Tag Archive for: #VANCECoProud

VCS State of Schools Luncheon

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End of Grade Tests Better; Vance Has Exited Low Performance Status; Closing Gap to State Averages; Vance Improving Quicker Than Several State Averages

On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, Superintendent Anthony Jackson addressed a crowd of about 70 business and community leaders.  In his opening remarks he said, “I want you to leave with a renewed commitment to the schools and the community.  Put your name on every child you encounter.”vcs-state-of-schools-lunch-2016-jackson

Discussed was student achievement, safe and orderly schools, quality of education, effective and efficient operations and how to be good educators in the 21st century environment.

The luncheon event was co-hosted by the Henderson Rotary Club and the Vance County Public School Foundation.

Jackson also discussed aspirations for the 17 local public schools for the current school year and provided those in attendance with a “Strategic Roadmap” for the next five years.

He told those in attendance he wanted young adults “ready for society the Monday after graduation.”  Jackson wants feedback from business and community leaders about how to better prepare students for entry into the local workforce.

And Jackson said a supportive community is key, that the mindset here needs to be one of looking at the improvements and tying them to excellence.

Some of the information shared by Jackson included:

  • an 82 percent graduation rate for Vance County Schools for 2015-2016
  • members of the Class of 2016 graduating with over $7.5 million in scholarships to attend colleges in the fall
  • the Vance County Early College High School completed the 2015-2016 school year as an “A” school based on the N.C. School Performance Grade recognition system
  • Aycock Elementary School and the STEM Early High School were both “B” schools for 2015-2016 for N.C. Performance Grades
  • no local schools were judged as “F” schools for the 2015-2016 school year
  • students in grades 5 and 8 increased their scores overall on the N.C. science end-of-grade test by more than 13 percent last year
  • students in grades 3-5 improved their state end-of-grade scores in reading and math by: an increase of 15 percent in proficiency at New Hope Elementary; an increase of more than 10 percent in proficiency at Clarke Elementary; an increase of 8.4 percent in proficiency at Aycock Elementary; and an increase of 7 percent in proficiency at both Dabney Elementary and Pinkston Street Elementary
  • student proficiency on state end-of-grade testing in reading and math increased by seven percent at the STEM Early High School and almost six percent each at Eaton-Johnson Middle and Henderson Middle last year.

“All of this took a lot of hard work,” Jackson said. “Our teachers and students should be commended for their accomplishments. This doesn’t happen overnight.  We want to continue to increase our student achievements at a greater rate than students are growing across the state. We recognize we have a gap between our achievements and state achievements, but if we can continue to grow as we did last year we can eliminate the gap over the next few years.”

Jackson acknowledged continuing to make substantial student achievements and closing the gap between proficiency by local students and state proficiency will take more hard work. “But, I’m convinced we can get it done,” he said.

Jackson continued to stress the school system’s theme for 2016-2017 of “Excellence . . . Without Excuse!” He also repeated the increasingly popular slogan of “I’m Vance County Proud. Are you?”

(Editor’s Note – WIZS News attended the luncheon.  The article above was written from our notes and includes excerpts written by Vance County Schools Public Information Officer Terri Hedrick as well.  WIZS News encourages you to read the full VCS article written by Hedrick and posted on the VCS Web Page by clicking on the link below.)

Vance County School State of Schools Luncheon Article as written and posted by Terri Hedrick

Carver Elementary Celebrates Opening of Multipurpose Room

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A ribbon cutting was held on Friday, September 30th for Carver Elementary School as they celebrated their new multipurpose room was officially dedicated in memory of Eddie Wright, the late Vance County Board of Commissioners’ member who proved to be the school’s biggest advocate in getting the facility constructed.

All of the 225 students in the school were joined by the entire school staff, parents, friends and local officials in dedicating the new multipurpose room and participating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Marion Perry, a valuable and outstanding supporter of Carver Elementary, presented the plaque, which will hang in the new facility, commemorating the amazing contributions of Wright. She presented the plaque to Wright’s widow, Maresa, and their two daughters, Sabrina and Ashley.

In making the presentation, Perry talked about Wright’s devotion to Carver Elementary School and all public schools in Vance County. She said they often shared conversations about the importance of education and their mutual passion for helping children.

