School will expand
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 28, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
First-grade teacher Tiffany Bowser and her daughter Azarria, 5, a student at Wayne Preparatory Academy, leave school on Tuesday afternoon. The school is planning to expand to include a fifth grade and expects enrollment to increase in the coming year.
A charter school that opened its doors in the fall is preparing for its second year, with plans to add fifth grade and to hire additional staff.
Wayne Preparatory Academy, located at the corner of Patetown and Tommy's Road, is accepting applications for next year and will hold a lottery drawing if the response warrants one.
A similar lottery was held last May to accept students to the new K-4 school, which began operating at capacity with more than 400 students -- 83 in kindergarten and 80 students each in first through fourth grades.
Those numbers will increase for the upcoming year, with 90 spots for kindergarten, 93 per grade for first through third grades and 100 each in grades four and five, said Dr. Todd Forgette, the school's managing director
The premiere year has already been spent developing a "personality" at the school, he said.
"It's really neighborhood feel where we are," Forgette said. "I would say the families and the kids that come to us, they know that they can reach us. The communication and support that we get from our families, everyone appreciates that we're a relatively small school.
"We see the parents twice a day, at drop-off and pick up. We get out there in the rain and snow."
In addition to a strong academic base, the staff has worked hard to develop a legacy of leadership and learning, the administrator said.
"We have really done a great job of establishing a great culture of leadership at the school," he said. "The big thing we teach kids, we have an accelerated model. We take kids from wherever they are and we put them on track to get where they're going. The goal is growth for kids to be on and above grade level."
The charter school is under the jurisdiction of the same state agency that handles public schools, Forgette said, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. As such, it has the same testing requirements for end-of-grade tests, which will be administered in the spring.
With the expansion of an additional grade in the fall, the goal is to hire four fifth-grade teachers, Forgette said.
The school is also on track in its construction efforts. Currently, the grounds are entirely occupied by modular units, or educational "cottages."
The facilities plan calls for Wayne Prep to add a grade each year, so that the school ultimately has sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The school is about a year and a half away from the brick-and-mortar structures that will replace the trailers, Forgette said.
Meanwhile, applications for the fall will be accepted through March 6 at 3:45 p.m., the administrator said.
Parents of current students need not reapply, unless it is for another child in the family not currently enrolled there. If necessary, a lottery drawing for slots will be done on March 10.
"If we receive the applications and have exceeded the number of spaces, we'll do a randomized computerized lottery draw," he said. "We'll contact those that have made it to the lottery or those on the waiting list."
The school is also offering several events for those interested in learning more about the school and its programs.
Coffee chats will be held Feb. 5, 11, 17 and 26 and on March 4 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. These are opportunities to meet with the executive leadership team and to discuss such topics as the school's mission, leadership, academics and the premise of a charter school.
Open house events are scheduled for Saturdays, Jan. 31 and Feb. 28, from 9-11 a.m. and includes a welcome from Forgette and a tour of the facility.
Classroom observations are also available by appointment, signing up to visit a classroom and observing a teacher in action. Dates for that are Feb. 3, 5, 11, 17, 19 and 23, and March 3.
Apply online at www.wayneprepnc.org or call 919-734-8085 to schedule a time to complete the application or attend one of the above functions.