First day smooth - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

30 August 2007 — As the first bells rang on Monday morning they welcomed back several thousand faces that streamed into the schools of northern Wayne County.

First-day numbers at the five schools are, in general, fairly close to first-day numbers from last year. And while no big jumps in enrollment have occurred, administrators at the schools say it’s still a packed house for most of them.

At Charles B. Aycock High, 1,164 students were enrolled for the first day of class. That number is almost exactly where the school was last year at the same time. But while no new teachers will need to be added, the school is still well over capacity.

However, those extra students didn’t hamper the first day of school a bit, said Principal Dr. Earl Moore.

“Several teachers have commented that this was the smoothest opening of school they had seen,” said Dr. Moore.

He credits early notification of school expectations with the smooth transition. Students received information over the summer regarding school policies and expectation, and Dr. Moore said the early communication aided in a “wonderfully smooth” first day.

This year, Aycock will implement several new programs. Entering freshmen will have the opportunity to participate in two academies that have been added to the curriculum. Students who wish to may participate in the Business and Technology Academy, or the Engineering Academy. The academies will be focused track for students interested in the fields. The students will take courses geared toward the field throughout their four years, graduating better prepared to enter either college or the job market.

Students will also have the opportunity to take classes through the Virtual High School, which offers courses small schools like Aycock normally wouldn’t. Through VHS, the students can take advanced courses to better prepare for college.

Norwayne Middle School reported relatively the same numbers as they did on the first day last year, with a slight increase. Norwayne had enrolled 955 students by the start of school on Monday, up about 25 from last year.

The first day went fairly smoothly, said Principal Mario Re, with just a few predictable problems. Some confusion with bus routes existed for students and parents, and lunch got behind because many students had checks to pay for their lunches. But Mr. Re said that by Tuesday, most of the problems had worked themselves out.

Mr. Re said that, with the large number of students at the school this year, his primary concern is safety.

“We have a very structured routine here, because safety is our biggest emphasis,” he said. Mr. Re said that adults will be supervising students when they change classes, because he believes that the presence of an adult greatly decreases misbehavior.

The school has 12 teachers in seventh grade and in eighth grade, and 11 sixth grade teachers this year.

Mr. Re said the school will have several new programs this year in addition to the standard curriculum.

First of all, a school beautification project has been started. Each grade level or department will have $200 and the students will get to help to decide how they will use the money to help beautify the campus. The kids may choose to do anything from landscaping to painting bathroom stalls- anything to make the school look better, said Mr. Re.

The students will also participate in a 4H Believe program, which is a motivational health and drug prevention program.

In addition, school administration and central office staff will begin performing what Mr. Re calls “three- minute walkthroughs.” The officials will have a checklist as they walk through a typical class of each teacher, observing how the teacher instructs his or her students.

“We’re looking for different strategies that the teachers use,” he said. “We want to make sure they’re meeting the needs of all the students and interacting, not just delivering a lecture from the podium.”

But the biggest focus for the year, he stressed, is safety.

Northwest Elementary got the school year off to a smooth start as well, said Principal Theresa Cox. Northwest had 924 enrolled on the first day, a slight increase from last year.

“There are a lot of students,” said Mrs. Cox, which caused a few run-of-the-mill problems like traffic back-up after school. But overall, the first day went pretty smoothly, she said.

Northwest added four teaching positions to the staff this year, but doesn’t expect numbers to increase so much that they will need to add any other positions at this time. However, classes do exceed classroom space, with many classes continuing to be in mobile units and several teachers roaming, rather than staying in one classroom.

Fremont STARS also had a slight increase of students this year, with 247 students enrolled on the first day of school. Principal Beverly Smith walked the halls as the students got settled in Monday morning, and things seemed to go smoothly for students there as well.

Mrs. Smith said the school avoided a lot of transportation problems that schools have come to expect on the first day.

“We talked with the parents and notified them of some of the glitches that could come up,” she said. “The number of students on the busses was low, but that’s to be expected since a lot of parents bring the kids on the first day.”

Overall, she said that the first day at Fremont was a wonderful first day.

Northeast Elementary saw the largest student increase in the area, with 703 students. That number is 28 higher than the school reported on the first day last year.

Overall, Wayne County Schools reported 18,098 students enrolled on the first day. Official enrollment won’t be determined until the tenth day of school.

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