Charlotte NC Schools—How to Pick a Public School for Your Child
Yesterday I attended a talk given by the Superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), Dr. Peter Gorman. Dr. Gorman is the dynamic leader of the Charlotte NC schools, the 18th largest school district in America. 
He spoke about the challenges of running this large system that covers 500 square miles and has 176 schools with 137,000 students.
Dr. Gorman is focused on attaining school success. He measures school success by emphasizing student growth rather than proficiency. Each student should have at least a year’s academic growth by the end of the school year. Dr. Gorman noted that 89% of the CMS schools averaged a year’s growth last year compared to only 54% five years ago.
The talk turned to picking a school for a child who will attend Charlotte NC schools. Dr. Gorman outlined six steps to take in order to choose the best school for your child. These six steps are information gathering activities. Most of the information can be found on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools website. Here are Dr. Gorman’s six steps and links to the website pages where the information can be found.
How to Pick a Public School for Your Child
- Read the School Progress Report for the school. School progress reports for each school include test results, an explanation of the results, surveys of the school from students and parents, and safety audit reports.
- Look at the School Quality Review. School quality reviews are independent reviews of a school by a team of three trained and highly experienced educators. These reviews focus on the quality of education in each school in the areas of achievement, learning and teaching, curriculum, leadership and management and parental involvement.
- Review the School Improvement Plan. Each school improvement plan identifies areas for improvement and measures to be taken specific to the individual school.
- Use the School Comparison Tool to compare individual schools. This tool presents a scorecard for high academic achievement with goals and actual results for each school. Two schools can be compared side-by-side.
- Visit the school. Dr. Gorman advises visiting the school at its busiest time.
- Hang out at the school pick-up line and ask the parents what they think of the school.
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/cmsdepartments/accountability/cfsi/Pages/SQRs.aspx
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/cmsdepartments/accountability/cfsi/Pages/SIPs.aspx?year=2009-2010
http://pmd.cms.k12.nc.us/Strategic%20Goals/Goal%20I%20-%20High%20Academic%20Achievement/Compare.aspx
Learn more about Charlotte NC Schools
Charlotte NC Schools—Magnet Programs are an Option for Students
Charlotte NC Schools Send Parents to School
Copyright 2010. Carol Fox. Allen Tate Realtors. *Charlotte NC Schools—How to Pick a Public School for Your Child*
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