Carver event addresses regrouping
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 10, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Cortrina Smith, principal of Carver Heights Elementary School, speaks to a group of parents in the gymnasium of the school Tuesday night during a meeting about the new school year.
Iris Robinson was so concerned about people showing up for parents' night at Carver Heights Elementary School on Tuesday evening that she made up her own flyers and distributed them.
She has long recognized the importance of being involved in the education of the next generation. And the one beyond that.
"I have three daughters, 21 grandchildren and five, going on six, great-grandchildren," she said, volunteering that she just turned 65.
Accompanied by a granddaughter, Iyana Simmons, who will be a fifth-grader at the school, she attended the brief session in the gymnasium to learn more about the reconfiguration affecting Carver Heights.
Currently raising three grandchildren, who all attended School Street Elementary, that changes this year with the district's new regrouping plan.
In June, the school board approved the plan, which affects the central attendance zone.
The plan converts School Street into an early learning center, focusing on school readiness. North Drive Elementary School will house students entering kindergarten through second grade. Carver Heights will be for third-fifth-graders. Dillard Middle School dropped fifth grade and will have grades six through eight.
"I'm still leery about the change, even though I'm open to change," Ms. Robinson said, explaining that her three charges will now be split up. "One will be here, two at North Drive."
On the plus side, she pointed out, the bus will now transport them to school.
"That makes it a little easier," she said.
Tuesday night's session, one of two this week -- the other will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at North Drive -- gave parents an update on the regrouping and information on bell schedules, bus routes and expectations for the upcoming school year.
Cortrina Smith, formerly principal at School Street, will take over the helm at Carver Heights.
She said she had gotten a number of calls from parents, making her feel at home already.
"We're going to be very successful this year," she told the audience.
She said she has an "open door policy" and encouraged the parents to take an active role in their child's education.
"Support them at home," she said. "Let us know how we can connect with you, support your child and your family."
Parents will receive a monthly calendar, she said, about their child's schedule, which includes "TWIST special area classes" -- music, art, P.E. and media -- on a rotated basis.
Mrs. Smith also went over the start and dismissal times, which will now be 7:30 a.m. until 2:45 p.m., with an early morning drop-off option beginning at 7 a.m.
More information will be provided during the district's open house, which will be Aug. 25 for elementary schools, from 5-7 p.m.
The district is also becoming more active on social media as a communication tool. In addition to a Facebook page, Wayne County Public Schools is a presence on Twitter and an app. Carver Heights also has its own Twitter account, Mrs. Smith said, #Carver Heights ES.
"We're excited about what we're doing at Carver Heights," Dr. Michael Dunsmore, schools superintendent, told the gathering, reminding them of the ConnectED grant the school received last year.
"It's one of 94 individual schools in the U.S. that got that grant. All of the students got Apple devices."
Now that the school has been reconfigured to concentrate on grades 3 to 5, each of those students will receive an iPad, expanding their opportunities even more, he said.
Zyrabia Exum, a rising fourth-grader, was at North Drive last year.
Her mother, Irene Exum, had hoped the event would include discussion about the uniform. The higher standard dress code for students centers around solid color shirts and pants.
"It's kind of hard to find uniforms throughout the year," she said.
For Morra Harris, though, the evening exceeded her expectations.
"A lot of the teachers came from School Street, where my children came from," she said. "I just wanted to hear what they have to offer here.
"The teachers from School Street are excellent, so I knew 100 percent that I was going to bring my children here. They get on your children's level -- there was never a child they didn't talk to, never a child they didn't praise."
The mother of five, three who will attend Carver Heights in the fall, in grades three, four and five, said she became emotional when she discovered that some School Street staff were also making the move.
"It brought tears to my eyes when I heard they were going to be here, I was so happy," she said. "It made me feel a lot better, because at first when they said they were going to change, it bothered me since we had a personal relationship with School Street.
"But when I came and Mrs. Smith is the principal, it puts an ease in my heart."
With the opening of school less than three weeks away -- classes start Aug. 29 -- there is still more work to be done. Most of it, though, is aesthetics, said Carol Artis, director of elementary education.
"We're fully staffed. We looked at where teachers wanted to go with age groups and also where their certificate would allow them to teach," she said. "And then there were just a few openings that we had to go outside of that pool to get."
Right now, the district is doing what it normally does during the summer months, she said, painting and cleaning, but with the switch-up of grade levels, things like furniture and playground equipment are being shifted around to have the right size and age-appropriate items at each site.
"I feel really good about this. This is a configuration that has been utilized in different pockets of North Carolina and has been successful. It's a configuration that has been used in Goldsboro before," Ms. Artis said. "Rather than waiting for us to hear from the state, what they want us to do (with low-performing schools), we're looking at our own demographics. We are deciding.
"I feel very encouraged and while we don't know that it will work, we don't know that it won't. I'm putting everything I have into it."