Four high schools getting specialized programs

Huntersville parents had been pushing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for a special program at Hopewell High, and now they'll have it.

CMS said this week that they're implementing a Cambridge International program at Hopewell and its feeder schools. Essentially, it's an advanced course of study and rigorous set of standards developed at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The program is viewed similarly to International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement coursework.

You often hear about programs like this at magnet schools, but CMS is not changing the boundaries for Hopewell High or the feeder schools.

Akeshia Craven-Howell, the CMS assistant superintendent of the Office of School Options, Innovation and Design, said the idea to implement the program at Hopewell all came from the parents. She said it represents one of the most significant investments the district has made in a neighborhood school.

It's also likely a reaction to the growing charter school movement. Mecklenburg County has seen a bigger flurry of charter activity than anywhere else in North Carolina, and the northern end of the county has several popular ones.

"We want parents to know that inside CMS, parents have choices," Craven-Howell said.

The program is not quite a done deal. CMS must still get final approval.

Three other high schools -- West Charlotte, West Mecklenburg and Garinger -- are getting new programs focused on career education. Called "Pathways to Prosperity," the goal is to let students complete high school with industry certifications or credit that can transfer in to Central Piedmont Community College or schools like Johnson C. Smith University.

At West Charlotte, for example, the plan is to create an "academy of information technology" in partnership with JCSU. Students could emerge with valuable credentials like those offered by Cisco, Craven-Howell said.

CMS also wants to build out programs in areas like agriculture, energy, aerospace and supply chain management. They'll ultimately expand beyond the three schools.

Steps forward and back in high school graduation rates

CMS celebrated its increasing graduation rate this week. It hit a new high at 85.2 percent, edging out the state of North Carolina as a whole and Wake County.

It wasn't until the next day that the school-by-school numbers came out, and as you'd expect there's both good news and not-as-good news.

• Hawthorne High near uptown Charlotte had the biggest leap in graduation rate, to 90.6 percent from 65.9 percent the year before. The school is a bit of an unusual case, though. For years, Hawthorne was an alternative school. CMS decided last year to turn it into a medical science academy magnet school, and brought in some new students this year in that program. The graduating classes each year are also exceedingly small: only 29 students this year.

• Lincoln Heights Academy posted the lowest graduation rate at 66.7 percent. It's a school designed for students with behavioral issues. You can't compare this year's rate with past performance, however. The school was formerly known as Lincoln Heights Elementary, and only re-opened with high school students in 2011. That means a full class of seniors hadn't come through until this year.

• West Charlotte High posted another sizable increase in its graduation rate year, moving from 71.1 percent to 78 percent. The school made headlines last year by jumping 15 points in a single year. It's still the lowest graduation rate among high schools with a traditional population, however.

• Fifteen schools had graduation rates above 90 percent, just more than half of the 29 total schools with reported figures.

• Seven schools had graduation rates above 95 percent this year, which is the cut-off point where the state no longer gives a specific figure but instead just reports that the graduation rate was somewhere above that line. Ardrey Kell, Mallard Creek, Northwest School of the Arts, and Providence were repeats from last year. The Military and Global Leadership Academy and the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology were new entrants on the list. The Performance Learning Center fell off the list, coming in at 93.2 percent this year.

• Garinger High took the biggest step back this year, falling from 92.2 percent to 87.6 percent. 

Here's a full table I compiled, for your perusal:

School	2013-14	2012-13
Ardrey Kell High	> 95	> 95
Butler High	91.8	93.4
Cato Middle College High	> 95	> 95
East Mecklenburg High	83.5	83.8
Garinger High	87.6	92.2
Harding University High	87.6	87.6
Hawthorne High	90.6	65.9
Hopewell High	87.5	86.5
Independence High	88.6	84.4
Lincoln Heights Academy	66.7	n/a
Mallard Creek High	> 95	> 95
Military and Global Leadership Academy	> 95	92.6
Myers Park High	91.3	85.6
North Mecklenburg High	92.3	88
Northwest School of the Arts	> 95	> 95
Olympic High - Biotech Health Pub Admin	88.5	85
Olympic High - Intl Study, Global Econ	85	76.2
Olympic High - Renaissance School	91.5	83.8
Olympic High -Intl Bus and Comm Studies	82.5	85.5
Olympic High-Math Eng Tech Science	92.8	93
Performance Learning Center	93.2	> 95
Phillip O Berry Academy of Technology	> 95	91.8
Providence High	> 95	> 95
Rocky River High	88.9	92.6
South Mecklenburg High	90.8	88
Vance High	84.2	81.3
West Charlotte High	78	71.1
West Mecklenburg High	85	77.4
William Amos Hough High	92.4	92.2

Can grants make CMS schools safer?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is seeking a little more than $7 million in federal money aimed at making schools safer,  and that launched some interesting discussion about risks and strategies.

The school board approved a $2.5 million request to the U.S. Department of Education to "expand the district’s capacity to assist schools in high violence communities in breaking the cycle of violence,"  the summary presented Tuesday says.  "The 13 CMS Project Prevent schools serve a total of 11,035 students. A position will be developed that relieves school counselors and social workers from the non-specialized duties that frequently monopolize their time. In addition, student services staff will receive training and consultative support in the delivery of evidence-based counseling methods to support children who have experienced trauma."

Waddell

The 13 schools are Garinger High in east Charlotte,  Harding High in west Charlotte and the elementary and middle schools that feed into them.  Board member Joyce Waddell asked why Hidden Valley Elementary and Martin Luther King Middle School weren't included,  given that the Hidden Valley neighborhood in northeast Charlotte has been notorious for gang activity.  (She didn't mention it,  but Hidden Valley Elementary was the site of the state's only at-school homocide in 2012-13,  when police shot a teenager in the school parking lot during a drug sting gone bad last summer.)

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police reviewed crime in high school zones and found that the highest rates were in the West Charlotte,  Garinger,  Harding and Vance zones,  in that order,  according to the staffer making the report  (I think,  but am not certain,  it was Karen Thomas,  who is retiring as executive director of student support services.)  West Charlotte High already gets support from the public-private Project LIFT,  she said,  so the grant focuses on the Garinger and Harding areas.  Note that this refers to crime in the neighborhoods the schools serve,  not to crime in the schools themselves.

Hidden Valley is in the Vance zone.  The staffer said Vance and its feeder schools will be part of another request approved Tuesday,  for almost $4.6 million from the Department of Justice to "develop knowledge about the specific programs, activities and interventions that improve school safety in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. The researcher will collect evidence and evaluate intervention approaches that enhance school safety,"  the summary says.

Tales from another era of education

The death of Leroy  "Pop"  Miller provided a reminder of the difference great educators make, along with a glimpse of a very different era in education.

Leroy "Pop" Miller

Miller,  who made his mark at East Mecklenburg, West Charlotte and Carmel Junior High,  was long retired when I arrived in North Carolina.  His East Meck students are my contemporaries,  and the tributes they've posted evoke a time when the only controversy over paddling was who deserved it and who didn't.

"The man earned my respect, especially after a few cracks from the leather strap he carried!"  wrote Toby Brundage.

This account posted by Katherine Magnotta was especially vivid:

When Pop Miller arrived at East Meck, he came into an integrated school full of turmoil and strife. The riots were fierce. Pop came in with vision and determination in his eyes and the fully armored riot squads behind him. He took control over the school and the students.

He did not see color, he saw students that needed love, discipline and education. He brought all three. If a student got in trouble, one of the punishments was for men, to wear a shirt and tie and for a girl to wear a dress. This seemed cruel in the hippy era where conservative dress was out of place, but it did something to us that defied logic. It made us walk different, hold our head up and act like a lady or a gentleman.

He was so wise in our dealings. I remember one day four of us were caught smoking weed in the parking lot (yes we did). We were taken to Pop Miller's office, where we were lined up against the wall while he just stared at us for quite a while, no words. It seemed like eternity and all the while Pop's lips were doing the in and out pursing motion. I wanted to burst out laughing but I knew it would be the end of us all. Then all of a sudden Bubba opened his mouth and said something sarcastic to Pop and before we knew it, Pop had grabbed Bubba's jacket and whipped him with it! Back in those days, students could be spanked and disciplined. It was not a bad thing. Pop did not hurt him, but it sobered us up enough to realize Pop meant business. We all had to dress up for a week and sweep the smoking patio everyday (yes, we had a smoking patio in high school). Pop made a point to tell how wonderful we looked and to comment on what a good job we did on the patio. His punishment was always to make us better people and not to degrade us.

Leadership like what Pop Miller brought to the table is not about race, color, economic status, politics or education. Leadership like Pop came from a heart filled with a deep level of wisdom, love and respect for the fellow man/woman. Pop has left us East Eagles with wonderful memories and respect for a job well done.

The online guest book brought other memories. Juanita Craig wrote about being a  "very wild and over the top tomboy student"  at West Charlotte High in 1960.

"Speaking for many students in the Greenville community Pop really had something to deal with because we were a very special bunch,"  Craig wrote.  "When we graduated we all were model students. Thank you Pop a zillion times for being in my life. I don't know where or what I would be doing now if you hadn't sat me down in your office and let me know I didn't need to do the things I was doing to be respected."

Several women remember how Miller called all the girls his princesses:  "One thing that I always remember was his Princess speech,"  wrote Joy Greene.  "He would use it to praise you when you succeeded and to let you know your were capable of doing better if you messed up. After all. we were all his Princesses and Princes."

Pop Miller started teaching in 1945.  In 2014,  people are still telling their children and grandchildren about the life lessons he provided.  If you're a young teacher,  think about that for a moment.  For all the stress and hassles you're enduring today,  it's got to be awe-inspiring to imagine being remembered in the 2080s by students whose lives you're shaping now.

West Charlotte's segregation history makes Retro Report

A 10-minute documentary about the history of court-ordered desegregation and its reversal in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools -- specifically at West Charlotte High  --  went online today as part of the Retro Report, a new documentary news group created to give historic context to issues in the news.

Griffin

"The Battle for Busing"  uses archival news clips and interviews with participants,  especially former school board Chairman Arthur Griffin,  who experienced segregation and desegregation as a student.  As board chair,  Griffin led the court battle to keep race-based student assignment for diversity in place.  After losing that fight,  Griffin says in the documentary,  he decided not to seek election because "I was out of step."

"I said,  'I'll just step aside and I won't try to stop you and we'll see what happens,' "  says Griffin,  who is now an executive with McGraw-Hill Education.

What happened,  in terms of racial composition,  was that West Charlotte went from being viewed as a national model for desegregation  --  "a darling of the national media,"  as the report puts it  --  to reverting to its origins as a black high school. Although no one is assigned by race now,  last year 87 percent of West Charlotte students were black and 2 percent were white  (2013-14 numbers aren't in yet).

Retro Report was created with a grant from former television editor Christopher Buck;  read more about the nonprofit group that emerged here.  "Retro Report is there to pick up the story after everyone has moved on, connecting the dots from yesterday to today, correcting the record and providing a permanent living library where viewers can gain new insight into the events that shaped their lives,"  the introduction says.

The New York Times features Retro Report on its online  "Booming"  section,  designed to appeal to those of us born between 1946 and 1964.  

Couple featured in Booming (remember this look?)

CMS task force reports coming

The folks who served on Superintendent Heath Morrison's 21 advisory task forces over the last few months will gather at West Charlotte High this afternoon to celebrate the end of their work and offer brief highlights of their recommendations.  The full reports will be posted on the CMS task force web site on Wednesday,  says Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark.

