Zoe Schaper, Mia Sims, Ajee Smith, Bryan Sumner, Emily Venable, and Megan Woodlief.

Fun fact: Like the graduating class before them, these seniors will go down as champions thanks to their Track and Field team which won the 4A State Championship.

Special speaker: Jonathan Wall, a 2008 alumnus, graduated this spring from Morehouse College in Atlanta. While there, he helped open a charter school and won countless recognitions for leadership and charity.

In addressing the class of 2012, Wall noted his hometown community’s sense of pride.

“Think about it, we’re the only high school that represents a whole town,” he said.

Wall congratulated the seniors on their success and advised them – don’t stop now.

“Don’t let this be the last time your friends and family come together to celebrate the work you’ve done.”

Other quotables: Patricia Mathes, the student body president, welcomed parents, teachers, and other guests to the graduation. In offering wisdom to her fellow classmates, Mathes invoked former N.C. State University woman’s basketball coach Kay Yow.

“When life kicks you, let it kick you forward,” Mathes said.

Kristen Maiden, the school’s valedictorian, and Rami Awad, the school’s salutatorian, thanked teachers and principals on behalf of their classmates.

“Because of you ... 2012 will not be marked as the end of the world but as a year of greatness,” Awad said.

Memories: Sumner, the Class of 2012 president, reflected on how he and his peers have matured.

“Remember the days when boys and girls had cooties,” Sumner said.

My, how they’ve grown, he sighed.

“It seems like just yesterday that juice and cartoons were all we needed to make us happy,” he said.

“Now we’re worried about things like class, scholarships and trying our best to get the senior prank right.”

Sumner did not reveal the senior prank.

Perhaps it’s for the best. Now, the prank can go down as one of the last things this class shared together, with no one else.

Specht: 919-829-4826

School officials, advocates dispute ’choice’ data 11 PERCENT OF EASTERN WAKE PARTICIPATED IN NEW STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN

BY PAUL A. SPECHT, ASPECHT@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
Data released last week on eastern Wake County’s participation in the school district’s new student “choice” assignment plan left school officials pleased and local advocates calling for more resources.
Wake County Schools adopted a new student assignment plan this year which allows students to rank their preferred schools for the upcoming school year. Previously, a school’s socioeconomics – rather than student’s preference – played a heavier role in student assignment. School officials hope the process improves parents’ satisfaction.

The Eastern Wake News analyzed data released by Wake County Schools on May 29. Here are some highlights:

• About 11 percent of the student population in Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon participated in the first two rounds of the school choice process (about 990 of 9,070 students)

• Approximately 67 percent of the students from eastern Wake who participated in the choice plan picked schools outside of the region as their top choice (670 students listed a non-regional school as their top choice, while 319 students listed a local school as their top choice).

• Of those who listed a non-regional school as their top choice, approximately 35 percent (239 of 670 students) were granted their request by Wake County.

Brad McMillen, of Wake Schools’ student assignment task force, says the numbers indicate the choice system is working in eastern Wake County.

“In the end, only about 7 percent of our student population will have participated in the choice plan countywide,” McMillen said, noting that assignment is ongoing. “I think the results show that most people, in east Wake and elsewhere, are happy where they are ... and those who aren’t were able to pick a school they wanted.”

Local education advocates aren’t so sure.

For one, the choice assignment plan is still new, so it’s unclear how it will affect eastern Wake over time, advocates pointed out.

Also, according to Toshiba Rice, who runs a Triangle-wide academic support organization, the results can’t be taken at face value because many parents in eastern Wake did not know how to participate in the school selection process.

“I talk to parents everyday. Many of them told me that they didn’t know how to get their kid into the right school because the online process is complicated,” said Rice, who held a rally in May to boost support for local schools.

School officials held student assignment information sessions earlier this year at East Wake High and Knightdale High, but few parents attended. Rice says officials need to do more to educate parents about the choice process.

