Pittsboro, NC – At the Woods Charter School Board meeting on Thursday, March 16 Cotton Bryant presented the following principal’s report.
What We Don’t Have to Report
In looking back over past year’s principal’s reports for the March board meeting, I am reminded that we have often had to spend time in March deciding how to make up school days we have missed because of winter weather. (And this decision in the past has not been without controversy!) Fortunately, our new calendar, based on instructional hours and not instructional days, has allowed us to absorb the three snow days we have had this winter. (As of today, our ten-day forecast does not include any temperatures below 32°!)
From Houses to Homes Guatemala Partnership Continues
Our ten students and four adult chaperones returned Saturday, March 4th following nine days of ecotourism and house-building in Guatemala. This was our fifth iteration of this trip, and this year’s crew completed three houses, bringing the number of houses in Guatemala built by teams from our community to ten!
The stories and photos from the group serve as a compelling reminder for the impact this trip has on our students’ lives: http://wcsguatemala.weebly.com/reflections.html
To learn more about our partnering organization: http://www.frornhousestohomes.org/
Refinancing Our Debt
Our subcommittee’s several-month project to interview prospective lenders (ten banks, four bond underwriters, one advisor) is reaching a new stage. Details and many beautiful slides to follow in Janna’s Finance Committee report, but for the purposes of this report, I would like to offer special thanks to parent volunteers Nina Lloyd, Janna Deegan, and Kirk Mangum for volunteering their expertise, their time, and their careful deliberation to make the process thorough and effective.
On the Road Again
A few items to update on our negotiations with NC DOT concerning traffic and the roads surrounding Woods:
1. As agreed, the stop bar from Woodland Grove Lane to Andrews Store has been extended further into Andrews Store (allowing drivers a better view west down Andrews Store as they are stopped at that intersection).
2. Survey crews were out Tuesday to assess the feasibility of moving the right turn lane from Andrews Store in toward the road shoulder (allowing drivers a better view east down Andrews Store as they are stopped on Woodland Grove). On March 1st I met with Lee Bowman and Garretson Browne of Briar Chapel, and they confirmed their support for this move.
3. Mr. Bowman and Mr. Browne also reaffirmed their commitment to building a pedestrian crosswalk across Woodland Grove Lane. This work will likely take place in June when they plan to add the final layer of asphalt on to Woodland Grove Lane.
4. We are awaiting word from NC DOT on the matter of lowering the speed limit on Andrews Store (which they have agreed to do) and we have also heard from Woods parents who would be willing to pay for the installation of a flashing light school zone sign on Andrews Store (since NC DOT is not willing to fund the project.)
Employee Contracts
I am planning to have contracts out to all teachers/employees at the beginning of next week. I will ask that these be returned within five days, which allows us to start advertising for openings over spring break. There are three openings that I know of to date:
1. Bonnie Ross will retire from Woods at the end of this school year leaving an opening in 4th grade.
2. Summer Delciotto will leave Woods to return to school full time. She has taught two dasses in theater (one for high school, one for middle) and led the after-school theater program.
3. The opening in elementary PE is currently being filled by long-term substitute Carmen Wood, who has agreed to stay until the end of the year. We will conduct a full search for this position beginning in April, and it is our hope and belief that Ms. Wood will be a candidate in the search.
Tornado Drill
Each spring, during or near Severe Weather Awareness Week, we take time to review and drill our tornado drill procedures. This year’s drill will take place tomorrow.
Director Surveys and Evaluations
Faculty, parents, and students will be able to offer feedback on our three directors—Cindy Sperry (K-8), Adrienne Berg (9-12), and Kathleen St. Lawrence—via a survey that will go live the week we return from spring break. The survey questions are both quantitative and qualitative, and they will assist me in my evaluation of the directors and the directors in their reflections on their progress.
Charter School Renewal
Two representatives from the Office of Charter Schools (OCS) will visit Woods on Tuesday, April 4th as part of their process in renewing our charter. We currently operate under a ten-year charter that expires in June of 2018. The OCS representatives will hold sessions with the board/administration, with parents, and with teachers. They will also tour the building and visit classes.
Reminder: the board’s session with OCS is at 9:00 a.m. on April 4th.
Charter School Performance Framework
Last year DPI, through the Office of Charter Schools, implemented a new performance framework to be used annually in assessing the state’s charter schools. In June I provided many documents to DPI for their use in evaluating Woods academically, financially, and operationally. On February 20th OCS reported that we were in compliance on all measures.