Clark

Today's get-together is mostly to thank the 300-plus citizens and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees who delved into such topics as early childhood,  technology,  gifted students,  magnets and choice,  public trust,  parent engagement and cultural competence.  After the release,  Clark said,  CMS will sort all the recommendations into action categories,  from those that can and should be put in place right away to those that require more money,  more study or changes in policy/legislation.  The suggestions will shape discussions as Morrison and the board revise the district's strategic plan in coming weeks.

Most of the task forces have wrapped up their work,  though some may continue to meet occasionally.  But one is just gearing up,  and it's a hot topic:  Compensation.  When Morrison launched his list of 22 task forces in November,  there was already a group of educators working on a  "strategic compensation"  plan for teachers  tied to a state request with a March 1 deadline.  That group didn't include outsiders and was never listed among the task forces whose meetings were open to the public.  Instead,  Clark said,  a new task force has been formed with a broader goal of looking at compensation for all 18,000-plus employees,  not just teachers.  Members of the previous panel have been invited to join.  Clark said the new group's roster and meetings will be posted in the next few days.  Anyone may attend,  including interested CMS employees who aren't on the panel,  she said.

Do grads pay off for principals?

Superintendent Heath Morrison says he expects "an uptick" in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' graduation rate for 2013,  though official numbers aren't out yet.  (It was 76.4 percent in 2012;  check details for districts and schools here.)

Comments on this blog have raised the question of whether principals collect bonuses if their graduation rates rise.   The answer:  Only at West Mecklenburg and West Charlotte High,  as part of school improvement grants.  Bonuses based on 2013 graduation rates will be paid in September,  according to spokeswoman Tahira Stalberte.

The CMS bonus system has long been a patchwork of pilots and special projects,  with schools moving in and out of eligibility as one funding source runs out and another grant comes through. The CMS payroll data I got in April showed 1,054 people getting bonuses (out of almost 18,700 employees).  Twenty-four were principals,  including four at high schools:  West Charlotte ($10,000 for John Wall), West Meck  ($5,500 for Eric Ward),  Vance ($2,950 for Melissa Dunlap) and Garinger  ($2,400 for Kondra Rattley,  who was recently promoted to executive director in a zone office).  Even at West Charlotte and West Meck,  that money wasn't necessarily tied to graduation rates.  Wall,  for instance,  was recruited last July through Project LIFT, which paid him a $10,000 signing bonus.

Meanwhile,  the school board has yet to set the standards for Morrison's performance bonus.  His contract allows him to collect up to 10 percent of his $288,000 base pay,  awarded by Oct. 31.  New state exams are complicating efforts to measure his impact on student achievement;  the results won't be released until October  (some speculate it could be later)  and it's far from clear that 2013 scores will be comparable to previous years.  I'm guessing the graduation rate will be one of several measures used to rate the superintendent.

Evaluating Project LIFT

The decision to revamp N.C. testing put a major kink in Project LIFT's plan to chart five years of academic trends at West Charlotte High and its eight feeder schools. Test scores from 2012,  which were supposed to form the baseline for measuring changes that started this year,  won't bear much relationship to results on new tests that will be evolving over the next couple of years.

Watts

In a report to the school board Tuesday,  Zone Superintendent Denise Watts outlined an evaluation plan that will be carried out by Research for Action,  a Philadelphia-based nonprofit.  The delay in 2013 test results means the first-year report won't come out until January.  While the change between 2012 and 2013 might not mean much,  the researchers will compare performance with similar  "comparison schools."  They'll also look at attendance, retention and behavior  --  measures that should have some continuity with past years.

For anyone who has missed it,  Project LIFT is a $55 million,  five-year investment from foundations that want to make a significant difference in long-struggling westside schools.  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools created a groundbreaking public-private partnership that gives the private donor board a strong role in hiring, firing and other key educations decisions.