Attracted to magnets

A third of students who participated in the choice plan listed a magnet school outside the region as their top choice.

Shannon Hardy, a leader of Knightdale 100, which advocates for better Knightdale schools, said the exodus from Knightdale to magnets has always existed because local schools don’t have the same level of classes.

“From what I hear from parents, it’s not about the teachers or anything else. The teachers are great,” Hardy said. “It’s the curriculum. Parents want more challenging courses that are only offered at outside magnet schools.”

There are no magnet schools in Knightdale, Hardy noted.

Middle and high schools were impacted most. More than 110 students listed a magnet high school as their top choice. About 200 students chose a non-regional magnet middle school as their top choice.

Calendar conflict

East Wake Middle was chosen the least – a fact that’s not necessarily indicative of its growth. Principal Nancy Allen says enrollment is up for next year. The school is two years away from reaching capacity for a year-round school.

Hardy says the year-round calendar is part of the problem.

Two of the four feeder elementary schools for East Wake Middle are on traditional schools. The other two are on year-round schedules similar to East Wake. But Hardy says there are more parents who want their children attending a middle school with a traditional schedule.

“Parents here desperately want to support local schools, but they’d rather send their kid to Wendell (Middle) than East Wake (Middle) because it’s on a traditional schedule,” Hardy said.

Help needed

Schools in eastern Wake need more attention regardless of the assignment plan in place, Hardy and Rice say. Namely: more AP courses in high schools and foreign language education for more elementary schools, Hardy sid.

But the need for improvement will grow more desperate if the students who are opting out of local schools turn out to be high achievers.

“Our schools need help as it is,” Rice said. “If kids with high test scores start to leave, others will follow.

“What we need is a makeover. Parents need to be more involved, but more than anything, the district needs to give us more attention.”

Specht: 919-829-4826

BOOSTER for Knightdale High School!

Mark your calendars for the 2nd Annual Planter's Walk Golf Tournament on April 20th, 2012.  This year we have partnered with Custom Home Exteriors and James Hardie to help us raise money for the Knightdale High School Athletic Boosters.  The school has earmarked the proceeds from this year's tournament to help purchase some grounds equipment, as well as provide some college scholarships. Even if you don’t have any direct affiliation with KHS, everyone understands the benefit helping a would-be college student get a little help with tuition. The cost of attending college has outpaced inflation in recent years, and it would be a shame to deny a student the opportunity to pursue their educational and career goals because of a lack of financial means.

From now until March 31st, we are running some early registration specials. Register your 4-player team in March and pay only $70 per player – that’s $5 off the regular individual registration cost, or $20 total for the team. If you register two teams at the same time (8 players total), take advantage of an even bigger offer – get 8 golfers for the price of 7. That’s right, pay for 7 players at the regular price of $75 ($525), and get the 8th for free. That’s a savings of $75!

We are also adding a hole-in-one contest this year. Be sure to register to play so that you can take a chance of winning a prize valued at a minimum of $10,000!!

Even if you're not a golfer, there are opportunities for you to help this event raise money for KHS.  In our very first year we raised over $3,200 dollars for them, and we would like to blow past that mark this year.  The most important thing you can do is help us spread the word.  Even if you don't golf, pass this info along to people who you know that might - people at work, friends, etc.  The tournament is open to everyone – not just Planter’s Walk residents. Also let us know if the company you work for might be interested in a sponsorship. Although we understand it can sometimes be uncomfortable asking for money, keep in mind that it is for a good cause AND the sponsor gets something for their money – advertising and exposure. We have sponsorship opportunities at all levels and can put together a package to meet your needs no matter how large or small.  You can also help us by hanging flyers at your business or asking area business that you frequent to hang one.  See contact info below for more info on registering, volunteering, or sponsorship opportunities.

