Wake County Public Schools' new school schedules add 10 minutes to the school day and provides one hour early dismissal on Wednesdays

From the WCPSS Press Office:

In its meeting today, the Board of Education approved the 2009-10 bell schedule including a change for the use of time to support learning and teaching, developing techniques for strengthening and enriching students’ skills.

2009-10 Bell Schedule

The new school schedules add 10 minutes to the school day and provides one hour early dismissal on Wednesdays. On six of those Wednesdays, school will release 2.5 hours early.

2009-10 Early Release Days

The new school schedules add 10 minutes to the school day and provides one hour early dismissal on Wednesdays. On six of those Wednesdays, school will release 2.5 hours early.

This will provide time for teachers to meet for an hour on Wednesdays in professional learning communities, or learning teams. In these teams, teachers meet across grade level or subject area to review instruction and look at ways to better meet the needs of individual students. Schools will continue to use the six 2.5 hour sessions for schoolwide faculty professional development.

The schools that have the earliest start times have added the additional ten minutes at the end of the school day. The schools with the latest start times have added the additional ten minutes at the start of the school day. You can check the bell schedule here to see school bell schedules for 2009-10.

The board established the six 2.5 hour sessions as common early release days. The school system had been providing four early release days for schoolwide faculty professional development.

School administrators and representatives of the Time Committee say the changes will provide the desired status of:
Common understanding and expectations for professional learning teams;
Consistent, structured time for all WCPSS K-12 educators;
All staff participating in professional learning teams; and
Community understanding of the value of the learning teams’ work.

Representatives of the 40-member Time committee that includes school administrators, principals, teachers and parents told the school board’s Student Achievement Committee that they’ve been studying the issue for two years as schools have worked individually to figure out ways to create time for teacher learning teams to meet. Schools are at different stages in putting learning teams to use across grade levels and across subject areas.

The Time committee representatives recommended the school system provide a more uniform system that provided all schools the time for learning teams to work.

Superintendent Burns said learning teams will allow educators the time to collaborate that will help the school system improve student academic performance. He said the school system has already been studying the implementation of learning teams and will continue to look at ways to use learning teams effectively.

Time committee members said the drivers for their recommendation were the Board of Education goal for all students to graduate from high school; the need to provide time for collaboration; the need to increase student achievement; the opportunity to close academic achievement gaps among groups of students; the chance to provide job embedded professional development; and the need to provide equal opportunity for all teachers to participate in learning teams to help students achieve.

More on Time Discussions

TV’s Golden Era Was Black & White

Thought I'd share another column from writer Tom Poland, aka my dad. Wouldn't it be fun for our kids to see some of these old TV shows?

Across the Savannah
TV’s Golden Era Was Black & White
By Tom Poland

Remember the first TV you saw? I do. A small, boxy TV that had a pink cabinet. It just caught two stations ’cause that’s all there were back then. For a long time, we caught just two stations through a rickety antenna strapped to the chimney: WRDW 12 and WJBF 6. TV was pretty simple back then. No color to adjust and just three knob functions: on, off, and channel changer.

We’ve come a long ways since then what with color, UHF, cable, satellite, digital TV and high definition. No more test patterns on all night but no more “Star Spangled Banner” either as stations signed off. Maybe that’s when patriotism began to wane.

Yes we’ve come a long ways but it’s a downright shame the quality of programs hasn’t progressed as much. It seems to me the programming geniuses went for volume instead of quality. The Time Warner programming guide for my area lists an astounding 1,234 channels. Not programs but channels! Thousands and thousands of shows are out there but few worth my time. I feel like the parched Ancient Mariner on Coleridge’s ship.

“Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.”

I see shows and shows everywhere and most make my brain shrink. Thousands and thousands of shows but few make me think. For solid programming, I watch “National Geographic,” the “Discovery Channel,” and “The History Channel.” That’s it.

I am no fan of reality shows. My life is reality show enough for me. And those marathon infomercials hyping diets, real estate, and get-rich-schemes disgust me. It makes me long for the good old days. I can’t speak for you but it’s hard to beat the TV shows I grew up with. They seemed genuine in ways today’s shows do not. They resurrect memories today’s shows will not.

Here are but a few I loved to watch growing up, shows whose characters seemed real. Remember “Lost in Space?” That stowaway, Dr. Zachary Smith, was quite the cad wasn’t he. And even now I can see Chuck Connors, “The Rifleman,” spinning his Winchester Model 1892 rifle.

