Tag Archive for: #vancecountyschools

Vance County Schools 02/18/19

Vance Co. Schools Recognizes Student Spotlight Recipients

-Information courtesy Vance County Schools’ Facebook page

Eight students who have been selected as Student Spotlight award recipients were honored on Monday, February 11, 2019, at the Vance County Board of Education meeting.

Nancy Wykle, publisher of The Daily Dispatch, presented each recipient with a framed certificate.

Honored were: Marisol Hernandez of E.M. Rollins Elementary; Nashanti Richardson of Early College High; Roland Chavez Galindo of Carver Elementary; Randy Palacios of AdVance Academy; Ruby Zuniga Trejo of STEM Early High; Andrew Chiem of Dabney Elementary; Chloe Hightower (not pictured) of Clarke Elementary; and Anderson Boyd of Aycock Elementary.

Superintendent Anthony Jackson and Board Chairwoman Dorothy Gooche congratulated each recipient.

The students are nominated by their teachers, principals and fellow students.

They received the award based on their outstanding character, compassion and caring for others and their strong commitment to making the most of their educational opportunities.

Eight Student Spotlight award recipients were honored on Monday, February 11, 2019, at the Vance County Board of Education meeting. Honored were: Marisol Hernandez of E.M. Rollins Elementary; Nashanti Richardson of Early College High; Roland Chavez Galindo of Carver Elementary; Randy Palacios of AdVance Academy; Ruby Zuniga Trejo of STEM Early High; Andrew Chiem of Dabney Elementary; Chloe Hightower (not pictured) of Clarke Elementary; and Anderson Boyd of Aycock Elementary. (Photo Courtesy Vance Co. Schools)

Bundy Appointed Chief Finance Officer for Vance County Schools

-Press Release, Vance County Schools

Michael Bundy has been appointed as the new chief officer for Finance and Business Operations for Vance County Schools. Members of the Vance County Board of Education approved his appointment at their regular monthly meeting this evening.

Bundy is joining Vance County Schools after serving since September of 2015 as the finance officer for Moore County Schools in Pinehurst.

“It will be an honor and privilege to serve the students, staff and community of Vance County Schools,” Bundy said. “It is rewarding to know that I will have a small part in the success of students in their journey to achieve their goals of a bright future.”

Michael Bundy has been appointed as the new chief officer for Finance and Business Operations for Vance County Schools. Bundy is joining Vance County Schools after serving since September of 2015 as the finance officer for Moore County Schools in Pinehurst.

Bundy has held finance positions at the state level. Prior to serving in Moore County Schools, he served in the finance department in the Cumberland County School System. He also is a former president of the N.C. Association of School Business Officers and is highly regarded and recognized as one of the best finance officers in the state.

“Mr. Bundy is imminently qualified and brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the areas of school finance, accounting and auditing to us,” said Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools.

“We are indeed fortunate to get someone with Mr. Bundy’s background, experience and of his caliber,” Jackson added. “I am confident that he will lead our finance team to the next level of excellence and will enable us to stay on our positive trajectory organizationally and financially.”

He is a certified public accountant and a certified school business officer. He received his bachelor of science degree in accounting from Wingate University and his master’s of business administration degree from Campbell University.

Bundy will officially begin his employment with Vance County Schools on April 1.

He succeeds Jennifer Bennett, who has taken the finance leadership position with Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools.

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson Talks School System, First Year of Consolidation

Dr. Anthony Jackson, superintendent of Vance County Schools, was on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss what is currently happening in the local school system, including an update on the middle and high school consolidation process.

According to Jackson, the school system is now in the beginning stages of rewriting the district’s strategic plan for the next five academic years. The plan will have input from community stakeholders including parents, teachers, students, the Vance County Board of Education and local leaders.

The new plan is sure to include strategies for increasing student access to the latest technology, a goal that is currently being met with the recently opened “Vance Virtual Labs” or “V2” laboratories housed at Vance County Middle School and Vance County High School.

The laboratories, located in the schools’ media centers, feature approximately 24 digital learning stations for students to engage in interactive three-dimensional instruction using special computer software applications in subject areas including science, health and geography.

Jackson said teachers are participating in on-going lab training sessions; full implementation is expected in the next few months.

The current 2018-2019 school year marks the first year of a consolidation process that saw Eaton Johnson and Henderson middle schools combine to form Vance County Middle School and Northern Vance and Southern Vance high schools combine to form Vance County High School.

“We told the community that it was going to be a three-year process; the hardest phase is year one,” said Jackson. “Now that we are in the buildings, we are trying to figure out all the little quirks and small things that we need to do to make our programs work fully.”

While the first year of the process has presented some challenges, Jackson said he has been pleasantly surprised at just how smoothly things have progressed.

“We’ve had very few bumps in the road as we’ve pulled these things together. Our students deserve a good, supportive school in their community and I believe we’ve created two.”

Students winning a video competition, athletic teams performing well and outstanding teacher recognition – all at the state level – are tangible outcomes that point to the success of the consolidation, according to Jackson.

Areas that will play prominently into the second and third year of the consolidation process include maintaining facilities, focusing on additional safety measures, increasing student access to programming and addressing capital needs such as parking lot maintenance.

In addressing the talk of the “savings” created by the consolidation, Jackson clarified that money formerly used for heating, cooling and providing energy to areas not in use will now be better spent in programming and learning opportunities for students.

Jackson reported that the school system has already seen an estimated $40,000 – $50,000 savings in utility costs from the former Eaton Johnson and Henderson middle schools, and expects to see even more savings when the school system completely vacates those premises.