To get more info, please visit our website at http://www.planterswalkgolf.org/

Achievement is up in Knightdale schools, but so are transfers

EDUCATION IN KNIGHTDALE IMPROVING, EXPERT SAYS IN “STATE OF THE SCHOOLS” 
BY PAUL A. SPECHT,ASPECHT@NEWSOBSERVER.COM

Knightdale schools – long identified as underachieving and perpetually faced with high poverty – have shown measurable improvement over the last few years.End-Of-Course test results, graduation rates, and SAT participation rates rose in the last three years according to data presented last week by education expert Tim Simmons of Raleigh-based WakeEd Partnership.
“Clearly, your schools are improving in important areas ... that’s the result of community engagement,” Simmons on Jan. 26 told the crowd of nearly a hundred people at Knightdale Town Hall.
In the last three years, the percentage of students that pass end-of-course exams jumped from 66 percent in 2008-2009 to 75 percent in 2010-2011.
The Wake County average is about 84 percent.
The number of students graduating in four years has also increased in the last three school years. In school year 2008-2009, 74 percent of Knightdale students graduated after four years. In 2010-2011 (the most recent year available), that number increased to 76 percent.
The Wake County average in 2011 was 81 percent.
Knightdale’s SAT participation rate has also jumped in the last three years. Nearly 65 percent of Knightdale students took the exam in 2010-2011 – a 13 percent increase from 2008-2009.
The Wake County average in 2010-2011 was 84 percent participation.
The average SAT score of Knightdale students has hovered around 930 in the past three years.
Math and reading proficiency levels improved at each of Knightdale’s five elementary schools between 2007 and 2010 as well. However, Lockhart and Lake Myra were the only schools to show improvement in the 2010-2011 school year.

More looking elsewhere
Though schools here are improving, more Knightdale-based students are commuting elsewhere for an education, according to Wake County Schools data. The percentage of Knightdale students attending their base school has decreased from 73 to 69 percent.
The vast majority of those are students accepted to magnet schools.
Students may be looking elsewhere for more intensive courses, says Shannon Hardy, of local educational advocate, Knightdale 100.
Knightdale has the lowest percentage of students taking exams in Advanced Placement courses.

High poverty
What makes Knightdale stand out from its Wake County counterparts is the percentage of students on free-and-reduced-lunches.
Knightdale’s elementary schools have far more impoverished students than the Wake County average. For example, 80 percent of students at Hodge Road Elementary are on free-and-reduced-lunch plans.
At Knightdale Elementary, the number is 62 percent. At Forestville Road, it’s 58 percent. At Lockhart, it’s 56 percent. An at Lake Myra, it’s 44 percent.
The Wake County average is about 34 percent.
Simmons, however, says poverty isn’t an obstacle to achievement.
“It’s not the free-and-reduced-lunch kids who are holding down scores in Knightdale,” he said. “Kids need high expectations and opportunities.”

What’s next
Knightdale High and East Wake Middle became STEM schools this year. That means they get increased resources and curriculums that focus on science, technology, engineering and math. Knightdale schools also recently served as a test town for training with the SAS Institute.
Those programs were lobbied for by Knightdale 100, which hosted Simmons’ speech.
Next, the group hopes to make Hodge Road Elementary a bilingual school. More than 50 percent of Hodge Road students speak Spanish as their first language. Yet, the school is one of few that does not offer Spanish classes to its students.
Not only would english-speaking students benefit from learning a second language, spanish-speaking students would learn how to properly use their first language.
“Reading comprehension scores would soar,” Debra Pearce, Hodge Road principal, says. “My Spanish-speaking kids have trouble learning proper English partly because they aren’t properly learning their base language.”
School board reps. Keith Sutton and Jim Martin, who attended the meeting, said they, too, would lobby.
In the meantime, Simmons emphasized the importance of parental involvement for quality schools.
He concluded: “You have the schools you want already – they’re public. They’re yours. Now what are you going to do with them?”