Principal David Westbrook told the audience that the handsome, wooden plaque, with a color photo of Wright, will be placed at the front entrance of the new multipurpose room.

Several local dignitaries were on hand to offer comments of praise for Wright and his steadfast support of the school and local children. Those who spoke included: Gloria J. White, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education: Gordon Wilder, chairman of the Vance County Board of Commissioners; Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington; John Barnes, president of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce; and Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools.

Students and teachers from the school assisted with the ribbon-cutting, which was led by White. Mrs. Wright and her daughters also participated as did all of the local officials in attendance.

“This is a great day for our school,” Westbrook said. “We are so proud to have this wonderful facility for our students. We will always remember Mr. Wright for his amazing support in making this new facility possible.”

Biodiesel 4 Schools donates to Vance County Schools

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The Biodiesel 4 Schools Program has donated $460 to Vance County Schools since June.

The school system entered a partnership with the program in January of 2015.

Dean Price of Green Circle N.C., administers the program that partners with public school systems across this region of North Carolina to turn used cooking oil from local businesses into biodiesel fuel used in certain motor vehicles. The program then provides the school system with a percentage of the funds collected each quarter when the fuel is sold to customers.

Price made the first donation in early June and the second donation in mid-September. He has also reported that the program is now using the old N.C. Biofuels Center in Oxford to produce the biodiesel from the used cooking oil.

Green Circle on a regular basis collects used cooking oil from 16 local restaurants and other businesses that donate their oil for the Biodiesel 4 Schools Program.

“These businesses are showing their support for local schools and we expect to get others involved in the program,” Price said.

Local businesses currently participating in the program include: Denny’s; Skipper Forsythe’s Bar-B-Q; George’s; Golden Corral; Ichibar Japanese; J.J. Fish and Chicken; Ma’s Country Kitchen; Pegram’s Dairy Bar; Randy’s Kitchen/Amerigas; Village Kitchen; Maria Parham Medical Center; Henderson Moose Lodge; New Hope Mini Mart; Drewry Fire Department; and Vance-Granville Community College.

Vance County High School Students Attend Local College Fair

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Students from the four local high schools attended the annual College Fair held at Vance-Granville Community College on September 21.

The two-hour event was held in the morning in the community college’s Civic Center. There were representatives from approximately 60 colleges and universities in attendance to share information about future educational opportunities with students from Northern Vance, Southern Vance, Western Vance and the Vance County Early College high schools.

The community college partners each year with school systems in the four-county area it serves to provide information to high school students. Vance-Granville officials did another great job in hosting the event and getting a large number of colleges to participate.

Among the colleges with representatives on hand were Appalachian State, Barton, Campbell, Chowan, East Carolina, Elizabeth City State, Johnson & Wales, Liberty, Meredith, N.C. Central, N.C. State, Sweet Briar, UNC Pembroke, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, Shaw, Western Carolina, William Peace and Winston-Salem State.

Educator of Excellence Tracy Thorpe

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Vance County Schools has issued the following press release:

Tracy Thorpe has been selected to represent Vance County Schools as the Exceptional Children’s “Educator of Excellence” for 2016-2017.

Thorpe teaches students with autism at Northern Vance High School.

She has a total of seven years of experience in education. Thorpe has a passion for teaching and is dedicated and committed to the academic success of her students.

She will be recognized for her outstanding contributions made to improving students’ outcomes during the 66th N.C. Conference on Exceptional Children at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, November 9-10.

Vance County: “The State of Our Schools”

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Public Information Officer Terri Hedrick has announced in a press release that Vance County Schools will host two information sessions open to anyone in our community during the evenings of Thursday, September 29, and Monday, October 3.

The sessions, entitled “The State of Our Schools,” are scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 29, in the multipurpose room at Clarke Elementary School on Garrett Road south of Henderson, and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday, October 3, in the multipurpose room at New Hope Elementary School on N.C. 39 north of Henderson.

Representatives from each of our 17 schools will be on hand at each of the sessions to share information about their services, programs and achievements for their students. Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools, also will be sharing information about the achievements of our students and schools during the 2015-2016 school year and our plans for this year and beyond.

