Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/183741
Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Till Says Schools Are Moving In the Right Direction by STEPHANIE CRIDER Dr. Frank Till, the superintendent of Cumberland County Schools system has The president of AdvancEd describes the process as "… a rigorous process that plenty to be excited about these days. Not only was the Cumberland County Schools focuses the entire school system on the primary goal of creating lifelong learners." system a finalist for the 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education this year, the system CCS serves a diverse student population (44 counties and 70 different native received full accreditation and student test results are rising rapidly. Innovative languages) and continues to close the achievement gap among all the racial groups. In partnerships like the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, a joint effort with the Fayetteville 2009, the End of Course gap between black and white students was 23.8 percent. In Regional Chamber, and Reading Rocks bring even more opportunities for local 2012, it was15.6 percent. The state average is 20.4 percent. The school system is on a students to shine. high growth track and based on information Knowing that today's youth will thrive as from the 2011-2012 school year, CCS has adults in a technology-driven world, Till has no priority or low-performing schools and embraced technology and seeks to equip 11 schools were named N.C. Schools of today's students with the skills they will need Excellence and 27 were named Schools of to compete as young professionals. For him Distinction. it truly is about the students and giving them The graduation rate for Cumberland the opportunities and skills that will prepare County exceeded the state graduation rate in them for the future and help them succeed, 2011/2012, and CCS students were awarded no matter what they choose to pursue. more than $40 million in scholarships for While all the accolades and achievements the same school year. This year, more than are significant, it's important to understand 80 percent of local high schools students that these are not the end goal. Yes the Broad graduated and they were collectively offered Prize nomination is impressive and the more than $48 million in scholarships. accreditation is a mark of competence, but Results like this don't just happen. There these are the result of countless hours of hard are committed teachers and administrators work and thoughtful consideration about how spending countless hours working to help to best serve and educate the community's prepare students to be competitive in a fastmost valuable asset — our youth. paced and technology driven world. CCS is accredited because it is doing the Innovation and partnerships with outside right things and making the right choices organizations provide opportunities to in how to launch the next generation to local youth. a successful future. Till maintains that by The Reading Rocks Walk-a-thon celebrates doing the right things (helping students 10 years of supporting literacy this year. This learn and succeed in school) for the right fundraiser has raised more than $1.5 million reasons (providing them with skills that will in the past decade and raised $245,000 just make them competitive in the work place as last year. The money is raised locally and adults) everything else will fall into place. As stays in the schools in which it was raised. the fifth largest school district in the state and The funds are used to buy items that promote the 78th largest in the country, the successes literacy, including digital books and iPads. A lot of hard work and dedication have made Cumberland County Schools a shining happening right here in our community will This year, Reading Rocks in on Oct. 19. at example of where our schools should be headed. Dr. Frank Till, Cumberland County likely have far-reaching effects on the next Festival Park. Schools superintendant is pleased with the many achievements and what it means generation. The Young Entrepreneurs Academy, for local students. Truly, CCS has plenty to celebrate – Broad which is run in conjunction with Prize finalists, accreditation, rising test scores, the Fayetteville Regional Chamber innovative programs and partnerships, of Commerce and the Center for technological advances are all part of what Entrepreneurship at Methodist makes CCS a step above. University, is for students in 6-12 grades. This program is designed to help our The 2013 Broad Prize for Urban Education comes with a $1 million prize Entrepreneurs bring their ideas to fruition. and "honors a district that demonstrates the greatest overall performance and "It's like the TV show Shark Tank," said Till. "Students get to present their improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among ethnics ideas to a panel and see if they can get funding and sponsors for it." groups and between social economic groups." There is no nomination or application Methodist University is not the only institution of higher learning that partners process. An institution's performance is what decides which schools are considered with CCS. Fayetteville Technical Community College and Fayetteville State for this prize. The committee considered 73 items from CCS during the review. University both have programs that allow high school students to earn college Cumberland County Schools were selected because 92 percent of the system's schools credit while they are working toward graduation. It is possible in Cumberland achieved "at least expected growth and 67 percent of the schools achieved high County to graduate from high school with up to two years of college credit growth. Except for one test in one grade level, CCS "made at least expected growth through these programs. on every End-of- Course and End-of Grade test administered by the state. The While offering students every opportunity to succeed, Till knows full well the hectic county and all our high schools exceeded 80 percent and surpassed the state average," world that we live in makes it challenging for parents and guardians to keep up with according to the CCS website. the details of busy schedules. That is why CCS has developed a mobile phone app that "The Broad Prize nomination is really a celebration of America's most improved will let busy parents stay up to date with CCS announcements and activities as well as school districts," said Till. "It shows that we are moving in the right direction. The follow their student's progress. The app is already available and Till expects to put a changes we are making are not a fad; they are institutional changes. That means that few finishing touches on it in the next few weeks. they aren't based on one person or one school." The growth and successes that CCS has accomplished have been through hard Being a Broad prize finalist marks CCS as a leader among our nation's school work and dedication of everyone in the school system. While these are just a few of systems, and acknowledges all the hard work that staff and teachers do in educating the impressive accomplishments and programs that the system has to offer, Till has students every day. no illusions about how much further there is to go. The school system is accredited by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission. "We've got to keep working hard to make sure that our students are competitive This commission confers the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council once they leave here. The world they are going to work in is much on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) accreditation seal. different than the world we grew up in and it is our job to make The accreditation is an indicator that CCS is a quality school system. During the sure they are ready." accreditation process, the commission considered the following standards: purpose Find out more about the Cumberland and direction, governance and leadership, teaching and assessing, resources and County Schools System and the many STEPHANIE CRIDER, Editor, Up & supports systems and using results for continuous improvement. The accreditation is programs it offers to help students Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? good for five years. succeed at ccs.k12.nc.us/departments. Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 2-8, 2013 UCW 23