Specht: 919-829-4826

Meet Tim Simmons

 Tim Simmons, Vice President of Communications - Wake Education Partnership

As Vice President of Communications, Tim Simmons is responsible for outreach, advocacy, research and communications at the Partnership.
Simmons was a long-time education reporter for The News & Observer in Raleigh. He provided extensive coverage of the school accountability movement in the 1990s and the many reform efforts triggered by the state’s new emphasis on test scores.
His coverage of the racial achievement gap in 1999 won the highest national award for education writing that year and helped shape state programs to address the issue. He has also written about the resegregation of the state’s schools, the costs and benefits of diversity and the difficulty of maintaining good parent-teacher relationships. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Michigan State University in 1981.

Thursday, January 26th 7-8:30pm K100 Forum (Knightdale Town Hall): 

"State of Knightdale Schools" with Wake Education Partnership's Tim Simmons.  

This is Tim's 3rd annual address to Knightdale!

EVAAS PILOT A SUCCESS, SAS SAYS

BY PAUL A. SPECHT,ASPECHT@NEWSOBSERVER.COM

KNIGHTDALE - A SAS-developed data analysis system meant to help boost student performance has improved teacher effectiveness in Knightdale through special training sessions, educators say.This year, Knightdale schools – Knightdale High, East Wake Middle, Hodge Road Elementary, Knightdale Elementary, Lockhart Elementary, Forestville Road Elementary, and Lake Myra Elementary – were chosen to pilot a new SAS Institute training program meant to help principals and teachers understand the teacher-efficiency data.
The Education Value-Added Assessment System, or EVAAS, uses a student’s past test scores to determine the probability of having success in a subject. It also measures an instructor’s ability to effectively teach specific subjects or student learning-levels.
EVAAS is used throughout Wake County schools. But SAS needed to measure how effective their program developers were in training teachers to use EVAAS data. Knightdale 100, an educational advocacy group, lobbied SAS and Wake Schools for the pilot and won.
So during the fall semester, EVAAS trainers held instructional sessions for Knightdale educators – hoping to maximize the system’s potential.
“The educators gave us direct feedback as to whether they were understanding what they were being taught,” said Sandy Horn, who developed EVAAS with SAS.
SAS reps said feedback was “overwhelmingly positive.”
“In some cases, teachers told us that they had used the student projections a great deal. But they hadn’t used the part that shows student progress,” said Stefani Barbero, SAS manager of educator support services for EVAAS. “They broadened their knowledge.”
EVAAS shows teachers how effective they are at teaching certain subgroups of students. The subgroups are broken down by low, moderate, and high-achieving students.
So if tests show that a teacher is not as effective teaching, say, high-achieving students, the teacher can change his teaching methods with those students.
Knightdale High this fall learned about subgroups for the first time.
“In the past we only focused on the overall proficiency rating. The EVAAS training allowed our department to look deeper and determine how successful we are at each of achievement levels,” said Melody Solomon, Social Studies Department Chair at Knightdale High. “We reviewed the data in our PLT (Professional Learning Team) meetings and discussed how to differentiate based on the past performance at each achievement level.”
“Our teachers really appreciated the opportunity to learn more about EVAAS and how to use the data to inform instructional practices,” said Carla Jernigan, Knightdale High principal. “The training materials were well designed and easy to follow and the help windows within each report provide even more information to assist with understanding the reports.”
Added Nancy Allen, East Wake Middle principal: “The training was extremely valuable to us ... I learned a lot, which says something because I was pretty well-schooled on (EVAAS) already.”


http://www.easternwakenews.com/2012/01/04/14775/educators-get-extra-training-in.htmlTimeline: Knightdale 100 lures SAS

Specht: 919-829-4826

K100 Teams Up with SAS

April: Knightdale 100 learns that SAS is developing curriculum to train principals and teachers to use EVAAS both for student placement and professional development. Group lobbies for SAS pilot the curriculum in Knightdale.


