Watch this demo of the portal’s features that help you scale up school staffing design and strengthen implementation. Our team members will walk you through the various “rooms” of the portal to help you envision how this tool reduces capacity challenges that might be hampering your district’s effort to reach all students with excellent instruction.
Beverley Tyndall
October 2024 Newsletter: Is Your School on the List?
Congratulations to the 366 schools in eight states have been awarded the new designation of Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Provisional Level, 2023–24! See the complete list of all newly certified schools in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia here. Plus read about a low-cost route to strategic staffing, more on-demand PD, and free webinars, tools, news you can use and more—all in the October 2024 edition of our newsletter here!
Meet the CMS school ‘making dreams come true’ — and surging up NC’s rating system
From The Charlotte Observer, by Rebecca Noel September 16, 2024
Note: this article includes an interview with Stevie Roper, a multi-classroom leader educator. To hear more from Ms. Roper, see here.
There are some descriptors you might expect when you ask teachers what it’s like to work at their school. “It’s like Disney World,” probably isn’t one of them. LaToya Wright, assistant principal at Paw Creek Elementary School in northwest Charlotte, says it really is the most magical place on earth.
“You can sit in a class and see a light bulb come on for a child you’ve been working with right in front of you,” she said. “Seeing them grow… we really are making dreams come true.” It also has its fair share of characters, Wright says. Though they’re typically not in costume.
The school is a feather in CMS’ cap when it comes to accountability grades from the state this year. Paw Creek Elementary climbed two letter grades over two years in the State Department of Public Instruction’s accountability ratings — from a D grade in 2022 following the pandemic to a B for 2024. It’s on target to achieve an A rating in student math proficiency by next year. The school also received a score of 100 for learning growth in 2024, the highest score possible. It ranked first in CMS for growth and in the top 1% of schools in the state for growth in 2023.
Which School Districts Do the Best Job of Teaching Kids to Read?
From The 74, by Chad Aldeman, September 10, 2024
In this interactive article, The 74 calculated school districts’ expected reading proficiency rates, based on their local poverty rates, and compared that to their actual third grade reading scores to identify districts that are beating the odds and successfully teaching kids to read. One of those districts in North Carolina is Wilson County Schools, which began using Opportunity Culture® roles in 2021–22. Learn more here and here.
Nash County schools show significant academic growth
From WRAL News, September 8, 2024
Nash County Public Schools has made major strides in student achievement, according to recent data released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
The district’s performance has improved dramatically, climbing from 108th to 33rd out of 115 districts statewide.
September 2024 Newsletter: Supports for Educators! Webinars, New Portal; Teacher Survey Results
This jam-packed, back-to-school edition of our newsletter highlights the new Opportunity Culture® portal, our online platform that supports educators with professional learning modules and instructional and leadership resources—all in one place! The September 4 newsletter also features free webinars and other events, a look at educator survey results, and news and social media highlights from districts across the country using Opportunity Culture® models. Read the newsletter here!
Giving All Staff Access to Professional Development: The Opportunity Culture® Portal
All school staff have access to on-demand learning modules and live professional development through our online platform. .
Getting New Leaders Up to Speed: The Opportunity Culture® Portal
Our online platform provides a one-stop repository for planning materials and the means to monitor and adjust school design plans.
The Opportunity Culture® Portal is a One-Stop Shop
Opportunity Culture® portal’s “tools” room houses instructional and leadership resources all in one place.
Addressing pandemic staffing cuts: A strategic approach
From EdNC, by Matthew Springer, July 17, 2024
…Strategic staffing practices have served as a catalyst for targeted interventions within K-12 education, from addressing the inequitable distribution and access to high-performing teachers to reconsidering conventional teaching paradigms. Promising approaches, such as North Carolina’s Advanced Teaching Roles Program, Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture, and innovative models led by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, integrate and take advantage of strategic staffing practices by expanding teacher leadership, refining resource allocation, and enriching student learning opportunities. …