TITLE I UPDATES

September, 2015

WELCOME New Staff

We are pleased to announce that Ms. Freda Lee has joined the Federal Program Monitoring and Support Division. Freda most recently served as the Race to the Top (RttT) Coordinator for Teacher and Leader Preparation Programs, which included initiatives such as the Governor’s Teacher Network, North Carolina Teacher Corps, Regional Leadership Academies, and the New Teacher Support Program. Prior to RttT, Freda served for over twenty years as the Statewide Consultant for Intellectual Disabilities and Transition Services taking lead on the development of the Occupational Course of Study (OCS) and the initial development of the blended online OCS courses offered by NC Virtual Public Schools. Beginning October 1, Freda will support the Southwest Service Area in grants management, program monitoring, and technical assistance. Please join me in welcoming Freda to our team!

Service Area Meetings

As noted during the April statewide meeting, regional assignments will be slightly modified for staff in 2015-16 in accordance with the new North Carolina Prosperity Zones. As staff begins planning technical assistance throughout the year, the former regions will be identified as “service areas” as follows:

·  Region 1 – Northeast Service Area

·  Region 2 – Southeast Service Area

·  Region 3 – North Central Service Area

·  Region 4 – Sandhills Service Area

·  Region 5 – Piedmont Triad Service Area

·  Region 6 – Southwest Service Area

·  Region 7- Northwest Service Area

·  Region 8 – Western Service Area

At a minimum, staff will offer service area meetings in or around September and February with application walk-in reviews in May. As noted in previous updates, our division has experienced several staff changes, but is working to fill vacant positions in order to fully support your work in the upcoming school year.

2015-16 Monitoring

The Federal Program Monitoring and Support Division will monitor additional local education agencies (LEAs) and charter school programs during the 2015-16 school year. In an effort to continually improve our mutual work, we will utilize a combination of desk-side monitoring and on-site visits. All LEAs and charter schools listed on the schedule below will be notified and contacted by program staff at least 30 days prior to the monitoring date.

LEAs / Charters
September / Swain
Rockingham
October / Durham
Pamlico
Dare
Graham
Camden / Artspace
New Dimensions
Two Rivers
Bridges Academy
November / Moore
Tyrell
Lincoln
Yadkin / Quality Education
Carter G. Woodson
Clover Garden
Pinnacle
Charlotte Choice
December / Catawba
Jones (Desk)
Cherokee
Chatham / Mountain Discovery
January / Macon (Desk)
Edgecombe
Forsyth / CIS Charter
Academy of Moore Co.
Alpha Academy
February / Newton-Conover City (Desk)
Harnett
Montgomery
Guilford
Elkin City (Desk) / Maureen Joy
Healthy Start Academy
Voyager Academy
Global Scholars
Institute for the Development of Young Leaders
NE Carolina Prep
March / Robeson
Hyde (Desk)
Cumberland
Polk
Lee / Washington Montessori
Cross Creek
Bear Grass
April / Cleveland
Carteret
Wilson (Desk)
Mooresville
Avery / Learning Center
S. Brunswick
Cape Fear
ZECA

Please find attached to this email, the presentation materials from the webinars as well as the updated tools that Program Monitoring staff will use to conduct monitoring reviews during the 2015-16 school year. Please note that the tools reflect no significant changes in the indicators, rather the interview questions for district staff, parents, and others have been embedded within the monitoring instrument to more clearly align to specific compliance requirements. Prior to the on-site visit or desk review, pre-visit documentation must be submitted to NCDPI or made available through web-based means including a sample of school-level data. Sample schools will be selected during the planning phase.

USED Schoolwide Program Information

As you may be aware, on July 30, 2015, Ann Whalen issued a letter to Chief State School Officers highlighting the advantages and flexibilities in schoolwide programs. The document offers some clarification to common misunderstandings as well as a “word of caution” around supplemental funding tests in schoolwide programs. The information provided should be used in addition to existing guidance when working with your local schools. As a follow up, I plan to discuss schoolwide programs during my updates at the North Carolina Association of Compensatory Educators (NCACE) conference at the end of October. The letter and enclosed guidance may be found HERE.

SAVE THE DATE – NCACE Conference

The North Carolina Association of Compensatory Educators (NCACE) conference will be held October 28-30, 201, at Embassy Suites, Greensboro, NC. Registration, hotel information, and the final call for proposals can be found at the NCACE website HERE. Proposals must be submitted by Friday September 11 for consideration. Scroll down to the Call for Proposals and click on submit a proposal under the red text.

If you have any questions, please contact Lesa Widner at or 828-728-8407, ext. 153.We look forward to seeing you there!

SAVE THE DATE - New Director Institute

The next New Director Institute will be offered as a pre-conference institute during the NCACE Conference on Tuesday, October 27, 2015. The focus of the meeting will be comparability reporting, the monitoring process, fiscal issues, and focus school requirements. Additional information and registration will be provided in a separate email.

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