May: SAS considers Knightdale because of its feeder patterns from elementary to high school. Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen, SAS, and Knightdale 100 meet to develop a proposal for Superintendent Tata and Wake County Schools.


Late May: Knightdale 100 hosts forum on EVAAS. Tata attends the forum, and later invites SAS and Knightdale to meet with him about a pilot program.


June: SAS, Mayor Killen, K100 meet with Superintendent Tata. Tata appoints Terri Cobb to lead organizational efforts.


September: Pilot begins with EVAAS training in principals meetings.

Parents meetings set on schools

Wake County school officials announced Thursday that they will hold meetings to explain to parents how to select a school through the new student assignment plan.

The meetings will explain how the new plan that starts in the 2012-13 school year requires families to choose, based on their addresses, from a list of schools they'd like their children to attend.

In the old system, families were assigned to schools based on their addresses.

School officials have stressed the new controlled-choice plan will guarantee students can stay at their current schools next year.

Meetings have been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at St. Mark's United Methodist Preschool, 4801 Six Forks Road, Raleigh; 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Durant Road Elementary School, 9901 Durant Road, Raleigh; 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Knightdale Town Hall, 950 Steeple Square Court; and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at St. Matthew's Church, 1629 Bennett St., Raleigh.

A Spanish-only session will be held at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at St. Raphael Church, 5801 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh.

Groups interested in holding sessions are asked to call the system's Office of Family and Public Engagement at 919-431-7800.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/04/1616430/parents-meetings-set-on-schools.html#ixzz1cvEw3yK6

In the spotlight

Regarding Burgetta Eplin Wheeler's Oct. 21 column ("Parents advocate together"):

Knightdale 100 holds a firm spotlight when we fail our children, and equally as important we hold the spotlight just as bright when our children and teachers succeed. Knightdale High School still has the lowest SATs in Wake County, and this is unacceptable. However, we celebrate our teachers and students because our SAT average is up 20 points, and our AP/Honors program is expanding.

K100 believes that academic rigor is on the rise in Knightdale because of principals like Nancy Allen at East Wake Middle School. She and her math team have doubled their Algebra I membership two years in a row with 92 percent-plus passing! There are other heroes like Hodge Road Elementary faculty and its principal, Debra Pearce. Year after year their students have high growth. When 65 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged and 40 percent are limited English proficient, the starting line becomes a burden and the race to the top is a much longer journey.

Knightdale's teachers and principals are passionate, smart, hard-working professionals who get little credit for their tireless efforts. Every bit of improvement is to their credit and K100 is grateful they let us hold the spotlight!

Shannon Hardy

Knightdale

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/28/1599811/in-the-spotlight.html#ixzz1cHoS3EHO

Wheeler: Parents advocate together

If I were much of a conspiracy theorist, I might contemplate the convergence of a strengthening unified voice for Knightdale schools and the Wake County school board's recent redistricting that splintered the town among three representatives.

That members of the Knightdale 100, a group of parent advocates for stronger Eastern Wake schools, don't agree on whether the split was good or bad just underscores that their agenda is not political. It's purposeful.

"Dividing Knightdale in three, that's 10 years of damage they've done to us," says Knightdale 100 member Shannon Hardy.

But fellow member Robin Woodlief disagrees: "As far as I'm concerned, if I've got three reps, I've got three reps I can go to on the board to talk about Knightdale."

Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen hopes Woodlief is right, but he fought the town's division to the bitter end. "I worry that that's three people who really don't have to listen to us," he says.

Getting people to listen was the point of Killen's convening the Knightdale 100 two years ago. The mayor of 11,000 residents - nearly double the number from 2000 - wanted to combat historically low test scores amid rising poverty in Eastern Wake schools.

He decided he needed parents committed to making county leaders see the needs and to helping other parents increase their expectations.

The resulting group is so diverse - blacks, whites; some wealthier than others; McCain supporters, strenuous Obama lovers; Eastern Wake natives, newcomers - that any consensus about direction is greeted with certainty.