Students and parents from our schools, as well as local business and church leaders, and all community residents are urged to attend. We hope citizens from throughout Vance County will attend one of these sessions to receive valuable information about our public school system.

School Bus Driver Training Oct 10-12

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Vance County Schools will host school bus driver training sessions Monday, October 10, through Wednesday, October 12, at L.B. Yancey Elementary School.

Interested persons must attend the training on all three days to receive certification. The training will be for individuals to drive school buses for the school system.

The training sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 3 p.m. each day.

Those interested in participating in the training sessions must register five days prior to the sessions with the school system’s Transportation Department, located at 226 Welcome Avenue off Raleigh Road south of Henderson. For additional information, call the Transportation Department at 438-5012.

Vance County Schools Honors Leaders

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Vance County Schools hosted its “Leadership Celebration” in McGregor Hall last night and announced the selection of Linwood Swann of Eaton-Johnson Middle School as the school system’s 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year, Crystal Richardson of Clarke Elementary School as the 2016-2017 Principal of the Year and Joy Suther of Dabney Elementary School as the 2016-2017 Assistant Principal of the Year.

Approximately 120 school officials, educators, family members and other invited guests attended the event, which was held in the McGregor Gallery between the Perry Memorial Library and McGregor Hall performing arts center on Breckenridge Street in Henderson.vcs-photo-linwood-swann-090816

Nominees for each of the three district awards were honored individually and presented with gifts by Gloria J. White, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education, and Superintendent Anthony D. Jackson. Assisting them in the presentations were Robin Wilson of New Hope Elementary and 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year; Heddie Somerville of Pinkston Street Elementary and 2015-2016 Principal of the Year; and David Cooper of Aycock Elementary and 2015-2016 Assistant Principal of the Year.

Swann was selected from an outstanding field of 16 top teachers in the district who each serve as their school’s Teacher of the Year. Each received a commemorative gift from the school system for their recognition and Swann was presented with a 2017 Toyota Camry, which is generously provided by Dave Genetti and his dealership, Toyota of Henderson. Swann will drive the vehicle for the next year as the district’s Teacher of the Year.

Swann is an English/language arts teacher at Eaton-Johnson Middle School, where he has worked as a faculty member since August of 2010. He began his career in teaching in 2007 with Brunswick County Schools. He has been a leader among the faculty members at Eaton-Johnson since he began work at the school. Swann is very involved in extra-curricular activities for students, as well. He notes that his teaching philosophy is two-fold.

“As well as advancing children’s learning toward the achievement of academic excellence, I believe in promoting the development of their character,” Swann writes. “I work to achieve this by applying creative and dynamic teaching techniques that take into consideration curricular objectives, learners’ needs, diverse learning styles and teacher modeling. I aim to develop a rich resource of expertise, experience and materials that, when effectively put to use, motivate and engage my students.

“I feel it necessary to create a collaborative relationship between the home and the school, so we can work more effectively toward a common goal,” he added. “Personally, I want to approach educational challenges with optimism to ensure continual improvement and growth as a lifelong learner, continually acquiring and developing new knowledge and skills to benefit my students.”

Swann was joined as a nominee for the district Teacher of the Year honor by: Edward Ortega of Aycock Elementary; Lavonda Williams of Carver Elementary; Shannon Bullock of Clarke Elementary; Jacqueline Creech of Dabney Elementary; Robin Young of New Hope Elementary; Cheryl Jones of Pinkston Street Elementary; Susan Nutt of E.M. Rollins Elementary; Yvonne Woolfolk of L.B. Yancey Elementary; Christina Welch of E.O. Young Jr. Elementary; Ann Hanson of Zeb Vance Elementary; Adith Williams-White of Henderson Middle; Lynn Conlee of STEM Early High; Joannie Aldridge of Northern Vance High; Amy Simpson of Southern Vance High; and Brian Parrish of Vance County Early College High.

Richardson was among three nominees for the district’s Principal of the Year. Additional nominees honored were Kristen Boyd of Aycock Elementary School and Stephanie Ayscue of Southern Vance High School.

