SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) –
Today is the first day of classes for many school systems in our area, including Cabarrus County, and the Rowan-Salisbury School System. Last week WBTV asked officials with these two systems to talk about what the new school year would hold, what significant changes were in place for the year, and any other interesting information that they wanted to provide.
Ronnye Boone, Public Information Officer with Cabarrus Schools, provided some interesting insight on the upcoming year, as well as a look at the interim superintendent, and some pretty interesting and surprising statistics.
Dr. Chris Lowder named CCS Superintendent in March. 1st day on the job was April 1st. Dr. Lowder is a Cabarrus County native, former CCS teacher, principal, and Central Office administrator.
Dr. Chris Lowder was named interim superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools on March 19, 2015. His first day on the job was April 1st.
Dr. Lowder is no stranger to Cabarrus County Schools. He has been a part of the CCS Family for more than 20 years, beginning his career with the district as an English teacher at Central Cabarrus High School in 1992.
Throughout his tenure, he has served as an assistant principal, principal and director of high school curriculum. Under his leadership, the district’s graduation rate climbed to new heights and consistently outpaces the state and national averages.
In his more recent roles, including executive director, assistant superintendent and deputy superintendent, Dr. Lowder effectively led the district’s administrative services department where he was responsible for supervising and supporting principals, as well as managing the transportation department and serving as the district’s liaison with local law enforcement.
Dr. Lowder is a native of Cabarrus County. He attended Cabarrus County Schools and Kannapolis City Schools and is a graduate of A.L. Brown High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and two master’s degrees – one in school administration and another in English – as well as a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
A devoted husband and father, Dr. Lowder has been married to his wife Stephanie for 22 years. They have two daughters – Hayley and Maggie – who attend Jay M. Robinson High and Weddington Hills Elementary Schools respectively. Dr. Lowder and his family reside in Cabarrus County.
About his selection as interim superintendent Dr. Lowder said, “I’d like to thank the Board of Education for the opportunity to lead a school system that means so much to me. Cabarrus County Schools is a great school system filled with great students, teachers, staff and parents; I am looking forward to continuing our tradition of excellence.”
Two Academies of Engineering are in place in Cabarrus Schools, including the Academy of Advanced Manufacturing and Automation at Jay M. Robinson High School, and the Academy of Energy and Sustainability at Mount Pleasant High School. The Academy of Biotechnology and Health Science is in place at Northwest Cabarrus High School
These 3 join existing academies for information technology (Cox Mill High School) and hospitality/tourism (Hickory Ridge High School), as well as a Public Safety program (Concord High School) and a high school STEM program (Central Cabarrus High School).
Additionally, these National Academy Foundation-certified high school academies offer students enrolled unique opportunities to apply what they’re learning in the classroom in the real world through job-shadowing and internship/apprenticeship opportunities with local businesses in their field of study.
The district continues to grow, and as a result, the system is building new and replacement schools:
New Odell Elementary (grades 3-5) – under construction
Replacement Royal Oaks Elementary – funding secured
Replacement Mount Pleasant Middle – funding secured
CCS is one of only 2 traditional school districts in the country to receive grant funding from the highly competitive Investing in Innovation (i3) federal grant program. Our program, INSPIRE, stands for Infusing Innovative STEM Practices Into Rigorous Education, addresses the national need to develop an integrated K-12 STEM pipeline. The i3 grant is valued at $3 million over a 5-year period.
CCS teachers ranked #1 in effectiveness for the 2nd consecutive year. 91% of our teachers met or exceeded state goals.
Expanding digital resources (Discovery Ed, ALEX, Dreambox, icurio, iReady) for students – launching CANVAS, our learning management system.
Other points of pride:
Graduation rate is 90% — 73% in 2009
2nd largest employer in Cabarrus County – 4,000 employees (2,400 teachers)
More than $300 million budget
24,670 students ride a bus each day in our district
Buses travel 26,649 miles each day
CCS Wi-Fi network named best in the state by the Friday Institute
Class of 2015 received more than $34 million in scholarships
Served 1 million breakfasts and 2.8 million lunches during the 2014-2015 school year
Served 42,000 lunches this summer
Rita Foil, Public Information Officer with Rowan-Salisbury Schools highlighted several aspects of the new year, including the Achieve 3000 program:
This is a continuation of the ‘new’ that was implemented last year. Rowan-Salisbury implemented a new 3-year strategic plan last year that created many changes. This is a building year to empower and strengthen those changes. “We are excited about moving forward,” Foil said. “We have and continue to receive great support from our community.”
While touring South Rowan High School and speaking to students on Monday morning, Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody said that the Achieve 3000 program will encourage reading for students who may be at a lower level and help them increase their reading ability.
“You first need to learn to read at your reading level and to love reading and encourage that reading so then students can start to set their goal because it’s very frustrating,” Dr, Moody said. “If you look at a text and if you’re a slow reader, quite often the articles will be about things that are more elementary, that’s very boring to them and it’s embarrassing to them, so if you can read the same text at your level it encourages you to read and increases your vocabulary so it continues to push them to the next level.”
Foil also added that RSS is excited to be continuing into the second year of implementing the Strategic Plan with the focus on Literacy and Student Engagement, excited about entering into the second year of providing students with digital devices to enrich and engage their learning environment, and excited to be launching “Achieve 3000.”
RSS is also excited to experience the “energy in the district as teaching and learning is transforming through innovative collaborative spaces for student learning and teacher planning.”
School officials are anxious to see how new start times will work out across the district. The move was designed to align all our schools across the district on a consistent schedule, but it was a controversial decision when announced with many parents opposed to the change in schedules.
Foil added that the district is excited to be adding new “hot spots” where students are offered the opportunity to continue learning after school is dismissed where Internet and supervision is provided through churches and community businesses.
Foil also answered a series of “quick hit” questions about the upcoming year:
WBTV: How many students will you serve this year? Foil: Approximately 20,000.
WBTV: Do you have any new programs this year? Foil: Yes, we are excited to unveil “Achieve 3000” – this is a program that compliments our digital conversion and literacy focus in our strategic plan. Achieve 3000 allows teachers to provide instruction assessments to students that meets the level of learning for each individual student. Schools that have implemented Achieve 3000 are seeing amazing results in increased student achievement and increased reading levels. Professional development was provided to teachers at our annual Back to School Teacher conference on Tuesday Wednesday last week.
And we are excited to be fully implementing “Schoology” – our learning management system (LMS). Schoology brings together various aspects of education, teaching and learning among stakeholders to one platform.
WBTV: Are there any budget concerns? Foil: Needing a decision on the budget to be reached soon that allows our district to provide the best for our students without further eliminations and more flexibility.
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