Consensus No. 1 was that the group will never participate in the partisan politics that overtook last week's school board election.

"We realize that if this is something we can all agree upon, across all backgrounds and all economic levels, we have to go for it," says Hardy, a Knightdale mother of two and a teacher at Exploris Middle School in Raleigh. "Our motivation has never been to serve our own children. It really is about living in a neighborhood and a community that is a generous place to live."

What the Knightdale 100 are going for is more high-quality teachers - what they consider key to increasing student achievement in poorer schools - and higher-level programs that retain area students who currently choose magnets, charters or private schools.

To that end, credit the group with pushing this year for Knightdale High School and East Wake Middle to become part of the STEM network, a move that provided schools with advanced technology and teachers with new learning techniques that promote science, technology, engineering and math.

"Our schools, I can say with absolute certainty, are in a better place now than they were just three or four years ago," Killen says. "Parents are beginning to catch on as to what needs to be done, what they need to do to hold our schools accountable. And that's a direct reflection on what the Knightdale 100 has done."

The group - with Hardy, Woodlief, Catherine Dameron, Kathy Moghaddam, Pam Miles and Derrick Burr at its core - presents monthly forums to educate other parents about important topics. Last month, Sam Houston, president and CEO of the N.C. Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, explained the benefits of the STEM program.

A rising profile

Of all the places Cary-software empire SAS could have chosen to test-drive a new initiative to help schools understand how to use the company's teacher-efficacy data, SAS picked Knightdale.

"We scored this contract with SAS for a year, training all of our principals and teachers on how to use the EVAAS data," Hardy says. "That's powerful to know that this teacher did better with this group of kids than other teachers with similar groups of kids did in other parts of the state," especially given that high-quality teachers are the group's main goal.

The Knightdale 100's dedication has impressed Tim Simmons, vice president of communications for Wake Education Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to public school advocacy. He has seen many organized parent groups in the county come and go.

"I don't know whether they know how much people refer to the Knightdale 100," Simmons says. "The first step is for people to at least know you're out there, and people know them. The schools won't turn around if there's not groups like them slugging it out."

The next big battle for the Knightdale 100, the members and Simmons agree, is to get the community to expect more of its schools.

"Kids succeed when they have opportunities that better expose them to different concepts and when the expectation is that they're going to succeed," Simmons says. "If you're not seeing the success you want, opportunities and expectations are two logical places to start."

And expectations are free.

"I'm proud of all the children in my community who are going to Knightdale schools, who are playing sports and getting good grades and taking AP classes," Hardy says. "Those kids who take advantage of the opportunities in a place like Knightdale are going to be the ones who make all the difference in our world 20 years from now."

Wheeler: 919-829-4825

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/21/1583254/parents-advocate-together.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1cHPPs6AD

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (Knightdale Elementary School)

Knightdale Elementary School Third Grade Math Team

2010 - 2011 Student Proficiency in Mathematics Above District Levels

Chris McClellan, Shelia High (not pictured), Keith Ryan (not pictured)

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (East Wake Middle School)

East Wake Middle School Algebra Team

2010 - 2011 Student Proficiency in Mathematics Above District Levels

Rebecca Raper, Kenneth Leary, Emily Hooks (not pictured)

Left to right

East Wake Middle School Seventh Grade Math Team

2010 - 2011 EVAAS Growth in Student Achievement Above State Levels

Laura Shute, Keauna Vinson, Pat Agoncillo (not pictured)

pictured from left to right

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (Forestville Road Elementary)

Forestville Road Elementary School Fourth Grade Math Team 

2010 - 2011 Student Proficiency in Mathematics Above District Levels

Mary McNall, Sarah Starkey, MacKenzie Hopkins, Malinda Rader, Dawn Swiger, Beth Edmonds (not pictured)

From left to right

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (Lockhart Elementary)

