By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
Total enrollment in the Rowan-Salisbury School System is expected to be lower when students return on Tuesday.
Rita Foil, public information officer for the school system, said the projected 20,779 enrollment is down 124 students from last year due to the deadline for children entering kindergarten being changed from Oct. 15 to Aug. 31. This means that students turning 5 from Sept. 1 through Oct. 15 will have to wait another year to enter kindergarten.
The school system will also have 26 fewer classroom teachers this year due to the projected drop in enrollment. “This does not have anything to do with the budget,” Foil said. “We were able to save all of our teacher positions …
“They did a lot of moving and shifting around. It’s amazing what all they have done.”
Teachers who retired and/or resigned accounted for some of the 26 eliminated positions. Foil said the remaining teachers were reassigned to other positions.
The Kannapolis City Schools are projecting an enrollment of 5,200, which is slightly higher than last year, according to Community Relations Director Ellen Boyd.
School officials in both systems are excited about the 2009-2010 school year.
“We’re looking forward to a fantastic year,” Boyd said. “We’re ready to welcome back our students, and the staff has been back since Wednesday working hard to get everything ready.”
Rowan-Salisbury Schools Superintendent Dr. Judy Grissom, in a “Welcome Back” podcast posted on the school system’s Web site this week, said, “We now move into high gear to prepare for next Tuesday when our school buses will again roll. Students will return to the classrooms, and all of us will resume our efforts in making this the very best school system for our students.
“Their future is greatly influenced by the part all of us play in preparing them for a bright and successful future.”
Changes in the school systems include two new principals and a new uniform policy in the Kannapolis City Schools and more security cameras and classroom technology, a second year of Early College and four Early Release Days in the Rowan-Salisbury School System.
At A.L. Brown High School, Kevin Gray replaces Dr. Debra Morris as principal. Morris left to become the new assistant superintendent for the school system. Dr. Melia Neale replaces retiring principal Jill Roach at Forest Park Elementary.
A new uniform policy at A.L. Brown requires students to wear pants, shorts and skirts made of a twill-like material (no jeans or cargo pants). Students are also required to wear belts with any bottom wear that has belt loops.
Jackets or coats must be unzipped and unbuttoned while in the building, and hoodies and sweatshirts are not permitted.
In the Rowan-Salisbury School System, the school board is expected to appoint a committee of school officials and parents to interview candidates to replace Darrell McDowell as principal of North Rowan Middle School.
The board appointed McDowell earlier this month to replace Rodney Bass, who submitted his resignation as principal of North Rowan High School.
New in the Rowan-Salisbury School System this year are security cameras now in place at Salisbury and Jesse Carson high schools and Knox Middle School. The cameras were added in cooperation with local law enforcement through a $500,000 “Secure Our Schools” grant through Community Oriented Policing Service.
Foil said West Rowan, North Rowan and Henderson Independent high schools and Horizons Unlimited have been awarded contracts for security cameras, which should be in place within a month.
Negotiated bids for East Rowan and South Rowan high schools and North Rowan and China Grove middle schools are being processed at this time, she said. Plans are to have security cameras at these schools as soon as possible.
The remaining middle schools will be considered during another budget year or if more grant funding can be secured, Foil said.
Added to the school calendar this year are four Early Release Days on Thursday, Oct. 29; Tuesday, Nov. 24; Wednesday, March 17; and Thursday, April 1. Students will be dismissed from class two and a half hours earlier on those four days.
“Lunch will be served before they’re dismissed,” Foil said, “and then school employees will work the entire day and be engaged in professional development sessions.”
Because the school system has had to cut back on travel and conference expenses, she said administrators will be doing more podcasts, virtual meetings and communication via technology. “We’re getting very creative on that.”
Also, the iPod project at North Rowan High School is entering its second year. “All new freshmen and sophomores have them,” she said, “and each year, they’re going to add to them until the whole high school is using iPods.”
Foil said Apple has been involved in the project and helped with the initial training and setup. “North is the only school in the state that has this project,” she said, “so this is really exciting.”
The school system’s Early College started last year has entered its second year, adding a sophomore class for 2009-2010. “We had around 70 students kick it off last year,” Foil said. “They just developed a really close connection with each other because a lot of the curriculum is based on research type and group type learning.”
This year, 140 students will be participating in the Early College, which operates on a different schedule from the other schools. Classes started on Aug. 7.
“It’s geared at targeting those students that most likely would not go on to college or maybe would drop out of high school,” she said. “By the time they finish four years at the Early College, they can have earned up to two years of college credit. It’s amazing.”
Also this year, Foil said nine more teachers have been added to the six already participating in the 21st Century Classrooms project equipping them with state-of-the-art classroom technology such as digital cameras, iPods, laptops, “you name it.”
“We are pioneers,” she said. “There is no other initiative like this in the state.”
Though the supplement teachers were given to buy supplies had to be cut, Foil said they are being encouraged to use the Educators Express at East Rowan High School sponsored by Rowan Partners in Education.
“It’s a trailer full of supplies,” she said. “Teachers have to call ahead and make appointments and go through and get what they need. There’s a huge variety of supplies that will be a real big plus for helping teachers with supplies this year.”
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.