When asked about the future use of the buildings, including reports of the County’s interest in purchasing the Eaton Johnson building to house the Department of Social Services, Jackson said he was not currently at liberty to discuss such plans.

“I will say there is tremendous support to make sure the facilities are used to benefit the community.”

While a declining number of students attending Vance County public schools led, in part, to the consolidation decision, Jackson said enrollment numbers are now leveling out.

Explaining that the school system receives federal, state and local funding based on the number of pupils each year, Jackson said that a portion of that per-pupil amount goes with students when they attend a charter school.

“It’s always a moving target. If we gain kids, we get money; if we lose kids, we lose money.”

In this regard, Jackson said it is in the school system’s benefit to find ways to attract parents and families to select Vance County Schools as their educational partner.

“We are working to develop programs that parents want and a school system that we can be proud of. When parents make that choice, we want to be considered in the conversation.”

To hear the interview with Dr. Jackson in its entirety, please click here.

Vance County Schools 02/04/19

First United Methodist Church Receives Shining Moment in Education Award

-Press Release, Vance County Schools

Vance County Schools has named First United Methodist Church of Henderson as its most outstanding business partner for the 2018-2019 school year and the recipient of the school system’s Shining Moment in Education Award.

This is the 17th year the school system has presented the award.

Additional nominees this year for the award were Clearview Baptist Church, I Believe God Outreach Church, Henderson Toyota and South Henderson Pentecostal Holiness Church.

The church received the award based on its multi-faceted partnership with Pinkston Street Elementary School and Dabney Elementary School.

Jack Richardson, a leader of the church and valuable school volunteer, accepted the award during the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on January 31, in the Civic Center at Vance-Granville Community College. Presenting the crystal award on behalf of the school system were Dorothy Gooche, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education, Principal Jacqueline Batchelor-Crosson of Pinkston Street Elementary School, and Principal Michael Putney of Dabney Elementary School.

Shown, from left, following the Shining Moment in Education Award presentation are Dorothy Gooche, chairwoman of the Vance County Board of Education; Principal Jacqueline Batchelor-Crosson of Pinkston Street Elementary School; Jack Richardson of First United Methodist Church; and Principal Michael Putney of Dabney Elementary School. (Photo Credit: Vance County Schools)

First United Methodist Church has continued an amazing partnership each school year with Pinkston Street and Dabney elementary schools for more than 10 years.

Each year, church members volunteer in the two schools as mentors and tutors for students, Lunch Buddies, classroom helpers and Prayer Partners for staff members. The church also supplies on a weekly basis nonperishable food items for the Backpack Buddies program so that students can take the food items home over weekends and holiday breaks to have something to eat while they are away from school.

Church members do even more by adopting families at Christmas who otherwise would go without gifts and needed food. The church supports families in the schools who may need warm clothing during the cold weather months with new pairs of shoes or new student uniforms.

The congregation’s support meets a wide range of needs including providing appreciation meals for staff members at Dabney and Pinkston Street during the year. Their efforts truly make the school’s staff members feel supported and appreciated!

First United Methodist Church is the first repeat winner of this prestigious award. The church first won the Shining Moment award as the school system’s top business partner for the 2008-2009 school year.

Vance County Schools 01/28/19

Informational Meeting on NC Pre-K Application to be Held Jan. 29

-Information courtesy the Vance County Schools’ Facebook page

An information meeting on how to complete the NC Pre-K site selection application will be held on Tuesday, January 29, 2019, at 4 p.m. at the Vance County Schools Administrative Services Center at 1724 Graham Avenue in Henderson.

All interested officials from child care facilities are encouraged to attend the meeting.

Site applications from qualifying child care sites are due Thursday, April 11, 2019, by 4 p.m.

Completed applications should be sent to the Vance County Schools, Federal Programs Office at 1724 Graham Avenue in Henderson. The mailing address is P.O. Box 7001, Henderson, N.C. 27536.

The contact person with Vance County Schools is Claudette Scales, pre-kindergarten coordinator. She may be reached by phone at 252-492-2127 and by e-mail at cscales@vcs.k12.nc.us.

The site application is available online at www.vcs.k12.nc.us and www.ncchildcare.nc.gov.

Site selection approval does not guarantee selection as an N.C. pre-kindergarten site.

Software Glitch Prompts Vance Co. Schools to Reassess Student Grades

Software used by multiple school systems across the state suffered a glitch in programming that resulted in miscalculated student grades recently, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Terri Hedrick, public information officer for Vance County Schools said the local school system was affected by the software glitch.

“We use the software for grade calculations for our high school semester grades in PowerSchool, which is the online application used by public school systems throughout the state to manage student information – from their personal information to test scores and classroom grades.”

“When we assessed our students’ grades, we found only a small number of students were affected. As we checked their first semester grades, we found that any student affected had a grade that was incorrectly increased by one point, in most cases. In all cases, no student grades were negatively affected or incorrectly calculated at a greatly inflated rate,” Hedrick explained.

According to Hedrick, the school system will continue to assess student data on a regular basis.

Vance Co. Early College High School Now Accepting Applications for 2019-2020

-Press Release, Vance County Schools

Vance County Early College High School is now accepting applications from students for the 2019-2020 school year.

The deadline for receiving the applications is Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 3 p.m.

Applications are available on the Early College and Vance County Schools websites or they can be picked up from the school, located on the third floor of Building 2 on the campus of Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson.