Superintendent's Blog

October 30, 2009 - Making Positive Choices

Schools across the district celebrated Red Ribbon Week, which is a national prevention and awareness campaign that encourages students to adopt a substance-free lifestyle. Students at many of our schools encouraged their peers about staying drug-free. Vandalia Elementary even got a visit from Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson, who shared a message with students about making positive life choices.

Making positive choices is not always easy, but teaching our children in a structured environment so that students are more likely to make positive behavioral choices is one way we can help expand character education in GCS.

On Monday, 19 schools will be recognized by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction for their implementation of the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) program. Thirteen schools are being honored as PBS Green Ribbon Schools and six more are being named PBS Model Level Schools.

Currently, PBS has been implemented in 41 of the district’s schools. PBS changes how schools handle discipline, how schools make decisions and how staff interacts with students. More students making appropriate choices translates into fewer office referrals and more time spent in the classroom learning. More time spent actively engaged in learning typically leads to higher gains in achievement.

October 19, 2009 -100% Graduation Rates for Three GCS Schools

I would like to congratulate Weaver Academy, The Middle College at GTCC - Jamestown and The Early College at Guilford. These three schools are three of only seven schools statewide to accomplish a 100 percent graduation rate during the 2008-09 school year. Of the seven schools, GCS was the only school district to have more than one school in the “100 percent club.”

Weaver Academy and The Early College at Guilford also were recognized last year for the same feat. Like last year, Northwest High also topped the charts. The school’s graduation rate is one of the top two for schools with 500 or more graduating seniors.

I commend these schools’ students and staff for this significant achievement.

Overall, the 2008-09 graduation rate for GCS was 79.9 percent, compared to the statewide rate of 71.7 percent. This is certainly something to be proud of, but we still have a lot of work to do. Strategies to improve academic achievement are in place as mentioned in Area I of the strategic plan. By 2012, the district’s goal is to have 90 percent of students graduating from high school in four years as measured by the North Carolina cohort graduation rate.