“Leave It To Beaver” brought the naïve Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver and his idealized suburban family into our homes. Eddie Haskel and his fawning ways were always good entertainment. “You certainly look nice today, Mrs. Cleaver.”

“Captain Kangaroo” brought the mischievous Bunny Rabbit into our lives. That rabbit always managed to trick the Captain into giving him carrots. Mr. Moose would pose riddles to the Captain and a wrong answer brought hundreds of ping-pong balls cascading down on his head. I never could figure out that Green Jeans guy, though. He probably deserved a lot of space. I mean what kind of guy would call himself Mr. Green Jeans?

Bob Keeshan who played the Captain was the first Clarabelle the Clown on “Howdy Doody,” yet another memorable show. Our childhood stars were human. Keeshan left Howdy Doody, by the way, over a salary dispute and later became Captain Kangaroo. Any of you remember how Buffalo Bob would ask, “Say kids, what time is it?” And the kids in the Peanut Gallery would resound, “It’s Howdy Doody time!” Howdy, a marionette, had 48 freckles, one for each state. If he ever comes out of retirement, he’ll need two more freckles.

“The Patty Duke Show” aired from 1963 to 1966, the heart of my high school years. The show featured two identical cousins. One was from Scotland and worldly; the other was a New York City innocent, if that’s possible. The two cousins clashed, setting a tone and many a plot. Patty Duke became a star but suffered a troubled adulthood. I met her in December 2006 and was immediately struck by her short stature, five feet even. I told her I watched her show as a kid. She thanked me and told me she found Southerners “warm, accommodating people.”

My family and I vacationed in Florida once and one of our destinations was Silver Springs, a shooting locale for “Sea Hunt.” This program followed the adventures of scuba diver, Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges. An ex-Navy frogman, Nelson rescued people from drowning and salvaged things such as a missile from beneath the sea.

What great shows we had in the days of grainy black and white TVs, rickety antennae, and no remote controls. (If you wanted to change the channel, you could make junior do it or get up off the sofa.) We had “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Twilight Zone,” and later on “The Flintstones,” a cartoon version of Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners.” “The Flintstones” made history as the first prime-time show with two people of the opposite sex in bed together. Fred and Wilma, hang your heads in shame!
The Western thrived back then. We had “The Cisco Kid,” “Gunsmoke,” and “Zorro,” starring Guy Williams who later starred in “Lost In Space.” And “Rawhide” gave us the consummate cowboy, Clint Eastwood, who parlayed his role as Rowdy Yates, a hotheaded ramrod, into the “Dollars Trilogy/Spaghetti Westerns” and superstardom. Frankie Laine, you’ll recall, sung the theme song, later made infamous by the Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd).

“Cheyenne,” starred Clint Walker, a twin by the way. His good looks caught the eye of Cecil B. DeMille who cast a part for him in The Ten Commandments. Soon, he had a show of his own.

The list goes on ... “Andy Griffith,” “Flipper,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Dr. Kildare,” “The Outer Limits,” and others. I suppose the young people of today could argue their shows are just as good but I don’t think so. The difference is simple but huge. We, the babyboomers, not only grew up with TV but more to the point, TV grew up with us. We were part of TV’s Golden Era. The fact that it was black and white is part of the glory to me.

Progress marches on and sometime it’s ruthless. All across this country landfills hold the remnants of bent and broken TV antennae that once sprouted from every rooftop. Someone said the TV antennae of yesteryear looked like the product of a wild night between a towel rack and a steam radiator. They ruined the looks of neighborhoods but no one cared for those skeletal-like contraptions snatched the signals from WRDW 12 and WJBF 6 right out of the air. They brought us laughter, entertainment, and legends. They brought us a lifetime of memories and there’s not a landfill on Earth that will ever hold those.

Email Tom with feedback and ideas for new columns.

Track 4 Families: Here are 45 Things You Can Do During Your Track-out Break!

Track 4 are you ready for this? You've got 45 different activities taking place for kids across the Triangle to choose from during your track-out break. Here's our list of fun track-out activities through April 19. We'll add more as we come across them.