Lockhart Elementary School Third Grade Math Team

2010 - 2011 Student Proficiency in Mathematics Above District Levels

Tammy Reid, Kellarie Buff, Laura Rubish (from left to right)

Sarah Brokaw, Lindsey Noulles, Candice Hudson (not pictured)

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (Lake Myra)

Lake Myra Elementary School Third Grade Math Team

2010 - 2011 Student Proficiency in Mathematics Above District Levels

Amber Smith, Sherry Strutz, Katherine DeSarno, Jena Kehler (not pictured)

Pictured from left to right 

Knightdale 100 Excellence in Teaching Award Winners (Knightdale High)

Knightdale High School Biology Team

2010 - 2011 EVAAS Growth in Student Achievement Above State Levels

Airess Eatmon, Rhonda Rhodes (not pictured), Sally Combs (not pictured)

 

Knightdale High School Physical Science Team

2010 - 2011 EVAAS Growth in Student Achievement Above State Levels

Airess Eatmon, Laura Hoffman, Jeff Deal  (from left to right)

Wheeler: Eastern Wake ignored in school politics

BY BURGETTA EPLIN WHEELER - STAFF WRITER

Cross the Neuse River anywhere east of Raleigh in Wake County, and you've entered the land of the ignored when it comes to school-board politics.

While leaders and residents of all stripes in the rest of the county argued for two years over "neighborhood schools" and what that might mean for poverty rates in downtown Raleigh schools - culminating in the school board chairman's loss in the election Tuesday - the nearly neighborhood schools in Eastern Wake just quietly got poorer.

"Hodge Road Elementary was 70 percent poor under the old board, and 70 percent under the new one," says Shannon Hardy, a Knightdale mother of two and teacher at Exploris Charter School. "School assignment is not the solution.

If you've heard any Eastern Wake murmurs at all, it's likely because of Hardy and the rest of the Knightdale 100. This parent-advocate group, birthed in 2009 by Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen, isn't caught up in the partisanship that pervaded Tuesday's vote. Members can barely tell you, in fact, which school board representative covers what part of the town now that Knightdale has been split among three districts.

No amount of school choice, which the assignment model now on the table touts, is going to change the reality that well more than 50 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches in all but two of the schools in the historically rural area. In such a large swath of the county, only a diversity of housing can alter that number.

So rather than focus on politics and percentages, the Knightdale 100 have their sights on programs and perceptions.

"We realized my child's success relies on the success of all the children," Hardy says. "If you have money, you just buy a house in a rich neighborhood, but if you're just hard-working middle-class or single parents, your child's success in the classroom depends on all the other kids in the classroom."

What the group seeks are higher expectations for poorer students from parents and teachers. High-quality teaching, the members say, is what leads to student achievement.

Opting out of schools

They also want - and have snared - new programs they hope will attract families and keep the town's higher-achieving students from opting out. Two years ago, 400 Knightdale-area high schoolers were in private, charter or magnet schools.

"So many times we're focused on low-performing kids, and getting them up to level is important, but you can't do that to the exclusion of high-performing students," Killen says, adding that new Wake schools Superintendent Tony Tata completely gets that.

"Tata has done more and given more attention to this issue since he's been here than anybody the entire time I've been working on this, for at least seven or eight years," Killen says. "He sees it, and he wants to make it better."

The program equity that the group seeks would include more AP classes at Knightdale High - and some acknowledgment that Hodge Road Elementary needs help.

"Why is Spanish being taught to students in Cary, but the non-Spanish-speaking students at Hodge Road Elementary, which is more than 50 percent Hispanic, don't get any Spanish lessons?" Hardy asks. "Why isn't this a bilingual school?"

Plans killed by economy

Before a bypass opened in 2005, a continuously clogged U.S. 64 hindered higher-end development in Eastern Wake. The bypass brought bigger subdivisions to the drawing board - several, unfortunately, stayed there when the economy went bust.