As you might imagine,  when you have groups such as the Bank of America Charitable Foundation,  the Leon Levine Foundation and the C.D. Spangler Foundation putting up $10 million each,  they want solid data on whether their money is making a difference.  And CMS leaders want answers about whether Project LIFT strategies,  from teacher recruitment efforts to year-round schools,  produce strong enough results to justify spending public money to expand them.

One year isn't nearly enough to prove the project a success or failure,  but it'll be interesting to see the tracking start.

White flight ... from private schools?

Private school enrollment has been declining nationwide over the past decade,  especially among white students,  according to a new U.S. Census Bureau study.

The working paper concludes that that national downturn,  which began earlier in the decade,  isn't likely to have been caused by the recession.  Instead,  it found a link between charter school growth and private school decline,  suggesting that families who aren't happy with traditional public schools may be switching to a tuition-free alternative.

The Census study inspired me to check North Carolina's private-school reports. They show enrollment growing steadily in Mecklenburg County and statewide from 2000 to 2009, with both slumping in 2010.

But the numbers don't show a dramatic decline.  Mecklenburg's private enrollment began ticking up again in 2011 and 2012.  The latest report shows a total of 19,545 students in Mecklenburg's private schools,  accounting for just over 20 percent of all N.C. students in private schools.  That's just barely below the 2009 peak of 19,733.  Statewide, the 2012 total of 96,096 in private schools is about 2.5 percent below the 2009 peak.

The national report raises interesting questions about the dynamics of change, especially with a surge in charter schools statewide and in the Charlotte region. Leaders of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Mecklenburg's charter and private schools have held two meetings to talk about the balance between competition and cooperation.

Nobody's ready to issue a public plan or agenda yet, but CMS spokeswoman Kathryn Block said they're discussing potential for common ground in  "teacher professional development,  transportation,  grants and community messaging."

Speaking of the charter boom:  N.C. Senators Jerry Tillman and Dan Soucek filed a bill Thursday that would create a new governing board for charters. Here's what the N.C. Alliance for Public Charter Schools had to say about it.

Charlotte's investment in Isaiah

Four years ago, I wrote about Isaiah Scott's quest to go to Morehouse College.  After piling up honors and accomplishments at West Charlotte High, he'd been accepted to the historically black, all-male private school in Atlanta.  But as one of seven children of a divorced dad, he needed money to close the gap between the scholarships he'd won and the $29,000-a-year cost.

Support poured in for the personable, hard-working teen.  Churches, businesses and individuals, including alums of West Charlotte and Morehouse, rallied with financial, personal and spiritual support.  They stuck with him through four years of college, where he continued his record of leadership and success.

Yesterday I visited the newly-minted Morehouse graduate and some of his family (more about that coming in print soon).  Scott couldn't say enough good things about the support he got from the West Charlotte faculty and the community members who helped him through college.


L-R: Esther, Isaiah, Leon (father) and John Scott.

 "It was an overwhelming downpour of support,"  he said.  "It's just a lot of love and a lot of prayer."

While he was at Morehouse, he helped recruit students for Teach For America, a program that sends young teachers into West Charlotte and other high-poverty CMS schools.  He'll soon report to work at American Express in New York City, but he had a few weeks between his May 15 graduation and his start date.

So he tapped his network of Charlotte contacts to help him get an internship with Mayor Anthony Foxx. "There's kind of a 'no sitting around the house' mentality here," he said of his high-achieving family.  Scott didn't get to join Foxx on his trip to the White House earlier this week, but he did help prepare Foxx's notes for his meeting with the president.

Seeing Scott at 22, sharp and confident in his business suit, I couldn't help thinking back to the last conversation we'd had, when he was an 18-year-old humbled by all the support.  "I don't want to come back to Charlotte and it's like, 'Aw, man, I invested in a knucklehead,' " he said then.

No danger of that.