1. There are 11 different Easter egg hunts in the Triangle starting this weekend and extending through April 11. Click here to see the list.
2. There are 20 different museum events taking place between March 28 and April 19, from pirate craft-making to musical performances. Click here for the list.
3. Raleigh Little Theatre Presents "Wiley and the Hairy Man"
Through March 29
4. Town of Cary Annual Kite Festival
March 28, 2009
5. Triangle Mothers of Twins and Triplets Spring/Summer Clothing & Equipment Sale
March 28, 2009
6. The Sandbox Kids and Family Fun Band Performance
March 28, 2009
7. Chatham Kids Consignment Spring/Summer Sale
April 3, 2009
8. Home Depot Kids Workshops: Window Birdhouse
April 4, 2009
9. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
March 31, 2009 at 8pm to April 5, 2009
10. Spring Break Cooking Camp at C'est si Bon!
April 6, 2009 at 9am to April 8, 2009
11. Trail Tails on the American Tobacco Trail: "Jump, Frog Jump!"
April 9, 2009
12. Scrap Exchange One Bag Workshop at University Mall in Chapel Hill
April 11, 2009
13. "Happy Days" Musical
April 14, 2009 at 8pm to April 19, 2009
14. North Carolina Symphony Announces Auditions for the 2009 North Carolina Symphony Youth Concerto Competition
April 18, 2009
15. Wake County PAGE Super Saturday
April 18, 2009
16. Family Fun and Fitness Walk
April 18, 2009

Triangle TRACKS Spring Membership Drive Kicks Off April 6!

Last fall, we kicked off our first membership drive. As a result, our membership increased by more than 50 percent and we were able to share our content and mission with even more Triangle parents. Now, we’re ready to do it all over again! Our Spring Membership Drive is April 6-27. All members who join before April 6 are eligible to participate. It’s easy! Just invite all your friends to join Triangle TRACKS and the top three members who yield the most joined invited members will win great prizes. Members who have been with Triangle TRACKS since our fall membership drive can also count any friends who have joined as a result of invitations sent after Nov. 12, when our fall membership drive ended. View a list of the prizes here. Good luck, and thanks for being a part of Triangle TRACKS!

Hurricanes Open Practices: Free Fun for the Kids!

Check out our Sports TRACKers' post on the Carolina Hurricanes' open practices, which are free to the public and give fans the opportunity to see the guys practice up close and personal! Click here to read it!

Shorter Day Once a Week for Wake Schools Being Considered

The N&O published an article today summarizing the Wake County School Board's preliminary show of support Tuesday for releasing schools early once a week to give teachers more planning time. The proposal would allow ALL schools to dismiss an hour early one day a week, and elementary and middle schools would also add two more half-days a year. The board will take a final vote on this issue March 31, and the changes could be implemented in July. Read the full story here.

Of course, this could be an expensive problem for working parents whose children attend after school care. What do you think?

"Summer Days Gone By," by Tom Poland

Tom Poland, age 8

I'm posting a column written by a professional writer based in Columbia, S.C., who also happens to be my dad. His "Across the Savannah" column appears regularly in his hometown newspaper, "The Lincoln Journal," the newspaper for Lincolnton, Ga. This particular column caught my eye because, like my dad, I spent every waking hour playing outdoors during summer vacation. Whether in my grandparents Athens, Ga., creek swimming or catching minnows with a strainer and bits of bread, climbing the magnolia tree behind my greatgrandparents home, or spending hours at the pool with my dad and sister, I was brown as a berry by summer's end and stocked with a fresh supply of summer memories to carry me through the school year.

My kids attend year-round school here in Wake County, and I often wish they could have a long summer break filled with carefree, schedule-free outdoor fun like my sister and I did. We fortunately have a small creek behind our house that the kids have made my husband and me promise never to move away from, and we spend a great deal of our track-out time visiting family so our kids can experience the outdoors we grew up loving. As a matter of fact, our kids have all climbed the same magnolia tree I used to climb, and have visited the creek I used to enjoy. The only difference is their feet aren't worn enough to scurry down the creek path barefoot from my grandparents' house, like mine used to be. And you know, that's really too bad.

So here is "Summer Days Gone By" by Tom Poland. I hope you enjoy it.

Across The Savannah
Summer Days Gone By
By Tom Poland

With winter’s end near, some nostalgia might get us through the last few cold days. Was there a more exhilarating high than school’s last day? Stepping off the school grounds for the last time, you felt weightless. The trees seemed greener, the air fresher, and the sunshine more liberating than ever. You faced a summer of freedom, sunshine, and adventure.