The planned Wendell Falls, with its 4,000 houses on 1,400 acres, even had its own exit off the bypass. Those houses would have finally helped naturally diversify a town where 75 percent of the housing is considered affordable. The project is in bankruptcy.

In Knightdale, the Langston Ridge development sits off Hodge Road with its roads paved and its street lights on, illuminating acres of weeds and trash, but not one house.

More than 200 homes costing in the $200,000s to $400,000s were planned.

"Until we have more high-end housing, you just can't assign around that," says Killen, who decided that the only answer in the meantime was to find parents willing to improve the schools, which routinely have some of the county's lowest test scores, a priority.

Robin Woodlief, who grew up in Wendell and has two children in Eastern Wake schools, is one of several passionate parents who attended early organizational meetings and answered the call.

"The demographics are what they are," she says. "I think in the past there's been a mentality if you were poor, you weren't smart and you couldn't do the work.

"It takes awhile to get over that and convince the kids as well as the parents that just because you don't have any money doesn't mean you don't have a brain up there."

One way the Knightdale 100 are trying to reach the area's parents is with forums; for instance, one this year touted the importance of taking algebra in eighth grade and another explained how best to measure teacher performance.

"I think that our parents in Knightdale want to do the hard work as parents, they just don't know how," Hardy says. "Further, our teachers are well-intentioned, but they under-challenge our children. It is hard for a teacher to know how hard to push when the parents have not gone to college or don't naturally push the child themselves."

An area at a crossroads

It's clear that Eastern Wake County is at a crossroads. Although there are always exceptions, Tim Simmons of the Wake Education Partnership says research shows that 60 percent poor is the point at which a school starts losing families with the means to leave.

East Wake Academy, a charter school in Zebulon, already has 1,100 students and 600 waiting to get in.

Without more higher-end housing in Eastern Wake, the regular schools will keep edging closer to tipping. And the self-perpetuating cycle is that the poorer the schools become, the less likely that developers will build near them.

"The geography of Eastern Wake and the economy have not been kind," Simmons says.

"You can roll over or you can do whatever is possible to get those schools into a position of being a viable option. If you can attract one group, then you can attract another."

If the Knightdale 100 can hold the line - and even improve school quality - until the economy improves, development will take care of itself, he says, citing the Northern Virginia schools that are good only because people moved there to be close to D.C., and demanded better schools.

"It's really common for parent groups to get involved because kids can't get into AP classes or whatever, and once they accomplish that, they're done," Simmons says. "This group, it's pretty clear they are in it for the long haul."

Yes, they are. And that's partly because they love the area's diversity and the small-town feel that still permeates the ball fields and restaurants.

"Around here, we always have the most diverse soccer team, the most diverse summer swim teams. That's Americana, the spirit of America, pluralism," Hardy says. "You don't ask what you can do for your kid. You ask what you can do for your school system, what you can do to support your neighbor's kid in their bad times."

During the school assignment debate, many people said they were willing to spend more on better teachers and programs at schools that started struggling. Your Eastern Wake neighbors have been struggling for a while now.

Maybe we should help the Knightdale 100 stabilize a teetering quarter of the county until the housing market stirs again. If we let these schools languish, development is far less likely to arrive.

So far, the Knightdale 100 have been paying for their progress mostly from their own pockets, although Woodlief is working to get the group nonprofit status.

She doesn't want to think about how much money - not to mention hours - she has given to the cause.

"If we can turn it around and get good things to happen, it's worth it," she says. "My parents always told me you can preach to your children all day long, but unless they see you do it, it doesn't mean anything.

"I'm teaching my children that if they get involved in the community, they can make a difference."

Next week: The group's accomplishments - including STEM schools in Eastern Wake - and praise.

bwheeler@newsobserver.com or 929-829-4825

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/14/1564386/eastern-wake-ignored-in-school.html#ixzz1asPHQxfA