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!