DPI’s explanation of the framework:
Goal 2.4 of the North Carolina State Board’s Strategic Plan is to “Increase the number of charter schools meeting academic, operational, and financial goals.” In 2014-15, DPI’s Office of Charter Schools (OCS) created the Annual Performance Framework to serve as the standard mechanism for reporting on progress toward achievement of these goals. The Framework provides a consolidated view of each charter school’s performance relative to a list of academic, operational, and financial requirements. The academic elements of the Framework are all standard indicators provided by the State accountability system. The operational and financial elements of the Framework are all required by statute, State Board policy, or the Charter Agreement.
OCS must collect various documents annually from each charter school in order to review the school’s operational compliance status and assemble the operational Framework report for the school.
I have attached OCS’s six-page report to this principal’s report.
Sports Report
High school sports — as reported by Dena Floyd
Varsity spring sports is well on its way with the start of three new spring sports this year. Track and Field will attend their first meet next Thursday at Chatham Central. The guys and ladies have been training hard under tutelage of Coach Kevin Pease. It is the inaugural season of men’s tennis, so far they have played four matches. They played their first home match at the Governor’s Club last Friday, losing a close match to Franklin Academy. Coach Sam Spencer has been great for the team, and the guys are learning and improving each game. Golf is also new this year with two golfers competing, freshman Bennett Barnes and Carter Thompson. Coach and Director Ray Reyes from the Preserve has been instructing our guys as we compete against the rest of the conference, matches are held every Monday. Lastly, the women’s soccer team is off to a great start as they are undefeated so far with three games under their belt. They had an amazing and thriller double OT win against conference foe Raleigh Charter in their home opener last week. The women look to continue their success this Friday and Sunday as they take on two highly talented teams (Community School of Davidson and Graystone Day School) in the East vs West Tournament at Catawba College. The team is coached by the wonderful Graeme Stewart in his sixth season at Woods.
Middle School Sports — as reported by Bryan Matthews
MS baseball and girls soccer have begun! Soccer won both games and baseball split theirs. Baseball is coached by Bob Cole and Chris Smollen. 12 boys fill the roster. This is their 2nd season and first in the Central Carolina Middle School Conference play. Girls soccer is once again coached by Peter Nowak, who is in his 6th season. 18 girls are on the team this season. They have played in the conference finals 3 years in a row.
Upcoming Dates:
March
27-31 Spring Break
April
4 Office of Charter Schools renewal visit
20 April Board Meeting
22 WCSF Benefit Auction
26 9th Grade Orientation
28 No School
P7. NA PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION I Mark Johnson, Superintendent of Public Instruction
WWW. NC PUBLIC SCHOOLS .0RG
February 3, 2017
TO: Charter School Administrators
FROM: Dave Machado, Director
Office of Charter Schools
2016 PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK RELEASE
Your school’s 2016 Charter School Performance Framework is attached for your review. The 2016 Charter School Performance Framework initiated a new process to collect and generate the final reports utilizing Microsoft SharePoint. The initial pilot year was a learning experience to drive and improve the process to make it more efficient for schools. We apologize for the delay in getting the 2016 final Performance Framework (PF) report to your school. The Office of Charter Schools (OCS) has worked to correct issues which caused the delay to prevent significant delays with releasing future reports.
The Office of Charter Schools (OCS) collects evidence of operational, financial, and academic compliance through the Charter School PF annually. Goal 2.4 of the North Carolina State Board’s Strategic Plan is to “Increase the number of charter schools meeting academic, operational, and financial goals.” In 2014-15, OCS created the Annual PF to serve as the standard mechanism for reporting on progress toward achievement of these goals. The PF provides a consolidated view of each charter school’s performance relative to a list of academic, operational, and financial requirements. The academic elements of the Framework are standard indicators provided by the State accountability system. The operational and financial elements of the Framework are required by statute, State Board policy, or the Charter Agreement.
We are open to your feedback as the 2017 collection period proceeds and hope you see evidence of your feedback from last year in our current process. We thank you for your patience and support of
the office during the Microsoft SharePoint transition. Please contact please contact Cande
Honeycutt at (919)807-3493 or cande.honeycuttAdpi.nc.gov with questions or concerns about the Performance Framework.
