How much of a role should Central Office play in math placement single-subject acceleration decisions at Wake County middle schools?

As Wake's documentation shows, the recommendations from each school-based committee for gifted education are reviewed by Central Office for approval. That drew complaints from the parents of academically gifted parents who are speaking out on the issue of single-subject acceleration.

An example the parents have cited is how Carnage Middle School, one of the GT/AG Basic magnet schools, is no longer being allowed to give its own math exam for placement of sixth-grade students.

UPDATE

According to the parent group, they've been told that Davis Drive Middle School and Martin Middle School also gave school-level math placement exams.

It's time once again to apply for a seat in a Wake County magnet school.

As noted in today's article, the application period is now open through Jan. 25. You've got some magnet options and a restoration of some of the magnet selection criteria that had been dropped when the choice plan was in place.

Wake says that while the three new magnet schools and two revamped magnet schools are in "transition" for the 2013-14 school year, they'll be implementing their new programs their first year.

Ken Branch is retiring as principal of Brentwood Elementary School in North Ralegh just a few months after being named the Wake County School System's 2012 Principal of the Year.

Tonight, the school board appointed Teresa Abron, a retired principal, to be Brentwood's interim principal starting Dec. 3 and running through May 31. Board members said they were surprised by Branch's retirement.

In other principal appointments:

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR BIO SHEETS

Wake County's three new magnet schools and two revamped magnet schools will look to make a splash with parents for the 2013-14 school year.

As noted in today's article, staff unveiled at Thursday's meeting of the school board's student achievement committee the magnet programs that will be offered at the five schools covered by the federal MSAP grant.

Click here for a handout on the themes at the schools and where they'd fit in the magnet program pathways.

The Wake County school board announced Tuesday two new high school principals and two interim principals.

Patti Hamler will now be principal of Wake Forest-Rolesville High School with a salary of $124,043. Hamler is a former high school principal who has been principal of Leesville Road Middle School in North Raleigh since 2007.

David Schwenker will be principal of Southeast Raleigh HIgh School with a salary of $109,137. Schwenker has been principal of Carnage Middle School in Raleigh since 2009.

Having a gifted and talented magnet theme can help students vying for state and national academic titles.

As noted in today's article, a team from Carnage Middle School won first place at the state level and will now represent North Carolina in the National History Day contest. They produced a documentary on the state's former eugenics program.

The Wake County magnet students got time to work on the project because Carnage offers a wide range of electives, including for academic competitions. One such elective is for students to participate in National History Day.

Another Carnage group finished in third place in the junior documentary category, one spot shy of making it to the national competition. They interviewed Superintendent Tony Tata for their documentary on what's happened since Brown vs. Board of Education, including whether Wake could resegregate following the end of the diversity policy.

Could the Wake County school board make one more change to the student assignment plan for this fall?

The only change the board made last week was to accept the staff recommendation to increase the percentage of magnet seats at Poe Elementary School. But school board member Jim Martin unsuccessfully tried to call for a vote on having staff keep magnet schools within their projected percentage of magnet seats.

Wake has divided the magnet schools into three groups.

Wake County school officials announced today that 14 magnet schools have received national awards.

Combs, Douglas, Joyner, Washington and Wiley elementary schools and Southeast Raleigh High School received the School of Excellence Award from Magnet Schools of America, a trade organization. Those six schools are now in the running to win the Simpson Distinguished Merit Award, which goes to the top magnet school in the nation.

In addition, Conn, Farmington Woods, Hunter, Millbrook and Underwood elementary schools; Carnage and Ligon middle schools and Millbrook High School received the School of Distinction award.

"We're proud of all of the schools that Magnet Schools of America recognized this year," said Wake Superintendent Tony Tata in a statement. "Our magnet schools are a thriving, dynamic part of our school system, and their success is due to the hard work of students, teachers, and our supportive community."

Thursday night's community mass meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church dealt with the new Wake County student assignment plan, getting mediation for the school board protesters and assailing the conditions at Walnut Creek Elementary School.

As noted in today's article, most the focus of the meeting led by the state NAACP and the Great Schools in Wake Coalition was on complaints about the assignment plan. The crowd of around 50 people, mainly supporters of the old diversity policy, were urged to contact school leaders to change the plan.

"If you let the plane fly in the air and you don’t make those course corrections that you feel need to be made in order to make it a more successful plan for all students so we have a fair and diverse and well-funded education for all students, then shame on us if we don’t advocate for the changes to make it happen," said Patty Williams of Great Schools in Wake.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

The state NAACP and Great Schools in Wake Coalition are teaming up to host a "community mass meeting" on Thursday to discuss Wake County's new student assignment plan.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin St. in Raleigh. It comes after both groups had unsuccessfully urged the school board to delay implementation of the new plan by a year.

The meeting also comes after GSIW released a new fact sheet on feeder patterns on Thursday that levels several complaints about the new plan. Among the complaints is the charge that the plan's use of feeder patterns "are creating segregated schools."

"Middle schools including, Carnage and Durant Road, will likely become more segregated, poorer, and overall proficiency will decline dramatically," says the GSIW fact sheet. "Where there is concentrated poverty, recruiting and retaining teachers is difficult, and schools are costly to run. Racial segregation undermines student achievement and will not allow WCPSS to apply for federal funding for magnet and other programs, as we have in the past."