Richardson has been the principal of Clarke Elementary since 2012. She has been in education for 28 years and worked all of that time in Vance County Schools. Prior to becoming principal at Clarke, she was the principal at New Hope Elementary School for onevcs-photo-crystal-richardson-090816 year. She also served as an assistant principal at Clarke Elementary School, Clark Street Elementary School and Henderson Middle School. Richardson was an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Henderson Middle for 14 years before moving into administration.

Under Richardson’s leadership, Clarke Elementary has made significant academic gains over the last few years. She notes in her philosophy of instructional leadership, “As principal, it’s crucial to provide effective resources for my staff as well as their request in some instances to need additional resources to achieve effective teaching for a conducive learning environment. During our instructional meetings or workshops, it has been important to stress communication as the key element and/or belief that all students are capable of learning regardless of their weaknesses or disabilities. Also, with equipping students and teachers with the sufficient resources, it creates empowerment, motivation and inspiration for both parties. However, from a leadership perspective the ultimate goal is trust in a manner of complete investment in the learning process along with an effective and dedicated staff.”

In addition to Suther, Dr. Jacqueline Batchelor Crosson, now assistant principal at Pinkston Street and L.B. Yancey elementary schools, also was nominated for the district’s Assistant Principal of the Year award.  She was nominated for her work last year while serving as assistant principal at New Hope Elementary, in addition to Pinkston Street.

Suther has approximately 20 years of experience in education, with almost all of her time spent with Vance County Schools. She has served as the assistant principal at Dabney Elementary for the last two school years. Prior to joining the Dabney administrative staff, vcs-photo-joy-suther-090816she was an assistant principal at Pinkston Street and E.O. Young Jr. elementary schools. Suther has spent most of her career in education as an elementary school teacher. She has taught at both E.M. Rollins and Zeb Vance elementary schools in Vance County.

At Dabney, Suther stresses that her role is to support Dr. Michael Putney, the school’s principal, all faculty and staff members and the students as they work together to achieve academic excellence. Suther says she takes particular pride in working directly with teachers, especially in kindergarten through second grade, to use innovative strategies and technology to enhance classroom instruction. She says she is always looking for new approaches to assist teachers in all grade levels to effectively reach every child with daily instruction, to assess student achievement and use available data to determine how to help students be successful.

–Vance County Schools Press Release–

Optimist Bowl Preview (THURSDAY GAME)

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The annual Optimist Bowl is tonight with Southern Vance High School visiting Northern Vance High School for a 7 p.m. kickoff.  Live analysis and play by play coverage begins on WIZS 1450 AM at 6:45.  You can also listen by going to WIZS.com or with the free Tunein Radio App on your smartphone or tablet.

Jeff Jenkins announces the Grid Iron Report on Tuesdays and Fridays on WIZS.  It’s part of “Sports Mayhem” with Kemp Collins at 1 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Scouting Report on Southern Vance from Jeff Jenkins:

Although their record stands at 0-2, The Raiders Offense has been effective from the beginning, scoring 22 against a strong Ravenscroft squad in their opener, and 48 against Webb last week, but without yet chalking up a win.  Scoring on the ground and through the air has been pretty even.  Against Ravenscroft, Southern quarterback Corey Twitty, Jr. passed for 2 TDs, both to Zamari Ellis; and Malik Boyd ran for the third score.  Tyrese Henderson and Shammond Lyons both ran for 2 pt conversions.  Twitty led all rushing with 105 yards (although 15 yards were called back on penalties) and Shammond Lyons ran for 94 yards (but had a 39 yard run called back).

Against Webb last week, Malik Boyd led the Raiders rushing  with 159 yards on 13 carries and scored twice; Tyrese Henderson gained 100 yards and scored a TD and a 2 pt. conversion;  and Lyons ran for a TD and a conversion.  Twitty passed for 89 yards, including 2 touchdowns, both to Shammond Lyons.  Then when Twitty was knocked out of the game early in the second half, Lyons took over at quarterback and threw a TD pass to Ellis in overtime.  Lyons also attempted the essential 2 pt conversion run in overtime and was stopped short.

And so, the Raiders have scored a very respectable 35 points per game; but their defense has not been nearly as effective, allowing 46 per game.

