Kitchen table school talk on Thursday
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 11, 2009 1:46 PM
Questions on closing the gap and student achievement will be answered by district staff this week, during the revamped Kitchen Table Conversation scheduled for Thursday night in Mount Olive.
The session will be held in tandem with the Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps Task Force, with information shared on a variety of topics.
The theme for the event will be "Empowering the Male Student."
It will be held at the Evangelical Fellowship Center at 120 S. Center St., from 6-8:15 p.m.
Parents from the surrounding community schools -- Brogden Middle, Brogden Primary, Carver Elementary, Grantham School, Mount Olive Middle and Southern High -- are especially encouraged to attend but the session is open to the public.
School officials said today that while the agenda allows for a roundtable discussion, the lead-in portion of the program will consist of pre-submitted questions that will be answered by district staff.
Among the questions covered will be:
*How many times a child can take the end of grade test if he or she does not pass it the first time
*How the county is closing the gap in regard to student achievement
*Comparing graduation and dropout rates with other districts
*What is being done to ensure exceptional students are getting an appropriate education
*Efforts to ensure schools have highly qualified teachers
*And an update on addressing facilities needs for the southern end of the county.