DM/DTS/CH/mb
Enclosure: 2016 Charter School Performance Framework
OFFICE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS
6303 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-6303 I (919) 807-34911Fax (919) 807-3496
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER
2016 Charter School Performance Framework
SCHOOL NAME: Woods Charter
GRADE SPAN: KG:01:02:03:04:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12
A. Operational Annual Monitoring Criteria
MEASURE CRITERIA STATUS
Al The NC Report Card and Letter Grade are prominently Compliant displayed on the school’s website and schools with D/F have sent letter to notify parents.
A2 The school has an assigned administrator in the Education Compliant
Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS).
A3 The school meets the required number of instructional Compliant
hours or days in accordance with State law.
A4 The school adheres to all testing and accountability policies Compliant
for state assessments.
A5 The school implements mandated programming as a result Compliant
of state or federal requirements.
A5 Title I N/A
A5 Title II N/A
A5 Exceptional Children Compliant
A5 School Nutrition Compliant
A5 English Language Learners Compliant
A6 The school follows student admissions and lottery Compliant
requirements as stated in North Carolina General Statute,
State Board of Education Policy, and the signed charter
agreement
A7 The school’s official funded ADM is within 10% of the Compliant
projected ADM.
2016 Charter School Performance Framework
SCHOOL NAME: Woods Charter
GRADE SPAN: KG:01:02:03:04:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12
A. Operational Annual Monitoring Criteria
MEASURE CRITERIA STATUS
A8 The non-profit board has a current grievance policy. Compliant
A09 The non-profit board has a current conflict of interest policy Compliant
that complies with G.S. 115C-218.15 (effective March 1,
2016).
A10 The non-profit board has a current nepotism policy. Compliant
All A quorum of the non-profit board of directors meets no less Compliant
than 8 times a year (including annual meeting).
Al2 The majority of the non-profit board members primary Compliant
residence in NC. 50% of board member officers reside
within NC.
A13 There is evidence of current fire inspections and related Compliant
records.
A14 The school has a viable certificate of occupancy or other Compliant
required building use authorization.
A15 The non-profit board holds current, active civil and liability Compliant
insurance with the minimum coverage as defined in the
signed charter agreement.
A16 The non-profit board has a criminal history check policy that Compliant
is at least the same as the LEA in which the school is located.
A17 The school is compliant with all student health and safety Compliant
requirements as defined in general statute, SBE policy, or
the signed charter agreement.
A18 The school is compliant with teacher licensure percentage Compliant
requirements by maintaining at least 50% of teachers
licensed from the first day of instruction throughout the
school year in accordance with SBE policy.
2016 Charter School Performance Framework
SCHOOL NAME: Woods Charter
GRADE SPAN: KG:01:02:03:04:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12
C. Financial Compliance
MEASURE CRITERIA STATUS DATA
C1 State Board of Education (SBE) policy TCS-U-006 specifies N/A (C) None – N/A
the three levels of financial noncompliance under which a
charter school may be placed by Financial and Business
Services. These levels are 1-Cautionary, 2-Probationary, and
3-Disciplinary.
2016 Charter School Performance Framework
SCHOOL NAME: Woods Charter
GRADE SPAN: KG:01:02:03:04:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12
D. Academic Outcomes
MEASURE CRITERIA STATUS DATA
D1 The charter school’s School Performance Grade (SPG) is a C or better. Met A+NG
D2 The charter school met or exceeded expected growth. Met Met
D3 The charter school’s Performance Composite Grade Level Proficiency (GLP) is 60% or better. Met 88.6
D4 The charter school’s Performance Composite College and Career Readiness (CCR) is 60% or better. Met 83.2
D5 The charter school’s Performance Composite GLP is comparable to the LEA. Met 88.6
D6 The charter school’s Performance Composite CCR is comparable to the LEA. Met 83.2
D7 Female Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 91.2
D8 Male Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 86.4
D9 Black Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 54.8
D10 White Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 91.8
D11 Hispanic Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 90.5
D12 American Indian Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. N/A N/A
2016 Charter School Performance Framework
SCHOOL NAME: Woods Charter
GRADE SPAN: KG:01:02:03:04:05:06:07:08:09:10:11:12
D. Academic Outcomes
MEASURE CRITERIA STATUS DATA
D13 Economically Disadvantaged Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 82.8
D14 Exceptional Children Subgroup Grade Level Proficiency is comparable to the LEA. Met 66.7
D15 Reading Performance Grade is comparable to the LEA. N/A A