Scouting Report on Northern Vance from Jeff Jenkins:

Thanks to the last altogether unfortunate contest with Warren County, The Vikings’ numbers are not as impressive as the Raiders.  Northern Vance stands at 1-1, after Northern scoring 42 points against East Chapel Hill, and then 5 against Warren, giving them a modest 23 ½  point average – about the same as they had at the end of last season.  On the other hand, the Viking defense was consistently excellent, chalking up shut-outs in both games. (Keep in mind that Warren County scored it’s 7 points against the Viking offense – on a fumble recovery and run-back).

Positive News in Vance County Schools Press Release

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VANCE COUNTY SCHOOLS MAKE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON STATE TESTS, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE GRADES AND REPORTS THE HIGHEST GRADUATION RATE IN THE DISTRICT’S HISTORY

The state of North Carolina formally released accountability data from the 2015-2016 academic year today.  The Vance County School System is pleased to report improvements on state assessments, the elimination of all schools designated with a school performance grade of an F, and of significant note; the highest graduation rate in the history of our school district.

On state assessments, Vance County Public School students’ improved on 100 percent of the end-of-grade subtests administered in grades 3-8. These results indicate that the district is significantly closing the gap between its students’ performances compared to students from across the state.

Improvements ranged from 0.4 percent in grade 7 mathematics to a high of 15.8 percent in grade 8 science. Of significant note is the 28 percent and 21 percent improvement in Math 1 (a high school course) at Eaton-Johnson and Henderson middle schools, respectively. End-of-course data from our high schools continue to lag behind state averages and will require our continued focus and a deliberate plan of improvement.

School Performance Grades are determined by a formula which includes a school’s overall proficiency on state assessments and students’ growth.

Vance County Schools is further pleased to announce that during the 2015-2016 school year, 62 percent of the schools received a school performance grade (SPG) of A, B or C.  We are extremely excited to announce the district’s first school to earn the school performance grade of “A” (Vance County Early College High School). No schools received a performance grade of “F”.  This is the first time since the inception of SPG’s that we have reached this milestone. As a result, Vance County Schools no longer meets the states definition of a “low-performing” school district.

Schools earning a SPG of “B” are Aycock Elementary School and STEM Early High School. Schools earning a SPG of “C” are Carver, New Hope, Clarke, Dabney, Pinkston Street and Zeb Vance. Schools earning an SPG of “D” are Eaton-Johnson, Henderson, E.M. Rollins, E.O. Young Jr., L.B. Yancey, Northern Vance High and Southern Vance High.  Western Vance High School is an alternative school and does not receive a School Performance Grade.

We are equally excited to report that the district’s four-year on-time graduation rate has improved by 4.4 percent from 77.5 percent to a record high of 81.9 percent.  This represents the highest graduation rate in the history of our school system. This compared to the 85.8 percent graduation rate at the state level, represents the smallest gap between the district and the state in many years.

The Early College graduation rate was 100 percent, up from 89 percent the previous year. The cohort graduation rate in 2015-2016 increased at Northern Vance and Southern Vance high schools. The graduation rate at Northern Vance rose to 83.4 percent from 77 percent and the graduation rate at Southern Vance increased to 82.5 percent from 81 percent. Western Vance High had a four-year cohort graduation rate of 90.5 percent.

State standards also measure student growth on state end-of-grade and end-of-course tests administered to students in grades 3-12. Among Vance County Schools in 2015-2016, there were nine schools that either exceeded or met expected growth standards.

“I am pleased with the progress that we are making,” said Dr. Anthony D. Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools. “It is clear that we are moving in the right direction. While we celebrate the accomplishments, it is important we remain focused on improving the quality of our school system, the rigor in our classrooms and the preparation of all students for the colleges or careers of their choice. There is much work to do.

“I want to thank and commend our teachers, teacher assistants, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria employees and all who support what happens daily in our classrooms for a job well done, the community for embracing our vision for a better school system and our parents for partnering with us to provide the best education possible for their children,” he added. “Our commitment remains to provide a system focused on Excellence…without Excuse! I am confident that our best days are ahead and that we will continue to make progress. As always, I am Vance County Schools Proud… and today, I hope you are as well.”