Back then, we didn’t have malls, fun parks, and electronic games galore. We were left to our own devices. When I wasn’t reading The Hardy Boys and Reader’s Digest, the summer break meant green, leafy days exploring the woods behind home. Sure there were trips and vacations to look forward to but the long summer days with time to burn were the best. Every day was a Saturday and every day was an adventure.

Back then, a boy’s best friends were his bicycle, BB gun, and slingshot, and I was no exception. So armed, I could conquer most anything, especially a Campbell’s tomato soup can. Hearing a BB ding against a can was music to my ears and popping a Coke bottle? Well, that was big game, though that broken glass was not good.

Armed with packs of copper-clad BBs, my Daisy, and a pouch of gravel for my slingshot, I roamed the woods. The ultimate quarry were the red-and-white fish bobbers hung in trees along the banks of the old manganese mine pond on the property. I’d try my luck fishing, too. Some of my best moments as a boy took place with an old Zebco reel and a fiberglass rod in my hands.

I spent a lot of time alone as a boy, but I don’t recall being bored. There was always plenty to do. Making a fort from saplings and boughs provided a base camp from which I’d wander into deeper woods. Quietly exploring the banks of the old manganese mine pond provided glimpses of Wood Ducks and Great Blue Herons, and shiny, slithering snakes. I explored with caution.

There were days when my explorations turned up finds worthy of the Discovery Channel. One day I stumbled across a strange box with wires and gizmos unlike anything I’d seen. A crashed UFO? No. Turns out it was the business end of a weather balloon, fallen from the heavens. On another occasion I came across the crumbling remnants of an old still. Whether it had been abandoned or raided, I never knew.
Some days I found real treasure: arrowheads. Even as a boy, I could grasp the fact that the last hand touching these chiseled, symmetrical stones belonged to the true Native American. Pottery shards, too. I was reaching back in time and walking in Cherokee and Creek Indian’s footsteps. About lightning bug time, I’d ease back home, clutching a newfound arrowhead like it was a $100 bill.

Watching fireflies at dusk never proved less than enchanting, and catching them and putting them in a mayonnaise jar was not some myth dreamed up by a writer. Handling lightning bugs gave my hands a strange musty, though not unpleasant, smell.

Insects played a big role in my summer entertainment. During those sun-splashed days, I’d catch June bugs and tie sewing thread to their legs and let them buzz around my head, like some airliner waiting its turn to land. Down on Granddad Poland’s farm, I’d search for wasp nests to knock down. One careless moment, and a red wasp would nail me good. For a small boy in Lincoln County, that kind of danger provided a thrill akin to hunting Cape Buffalo in Africa.

Up near Pistol Creek at Granddad Walker’s place, my cousins and I would cut bamboo and fashion peashooters from bamboo sections. We were never bored and nothing we did required batteries. Heck, if it had, we’d been out of luck. Money was short but the best thing about summers back then was the fact that you didn’t need the green stuff.

Looking back, I guess I’m lucky to be alive and have both eyes. Today’s kids have to wear all kinds of safety gear. Riding a bike means you need one of those helmets that makes you like those magpies, Heckle and Jekyll. Shooting a BB gun means protective goggles, making you look like the creature from the Black Lagoon, and catching lightning bugs and June bugs probably requires an environmental permit, as would damming creeks.

What danger I was in. I was lucky to survive those golden summer days, but I was even luckier for another reason. The summers between the first grade and the ninth grade were some of the best days of my life. The grueling two-a-day football practices had yet to arrive, and I’d never heard of a place called Vietnam. I was green and innocent.

Had I been able to look forward into time, I’d seen the sad day coming when I no longer had time for the woods of my youth. Nor, it seems, would many of today’s boys. The modern brand of boy prefers to watch TV and play high-tech games. How many boys today, I wonder, can make slingshots from an old inner tube, a shoe tongue, and a forked Dogwood limb? Not many I’d wager. Maybe woods and slingshots are considered toxic in these sterile times when people are all agog about eliminating risks from life.

Not long ago, the wooded days of my youth returned by proxy. I was thrilled to see my grandsons playing in the creek and trees behind their home. They even had a small cave to explore though going into it is off limits, their dad’s wise rule.

No, we didn’t have Gameboys, Nintendos, and a summer beset with planned activities when I grew up in Lincoln County. We did have Zebcos, BB guns, slingshots, woods, fishponds, and creeks. We had to find our own entertainment as best we could, and looking back, I’m convinced we’re better off for it. We were connected to the land and nature in ways most kids today are not.


Email Tom with feedback and ideas for new columns.