Dr. Taylor's school plans - Wayne-Wilson News Leader, Fremont, NC

The News Leader asked the superintendent of Wayne County Schools to share an assessment of where the school system is as 2008, and he said, in a lot of words, in the middle of a lot of change.

He spoke with pride about the Wayne Early/Middle College High School. This program, which partners the county schools with Wayne Community College, offers high school students the opportunity to graduate not only with a high school diploma, but with college credit through additional class offerings, at no charge to the student. Students can build up enough credits to earn their associate’s (two-year) degree, or can amass enough college credit to enter a four-year college as a junior, cutting the path to a four year degree to just two years.

The program began last year with 60 juniors and seniors from high schools across the county, and this fall added 65 ninth graders.

Another recent change was the implementation of the Wayne School of Engineering at Goldsboro High School. That “school” opened this past fall with 84 students, offering an innovative science, technology, engineering and math curriculum that included engineering, robotics, solid modeling and biomechanics. It is a partnership with the Boston Museum of Science, Wayne Community College, and East Carolina University.

Again, students who complete this school are expected to earn a two-year degree or enough transfer credits to allow them to enter a four-year college as a junior.

Dr. Taylor stressed that while they were very pleased with the numbers of students who have applied for and entered the programs, he expects the kids to sell the programs to other students as they see the success that others are having.

For those students who are not college bound, in another partnership with WCC offered at the county’s high schools, career academies were set up at each school. While the programs offered vary at the individual high schools, students are offered enhanced programs through the high school with classes also at WCC to better prepare students for the workforce.

Another new program which the school systems is putting in, is a Work Keys Assessment. Through this program, students would be tested under this national program and their abilities in literacy and math skills would be rated to give employers assurance of the applicants’ competence and abilities in these basic areas. Wayne County is one of the few systems in the state to offer this assessment.

This is being piloted this year in a few schools, but they hope to soon have it offered across the county.

One of the aspects that Dr. Taylor likes is that, if students take the assessment early, teachers can go back and help students improve their scores in a particular area.

While many of the efforts are running at the high school level, the school system is also implementing innovative programs at other levels.

Some of the difficulties every school system faces with individual student performance and drop-out rates are linked to the level of social and basic skills some students have before they come into the traditional school system. Programs such as Smart Start and More at Four are helping, and the school system is offering pre-K programs at ten schools across the county, but there continue to be children in areas who are not being served by one of these programs.

Dr. Taylor saw an idea at a workshop, where a school bus was turned into a mobile classroom to serve such populations, to take the school to those children. This year, in a partnership with Seymour Johnson AFB, a Wee Wings bus was outfitted and has begun visiting those areas. He would like to see five more busses in the future, and is seeking some help to make that happen.

The transition from middle school to high school is a difficult one for many students. This year, across the county, Freshman Academies were in place in every county high school, centralizing the classrooms for freshmen and giving them more of their own school, helping ease that difficult year.

The innovations aren’t just for the students, but also the staff.

The county has hired two lead teachers to just work with beginning teachers. They will provide additional hands-on support for those new teachers during their first three years, a critical time, to help them to become successful teachers.

A resource classroom has been set up so that beginning teachers can have access to materials so they do not have to take money out of their own pockets to provide for their students.

Another support for teachers is the establishment of some model classrooms, at Dillard for middle and high schools, and at North Drive for elementary, to give teachers some ideas about how to set up their classrooms to better serve their students.

There is a mentoring program for principals and assistant principals, and for principals in their first five years, a program to help them beef up their skills for monitoring and staff development.

One change that has impacted middle schoolers in some areas of the county is a “higher standard” dress code. Six schools have made the change, calling for same color shirts and pants to be worn by students: Brogden Middle, School Street, North Drive, Carver Heights, Dillard Middle, and Goldsboro Intermediate (5-6 grades).

Another initiative is providing mentoring for, as Dr. Taylor describes it, “every student who needs it.” Every school has a program in place to provide mentoring, but the schools have flexibility as to how to provide it.

Overall improvement in the quality of education offered in the schools has been an emphasis, and one they continue to work on and have success in accomplishing. Dr. Taylor says they have high expectations for their students and staff, and they continue to stress that. They have increased graduation rates while also narrowing the achievement gap between black and white students. Dr. Taylor said Wayne County compares favorably with state averages.

The school system is negotiating an agreement with Time Warner for an educational access channel on their system. The proposed channel will also serve Wayne Community College and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Perhaps most physically significant was a recent agreement with the county to begin $23 million in facility improvements in the county. A significant portion of the funding for those improvements will come from the state lottery proceeds.

Dr. Taylor says that those improvement will be phase one of the $105 million plan, though when and how more improvements will be funded remains to be worked out. Still, he is pleased with the efforts by the county to fund this first step, and is confident that they will be able to find a way to do more in the future.

“They have been good to work with. They have a good relationship with our board.

“This is a business where you have a lot of people to please. As long as you we put children first, we will make the best decisions we can.

“We’re not lagging behind other districts, we’re moving forward.”

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Issue of 31 January 2008

Wayne Wilson News Leader
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